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2019 is coming to an end, so we wanted to take a moment to think about the most impactful moments in the DC comedy community in 2019.
In the last year of the decade, we laughed A LOT with and for our fellow comedians. We also mourned the loss of significant performance spaces that were home to improvisers, sketch comedians, stand-ups, and storytellers. But in true comedic form, we did a lot more celebrating than grieving.
Overall, 2019 was a great year for DC comedy. Take a look at our list of some of the top DC comedy moments of the year. And comment with your own top moment if we missed something!
Top DC comedy moments of 2019
This list was compiled using answers from a community survey of DC comedians. The answers are listed in no particular order and are grouped by theme.
WIT FIST 2019
Washington Improv Theater’s Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament—commonly known as FIST—is an annual bracket-style competition. Improv teams of four players or fewer compete for the title of FIST champion.
A win for Broken Bones
Broken Bones (Erick Acuña, Neil Baron, Kristina Martinez, and Kelsey Peters) emerged as WIT FIST champs for 2019’s tournament.
“Watching Broken Bones win FIST felt like a win for everyone and for DC improv!” said improviser Nicole Barrett.
Improviser Heather Marie Vitale agreed, saying, “It was so fantastic to see a new brand of comedy get the recognition it deserved. [Broken Bones has] two improvisers who came from a different city and two improvisers who play more NY style, and they just played balls to the wall. It was so gratifying to see them win!”
Improviser Geoff Corey also pointed out that Broken Bones’s 2019 win was a big deal for diversity in the DC improv scene: “It felt like a big deal to have not only the first Latinx FIST winners, but I believe the first FIST champions to have more than one POC too.”
I Don’t Know Her’s stellar debut
I Don’t Know Her (Nichole Hill, Precious Jenkins, Lauren Jordan, and Simone Webster) was another FIST team that received a lot of attention this year. A student team whose members are all women of color, I Don’t Know her made it all the way to the tournament’s Comeback Bracket and were definitely a crowd favorite.
Improviser Béatrice Leydier recalls being backstage during the group’s first show, saying, “The noise from the audience was so loud we had to turn off the speakers entirely.” At that point, she says, “We knew we had lost.”
Geoff Corey’s backflip
Finally, improviser Geoff Corey unveiled his acrobatic skills for the first time onstage in a Love Language (Ryan Brookshire, Geoff Corey, Justine Hipsky, and Lauren Woody) show when he did a backflip.
The crowd went wild, and we’d be remiss not to mention it as a memorable moment from 2019.
Closure of beloved performance spaces
In 2019, DC said goodbye to two significant performance spaces.
The Unified Scene Theater
The Unified Scene Theater was home to many improv students and teams, as well as DC sketch group Bad Medicine. Under the direction and ownership of Shawn and Kathy Westfall, Unified hosted popular improv shows, such as Bring Back the ’90s and Fish Outta Water.
Losing Shawn Westfall’s years of experience teaching and performing improv, both at the DC Improv and at his own theater, was a blow as big as the loss of the performance space. However, improviser Iulia Gheorghiu was quick to note that Unified Scene didn’t leave quietly. Its goodbye party “was such a raucous bash, spilling out into the street.
But the closure of the space “remains a very bittersweet memory for all the improvisers that have gotten to perform there, especially the ones who were pretty much ‘raised’ through its programs.”
The Pinch
The loss of this Columbia Heights punk bar and performance venue was another huge blow to the DC comedy scene, especially its stand-up community.
Comics cite The Pinch’s Tuesday open mic as one of the few mics in the city that wasn’t a “bringer” show. Many comics mention The Pinch as a space where they could easily get time and perfect their material.
For the improv community, the bar was also home to shows like Improv Brunch, The Penthouse Basements Improv Showcase, and Trustfall’s comedy showcase. These shows often gave beginner teams and veteran improvisers the opportunity to play on the same stages.
Despite the closure of these spaces, improviser Alex Kazanas has a hopeful outlook for DC comedy:
“With a heavily burgeoning comedy community like ours, it’s a big loss when performance spaces close for whatever reason. However, I don’t think it’s limited us as comedians. We are resolute and always pressing to look for new venues, even if it means putting up shows out of our own homes. The loss of these spaces are forcing us to dig deep into our grass roots and think outside the box a little bit.”
