SUPER CAGEMATCH is a competition improv show were each group is given 20 minutes to do improv bits with the audience then voting to determine who was funnier. The show is hosted by Ian Vaflor and the final competition of the season happened last night at the Philly Improv Theater (407 Bainbridge Street, Philadelphia PA 19147). Cagematch ran three shows back to back to back last night to determine the winner, and I was fortunate enough to catch the last two rounds.
The competition angle keeps the show moving and makes it very entertaining.
The first show featured the group Jessica Tandy (Jessica Ross and Andy Moskowitz), versus Grimacchio (Jason Grimley and Ralph Andracchio). I don’t remember how the first show determined what group would go first, but I can’t forget how it was determined in the championship round (more on that later).
Jessica Tandy went first in the 9:00 show and took the suggestion “spaghetti” from the audience to weave into their bits. They immediately launched into caricature Italian accents as mother and son immigrants coming to the new world. They went through at least five premises’ and my favorite bit was when they acted like a fighting couple with Jessica locking Andy out of the house. Jessica wouldn’t let Andy back in unless he sang her favorite Shania Twain song (which he hilariously butchered). Jessica obviously LOVES doing funny voices and accents (she didn’t do one bit in her normal speaking voice). Overall the performance was strong and would be tough to beat.
Grimacchio was up next and took a different route to working the crowd into their routine. Instead of just asking for a suggestion they pick a person out of the audience and give them a quick interview of what they do and who they are. They take this information and craft a bit out of it. The person they interviewed was a writer and photographer so they set their premise in a news room. Grimacchio’s style is to bicker over the smallest points of contention and overanalyze minutia (a la “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” or “Seinfield”). I thought the first five to eight minutes were very funny and they would probably win.
WINNER: Jessica Tandy
The 10 o’clock show featured winner Jessica Tandy versus a three person group Safe-Weird (Andrew Stanton, Kaitlin Thompson, Rob Gentile). To determine who would go first or second Ian created a double dare style physical challenge making a member from each team eat a pie with cherries in them, then spit the cherries in a cup. The team with most cherries in their cup at the end of a minute could decide weather to go first or second. This contest almost made Jessica Ross throw up on stage which in turn made me gag (but in an amusing, “wow is she gonna throw up on stage” kinda way). Jessica Tandy won the challenge and inexplicably decided to go first again.
In their second performance it seemed to take a while to compose themselves after the physical challenge. They still had a funny bit about a bee being addicted to pollen like heroin and musical chairs where the loser goes to hell, but going first after the physical challenge was a bad decision.
Safe-Weird had the strangest premises’ (which is a compliment). They seemed to care the least about what the audience thought and were just trying to make each other laugh. They got the biggest laughs out of the audience with “Irish Mayonnaise” and “CB radio truckers”. One tool that the group uses very well is turning a bit into a fake commercial where one player will simply go into a voice over styled end of an advertisement.
WINNER: Safe-Weird
Overall, SUPER CAGEMATCH is a winner. 20 minutes is a perfect amount of time for small improv groups to get in, get laughs and get off. If you have never been to an imrov show before, this would be a great way for you to get comfortable with this style of entertainment. Be sure to check Philly Improv Theater for the next season of CAGEMATCH and other comedy shows. Also, if you have interest in doing improv yourself, they always have several classes you can take.
Mike O’Donnell is a writer, actor, spoken word artist and stand up comedian in the Philadelphia area. Check out his work online at YouTube and Soundcloud.
Dutiful fans of Philly’s favorite pair of half-Italians prone to playful bickering and off-beat tangents braved Monday night’s drizzle for the premiere of The Grimacchio Variety Hour, and the dynamic duo (Jason Grimley and Ralph Andracchio) did not disappoint.
The lovely Sue & Cait (caitblack.com) opened the show on acoustic bass and ukulele, respectively, with Sue jangling the jingle bells around her ankle in time to to the music while Cait crooned silky, smokey vocals into the old timey microphone at center stage.
