Ran all over NYC this weekend with a bunch of vegans. You should try it sometime you’d be surprised at how great it tastes.
GPOYW: DCM in NYC edition.
For my final DCM post I wanted to throw a bunch more info from my trip so we can get back to the senseless viral videos that are the bread and butter of the site. While DCM was an amazing and unforgettable chapter of my trip, it was sandwiched by two other awesome happenings.
On Friday afternoon I was able to get some time with Bryan Tucker (profiled in my Richmond comedy post) for an excellent interview. I was lucky enough to see the historic SNL writers room and spend almost an hour in his office, the nearest quiet spot in midtown (which he shares with John Lutz). Bryan was incredibly friendly and open about his experiences starting out in comedy, which I hope to get out to the world before long.
After the chaos and late nights (early mornings?) ended I scheduled another meeting with a friend of a friend, who gave me 2+ hours of advice on my feature screenplay. Stuart was extremely helpful with his feedback, and in most cases confirmed my fears over the weak areas. Most importantly I received positive affirmation of the areas I thought worked and now I’ve now got a mess of thoughts to sort through as I reconstruct this thing. I’m gonna have to carve some time out of my “Summer of Fun” to tackle this.
Here’s some photos from my trip; more available on Flickr. (My brother has better looking live shots).
ASSSSCAT 3000 featuring: Walsh, Burke, Besser, Mantzoukas, Sudekis, Roberts, Glazer & Carter by Rob Michael Hugel
This past week, from Friday at 5pm ‘til Sunday at 1am I was emersed in the 11th Annual Del Close Marathon. It was an amazing time, and I got to see so many people who I respect and admire as writers, comedians and/or performers on stage in addition to meeting a bunch of rad new people. I’m sure I’ve missed boatloads of fellow tumblrs, so please feel free to reblog and add your own to the list of who you saw at DCM. #TumblrTuesday.
Eric Appel - Mailer Daemon, Super Cage Match: Kaploosh
Rob Huebel – Mantziggle, Respecto Montalban, Delta Force 2, ASSSSCAT 3000
Paul Scheer - Respecto Montalban, ASSSSCAT 3000, Scheer-McBrayer
Brett Gelman - Yoda Hot Tub, Super Cage Match: Death By Roo Roo
Shannon O’Neill - Mailer Daemon
Chad Carter - Respecto Montalban, ASSSSCAT 3000
Anthony King - The Straight Men, WUCB - Live Radio in the dark, Let’s Have A Ball
Katey Healy-Wurzburg - All around fun person and seat lender at a crucial time
Dustin Drury - The Spinoffs, Iron Ruckus
Charlie Todd - The Straight Men
UCB LA DCM Tumblr
DCM 11 Photo Tumblr
Todd Fasen - Convoy, Sentimental Lady
Eugene Cordero - Live Radio in the dark
Justin Purnell - Provider of Summerjams
Josh Rachford - Performer & Tumblr Employee, Double Duty.
Rob Michael Hugel - The Spinoffs
- We may be related by blood, but I still think he’s funny.
Brandon Scott Jones - The Spinoffs, Robber Baron
Eddie Brawley - The Spinoffs, Robber Baron
Nick Kroll - D2 Return of the Dicemen
Dave Bluvband - Iron Ruckus
Ben Rodgers - Super Cage Match: Death By Roo Roo, Mailer Daemon
Chris Kula - Police Chief Rumble
GPOYW: NYC + DCM Edition.
I don’t have as much of a connection to all the groups appearing this weekend as those who have gone through the school, appeared on the stage, or lived in the city for years, but I’m still looking forward to all the awesomeness that’s gonna occur by bringing all these great performers together. So…. here’s a photo from Central Park last summer. As you can see, I’m hanging out with That Annoying Couple. We’re also traveling through one of Central Parks known magnetic fields.
GPOYW - Hungry in Greenpoint. (iphone pic by Rob Michael Hugel.)
Had a great time in NYC this weekend, even though it didn’t exactly turn out as planned. Jaws on the Intrepid got rained out, and I didn’t make it to The Highline or Coney Island/Siren Fest. I just bought my tickets to DCM in August, but given the lineup and the unpredictable nature of city I’m not making any solid plans.
#GPOYW -If That’s What You’re Into. - Awkward photo from last summer
Headed up to NYC this weekend with very few plans. Looking forward to checking out some new “stuff”, seeing some old friends, comedy in one form or another & spending some time with Rob and Shannon. The Highline is a must, might see Jaws on an aircraft carrier and possibly the Siren Fest. Anything else happenin’?
