This month, Go Comedy! Improv Theatre is set to begin its second year making Detroiters laugh with a Miracle. After breaking through its one-year anniversary, Go Comedy! will open its first holiday themed show, Miracle on 9 Mile Street, Friday November 20th at 8pm with additional schedule changes for the holidays. Tickets for Go Comedy! Shows ($5-$15) are available by calling (248) 327-0575.
Equal parts sentimental and snarky, Miracle on 9 Mile Street is 90-minutes of original sketch comedy that examines holiday habits from southeast Michigan malls to the North Pole, and back to the family next door. Written by and featuring Go Comedy! resident cast members Chris DiAngelo (Ferndale), Anne Faba (Clinton Township), Garrett Fuller (Garden City), Pj Jacokes (Ferndale), Suzie Jacokes (Ferndale) & Bryan Lark (Ferndale), Miracle is the third Go Comedy! show jointly directed by Tommy & Michelle LeRoy (Ferndale). Miracle on 9 Mile Street will run 8pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights November 20 - December 19. Tickets are $10 on Thursday nights and $15 Friday and Saturday nights.
Sundays have more action at Go Comedy! beginning Sunday, November 8th with the debut of Action Jackson, the theater's newest team of improvisers. Action Jackson features Peter Banachowski (Oxford), Woody Carter (St Clair Shores), Jeremy Conn (Garden City), Amy Frank (Ann Arbor), Carrie Lynn Hall (Berkley), Joe Hingelberg (Plymouth), Mark C. Holden (Birmingham), Paul Jonna (Royal Oak),
Matthew R. Klug (Grosse Pointe Park) and Chris Petersen (Ann Arbor) in a half-hour of action packed improvisation. Action Jackson (8:30pm) follows Go Comedy! producers Chris DiAngelo and Pj Jacokes in the improvised show Elemenopy at 8pm. Go Comedy!'s fully improvised rock opera Rock-o-Matic closes out the Sunday night line-up at 9pm through the end of the year. Tickets for Sunday nights at Go Comedy! are just $5.
A complete weekly schedule follows this release.
Since opening in November 2008, Go Comedy! has proven that in a tough economy, nothing beats the healing power of laughter (and a few beverages from the Go Comedy! bar). The 90-seat cabaret theater & bar in the former Secretary of State building in Ferndale garnered the title of Detroit's Best Comedy Club for 2009 by both Metro Times and Real Detroit, while being named Newcomer of the Year by Between The Lines & Encoremichigan.com, winning the theater critical praise:
"This new comedy club has the talent to give Detroit-area audiences the comic relief they so desperately need." - Detroit Free Press
"We've never laughed so hard before in our lives." - Real Detroit
"Mind-blowing, laugh-so-hard you're crying improv... All of the off-the-cuff humor one could ever dream of." - Metro Times
"The hardest I've laughed during a live performance." - Metromode.com
"Unbridled enthusiasm and bucket-loads of talent." - Between The Lines
Go Comedy! Improv Theater is the brainchild of Pj Jacokes (Ferndale), Chris DiAngelo (Ferndale), Tommy LeRoy (Ferndale) and Gerald Knight (Ann Arbor). While Go Comedy! is the first business venture for this comedy quartet, Jacokes, LeRoy and DiAngelo have spent the past ten years collectively working in various capacities for The Second City (Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago), The Planet Ant, The Improv Inferno, The Purple Rose, Meadowbrook Theatre, The Furniture Factory, The University of Michigan's CRLT Players, and Totally Unrehearsed Theater at The Comedy Castle, among others. Knight, the president and majority partner, is a retired high school teacher, currently co-owner of Heat Controller, Inc and President of Speckhard-Knight Charitable Foundation.
The complete weekly schedule follows.
Fridays and Saturdays
The Go Comedy! All Star Showdown
Dark Matter
Anchoring the theaters' weekly schedule is the Go Comedy! All Star Showdown, which runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm and 10:00pm. In the All Star Showdown, two teams of Detroit's best improvisers go head to head in an improv competition tailored to challenge their abilities, think on their feet, and give audiences a roaring good time. The cast also plays for audience members who take home fabulous prizes when their team wins. It's a night of hilarious laughs and great times at the Go Comedy! All Star Showdown.
After the 10:00pm shows on Friday & Saturdays, the cast of the All Star Showdown, returns to the stage for the no-holds-barred improv show, Dark Matter, where the game show format is gone and the stage is completely open for suggestions.
Friday November 13 & Saturday November 14: 8:00pm & 10:00pm
Beginning Friday, November 20 - December 19: 10:00pm only.