After two songs, Grimacchio strolled out from behind the curtain—dressed in suits for the occasion—to applaud the two ladies, compliment Cait’s gold shoes, and go off on a riff about a Buck Rogers television special which revealed the actor’s staggering weight gain and declining health, forever marring their memories of their childhood hero. Then, they acknowledged the audience and welcomed us all to the show, blushing (Ralph) and sweating (Jason) with gratitude that everyone came. To warm up the crowd, they improvised some banter around current news items suggested by the audience, speculating on how Barack Obama decided to come out in favor of gay marriage (“fuck it, let’s do this”) and relating the Devil’s Breath street drug sensation to the campy Wes Craven flick The Serpent and the Rainbow.
They cut themselves off long enough to bring storyteller Hillary Rea onstage (“you will love her, damnit!”) for a brief conversation about her current projects and an adorably confusing explanation of her multiple online aliases. Rea told a fun and wonderfully detailed story about her first frenemy, a frizzy redhead with an in-home elevator who slutted it up through an Our Changing Bodies video in the sixth grade and ruined Rea’s retro-themed seventh grade birthday party with a Nirvana mixtape and an illicit game of Spin the Bottle, which young Rea excused herself from by hiding in the bathroom for thirty minutes.
Rea was followed by a Grimacchio sketch interlude, featuring the fellas as hipster record store employees (complete with “douchebag hats”) ignoring their customer to challenge each other with obscure music trivia. Sue & Cait followed, returning to the spotlight to literally sing the praises of Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by a goofy framed black-and-white portrait of the President.
After a brief telling of the origin of the Grimacchio name (Jason didn’t know how to pronounce “Andracchio,” and Ralph didn’t correct him), comedienne LaTice took the mic to talk about the lack of joy in marriage, race relations in the suburbs, reality TV, and Flo the Progressive girl’s insensitivity to racial stereotypes. There were a number of slyly hilarious jokes worth quoting, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the punchlines for you.
Maureen Costello and Corin Wells of Ebony and Ivory closed the show, joined by Grimacchio for an improv set inspired by an interview with an accountant sitting in the audience. Highlights included Grimley as a talking dead goldfish in Costello’s cocaine-induced hallucination set in a cubicle in the ’80s; Wells as a five-year-old demanding apple juice before getting to work saving the company’s finances with her prodigious knowledge of QuickBooks and TurboTax; and a final scene with a Grimacchio-led game of double-speak, where Andracchio opposite hired Grimley from the accounting office, leading Grimley to threaten that he would opposite sleep soundly that night, forcing Andracchio to opposite tell security not to come upstairs and opposite let Grimley leave of his own volition.
After the blackout, Grimacchio invited all of the night’s performers back onstage to receive another round of applause, Sue & Cait played one last sweet little tune, and everyone filed outside praising the evening’s entertainment. For future editions of The Grimacchio Variety Hour, be sure to check the PHIT schedule and look for updates at facebook.com/Grimacchio.
Alison Zeidman lives in South Philadelphia, has a superfluous second Facebook page for work, and spends her evenings running around with the new indie improv team Malone.
Tonight, Polygon Comedy continues their series of independent comedy shows at a new venue: Milkboy Philadelphia (1100 Chestnut St.). Tonight’s show will feature improv from ApocaLips, Rosen & Milkshake, Adrift, and Rintersplint. Doors open at 7:00pm and showtime is 7:30. You can purchase tickets for tonight’s show online.
Tickets are available now for a stand-up comedy benefit show for the Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia. Pat Barker has put together a lineup featuring Chip Chantry, Darryl Charles, Tim Grill, James Hesky, and Doogie Horner to perform on Saturday, June 2 at the Stone Grill (1300 Blackwood Clementon Rd, Clementon NJ). Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by emailing Pat at pat@patbarkercomedy.com
This Saturday, May 19, Rookie Card‘s monthly show at The Raven Lounge (1718 Sansom St.) makes it’s weekend debut. The free show begins at 7:00pm and will feature stand-up comedian Tommy Highland, a secret improv team, and will end with an jam open to anyone in attendance.
This weekend, High Dramma Sketch Comedy will host another round of shows at the Walking Fish Theater (2509 Frankford Ave.) The show will run May 17-19 at 8:00pm and May 20 at 5:00pm. Tickets are $15 at the door and are also available online with a special “pay what you can” showing on May 17.
