Upright Citizens Brigade
| Formation | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, Horatio Sanz and Drew Franklin |
| Type | Theatre group |
| Purpose | |
| Location | |
| Website | ucbcomedy |
The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Adam McKay, Horatio Sanz and Drew Franklin. Other early members included Neil Flynn, Armando Diaz, Ali Farahnakian and Rich Fulcher. The group was named by McKay's friend Rick Roman, who was not a member.
In addition to live performance, the Upright Citizens Brigade expanded into teaching and training, as well as television, film, and digital media. Members of the original group created and starred in multiple television series and films, appeared regularly on late-night television, and developed improv formats that were adapted for broadcast. UCB also produced web series beginning in the late 2000s and entered into a first-look production deal.
Alumni of the UCB community have gone on to create and staff numerous television programs, contributing to the organization's broader influence on American comedy; Saturday Night Live, for example, has been known for seeking top talent from UCB's pool of students. In addition, TV shows like The Chris Gethard Show, created by Chris Gethard; and Broad City, created by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, started out as UCB experiments.