Third Beat

Ahh, Friday! Fresh faces, sanitary eating habits, and hydrated bodies. This was the way of life just days ago. It’s hard to believe now, after living in our own filth for the remainder of the weekend, that we were ever sober and possessed clean laundry.

I spent my time at the Del Close Marathon occupied with photography duties, so my recaps are brief (but pretty). Full sets of photos are not currently available, but I’ve chosen one from each show to tease y’all.

Favourite moments from Friday night:

Moments before door opening, Friday afternoon

-Chris Gethard as an unstoppable Andy Rooney during Stepfathers. Hilarious.

-Matt Walsh and Jon Glazer calling “time outs” during Apples & Oranges to explain improv technique to the crowd.

-Mark Sutton singing Dido during Bassprov. So out of context.

Wyatt Cenac sat in for Ed Helms in Satellites, the Dave Matthews Band inspired show. The ask-for was a favourite DMB lyric or song title, from a fan. The selected fan chose “Crash Into Me”. To which an actual douchey DMB fan responded “you’re not really a fan!”. Ok, I admit it, that d’bag was me. But no true DMB fan considers that song their favourite, and if they did they certainly wouldn’t publicly admit it. C’mon, fake DMB fans, leave Satellites alone! (I kid, of course. Sort of.)

Which does also bring up the point: when the (arguably) 2 biggest stars of DCM (Helms and Rob Riggle) bailed on shows, UCB’s lips were sealed. No changes were posted or made on the website. When everyone’s schedules are made so strategically (you can’t normally get BACK into a venue for hours after you’ve left), isn’t it kinda crappy to let people try to venue hop to see a specific person who isn’t even going to be there?

I’d had a long day so I turned in early, missing such epic performances as Yoda Hot Tub at 3am. But never fear — Sean over at The Comic’s Comic has the details of those shenanigans, including video of Brett Gelman’s backstage prep. Definitely worth checking out!

More to come re: Saturday’s shows, including my thoughts on staying awake long enough to witness my first-ever Match Game ‘76.

In the meantime, here are those shots from Friday night. Lots more under the jump.

Press Conference

View more photos

Bad news, marathoners: Rob Riggle has confirmed that he is pulling out of this year’s Del Close Marathon.

From Twitter:

@RobRiggle I will not be @ the Del Close Marathon this year, so bummed out! Only missed two before; both because of war. Now, filming a movie. ROWYCO!

"May I be excused from Marathon? I have a note from my agent." Riggle performs in Satellites at DCM 2008. Photo by Sharilyn Johnson

Back in the spring, Riggle booked standup dates at Cobb’s in San Francisco — which disappeared from his calendar right after Marathon dates were confirmed for that same weekend. I assume that wasn’t a coincidence, and that Marathon remains a priority for him. You certainly can’t blame the guy for choosing a film career over a few improv shows.

No word yet on who will replace him in Delta Force or Mantziggle, but keep an eye on the schedule, as it should be updated soon.

BTW, that reference in Riggle’s tweet to “war” is because of his time serving in the Middle East while an active Marine. During all of his absences from Respecto, his teammates would hang his UMSC t-shirt on the back wall so he’d still have a presence. This year, one assumes they’ll nail a large sack of money to the wall.

Another absentee this year is Reuben Williams member Lennon Parham, who is also missing for positive reasons: her role in the new fall show Accidentally On Purpose, filming right now in LA. I spoke with her recently and she’s understandably pretty sad about missing DCM, so watch the show this fall so that her sacrifice isn’t in vain!