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LA Lands Two Friars Club Comedy Competition Finalists
A while back, LAist tipped off the local comedy scene about the upcoming Friars Club Improv & Sketch Competition being held June 25th and 26th at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) in New York City. Well folks, we weren’t joking, and the $10,000 grand prize certainly isn’t anything to laugh at. Apparently a few hundred sketch and improv teams didn’t think so either, forcing the Friars to separate out the comedy gold from the pyrite pile. And after weeks and weeks of submissions, LA will be representing left coast comedy in both the improv and sketch categories.
Alex Fox and Rachel Lewis will be combining their two-woman improv powers to form The Jon & Eddie Show in hopes of unseating some of the best improv from across the country, including the notoriously amazing The Stepfathers from NYC. Former longtime Chicago performers, the Jon & Eddie show have been bringing their super-physical and generally absurd brand of comedy all around town since 2008, from Second City to Westside Comedy to the Comedy Central Stage. If you’re not familiar, these ladies are certainly worth a look.
On the sketch comedy front, UCB’s LA contingent is repping well with the highly successful Midnight Show. With a new, celebrity-hosted sketch comedy show every month, the Midnight Show guys are quickly making a larger name for themselves in the comedy world. Already they’ve had some of their friends go on to write for SNL or Community, and more than a few of the current members can be seen just about any time you turn on the TV. However, sketch juggernauts Harvard Sailing Team and Elephant Larry (both repping NYC) have been absolutely on fire lately, making the Friars Club Improv & Sketch Competition a hotly contested battle.
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As things like the LA Improv Comedy Festival, LA Comedy Fest, and LA Fringe continue to grow, it’s likely we’ll start to see levels of comedy competition that rival the Friars Club Improv & Sketch Competition. Until then, it’s important the LA continues to rep hard whenever and wherever we can. After all, there’s a reason all the good New York City comics move out here.
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