Feminine Experience’s third year running
FemX was created by Annie Barry in 2017 and handed over to her assistant director when Barry moved to Seattle in 2018. This year’s show was Kelsey Peters’s first time in the director’s chair and, according to professional DC comedy fan Peter Casey, starred “some of DC’s bravest, most talented women improvisers.”
Improviser Béatrice Leydier, who watched one of this year’s two shows, said the experience had her “crying and laughing in such a truthful and deep way.” She added, “It was definitely one of the most intense performance experiences of the year for me, and all these womxn were so damn beautiful.”
In addition to creating a space for womxn to share their stories, improviser Clare Mulligan points out that the show also raised a ton of money for House of Ruth, which “empowers women, children, and families to rebuild their lives and heal from trauma, abuse, and homelessness,” with its two sold-out shows.
Acuña Acuna’s Best of Fringe win
Acuña Acuna, a one-man show written and performed by improviser and sketch comedian Erick Acuña, won the Best of Fringe award at this year’s Fringe Festival.
Dojo Comedy owner Murphy McHugh says, “Erick Acuña’s show winning Best of Fringe is a statement for the quality of performers in our community that they can go out and be collectively recognized as high quality artists and art in a more traditional theater community”
Improviser Geoff Corey agrees, citing the win as a huge victory for Erick: “[the show’s victory] certainly lifted Erick to a whole new level as a comedian in the scene, with wide respect across forms of comedy (especially coming right off The Broken Bones win).”
Growth of Dojo Comedy
Dojo Comedy is home to many improvisers and sketch comedians, and it’s had a good year, adding more shows, classes, and workshops to its offerings.
The Character Show, Stacey Axler’s Stacey With a Side of Schmear, LadyBits, Whodunnit: An Improvised Murder Mystery, sketch shows with Brick Penguin, Deer Friends, and the Dojo Comedy sketch community have all been going strong in 2019.
Improv workshops that catered to different groups
In addition to providing Improv for All workshops open to the general public, WIT expanded its offerings to several groups of people with a more specific eye to their needs.
Remember that time the government shut down this past year? Many in DC are still trying to forget it. However, the shutdown inspired one of improviser Dan Miller’s most memorable moments: workshops for furloughed feds.
Led by Ben Taylor and Donna Steele, Dan describes the workshops as a “spur-of-the-moment decision” that “provided real catharsis and relief for people who were in really negative places.”
Overall, Dan said, well over 1,000 people took Improv for All workshops this year, “including special ones in ASL by Erin Murray and Analia Gomez Vidal’s workshops for folks who speak English as a second language.”
Dan points out that, “It’s easy to forget that these workshops happen once you’re in the thick of the community but they regularly blow people’s minds.”
Sketch Comedy Happy Hour
Sketch group Bad Medicine organizes a sketch comedy happy hour semi-regularly in order to bring members of the DC sketch community together.
Isaiah Headen, a Bad Medicine manager, writer, and performer, said this year’s happy hour “was a huge success. We had representatives from every theater on hand, and everyone took turns talking about their events. It was a really strong community presence which echoed the growth I’ve been seeing in the sketch comedy scene.”
Improvapalooza 2019
Another WIT event, Improvapalooza is a multi-day festival where improvisers submit ideas for all kinds of weird, bold, different improv shows. The improv community mentioned several shows, including Rave Bomb and Conversations with My Dead Eggs. However, two shows from this year’s Palooza stood out to the community, in particular.
Puss and Kooch
The hosts of this very podcast put up a circus-themed show at Palooza. While the show itself was great, it might not have been as memorable had a woman from the audience not loudly body-shamed people who dislike salads, calling them fat.
The crowd in Source—which was packed to the gills—went nearly silent as Puss and Kooch took a moment to talk about body positivity. As improviser Heather Marie Vitale said, “They responded in beautiful and genuine ways that made me feel so good about DC comedy.”
Mayo Poppins
There’s no way we could ever explain Mayo Poppins with mere words. You’ll have to watch it for yourself…if you dare.
As one off-camera audience member said, “This is so unnecessary.” But as improviser Geoff Corey says, “Despite all of the above, 2019 will be remembered for Mayo Poppins, and that’s the way it should be.”
Cheers to 2019, and we’ll see you in 2020
So despite the losses of some major performance venues, it sounds like you all had an amazing time in 2019.
Cheers to our growing comedy scene! We’re excited to see what 2020 will bring.
You can follow this podcast on:
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