Thanks to a friend for my first Blingee.
I took a trip to New York last weekend to finally see my brother’s new Improv group, The Spinoffs. I was also able to convince my parents to go up, as they had yet to see him perform, and missed the last time I went up. Riding up with my parents saved me some money on travel, although somewhat complicating things by adding an additional stop in DC to the trip, but I’m glad it worked out. 
The show was at Gotham City Improv, an odd theater on the 8th floor of an office building. It was pretty fun, although The Spinoffs insist that it wasn’t their best show. The setting, audience and performers mood, and introduction can all go a long way to influencing a set, so facing a crowd not familiar with the improv method, or the Harold form, or arriving on stage without intro music to discover you need chairs can all hinder the momentum, and make the first few scenes difficult. 9 Famous Irishmen and George da Roofer (of which tumblr Bryce is a member) also performed. We ended the night with the crowd of comedy writers and performers at McManus Cafe, the default after-party for the nearby UCB theater.
A bit of sightseeing was mandatory so we checked out the MTA museum in downtown Brooklyn. They chronicle the history of the subway system, and have trains from every era. Saturday night we saw more improv, this time at The Creek in Long Island City. The Creek is a bar/restaurant with a stage pays the bills with comedy events most nights of the week. Shannon had practice with her new Harold Team, Robber Baron , and met us at the Creek with teammates Edward Brawley, Brandon Scott Jones and Dan Klein (check a few of them out on Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon) . The show was decent, but Rob aptly put it best when he commented that the daily comedy events are the beginning of a long series of late nights in comedy clubs, bars and theaters. He should be so lucky. 
On Sunday I grabbed a few taco’s from The Corner Deli, caught my bus, put on some podcasts and came up with some #punday submissions to pass time on my trip home.
I’m headed to NYC this Friday to see my brother perform with his new Improv troup. Since the last time I saw him, he’s helped form The Spinoffs, who have been staying busy recently with weekend shows.
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They perform Friday 4/17 at Gotham City Improv, show starts at 8:30. Who knows what else I’ll have time for, but maybe I’ll see you there? 
(Congratulations to members Shannon Coffey, Dan Klein, Eddie Brawley, and Tony Rodriguez for making UCB Harold Teams).
As with any trip to NYC, I looked forward to having some fun and pursuing my interests while up there. Thanks to good timing, my pre-holiday trip coincided with my brother Rob’s UCB 501 Improv Class Graduation. This would mark the first time I would see him on stage performing since he was robbed in his Mr Woodson performance his Junior year of High School.
I flew into town Sunday morning (how fancy of me?), and made my way to his new apartment in Greenpoint. In a day where I met various friends at 3 coffee shops and 2 pizza places, we ended the evening at The Black Rabbit where Bobby Tisdale hosts a bingo night. 
Luck must have been on his side, cause Rob won the first two games of Bingo, amid chants of Liar, Liar and Bullshit, Bullshit. After “Bingo Bobby” verified his cards he was rewarded with sissy drinks for the whole table (which included two non-drinkers), autographed Bobby Tisdale whoopee cushions, and the winning bingo chant, “Now that we’ve got Bingo what are we gonna do… with it??” Unfortunately, in classic fashion after a day of travel my iPhone ran out of juice so no photos were taken to commemorate.
On Monday and Tuesday, I ran around town trying to meet up with all sorts of friends. Every time I visit I tell myself that it’s the last time I try to find everyone, and then I spent countless hours crisscrossing the city, breaking my own rules. 
Tuesday night was Rob’s performance, and luckily I got a few of our mutual friends to meet me at the UCB Theater (killing a few birds with one stone). Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere was his instructor and also the host for the evening. Following the classes performance, The Longest Harold Night of The Year began, which features all of the current NYC Harold teams performing back to back. It was interesting to see the “students” performance juxtaposed against the regular teams. Afterwards we hung out in the back hallway of the club for the Christmas party. Looking back, perhaps the low ceilings, neon lighting, and narrow passageways made it a pretty awkward place to party, but I would have it no other way.
By the time we walked the mile to Union Square (Trains weren’t running right) we were soaked and exhausted. I made it to sleep back in Greenpoint around 3:30, to wake up at 6 for my ride to the airport. Watching the Flight Of The Conchords Season 2 Premiere on my iPhone while waiting for my flight home was the perfect comedic-yet-geeky end to my trip.
