Comedian Nick Gaza at Latitude 40, Robinson: May 24-25, 2013

Friday, May 24 & Saturday, May 25: Comedian Nick Gaza

If Nick Gaza looks familiar to you, he should – having appeared on hit TV shows including Drew Carey, Malcolm in the Middle, Becker, Dharma and Greg, Profiler, The Pretender, Comedy Central Tough Crowd, and many more. His stand-up career has spanned over twenty-five years and taken him all over the world. His comedy is a hysterical mixture of true stories and ones we can only hope are not true. With a strong improvisation background, every show is unique, while nothing – and no one – escapes the crosshairs of his comedy, including his friends, his family, the audience and even himself.

Friday Show: http://www.showclix.com/event/3754171/  9pm Show, 7:30pm Doors

Saturday Show: http://www.showclix.com/event/3754172/  9pm Show, 7:30pm Doors

Stand Up Comedy Class at Arcade Comedy Theater with Aaron Kleiber: Starting June 3rd, 2013

Hey Pittsburgh comedy friends:
I will be teaching a Stand-up Comedy class at Arcade Comedy Theater - starting June 3rd!
I know teaching stand-up is 'taboo' but I think it'll be a little different. I'd really like to contribute to bringing more great comedy to Pittsburgh. During the class, I hope to help hone each individual's unique stand-up styles of performance and writing. We'll be doing writing workshops, one-on-ones and incorporating improv/acting exercises for stage.

My description on ArcadeComedyTheater.com:
"This stand-up class will provide you with lots of ideas, exercises and techniques to help develop your writing, performing and critique of your own unique stage performance. Not everyone is a ‘Late Show’ jokester, not every one is a loud, charismatic performer, some of you are story tellers – we’ll find out what best suits you on stage and in your writing process. You won’t learn how to write jokes for your cousin’s wedding, be the life of the party or make business presentations hilarious – but we can discover how YOU can be funny on stage and create a stand-up performance from your own personality and experiences, whether you’re pursuing stand-up comedy as a hobby or as a career."

Classes start Monday, June 3rd.
8 weeks, every Monday from 6-8:30pm.
Class stand-up show to be held at Arcade Theater.
 
Register here: http://arcadecomedytheater.com/classes/courses/

If some of you don't know me well - come meet me at an open mic I host - Monday at The Pleasure Bar in Bloomfield or Wednesday at The Beerhive in the Strip (details on Weekly Shows page).

A little more about me: 

• Currently tours nationally with Bob Saget, Bert Kreischer, John Witherspoon and Bret Ersnst (past tours with Jim Breuer, Steve-O).
• Has performed in most national Improv & Funnybone comedy clubs including Hollywood Improv & The Comedy Store LA (won audience vote during a showcase).
• 2012 Pittsburgh Magazine, "Best Comedian"
• Winner of Pittsburgh's Gilda's Comic Search 2011 & Boston Comedy Festival finalist 2010.
• Touring Europe Fall of 2013 for the USO Comedy Tour.
• Credited actor in TV, Film and national commercials.
• Studied Improv & Comedy Writing at Second City, Chicago.
• Founder/Editor of PghComedy.comStand-up programmer for Arcade Comedy Theater

FYI: We're also having classes for Intro to Improv, Sketch Writing, Short Form Improv and more! Check it out!
All class & theater info: http://www.ArcadeComedyTheater.com

Hit me up if you have any questions: aaronkleiber@gmail.com

Sketch Comedy Writing Comedy Class at Arcade Comedy Theater: Starts June 2013

Intro to Sketch Comedy Writing

This class will focus on the very basics of sketch writing, including idea generation, brainstorming, comic premises and sketch structure. Whether you’re a beginning writer, a seasoned writer looking to learn a new form, or just want to refocus your writing in an encouraging, collaborative atmosphere, this class is for you. Through class exercises and assignments, students will learn to write comedy sketches from beginning to end. A notebook is required, because to learn to write, you have to write.
Taught by Larry Phillis. Class scheduled Tuesdays 7-10pm (Starts June 11). Registration $200

Information on all of our classes, including scheduling, pre-requisites, and how to sign-up can be found on our Courses page. Space is limited for all of our classes, so sign up soon. And if you have any questions at all, please email us or call 412-339-0608.

