Photos courtesy of the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company website.
Ok, calm down. Yes, the organization that brought you such famous names as Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Abbi Jacobson, Ilana Glazer and more is coming to Long Beach.
Yes, they’ve never toured in Long Beach before.
But…but. But wait—there are no buts.
The comedy troupe co-founded by Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh is making a splash as part of The Queen Mary’s monthly Salon Series, landing straight up in the LBC for a night of improv and hilarity.
The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Touring Company show will offer participants 45 minutes of improvisation by four improvisers, in addition to a guest appearance by The Queen Mary’s own “Commodore.”
“This is the first-time ever the UCB Touring Company has performed on the Queen Mary,” said event organizer Alexandra Berru, who decided to bring the group to Long Beach because she wanted a contemporary element for this month’s series.
“I’m from LA and I enjoy the UCB performances at the Sunset Theater. When I reached out to them and they jumped at the opportunity. They’re excited for the series,” said Berru.
The Salon Series was created in honor of The Queen Mary’s 80th Anniversary, to entice the community to free or discounted events once a month on Thursdays after 3:00PM.
“This is a really amazing series for the local community—the Queen Mary is Long Beach’s ship,” said Berru. “We want to make sure we’re doing things for the community.”
Past programming has included vintage movies (think Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), corresponding to milestones from The Queen Mary’s life.
Thursday’s event will give residents the opportunity to see highly skilled improvisers without leaving the confines of the city, providing an up-close view of a troupe that has bred performers and writers for such shows as Saturday Night Live, Veep, Silicon Valley, Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Key and Peele, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and movies like The Heat.