RECAP: The Sixth Borough: Depression Isn't Just A River in Egypt, 4/3, Connie's Ric Rac

Photos by Dave Walk
The Sixth Borough: Depression Isn't Just A River in Egypt
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Connie's Ric Rac

One quick glance at the title of The Sixth Borough's latest show may, well, depress you. Are they going to talk about the sad state of this country, the very thing that the audience may be at the show to avoid? Thankfully, no, not too much at least. The show opened with a old-timey educational video about Fairmount ("A Neighborhood For Kings"). I, for one, learned a lot about that part of the city that I haven't really visited too often. That one block of Fairmount St. looks to be the place to be.

Elsewhere, there was an violent intervention, vampire reality show producers, cults, a depression study by a non-doctor, a monkey that could read and a few 10-second sketches. The highlight of the night was a video concerning a love triangle between two dudes, a girl and a bunch of mix CDs. Hopefully the video will be hitting your internets soon.

The five members of the group have differing acting styles that make for an interesting mash-up of sensibilities. And by the time they did talk about our economic disaster, it was all ok in the end with the song and dance number "We're In The Money" because we are sooooo in the money!

Also, this may be a better time than most to present to you our new Flickr photostream featuring photographic images from live shows around Philadelphia. Look for more soon!
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RECAP: The Dave Hill Explosion, 12/5

This past weekend, New York City comedian Dave Hill made his triumphant return to the Shubin Theatre during the Philly Improv Theater's week of shows there.

After reading a story from his memoirs about "gay socks", Hill informed the crowd that he wouldn't perform his crowd-pleasing Explosion theme song. Instead, he would perform a new routine that he required a small animal. Luckily, there was one in the crowd: a chihuahua named Zoe.
And then Dave performed the Dave Hill Explosion theme song anyway.







-Dave's first guest was Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and reporter Karen Heller. Over her almost 20 years there, we learned that she's been yelled at by Zsa Zsa Gabor, had Bruce Willis shove his feet into her face and holds the distinction of being the first woman to tour the D.C. sewer system. She was also a 2001 Pultizer Prize finalist for commentary, which Dave certainly had some questions about.

- Dave's interview style usually entails layering question upon question to the point where the interviewee only gives a short response. It wasn't annoying though, everyone was just interested to hear what he was going to say next.

- One standout gem: as the discussion shifted to the time that racist Senator Strom Thurmond asked Ms. Heller to sit on his lap (she politely declined), Karen questioned if Dave was old enough to know who Strom Thurmond was. Hill's reply: "I know enough to be glad he's dead."As the interview drew to a close, Dave played a song he wrote about Ms. Heller. It required the audience to clap along, of course.
- Performing next was Bret Tobias from the defunct Philadelphia band The Bigger Lovers. He played two songs and unfortunately there was no time for an interview. And so concluded The Dave Hill Explosion.
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PHOTOS: Chicago!

Here at Comic Vs. Audience we feel that we need to offer you an apology. We didn't post anything last Thursday or Friday, but we have a good reason for it, we were in Chicago and too busy having fun to be bothered!

But now we are back with some photos we took in an effort to regain your trust. We had a great time and Chicago is really an amazing city (seriously!). Enjoy the photos!

The legendary Second City (1616 N Wells St). A breeding ground for improv and sketch comedy, many Saturday Night Live greats have come from here: Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Chris Farley and more.


And near Second City is the Chicago stand-up staple Zanies (1548 N Wells St), which boasts to have featured many comedians before they became famous.


The Jay Pritzker Pavilion (201 E Randolph St). Designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, this pavilion is home to the Grant Park Music Festival and many free concerts throughout the year.

The marvelous Crown Fountain (201 E Randolph St), located in Millennium Park near the Jay Pritzker. The faces of local yokels are projected on two 50-foot glass towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool for the kiddies to play in.


The Cloud Gate (201 E Randolph St), affectionately called "the bean" by locals, is a 110-ton elliptical sculpture with a 12-foot arch for walking through and taking reflective photos of (entertaining photos not included here).


The Boring Store (1331 N Milwaukee Ave), in the heart of the Wicker Park neighborhood (which is the Northern Liberties of Chicago from what we could tell), is a spy store and front for the 826CHI, a Dave Eggers/McSweeney's writing workshop for students ages 6 to 18.


Sad news: the legendary bank robber John Dillinger has been shot at the Biograph Theater (2433 N. Lincoln Ave.) coming out of a movie there.


Even sadder news: the Haymarket Riot happened (151-199 N. Desplaines St). Eight policeman and innumerable civilians died in what was supposed to be a peaceful rally in support of the eight-hour work day (what a silly idea!). This event was an important influence on "May Day", which is now celebrated throughout the world and mostly ignored in the U.S. (crazy foreigners!).


And the worst news of all: a large fire spread throughout downtown Chicago. The fire was so damaging in fact that they are calling it, aptly, "The Chicago Fire". Luckily our hotel was sparred. Plans are in place to name their professional soccer franchise after the tragedy.

Well, we hope you enjoyed our definitive tour of Chicago. We've got a lot of great stuff coming up next week, so strap in and mentally prepare yourself.
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PHOTOS: Philly Sketchfest, 6/6

With all of the excitement this week, we almost forgot to post the photos we took from the Philly Sketchfest earlier this month. The two-day festival that included pretty much every sketch group in Philadelphia was a lot of fun and worked nicely in the beautiful theater at the Painted Bride. And, according to David Terruso, one of the producers, it raised $2,250 for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Next year's festival promises to be bigger with the possibility of bringing in out-of-town groups.

We were only able to be at the Friday show, so unfortunately we don't have photos from Saturday night.

Bad Hair



Host and One Man Sketch Group, Chip Chantry

Meg & Rob

Secret Pants


Rowan & Hastings



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