Del Close Marathon time again kids. Remember last year’s marathon? Yeah me neither. Last year I clocked in over 30 hours of improv. I felt gross, stinky, and never wanted to see another scene again — I can’t wait for this year.
Drink more water — Considder this a plane flight. Drink more water than you normally would. Seriously, I would suggest Airborne as well, because
Bring Snacks! - Although the UCB does not normally allow food into the theater, during the DCM it is allowed. Avoid salty snacks, they dehydrate and raise your blood pressure leading to hypertension after 3 days. I suggest nuts, trail mix, energy bars, and of course going out for a few meal occasionally. Don’t be the dick with the Halal platter — you will be asked to leave.
Have a marathon buddy — going to the marathon alone is fine and dandy, but it’s always better to have a friend to bounce criticisms, laugh together, and hold during those awkward silences. Also, just like weight lifting, sometimes you need someone to push you one more hour.
See Wicked Fuckin’ Queeyah at UCB Sat 02:00 am and WeirDass at FIT Kate Murphy Ampitheatre Sat 07:00 pm — I know I say it every year, but every year I am proven right. These two shows define the DCM for me.
Find Me — I’m there most of the marathon. Make sure to say hello if you see me, I also accept hugs.
DCM10 Suggested Viewing
ASSSSCAT 3000 at FIT Haft Auditorium at Sun 08:00 pm
Baby Wants Candy at FIT Kate Murphy Ampitheatre at Fri 07:00 pm (60)\
After watching 36 hours of a 56 hour improv marathon, improv stops looking so much like improv and more like a math equation. You can see patterns forming between performers and see differences in the way geographic locales play. After watching 36 hours of improv, you become a bit of a machine, analyzing each scene for what worked and what didn’t.It was however in this haze of performers, dank body odor, and beef jerky that I truly saw improv for what it is, a groundwork for group mind. A set of traffic patterns to allow a group of performers act like one singular entity. When a group was acting as a whole, they seemed to be reading eachother’s minds, moving in time with one another. When it worked it was incredible (Buiscutville [Creepy guys in a Van], Delta Force 2 [What Happened? Where Were You?], Bruckheimer [An Army of Homeless People], Reuben Williams [Pierre Runs Away]) and when it didn’t, it wasn’t incredible.
Punctuating this mass of performances were the UCB 4 themselves, who got on stage frequently to talk to the audience and answer questions. That for me, was one of my biggest highlights of the marathon. I must have heard Ian Roberts talking over 3 hours about life, love, and improvisation and the majority was truly brilliant. When the 4 got on stage together they really did seem to transform the space. While they really were performing bits the entire time, the energy was contagious.
So, it’s been almost a week and I’m just now starting to write about the end of the marathon. It was pretty intense. Unfortunately after seeing two of the three ASSSSCat shows on Sunday I got home and slept until Monday then I had to get up bright and early for work. However, eating nothing but beef jerkey and energy bars during the DCM, to keep me going, actually led to some mean hypertension which made me ill. I spent Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday getting rid of a mean sodium induced headache. Luckily now it’s all over and I’m busily drafting a wrap up of the DCM complete with about 20 or so lessons I learned from watching 36 hours of improv.
This is just my way of saying, I haven’t forgotten about you, I’m just not as sprightly as I used to be.
P.S. — I’m not actually sure I was ever as sprightly as I used to be, but that’s between me and my poor memory.
Holly Impregnated Taiwaneese pre-teen batman! The Del Close Marathon Day one opened with a bang. The big hilights of the evening were The Press Conference, MySpace (The Knights of Islip), The Stepfathers (The Twin Manatees), Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr (Party on Land), DEATHBYROOROO: Your Fucked Up Family (Your mom is fucking Dead, so deal with It), Chuckle Sandwich (We got Doors and coke), Director’s Commentary LIVE (It’s SWAYZE!), The Sunshine Gang (Blowing Up Mom and Killing a Daemon On Her Birthday), Thank God You Brought Beer (Strawberry!) and of course Wicked Fuckin’ Queeyah (Tootsie Roll Dick Meets a Feckin’ Asama Bin Laden and Aborted You).
Talent cannot be denied… forever. But at the end of the day, it’s still about who you know.
Rob Riggle (during a Del Close Marathon Workshop)
This is something I’ve been focusing on for the last year. Although there is sometimes a feeling of competition in improv between groups and performers, it eventually comes down to the connections you make in the community. Life is all about who you know and improv is no different. Being a person that people respect and want to work with, will help you in your success as an improviser. Being too competitive, backstabbing, scene stealing, selfish, or unsupportive will only push people away.
Improv, for myself, is a lot about comfort. It takes me about 3 classes to really begin to trust my teammates in my classes. This is greatly expedited by occasional drinks after class, or even a social group event like karaoke or game night. All of this allows you to socialize in the community to build strong connections to other performers and groups. The more people you know, the more doors will be available to you to walk through.
Of course being insanely talented will also bring you success, but will happen a lot faster if people want to work with you.
There is so much to see during the 9th Annual Del Close Marathon, that I thought I would share with you a few shows I saw last year or during this year that I heartily recommend. However, it’s important to note that this list is just recommended highlights. There are so many amazing performers in town this week that I could not begin to scratch the surface of what to explore. I am also not pointing out any of the resident New York groups that perform regularly at the UCB, they are all fantastic and well worth watching, but you know them already.
I should really tell you what day and what time to see all this stuff, but why don’t you print out a schedule for yourself and mark up what you want to see? It’s easier for me and also… easier for me.