Upright Citizens Brigade to take on musical improvisation in Campus Events Commission show

The universally understood first rule of improv is to always say yes, even if that means saying yes to singing. Not just singing, but singing that involves making up words, lyrics and music on the spot.

That is what members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, with sponsorship from the Campus Events Commission, will be doing Wednesday night in Kerckhoff Grand Salon ““ musical improvisation. The Upright Citizens Brigade is a sketch comedy group notable for turning out well-known comedians such as Donald Glover, Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari.

One of the current members of the group is Eliza Skinner, who will be performing in the improv show.

Skinner said she is not nervous about the performance, in part because she has done improvisation before ““ though not as much as she would like ““ and also because she enjoys it so much.

“Improvising is basically just getting on stage and playing with friends and just doing that over and over until (I) get very good at listening to them and playing off their ideas. … It’s my favorite thing to do,” Skinner said.

The performance, which is a part of the CEC Speakers Presents series, is aptly titled “UCB, The Musical.” But improvisational pianist Adam Shenk, who will lend his talents to the show, said the show is not a parody of musicals.

“It’ll be fun. … The actors are people who like and respect musicals, so we’re not making fun of musicals. In a way we’re kind of just paying tribute to them,” Shenk said.

Still, those familiar with the Upright Citizens Brigade’s brand of humor can rest assured that they will have plenty to enjoy. The performance will still bring across the alternative sketch-style comedy that they are known for.

“It still has a similar tone and attitude as the other Upright Citizens Brigade shows. It’s not going to be like cheesy musical theater-y, but just having the music in it makes it a little different,” Skinner said.

Skinner also said audience participation will play an integral role in the show.

“We’ll get a suggestion from the audience and then we’ll improvise scenes and songs, and it will be kind of like a musical but without a plot. It’ll be funny and weird, and sometimes dark and very silly,” Skinner said.

Fourth-year art history student Lauren Zalman, who serves as the Speakers director for CEC, was responsible for bringing the Upright Citizens Brigade to campus. Zalman says that she is just continuing a tradition that has been going on for the last two years.

“They’ve just been consistently funny every time we’ve brought them, they’ve always brought a variety of humors. (Musical improvisation is) something different that we’ve never brought before, so we’re really excited about it,” Zalman said.

While musical improvisation is something new for the UCLA campus and CEC, both Skinner and Shenk said they are familiar with the format.

Between the performers who will be on stage, there is a wealth of mutual respect. Skinner said that Shenk is a great musician and his music is one of her favorite parts of the show. Shenk, likewise, had kind words for the actors.

“I have so much respect for them. I think that it takes a really specific skill set to be able to do both improv comedy and to be able to pull out the confidence to sing a song and make up words on the spot. … It takes quite a lot of skill,” Shenk said.