Old Man Drew says 'Get off my lawn and into the Urban Well!

This Monday the 24th we're BACK!

Give Me A Beat!

The Uranus show was a lot of fun. We had to do the show with the pounding stripper music from above which gave all the acts a strong pounding back beat.
To see us without the beat come to the Urban Well this Monday!

WEDNESDAY!!!

The fundraiser is WEDNESDAY the 19th. NOT Thursday as listed in the post below.

And just because it's fun...here's another picture of Drew in an embarassing costume.

Send Drew and his Semi-Racist Horse to Chicago

Just a reminder of the Chicago Fundraiser this WEDNESDAY at Uranus.

This post said Thursday for a while. But that was wrong. Very wrong.

Get Outta Town fundraiser

HELP SEND OUR 'CANADIAN CONTENT' TROUPE TO THE UNITED STATES!
Fundraiser to send Canadian Content & Instant Theatre to the Chicago
Improv Festival (April 24-30th)

Wednesday April 19 @ 8pm:
Uranus Lounge (Broadway & Kingsway...in the lounge downstairs without the strippers)
Tickets: 10$ advance @ wink (153 e 8th) or $12 at the door

Join us for a great night of sketch comedy (Canadian Content)
and improv comedy (Instant Theatre)
plus special guests and strippers upstairs for later!

Canadian Content is: Toby Berner, Ian Boothby, Chris Casillan, Penelope Corrin,
Nathan Clark, Diana Frances & Drew McCreadie

Instant Theatre is: Taz Vanrassel, Alistair Cook and Ryan Beal

Chicago Reviewer Helper

Dear Chicago Improv festival reviewers,

We at Urban Improv realize that during the festival your time is stretched to the limit. With this in mind we have provided a review of our April 29th show below for you to use. To be fair and to not compromise your integrity we have supplied both a positive and negative review. Feel free to use the one you see fit.

Sincerely,

Urban Improv presents Canadian Content



Good Review

The discovery of fire, the invention of penicillin, man landing on the moon, all good in their own ways but now Urban Improv presents Canadian Content puts them squarely in the back seat strapped in their child safety harnesses. As a critic I try to avoid hyperbole but this show is the reason theatre was invented. Off the top, I couldn’t believe how many free cars they gave away. But this just set the stage for what was to be the greatest night of my life.

Diana Frances opened with a sketch about a doctor’s office, similar to the ones Mike Nichols and Elaine May performed in the 1960s. But in the course of the scene she ad-libbed a cure for all known diseases. Ian Boothby built on this offer and in doing so ended the sketch with a joke so good it restored the sight of a row of blind audience members.

Nathan Clark’s impression of a video game addicted lawyer made an audience member laugh so hard that she spit out her false teeth. Penelope Corrin’s song about a Monkey Prime Minister made the same audience member laugh so hard she grew a new set of adult teeth and her supposedly permanently damaged spine repaired itself. She may have come to the theatre in a wheelchair but she was dancing all night long.

The pressure was now on Toby Berner, Chris Casillian and Drew McCreadie to wrap the show up with a sketch that would top everything we’d seen. Adding to the strain was the fact that Drew was appearing by live video feed while doing charity work overseas. But their sketch, “A Jew, a Buddhist and a Catholic Walk into a Bar” was not only hilarious but logically and definitively explained who is the one true God. As word of the sketch spread, all the religions of the world breathed a sigh both of surprise and relief and have vowed to put all religious difference aside and form the one true church. Not bad for a sketch that was mostly fart jokes.

They say one person can’t change the world but let me tell you, one comedy troupe truly did. Every show is a little different they promise so don’t expect the show I’ve described here but take my advice and see “Urban Improv Presents Canadian Content”. I’m going to take a week off now to weep with joy.


Bad Review

“Urban Improv Presents Canadian Content” is a swift kick in the unfunny nuts.
Starting three hours late because cast member Nathan Clark wanted to take a nap after a night of drinking, we were told the exits were locked and there would be no bathroom breaks. We were then cruelly shown a film montage of waterfalls, sprinklers and children standing waist deep in warm swimming pools.

Ian Boothby provided audience warm up by flirting with every woman over 80 years old in the audience. Soon we realized he had nothing to do with the show and a police officer escorted him from the theatre.

When the first sketch finally started, “9/11 at the 7-11” I couldn’t decide if this tasteless exercise was more racist, sexist, homophobic or misanthropic. I couldn’t decide because it was performed entirely in French by Penelope Corrin, Diana Frances and Chris Casillian, none of whom apparently speak French.

Toby Berner and Drew McCreadie took the stage for a skit about how annoying people with cell phones are at the movies. A fine premise but when an actual cell phone went off in the audience Toby in a fit of rage pulled out a knife and leapt into the audience stabbing wildly. Drew decided to cover for this awkward moment by setting the theatre on fire and telling everyone to run for their live. Sadly he forgot that the exits were locked.

I write this from a hospital bed at the St. Paul’s hospital burn ward. My doctor says that by writing about the experience I’m making the first step in my recovery and increasing my odds that the nightmares where the show replays in my head will soon stop, at least during my waking hours. I’ll never forget Urban Improv Presents Canadian Content. If I can just warn one person about this show then all my third degree burns and permanent psychological damage will have meaning.