EXCLUSIVE: The UCB Theater returns as Mosaic Founder Jimmy Miller and former CEO/Owner of The Onion Mike McAvoy have acquired the iconic comedy brand with financial backing from Elysian Park Ventures.
As part of the acquisition, they plan to reopen theaters and completely rebuild the Upright Citizens Brigade business in the coming months, including providing additional support and opportunities for comedic talent and continuing the brand’s efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive environment to accomplish. I’m told the venue’s reopening includes UCB’s Black Box Theater at 5919 Franklin Ave. in Hollywood.
Miller will serve as chairman and McAvoy as CEO of the new UCB entity, which is not part of Mosaic. Representing several big names in comedy, Miller brings a long track record of success in the entertainment industry to the future of UCB.
The acclaimed comedy theatre, started in New York in 1999 by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh, came at a time when the quartet were launching their hit Comedy Central sketch series Upright Citizens Brigade, the ran, exploded for three seasons from 1998-2000. While the four separately embarked on their own comedy paths in showbiz after the Comedy Central show, the UCB theater and school grew into a beast in their own right and quickly became an incubator for comedic talent from film and television, with a theatrical and… Improvisation/Sketchwriting School in Los Angeles 2005 at 5919 Franklin Ave.
With the pandemic taking a toll on many theaters across the US, both live and cinemas, UCB was forced to close its New York City locations at the onset of Covid, followed by the sale of its then five-year-old, two-stage venue 5419 W. Sunset Blvd in December 2020. At the time of the latter announcement, UCB was making efforts to maintain its original black box venue at LA 2005 Franklin Ave. During UCB’s downtime, it was said in improv comedy circles that the theater/school wanted to go non-profit, but they found a savior in Miller, McAvoy and Elysian Park Ventures, the latter the private investment arm of LA Dodger. More details on the UCB revamp will be announced on ucbcomedy.com in the coming months.
It will be great to get the UCB Theater back up and running as the industry truly sees the franchise as a place to nurture talent. The Groundlings was forced to close during the pandemic and moved classes online, but was then able to reopen last summer. Chicago’s Improv Olympiad, of which the UCB founders were originally members and studied under improv guru Del Close, has been forced to shut down entirely as a result of the pandemic. For the industry, it was a place to nurture burgeoning talent such as Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon and Bobby Moynihan, along with multiple Emmy nominees Ellie Kemper and Jack McBrayer. Rob Corddry and Rob Riggle of The Daily Show; Love’s Paul Rust, League veterans Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas; Poehler’s Parks and Recreation colleagues Aubrey Plaza, Ben Schwartz and the late Harris Wittels; and Broad City’s Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, to name a few.
Given the ardent following of UCB students here in LA, several daily shows at the 92-seat Franklin Ave. Theater sold out seven days a week. Because of this demand, the org graduated to the state-of-the-art, two-stage Sunset Blvd space, which had an 85-seat theater, a 60-seat theater, 14 classrooms, a podcast studio, as well as two large open bars and areas for community/screening/party use .
Matt Better, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh
“We are pleased to hand over the reins to Jimmy and Mike in the hope that the theater and school will continue to be a thriving environment for all who wish to learn and perform comedy,” said UCB founders Poehler, Besser, Roberts and Walsh , “We look forward to the way they are championing diversity and ensuring the continued existence of an organization that we have loved and dedicated to for over 20 years.”
“We’re thrilled to be reopening theaters and bringing improvisers from all walks of life back on stage,” Miller told Deadline. “I look forward to helping Mike and the team in their endeavors – I consider UCB’s theater and school to be another great client. To clarify my interest in this – I love comedy, I love improv and I love UCB. I want to be sure that this business will continue and prosper for another 20 years and beyond. Although this will be a separate business from Mosaic, I hope synergies are found that offer total value, support and stage time to as many artists as possible, regardless of their representation.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to help guide one of the most respected and influential comedy institutions through its next challenges and opportunities,” said McAvoy. “We have many great plans that we can’t talk about in detail just yet, but our first priority is to reopen theaters and training centers in Los Angeles and New York with diversity, equality and inclusion at the forefront. The additional resources available to us will allow us to pay artists for stage time and enhance the UCB 4 scholarship program, which will continue to help underprivileged students.”
UCB’s new management will also work with Arts Consulting Group, a third-party firm that has consulted with members of the UCB community on a variety of diversity initiatives, including the establishment of human resources departments and the formation of a special committee to oversee and execute, ongoing and actionable plans for diversity, equal opportunity and inclusion.