More about Larry Phillis

Larry Phillis started his improv career as a reluctant favor, taking his first workshop at the Outlet for Creativity in 1997 to ensure enough participants. He hasn’t stopped since. That year, he helped found The Cellar Dwellers, the Outlet’s house sketch comedy troupe. For the next year and a half, he learned to write and perform in Comarama, a new, original sketch show written and performed weekly.
Since then, he graduated from the Second City Conservatory Program, co-wrote Sketch-O-Frenia: 50 short and witty satirical sketches (Meriwether Publishing) and the play Pilgrim’s Progression (Heuer Publishing), took classes and workshops from the likes of Miles Stroth, Ryan Kiessling and Kiff VandenHeuvel.
He also is a founding member of Hustlebot, where he helped write and perform in a lot of tied for first place, second place and third place projects. He has taught writing, improvisation and acting for the Outlet for Creativity and the Pittsburgh CLO Outreach Program, along with team-building and theater improv workshops for The Boy Scouts, The Girl Scouts, numerous local high schools and colleges. He has written and performed in corporate sketch shows for Stifel-Nicholaus, Sodexo and Adult Literacy Action.
Besides writing and improv, Larry loves hockey, weird roadside attractions, waterfalls and Danielle. Not necessarily in that order.

Music Improv Class at Arcade Comedy Theater with Missy Moreno: Starts June 2013

Sing Yo Soul!: An Intro to Music Improv (Mini-Session)

As Madonna once taught us, “Music makes the people come together and makes the bourgeoisie and the rebels…” IMPROVISE! Take your scene work to another world, where all things sing! Students already familiar with the basic foundations of improvisation will learn to integrate the unique elements of musical theater into scene work and musicality into short form play, all while finding their inner rock-iviser. Class is four weeks long.
Taught by Missy Moreno. Prerequisite: any basic improv class. Class scheduled for Saturdays, 3:30pm-6:30pm. Registration $100

Information on all of our classes, including scheduling, pre-requisites, and how to sign-up can be found on our Courses page. Space is limited for all of our classes, so sign up soon. And if you have any questions at all, please email us or call 412-339-0608.

More about Missy Moreno

Missy Moreno is a singer/improviser/actor/comedian who has played and trained at the Second City in Chicago (Improvisation Conservatory, Music Improv Conservatory), The Annoyance theater (Chicago) and is a graduate of Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts in Pittsburgh.
Missy is the co-founder and co-lead of the Chicago Reader-recommended improv rock duo RESET LIST: An Improvised Rock Experience. Reset List has played Chicago Improv Festival, New York Music Improv festival and throughout the country. Other stage credits include: Jeff Award-winning production of The Original Grease (Best Mid-Size musical) with The American Theater Company, overseen by Jim Jacobs (writer); and “Alice” in Co-Ed Prison Sluts, Chicago’s longest running musical and flagship show of The Annoyance Theater, under the direction of Mick Napier. Missy will be in this summer’s No Name Player’s musical production of Vivos Las Bastarditos a 2010 NYC Fringe Festival winner. Missy, originally from Pittsburgh, is proud to work and play at the Arcade Comedy Theater! www.missymoreno.com, www.resetlist.com

Improv Two, Short Form Class at Arcade Comedy Theater with Abby Fudor: Starts June 2013

Improv Two: Short Form

Building on previous concepts, IMPROV TWO focuses on short form improv. We’ll be delving into a variety of different performance games including: character-based games, option games, scenic games and story-telling games, concluding with the mechanics of putting the pieces together for a successful performance. Invite friends and family to a 45-minute show of improv games for our final week.
Taught by Abby Fudor. Prerequisite: Improv One or a first-level improv class. Class scheduled for Tuesdays, 7-10pm. Registration $200

Information on all of our classes, including scheduling, pre-requisites, and how to sign-up can be found on our Courses page. Space is limited for all of our classes, so sign up soon. And if you have any questions at all, please email us or call 412-339-0608.

