Improv Asylum video parodies The Town

A week after it's debut, The Town was still one of the biggest movies in the country this weekend. Add to that the local setting, and it was only a matter of time before the video parodies started rolling out. Improv Asylum is one of the first out of the gate with The College Town. The stakes have never been higher for beer pong.

Happy ImprovBoston Day!

In recognition of 29 years in operation, in Inman Square and now in Central Square, the City of Cambridge has declared September 9 "ImprovBoston Day." You can read the official declaration here. The proclamation provides an interesting snapshot of IB's history, going back to its founding by former Second City student Ellen Holbrook in 1982 and the fact that it once operated in a club owned by former Celtic Satch Sanders.

IB kicked off its Second Annual Boston Improv Festival last night, which will bring over 100 performers to three stages through Sunday. Acts come from all over the country, and a few, like We're From Here, WDWMKR, and Montreal Improv, from Canada.

Joe Bill also returns Saturday, but not with his usual act, the fantastic duo of Bassprov, which has played the Lowell Comedy Festival in the past. And the North End comes to Central Square when Improv Asylum brings its new mainstage show, Hungry, Hungry Hipsters to ImprovBoston Sunday.

BC News Bits: Ken Reid, Nick Di Paolo, Jimmy Dunn, and the Friars Club

Ken Reid is one of the "Daily8" featured comics on RooftopComedy.com today. The video featured is "I Miss Paying Rent," taped live at Mottley's Comedy Club, about his racist but understanding former landlord.
----------
Danvers native Nick Di Paolo has redesigned his Web site at www.nickdip.com. It's a vast improvement over his old site, much easier to navigate and easier on the eyes. Here's a quick announcement from Di Paolo about the new design.


----------
Jimmy Dunn made a name for himself in local advertising with his spots for Olympia Sports, which featured a rotating cast of local comedians. He's now expanded a bit to produce an ad for Seacoast Harley co-starring Joey Carroll and Jim McCue. Here's the ad:


----------
Three teams with ties to Boston will be competing in the Friars Club Improv and Sketch Competition on June 25th at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. Code Duello (Neil Reynolds and Matt Tucker doing their best Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton)will compete in the improv portion, with Improv Asylum's Vanity Project serving as first alternate. Somebody's in the Doghouse will compete in the sketch portion.

Micah Sherman with Second City in Boston

Micah Sherman made a strong impression during his short time in Boston as a improv performer with Improv Asylum and a stand-up comedian, often working with Myq Kaplan at The Comedy Studio. He has since moved to New York City, but makes it back to Boston frequently (and Bostonians can always see him on YouTube in short videos he makes with Boston ex-pats Dan Hirshon and Joe List at FunnyCakesComedy).

This week through May 9, he'll be performing with the Second City stage show One If By Land, Late If By T at the BCA, sponsored by Improv Asylum (click here for tickets and times). We spoke in some sort of odd conference room set up at the Second City after party last week.

Part One:


Part Two:

2009 College Improv Tournament -- Prelim Results

The preliminary winners from this afternoon's 2009 Coolege Improv Tournament at ImprovBoston are in:

Match A Winner - Cheap Sox (Tufts University)

Match B Winner - Purple Crayon (Yale University)

Match C Winner - DangerBox (New York Univeristy)

Match D Winner - TBS (Brandeis University)

Match E Winner - Seriously Bent (Suffolk University)

These winners will face off at Improv Asylum tonight at 11PM, and the winner will go on to compete against other groups from around the country.

Third Annual College Improv Tournament: East Coast Regional in Boston today

Fourteen improv teams will compete today in two different venues starting at noon for today's Third Annual College Improv Tournament. Priliminaries start at ImprovBoston at noon, with teams from Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and run on the hour until 4PM. The finals then move to Improv Asylum at 11PM. The shows are open to the public, tickets are $10 for the prelims and $15 for the finals, available by phone at ImprovBoston (617.576.1253) and Improv Asylum (617.263.6887). Student discounts available.

Participating schools: Emerson College, Yale University, Boston University, Tufts University, Salve-Regina University, Northeastern University, New York Univesrity, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Colgate University, Brandeis Univesrity, Penn State, Suffolk, and Mount Holyoke.

John Lehr at Improv Asylum Tonight

John Lehr, star and co-creator of the TBS show 10 Items of Less, will drop by Improv Asylum tonight for their Vanity Project show. If you've never seen this IA show before, take a look. A guest speaker tells a few stories, and a pick-up crew of some of the Asylum's better players improv scenes based on themes and details from the story.

Lehr is in town on a publicity stop for 10 Items, which just kicked off it's third season on TBS yesterday. And though it would be tough to recognize him from the spots, Lehr also plaued one of the cavemen in the Geico commericals.

Watch for more on Lehr in this space tomorrow.

Vanity Project, 8PM tonight at Improv Asylum, 216 Hanover St, Boston. 617-263-6887. $15.