The Weekend in Review

- Friday night, improv group Illegal Refill performed with PHIT resident group Everything Must Go at the Shubin Theatre. Says IR's Amie Roe: "Our show had some fun themes running throughout it, like law enforcement being terrified of violence, and music completely defining how a person thinks and acts. The audience was quiet at first, and we had to work hard to win them over. Eventually, we were able to get them to loosen up and follow along with us, and then they really started to respond with lots of laughter."

- Also on Friday, The N Crowd did their usual Friday night show at 8PM at The Actors Center but then tacked on a 10 PM show as well. Says N Crowd's B.J. Ellis: "We added a second show because our 8 p.m. had been sold out more than week in advance. We tacked on a 10 p.m. show to see if there was interest in our audience base to hit up a late night N Crowd show. there obviously was. Both shows were very well received by the audiences."

- On both Friday and Saturday night, stand-up comics Chip Chantry and Doogie Horner performed about a half hour each of material at the Shubin Theatre that was recorded for a possible CD and/or DVD. Says Chip: "The shows were a whole lot of fun. The crowds were great. By the end of the night the room was hot and steamy from the energy. Like right after a great basketball practice, or an awkward sauna experience." Yours truly hosted the shows and can concur with Chip's statements.

- Saturday, sketch group Secret Pants screened their short "Dead Hooker Theater" in the The Rocky Balboa Picture Show 2 - Rock Treatment (Shorts Program) of the Cinefest 2009 and Philadelphia Film Festival. Says SP's Brian Kelly: "every gag got the reaction that we were hoping for. The final beat in there, a tease for the next episode of Dead Hooker Theater, probably got the most positive response. With our videos, there tends to be an even split between people who think that we're sick and talentless, and people who think that what we have to offer is funny. This crowd seemed to be 75% in favor, which is a good sign. We're excited to see how it does when we release it to the internets."

- On Saturday night, Philly ComedySportz took on their New York brethren: a battle of Broad St. vs. Broadway as it were. According to the group's Twitter (everything is through Twitter now, isn't it?), NYC won the first show 30-27 and Philly scrapped out a win 27-26 in the second show. The group also just debuted their new website.

- We didn't talk to Joe Rogan, who was at Helium this weekend, but he had this to say from his Twitter:

Philly was wild and fun as fuck. One of the best weekend ever. Video soon to follow this week, we got a lot of great shit

and:

Holy fuck these shows in philly are awesome. I'm blown away. Some of the best crowds ever