More about Abby Fudor
Abby is a graduate of The University of Pittsburgh where she earned a degree in theatre arts and communications (credits include: Death: A Play, The Boundary , and Bat Boy! The Musical). In May of 2008, Abby graduated with top honors from the Heinz College of Carnegie Mellon University, earning a Master’s Degree in Art Management. Following graduation, Abby worked as Marketing Director of Dance Alloy Theater. Since 2005, she has been increasingly involved with the leadership of the once-New York based summer classical theater company Bakerloo Theatre Project, holding such positions as general manager, special events coordinator, and marketing director.
For the past decade, Abby has been a regular performer at Friday Nite Improvs at the Studio Theater, University of Pittsburgh, a show specializing in short-form improv and audience participatory theater. In 2010, she helped form Frankly Scarlett, an all-female comedy troupe which has appeared at the Cabaret at Theater Square, Arcade Comedy Theater, and as contributing artists to No Name Players’ Swan Day show.
She has taught workshops on short form improv and sketch comedy at Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University, Pitt, and in Cape Town, South Africa.
At the tender age of 8, Abby also received dance instruction at the Abby Lee Dance Studio, of Dance Moms fame. Since Abby Lee is her namesake, she will strive to teach all of her improv classes with the same style of terror and sass.

Improv Class at Arcade Comedy Theater with Kristy Nolen: Starts June 2013

Improv One: The Basics

This eight-week, three-hour class taught by Second City alum Kristy Nolen is open to everyone and appropriate for all levels of improv experience.Whether you are completely new to improvisation, or are a seasoned performer who wants to get back to basics, this class is for you. Students will learn: “Yes And” (agreement and extension), group mind, give and take, and basic environment and object work in a supportive, playful environment. The class culminates with a 30-minute “work-in-progress” showcase during week nine.
Taught by Kristy Nolen. Classes offered either Wednesdays 7-10pm or Sundays 6-9pm. Registration $200

Information on all of our classes, including scheduling, pre-requisites, and how to sign-up can be found on our Courses page. Space is limited for all of our classes, so sign up soon. And if you have any questions at all, please email us or call 412-339-0608.

More about Instructor Kristy Nolen

A Pittsburgh native, Kristy Nolen received her BFA in acting from Ohio University, and Marymount College’s actors training program in London, taught by professors from RADA and LAMDA. Next on to Chicago, where she trained primarily at the iO Theater and Second City Training Center with amazing teachers and directors such as Del Close, Martin DeMatt, Don DePollo, Jeff Richmond, Armando Diaz, Mick Napier, Charna Halpern, TJ Jagodowski and Susan Messing. Kristy’s Chicago improv credits include legendary venues such as the Second City Tour Co., Annoyance Theater, IO Theater, Noble Fool Theater and The Playground. She began teaching and coaching all levels of improv, including youth and teens and created the kids improv curriculum at the Art Institute with the Noble Fool Theater.
As casting assistant to Ms. Alderman at Jane Alderman Casting, Kristy has helped cast projects including ABC’s What About Joan, NBC’s ER, HBO’s The Mind of the Married Man, and feature films Normal, Joshua and Children on their Birthdays.
Ms. Nolen has performed at the Kansas City Improv Festival, the Big Stinkin’ Improv Festival in Austin, Texas, and the Chicago Improv Festival. A proud Boom Chicago alumni, Kristy performed and taught in Amsterdam all around Holland and some of Europe with other well-know alumni such as SNL’s Seth Meyers, MADtv’s Josh Meyers, The Mindy Project’s Ike Barinholtz, The Colbert Report’s Emmy Award winning writer Pete Grosz and executive producer and writer of Portlandia, Allison Silverman.
After ten years in Chicago, it was on to Los Angeles, where she improvised at iO West (with the iO Rep and teams Foster Kids and Hat Trick), The Boom Chicago Alumni Show at UCB and The imMEDIAte Improv at The Pasadena Playhouse. Kristy appeared in various national commercials, including Oberto Beef Jerky, BevMo, NFL Network, “What Happens in Vegas”, and Teleflora (Super Bowl Ad). Her television credits include ER and Early Edition, as well as the film credits, On Becoming Blonde, Liar’s Club, and the improvised film, Crushed.
Kristy and her family are thrilled to be back in da ‘burgh, where they now have both house and hound. You can find her performing most weekends with the Arcade’s house team, Player One and around town with the talented all-female sketch troupe, Frankly Scarlett. She’s happiest when coaching, teaching or hanging out with her tween daughter, Madeline. Being a founding member of the Arcade Comedy Theater is a dream come true.

