ucebeastlogo1

UCB East (still) open

UCB East

As previously mentioned, the long-awaited multi-purpose comedy venue UCB East has finally opened. Now so has its website.

The new venue is located on 153 East 3rd St. in Manhattan, and is the former home of the Two Boots Pioneer Theater. Even though I had only been to the Two Boots Theater once (back in 2003 to see the confoundingly brilliant Adolfas Mekas (Brother of Jonas) film Hallelujah the Hills), I was sad to hear it was closed down. But then I was elated to hear that the fine folks at the Upright Citizens Brigade would resurrected it as a comedy venue; a much needed element to that neighborhood considering Mo Pitkin’s currently RIPs. The crucial distinction between UCB East and the UCB in Chelsea is that UCB East will be more stand-up/variety/screening/non-improv/non-sketch oriented. And I don’t care if this distinction means nothing to you because it means a lot to me and I am the only person that matters. Not only is the venue closer to my house than UCB West, but this new satellite venue will allow some of my favorite UCB West shows like Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkel‘s Totally J/K to occur once a week (Thursdays at 9:00pm) as opposed to once a month. Plus, it’ll introduce more non-improv/non-sketch weeklies to our lives. For example, the always incredible and probably criminally underrated Sara Schaefer has a show every Tuesday at 8:00pm called After Hours with Gene Hackman and Friends which will feature funny people, musical people, and other delightful things. On Thursdays at 11:00pm UCB’s world famous open mic show Gutbucket (free!) gives people a chance to bomb in front of an audience. On Sundays at 9:00pm, hosts Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Andy Haynes and David Cope bring newbies and comedy veterans to the stage for their show Hot Soup. And this is just scratching the surface. A gander at the FULL SCHEDULE will show you what’s what. And yes, sure, there is SOME sketch and improv on the schedule, but that is hardly this venue’s focus and that’s what makes it great. That and the location amIright? The place also boasts a comfy bar to hang about in as well as cover charges in the $5 range. Now if only UCB West would give me a freakin’ slot for my improv jam Anonymous: That’s My Hummus, an improv-slash-sketch show that is unfunny, negative, and completely unnecessary.