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Tonight, Polygon Comedy returns to L’etage (6th and Bainbridge) with a show featuring improv group Malone, storytelling from James Bradford, stand-up from Doogie Horner, and the debut of new improv team Philly Secrets. Doors open at 7:30 and the show starts at 8:00.
The line-up and date for the next Camp Woods Plus have been announced – with Philly’s own The Judo Range and New York’s We’re Matt Weir joining Camp Woods at L’etage for their monthly alternative sketch comedy showcase Tuesday, May 22nd. Doors open at 8:00 and the show begins at 8:30.
ManiPedi is heading to the Ladies Are Funny Festival in Austin, Texas this weekend and they made sure the festival’s audience got a bit of a preview of their humor with this interview on the LAFF web site. Check it out!
Technically Philly recently wrote this article about the online comedy scene in Philadelphia. Check it out for insights from Philly comedians Abigail Bruley, Paul Triggiani, Rob Baniewicz, Aaron Hertzog, and more.
Philly In Focus interviewed Samantha and Brian Craig of Secret Pants recently about their comedy – you can check it out online.
Aaron sits down with Kevin McDonald of the Kids in the Hall to talk about his comedy career, his process, and the improv to sketch workshop he taught in Philadelphia. Later, Aaron talks with Brian Kelly and Paul Triggiani of Secret Pants about their experience in the class and working with someone who was a great influence on them. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
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Fibber is a monthly storytelling show produced by Philly Improv Theater and hosted by Hillary Rea. Each month four storytellers swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But one of the four is the Fibber, weaving a web of lies with a totally made up story. It’s the audience’s job to listen to the stories, interrogate the performers, and vote for the person whose pants they think are on fire. After a secret audience ballot, the Fibber is revealed and those who chose wisely are rewarded with a smug sense of satisfaction and free tickets to a future show.
Get to know the storytellers for the upcoming show, Monday May 7th at 9pm at the Shubin. Host Hillary Rea interviewed each one and asked the question: Give me three reasons why the audience should believe your story.
T.J. Hurley
T.J.is a full time hack and part time comic. He lives and works in Philadelphia.
Why you should believe me:
1) I was raised Catholic and am haunted by an almost transcendent sense of guilt.
2) Look at this face. This is an honest face.
3) Why would I lie? I don’t need to impress you people.
Andrew Panebianco
Andrew writes, eats salads, and cries easily at movies. He teaches college English in order to justify the amount of corduroy jackets he owns.
Why you should believe me:
1. I try exceptionally hard to be an honest person.
2. I check my bed every night to make sure there aren’t any spiders under my covers.
3. One of these three sentences is a lie.
Sue Taney
Sue is an amazing preschool teacher by day, and improv comedian by night. She makes the hour long journey from Jersey several times a week to Philly to practice and perform in Comedysportz, Hate Speech Committee, and Rookie Card because she super loves it.
Why you should believe me:
1. Look at this face
2. (Points to face)
3. Would I lie to you?
Andrew Whitmire
During the day, Andrew is the Program Director at Destination Imagination, Inc., where he, on a daily basis, can be found developing and implementing fun and educational programming based on teamwork and creativity for kids in more than 30 countries worldwide. At night, he loves to sleep.
Why you should believe me:
1. I work at a non-profit so I’m not in it for the money.
2. As a 5-year-old I accidentally stole Werther’s Originals from the grocery, got away with it (accidentally) and still returned them. Well, my mom did.
3. I am an Eagle Scout.
Check out these stories from past Fibber shows. One of these storytellers is telling the truth and one is the Fibber. Guess who.
This documentary produced by fellow TU Comedy member Bryan Yanez follows TU comedians on their journey in Rooftop Comedy’s National College Comedy Competition. It documents the events leading up to the face off with Penn State and provides a look into the life of a Temple University comedian.
This week sketch groups Local Holiday Miracle and Kids With Rickets will join forces for a two show run at Philly Improv Theater. Thursday night the two groups will take the stage at 9:00 where they will each present a half hour of sketch comedy and Friday they will reprise the show at 8:30. The groups got together to film this promo video for their shows.
