Comedy is an anomaly of an profession. There’s technically no way to become a professional comedian- you can’t just grab a MFA or pass “The Bar” and fall into a career- yet everywhere we look there are “professional comedians”. They’re headlining movies, shouldering sit-coms, making a living on social media. So, where did these people come from? And how did they get to the positions we find them in today?

The answer: Comedy institutions. Cities and venues across the country that became known hubs of comedy. Spots where you could learn and perfect your craft, where you could be scouted by networks and variety shows, and where comedy fanatics could make a living doing what they loved. Second City in Chicago, by the 70’s and 80’s, had gained notoriety as one such hub. Specializing in improv, the theater/workshop went on to produce many of today’s comedy heavyweights. (Alumnus include Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell.) Another such hub was a college extra curricular, “The Harvard Lampoon.” The student publication (And associated club) provided a venue for students to work on craft and delivery, with adept faculty oversight and help from some of their more accomplished contemporaries. The Lampoon provided venues and exposure to people like Conan O’Brien, the current head writer on SNL, and most of the writing room behind “Seinfeld”.  

Nowadays, in what can undoubtedly be referred to as a “great time for comedy”, various institutions have sprouted throughout the country. Most within major cities; all hoping to be the next big hub. The closest we have to this generation’s “Second City”, is UCB or the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. Starting off on the Chicago improv circuit with only four core members, UCB was an improv group hoping to hit it big, until… they did just that. The four core members all went on to fruitful comedy careers: Amy Poehler was scooped up early by SNL, later becoming a bonafide TV and movie star. Ian Roberts morphed into a successful comedian, eventually becoming one of four head writers on Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele”. Matt Besser developed a career as a character actor, acting in 90+ projects. And Matt Walsh become a fixture in mainstream entertainment through small, but memorable, roles in everything from “Ted“ to “The Hangover” to “Veep”.         

After experiencing the degree of success they set out to achieve, UCB decided to pass the torch to another generation. Compiling their knowledge and resources into projects like improv manuals, interactive comedy shows, and, most memorably, theaters. These theaters would serve as a workshop and place of education for many comedians who came up towards the turn of the century, while also serving as a venue where they could perform their material and make some money. With numerous locations in both New York and Los Angeles, the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Workshop and Theater, influenced an entire generation of movers and shakers within the comedy world, giving many of them their first shot.     

UCB remains very active to this day. With the number of people associated with, or learning at, at their various locations steadily climbing from year to year, UCB has become a modern breeding ground for amateur comedians. All of whom are itching for a big break to push them over the edge, and classify them as “professional comedians”. Something along the lines of what happened to the club’s four founding members. So, as a result, the club is packed to the brim with comedians vying for your time. Hundreds of comedians will perform there a month— often dozens will perform there a night— and most of them will go unnoticed. Unnoticed by networks scouting for talent and by casual audience members alike, because that’s just the way the industry works. With such a crazy over-saturation of wannabe comedians gravitating towards these so-called “hubs,” it’s easy for even great comedians to be tossed to the wayside. Comedians looking to stand out from the pact, have to diversify themselves and their material.  Take “Higgins”, a show from the eponymous improv group Sunday nights at UCB East, as a sterling example.

Almost everyone out there doing improv comedy, seeks, in some form, for suggestions. Traditionally, it’s a phrase or word yelled out from an audience member, that serves as the foundation for the upcoming unrehearsed sketches. “Higgins”, though, mines suggestions in a very unique way. The three core members ask for a volunteer, someone who believes their Instagram to be especially good, and quiz him/her about various photos throughout their account. This interview process, which doesn’t serve as the basis for easy jokes or burns, is an honest search for information. The performers ask about intentions and stories surrounding the pictures and the other people just out of frame, using it all in their subsequent impromptu comedy sketches. It’s a masterful way of putting a new twist on a very old custom, and involving the audience in a process that can’t usually factor in their creativity.

This almost new-age comedy approach, separates the “Higgins” crew from the pact. It gives their comedy a unique feel, and ensures that their varying shows feel both self-contained and unique. The approach has not only fostered audience enthusiasm, it’s also garnered the group one of the few shows at UCB that goes on every week.  Which is great, because I can’t wait to go back.