Respecto Montalban
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Respecto Montalban was an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe associated with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City from 1998 until September 2005.
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[edit] Origin
Respecto Montalban came together in July 1998 during the Del Close Improv Marathon, when seven members members from different "Harold" teams joined together to do a gospel-inspired improv show at 7AM on a Sunday morning. The group immediately clicked with a collective comedic sensibility and soon left their other teams to form this new group. After a few performances as Respecto Montalban, they added newcomer Jackie Clarke to complete the team.
The name of the group is an homage to the actor Ricardo Montalban, although they were primarily referred to as Respecto.
[edit] Performances
The team was adept at the long-form improvisation technique known as the Harold. Their Harolds were distinguished by openings that created scenic tableaus and characters. However, after a time, the team expanded their focus away from the Harold and tried different styles of Long Form Improvisation. The group finally adopted the Evente (created by Armando Diaz) as their signature form; they performed this show for several years to sold out crowds every Saturday night at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In 2004, to fill the void for missing castmembers, Jack Mcbrayer was brought into the group and became the official 9th member.
They won acclaim for improvised shows like "Fat City: Population YOU!" and "Good versus Elvis" They were cited in The Village Voice's Best of NYC issue for 2004.[1] Billed as "the Upright Citizens Brigade's official touring company," they appeared at such comedy gatherings as the Chicago Improv Festival and San Francisco's Sketchfest.
The group also put up four highly successful sketch comedy shows: "Burn Millionaire Burn", "Doin' Blow with George W.", "When Amish Attack", and "George Bush Is a MotherFucker". Their final show, "George Bush Is a MotherFucker" was conceived and guest directed by Adam McKay (SNL, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights). Running during the 2004 presidential campaign, this show sold out a month in advance.
[edit] Members
The original members of the group included Chad Carter, Danielle Schneider, Dannah Feinglass, Jackie Clarke, Owen Burke, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel and Rob Riggle. The group's popularity at the UCBT was a springboard to comedy careers for its members: Riggle, a Marine who served in both Kosovo and Afghanistan, has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live and a guest on the American version of The Office, and is currently a regular on The Daily Show. Rob Heubel has had guest spots on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development, and was a producer for Michael Moore's The Awful Truth, but is perhaps best known as the Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man from in-cinema advertising.[2].
Paul Scheer appears weekly on Vh1's Best Week Ever, and can be seen in School for Scoundrels and was a guest on the Jeff Goldblum TV drama Raines. He is currently is working with Respecto castmate Rob Huebel on Human Giant, a sketch comedy series for MTV. Dannah Feinglass was on MADtv and had a popular celebrity interview show on TBS called Movie Junky, in which she frequently conducted interviews in costume. Owen Burke is most recognizable for his appearance as the "Dancing Guy" in Nextel ads, and has appeared in many shows on Comedy Central and Vh1. He is currently writing The UCB Theater's Guide to Improvisation.
Jackie Clarke is a frequent DJ/co-host on several radio shows on 92.3 WFNY-FM. Chad Carter is a television writer who has written for the upcoming Nick Park animated CBS show Creature Comforts and the ABC reality show My Kind of Town. Danielle Schneider has made appearances on Best Week Ever, MTV's Beach House, and UPN's Love Inc., and she can be seen in the upcoming Amy Poehler/Rachel Dratch comedy Spring Breakdown.
Most of the group also appeared in the 2005 SXSW Award-winning comedy film Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, an improvised film about the world of paintball featuring The Daily Show's Rob Corddry. The group also held guest writing spots and made frequent appearances on the Comedy Central debate show parody Crossballs.
[edit] Post-Respecto
In October 2006, many of the remaining members of the group relocated to Los Angeles and started performing at the West Coast Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in "MySpace", an improv comedy show based on audience members' Myspace profiles. The show has been featured on Good Morning America and was voted the Best Improv in LA by Los Angeles Magazine.
Many of the members perform stil perform together at the UCB Theater in NYC AND LA in ASSSCATT, MYSPACE, Death by Roo Roo, and Coffee Is for Closers.
[edit] External links
- Rob Riggle's website (includes a photo of Respecto Montalban]
