Del Close Marathon

This past weekend was the 9th annual Del Close Marathon. The short version is that it is 56ish straight hours of improv featuring all the normal UCB and NYC indie teams plus a whole mess of teams from across the country and reunion shows by now-defunct teams. In addition to the constant shows at UCB, two other theaters (Hudson Guild and the theater at FIT) participated. More info can be found at the website.

I arrived at the UCB theater at 4 on Friday to pick up my volunteer wristband (a lovely light blue color) and got in line. I then saw shows at UCB from 4:30 PM to 4:15 AM (the Press Conference to Golden Girls All-Star Reunion). Yes, Golden Girls. That's a lovely example of the type of insanity that went on in the late night/early morning hours.

In the first seven hours I saw downright mind-blowing shows from UCB teams (Stepfathers, Death By Roo Roo), great stuff from improv pros (MySpace, BASSPROV, Satellites), and entertaining and fun shows from teams across America (Stottlemeyer - Chicago, MacGuffin - LA, Code Duello - Boston, Jackie - Washington DC). It was eye-opening to see how UCB's style compares to other cities and it was really exciting to see people watch Roo Roo and Stepfathers for the first time. The UCB teams I see on a weekly basis had great shows just because the energy was so high.

The last couple hours of my first stretch was where things went insane. Insane with hilarity. I saw improv on unicycles (Uniprov), improv from the 1930s (The Sunshine Gang), improv done with 10 guys impersonating Bill Cosby (Cosbyprov), and improv done as characters from A League of their Own (There's No Crying in Improv) and the aforementioned Golden Girls. There was also Wicked F***in' Queeyah, improv done by Boston natives as stereotypical Boston natives ("Derek Jeter has AIDS" was written on Anthony Atamanuik's chest). They came on stage, all holding six packs of PBR and spraying it all over the audience. The team included my 101 teacher, Ari Voukydis, and my current 401 teacher, Michael Delaney (sporting a fake black eye), both in full on Red Sox gear. Also of note were The Smartest Panel Of Experts and Thank God You Brought Beer, both of which were panels where improvisers acted like celebrities/crazy characters. But come on, anything that involves Chris Gethard dressed as Darryl Strawberry rapping about vikings and Jon daly dressed as a drunk Scottish Christmas tree is pure genius.

I went home and got seven or so hours of sleep, up just in time to head over to UCB's school to take my special marathon workshop with Peter Gwinn. Every performer was eligble to take workshops, so there were people walking into the UCB offices for the first time. I heard them talk about how nice the place is; it made me appreciate where I am and what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with even more.

I headed over to the Hudson Guild Theater after class was done at 5 PM and watched shows there from 6:30 - 10:00 PM. I got to see UCB favorites Tantrum and fwand as well as really awesome shows from Chicago (Feverberry Mountain and Callous) and Philadelphia (The Cabal and Rare Bird Show). I made my way back to UCB at 10 PM and stayed until 3 AM. I was originally intending on staying at UCB from 10 PM until the end of my volunteer shift on Sunday at 6 PM, but after Match Game '76 (17 improvisers as various '70s characters, insane creations, and others 'playing' Match Game...but not really) I had to go home. Before leaving I saw an incredible string of shows including the brilliantly entertaining The Scramble and the one-two-three punch of Cracked Out, Derrick, and C+C+C Improv Factory. As I left, the insanity was really just starting and there was a line outside to get in...at 3 AM.

I got two and a half hours of sleep and returned to the theater at 7 AM.

Almost empty.

The theater was maybe 1/4th full, with half of those people asleep in their chairs, improv still going on full steam ahead. Sunday morning was a big block of NYC indie groups and Magnet theater teams, all of whom gave strong shows despite the hour. Sunday's highlight, for me, was the KROMPF Improv Breakfast. Just what it sounds like. Some of my favorite improvisers serving breakfast and then doing hilarious scenes. After Ryan Karels said that "if everyone eats with the idea that everyone has to eat, then everyone will eat," Joe Wengert countered with "But seriously, we're not f***ing millionaires, so everyone take one piece of bacon. There isn't enough for everyone to have a normal portion of bacon, so just take one. Sorry to start on a hostile note..."

My DCM shift started at 10AM and I immediately was asked to check the men's bathroom and then get to work on cleaning up the green room with the other volunteers. I then did whatever was necessary for the rest of the shift (moving a piano, dumping out nasty beer water, crowd control) and remembered just how much I miss doing this sort of thing. It was very reminiscent of all the times I PAed on productions and it was great to feel like a part of this big event. I answered all sorts of questions while outside; memorizing the website finally paid off. The only show I really watched during my shift was iMusical, an improvised musical. It was outstanding and I think got a standing ovation, but I was too busy helping move a piano to notice.

The shift ended at 6PM and I left soon after, insanely tired and happy.

Shows I saw...

Friday @ UCB Theater
4:30 PM Marathon Press Conference
6:00 PM MySpace
7:00 PM BASSPROV
7:30 PM Satellites
8:00 PM Stottlemeyer
8:30 PM MacGuffin (UCBLA)
9:00 PM The Stepfathers
9:30 PM Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr
10:00 PM Seth & Ed's Puppet Talk Show
10:30 PM Jackie
11:00 PM Death By Roo Roo
11:30 PM Bro'in Out

Saturday @ UCB Theater
12:00 AM Chuckle Sandwich
12:30 AM Smartest Panel of Experts in the Universe Ever
1:00 AM Bastards Inc.
1:30 AM Director's Commentary LIVE
2:00 AM The Sunshine Gang
2:15 AM Uniprov
2:30 AM Thank God You Brought Beer
2:45 AM 3:00 AM Wicked Fuckin' Queeyah
3:15 AM The Return of Cosbyprov
3:30 AM Fluxx Entropathic
3:45 AM There's No Crying in Improv
4:00 AM Golden Girls All-Star Reunion

Saturday @ Hudson Guild Theater
6:30 PM Rare Bird Show
7:00 PM Tantrum
7:30 PM Shark Attack!
8:00 PM Callous
8:30 PM Fwand
9:00 PM Feverberry Mountain
9:30 PM Cabal

Saturday @ UCB Theater
10:00 PM Reuben Williams
11:45 PM Pass The Mic

Sunday @ UCB Theater
12:45 AM The Scramble
1:15 AM C+C+C Improv Factory
1:30 AM Cracked Out
2:00 AM Derrick
2:15 AM Drag Kings of Comedy
2:30 AM Match Game 76
7:00 AM The Yes Andersens
7:30 AM Money
8:00 AM Queefer Sutherland
8:30 AM Bombardo
9:00 AM Big Tobacco
9:30 AM KROMPF Improv Breakfast
10:30 AM Junior Varsity
2:00 PM iMusical
6:00 PM Scheer-McBrayer

48 Shows, 22.5 hours of improv.

Photos taken by Ari Scott