Tickets for the Go Comedy! All Star Showdown are $15.
Tickets for Dark Matter are FREE.
Tickets are available online at www.gocomedy.net, by calling (248) 327-0575 or in person at 7:00pm Wednesday - Sunday.
Wednesdays
The Golden Hour
featuring Generation Gap & the Go Comedy! Launch Box
Proving Grounds
Fresh Sauce: The Open Improv Jam
Wednesday nights at Go Comedy! are a showcase for Detroit's Improv artists. The night kicks off at 8:00pm with The Golden Hour featuring Generation Gap and the Go Comedy! Launch Box. Generation Gap brings multiple generations of improvisers together to improvise across the troupes' various age gaps. They're followed by the Go Comedy! Launch Box, Go Comedy's own team of up & coming improvisers.
At 9:00pm, Go Comedy! presents The Proving Grounds, an opportunity for three local improv troupes to prove their stuff. Participating troupes present a variety of performances from basic improvised games to new and experimental material. The line-up of troupes will be posted at the theatre and on the Go Comedy! website at www.gocomedy.net. Interested troupes should contact Chris DiAngelo at chris@gocomedy.net for an open spot on the Wednesday night line up.
Wednesday evenings conclude with the exciting show, Fresh Sauce: The Open Improv Jam hosted by Pete Jacokes & Bryan Lark. Fresh Sauce gives anyone the opportunity to step up and improvise with the pros. Sign ups are available immediately following the 9:00pm show.
Tickets for Wednesday nights are $5 for the evening.
Tickets are available online at www.gocomedy.net, by calling (248) 327-0575 or in person at 7:00pm Wednesday - Sunday.
Thursdays
Miracle on 9 Mile Street
Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers Present the Gift of Music
Beginning Thursday, December 3rd the holidays are a time for laughter at Go Comedy! Featuring two original sketch comedies written by the Go Comedy! cast! The Thursday night holiday line up for December features:
8:00 PM - Miracle on 9 Mile Street Equal parts sentimental and snarky, Miracle on 9 Mile Street is 90-minutes of original sketch comedy that examines holiday habits from southeast Michigan malls to the North Pole, and back to the family next door.
10:00 PM - Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers Present the Gift of Music Join Go Comedy! resident member Matt Naas and his band of Sing-A-Long singers on an exciting adventure to the North Pole. Will they find the Gift of Music? Will they save Christmas? Find out in this hilarious original comedy written by Matt Naas in the style of his hit improvised show, Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers.
Tickets for Thursday nights are $10 for the evening
Tickets are available online at www.gocomedy.net, by calling (248) 327-0575 or in person at 7:00pm Wednesday - Sunday.
Sundays
Elemenopy
Action Jackson
Rock-o-Matic
Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers Present the Gift of Music
Sunday nights at Go Comedy! are action packed with great improvisation & original comedy from the areas best new comers and veterans.
8:00pm - Elemenopy an improvised show featuring the improv power-duo, Go Comedy! co-founders and producers Pj Jacokes and Chris DiAngelo.
8:30pm - Action Jackson the theatre's newest team of improvisers. Action Jackson is a half-hour of action packed improvisation
9:00pm - Rock-o-Matic, the fully improvised rock opera that takes the Go Comedy! stage by storm every Sunday night. Using only audience suggestions, the cast creates an on-the-spot musical comedy accompanied by a live band featuring Mikey Brown (Ferndale), and Ryan Parmenter (Plymouth) with Matt Naas (Ferndale), Pj Jacokes (Ferndale), and Suzie Jacokes (Ferndale).
10:00 PM - Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers Present the Gift of Music Join Go Comedy! resident member Matt Naas and his band of Sing-A-Long singers on an exciting adventure to the North Pole. Will they find the Gift of Music? Will they save Christmas? Find out in this hilarious original comedy written by Matt Naas in the style of his hit improvised show, Matt Naas and the Sing-A-Long Singers.
Sunday Tickets are $5 per show or $10 for the evening.
Tickets are available online at www.gocomedy.net, by calling (248) 327-0575 or in person at 7:00pm Wednesday - Sunday.
Go Comedy! Improv Theater is located at 261 East Nine Mile Rd in the building formerly occupied by the Ferndale Secretary of State office. A shining new addition to downtown Ferndale, Go Comedy! offers the finest in improv and sketch comedy, a training center, road shows, classes and workshops for private parties, corporations and schools. For more information, call (248) 327-0575; visit our website at www.gocomedy.net or e-mail Producer, Pj Jacokes directly at pj@gocomedy.net.
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