Comedy Classes at ARCADE COMEDY THEATER: Starting June 1st, 2013

Registration is now open for all of our summer classes at Arcade Comedy Theater! Two levels of improv, teen & youth improv, sketch comedy, stand-up, and a 4-week musical improv class all starting this June! Sign up soon because slots are limited.

Comedian Darren Carter at Latitude 40, Robinson: May 17-18, 2013

Friday, May 17 & Saturday, May 18: Comedian Darren Carter
with Matt Wohlfarth

As soon as Darren Carter takes the stage, he unleashes a comedy experience unlike any other with a captivating flurry of impersonations, observations and off-the-wall social commentary. Darren's contagious charm and vivid imagery paints a picture that is both relatable and unique – it’s no wonder critics nationwide are calling his act "one-of-a-kind" and "a must see." His distinctive blend of comedy, sketch and impersonations has garnered industry attention in comedy, acting and music. He has appeared on the big screen in Be Cool with John Travolta as well as a string of TV appearances including Comedy Central's Premium Blend, BET's Comic View, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and regular guest spots on Comics Unleashed, E!’s Chelsea Lately and Showtime’s Comics Without Borders. He also has two comedy albums – Shady Side and That Ginger’s Crazy –available on iTunes.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE - at STEEL CITY IMPROV

8PM- RUCKUS: 

Come see some fast paced short-form improv. Games, characters and scenes that make you laugh your work week off. “Can you describe the ruckus sir”.

9PM - THE STEEL CITY CAGE MATCH:

Two improv teams take the stage for 20 minutes each. You the audience vote to see who comes back as reigning champs.

10PM - THE JAM SESSION:

Open to all that want to come play or come watch. All are welcome to jump up on stage to do some improv games.

$5 pays for all night.

STEEL CITY IMPROV

5950 Ellsworth ave, Shadyside Pa.

steelcityimprov.com

JO KOY from Chelsea Lately at the Pittsburgh Improv: May 16-18, 2013

Thu - Sat, May 16th - 18th Jo Koy  with Aaron Kleiber Jo Koy: From filling clubs across the nation to being seen weekly as a regular guest on Chelsea Lately, Jo Koy has come a long way from his modest start performing at a Las Vegas coffee house. His infectiously explosive energy on stage, insightful jokes and family inspired humor cross all boundaries and led Daily Variety to name him one of the “10 Comics to Watch”. Born in Tacoma, Washington, Jo credits his mother for his comedic and acting talents. Growing up, his a...

STEEL CITY IMPROV FRIDAY NIGHT

MIDSEASON REPLACEMENT - 8PM
A completely improvised sitcom based on your life. One audience member tells us his/her family story then we make it a sitcom.

$5 at STEEL CITY IMPROV
5950 Ellsworth, Pittsburgh, Pa 15232

Go to STEELCITYIMPROV.COM for parking detours!

LAWPROV – 9PM
The audience comes up with an issue of the century. Then a brilliant group of improviser will make a mockery of it. Just like the real law.

$5 at STEEL CITY IMPROV
5950 Ellsworth, Pittsburgh, Pa 15232

Go to STEELCITYIMPROV.COM for parking detours!

THOROUGHLY MODERN MUSICAL  10PM – One suggestion and a Broadway bound musical is created. Truly amazing.

$5 at STEEL CITY IMPROV
5950 Ellsworth, Pittsburgh, Pa 15232

Go to STEELCITYIMPROV.COM for parking detours!