The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre’s Maude Night promises to present sketch comedy from some of their ‘best sketch writers and performers’. Any hint of concern roused by this bland description might not be alleviated but enhanced by the absurdly low ticket price of $5. Luckily my curiosity exceeded my trepidation, however, and I arrived at the UCB theatre on Monday 13^th February with refreshingly low expectations. Thankfully I was not the only one to be led into the skeletal, but surprisingly comfortable, theatre hidden beneath a vast supermarket as it was packed. And thankfully, also, the laughs were anything but cheap.

Fambly were up first and presented a sparkling array of high quality writing. The opening sketch began with a seemingly ordinary confrontation between a boss and two employees called in for mixing business and pleasure. The mundane rapidly descended into the ridiculous, as the boss revealed a preposterously large picture board of the companies most eligible bachelors with which he proceeded to attack his female employee’s taste in men. The absurdity continued in the unforgettable sketch of four guests in a restaurant waiting for one to finish his meal so that they could sit at his table. Initially, the watching group are patient but soon transform into one of spontaneous singing and newspaper ripping aggravators. This sketch, in particular, proved to exemplify both the utterly convincing and fearless acting on display as well as the tight direction.

Other sketches did not present everyday scenarios descending into chaos but played with particular elements from the onset. Highlights were the irresistibly funny discussion of a criminal charge for giving a ‘blumpkin’ (you really don’t want to know) and the inappropriately abrasive and disproportionately emotional outbursts from a spectator at a track meet. Apparently there was a Rodney Dangerfield impression also but I was too perplexed (and amused, I must admit) by the comic’s exposed flaccid member to hear a word.

Whilst Fambly chose to intersperse their sketches with short video clips to keep the audience entertained – sexy ladies putting their clothes on instead of off and a wonderfully baffling collection of Sprite adverts – the second group, Neighbor Boy, chose these moments to break the forth wall. Between sketches a writer came forward to talk to the audience directly. Much of these instances revolved around ridiculing the outlandish ideas posed on the website Kickstarter, to which it emerged the group themselves signed up for with little success. Such an employment of metatheatre toyed with the crowd and kept them questioning the authenticity of what was on display.

It was in the body of the main sketches, however, that the group really shone. A couple’s game night began with crisp observational humour and then slapped it in the face with a portrayal of violent marriage. A - superbly acted - nonchalant student moved her furniture around her new apartment to mistakenly open a portal to another world. Out of it stepped a flamboyant mystical creature whose exaggerated attention seeking she refused to indulge. A PBS pledge fell victim to blackmail, as the two live presenters warn that they will axe Downton Abbey if the fundraising budget was not met. As telephones start ringing around them, they up the stakes by manically threatening to reveal future plotlines on the spot. The overall pace of the show was faster and more frenetic than that of Fambly, who often languished in pauses, but Neighbor Boy was no less absorbing. The acting here was again of an impressively high standard with no sense of a weak link in the performers or the sketches themselves.

Such an evening is never without its small imperfections, whether it’s a stumbled line or a flat gag. However, such blots serve to remind the audience of how impressive these teams are in being able to pull such a quality show together, so regularly and within so little time. And with each audience member paying an unbeatably low price for their ticket, there really is no excuse but every reason to go down and check it out yourself.

For more articles like The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre’s Maude Night, please visit the Stage Features Section of TimesSquare.com