Get ready to laugh, West Chester.On Nov. 12, stand-up and sketch comedy will join forces for The Happy Birthday Show at The Note.
Secret Pants, a Philadelphia comedy troupe, along with other sketch comedy acts and stand-up comedians will be performing at this comedy showcase.
Secret Pants are the oldest active comedic troupe in Philly.
The group consists of seven members: Brian Craig, Brian Kelly, Bryce Remsburg, Samantha Russell, Steve Thorne, Paul Triggiani and Larry Wiechecki. They met in a Temple university writing class in 2004.
After finding similar interests with Kids in the Hall and The State, Secret Pants was born.
The troupe’s style is inspired by Kids in the Hall and The State. Remsburg describes their style as “slightly edgy, while hopefully still being fairly smart.”
The troupe’s been performing since 2005.
They’ve been a featured attraction at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Philadelphia Sketch Fest, New York City’s Sketch Festival and Atlantic City’s House of Blues. Their podcast, which ranked within the Top 50 on iTunes, has been described by Wildcat Weekly as “the funniest podcast the net has to offer.”
In addition to live sketch comedy, the troupe has videos available on their website which provide a window into their style of comedy.
There’s a video about male booty shots as well as a video about dead prostitutes performing “The Glass Menagerie.” There’s also a video about summoning the spirit world that involves puppets.
The show they will be performing at The Note, “A Trainwreck in Slow Motion,” is a mix of everything they do.
The audience will be involved in certain sketches. There will be newer stuff and some weird stuff. And they hope the citizens of West Chester will be ready for it.
Secret Pants aren’t the only sketch comedy to be had for the evening. Meg and Rob, a popular comedic twosome, will be headlining the showcase.
Meg and Rob formed in 2005 upon meeting each other while working together at a television shopping channel. They shared the same comedic sense of humor and a mutual knowledge for performance, production and writing.
Since forming, the duo have performed all over the country. From Seattle to Philly, the duo have delighted. During their act, they’ll portray caricatures of politicians, archetypes and life coaches, among others.
And they go by Meg and Rob simply because nobody would be able to spell their respective last names: Favreau and Baniewicz.
Two Mustaches will also be performing sketch comedy.
As for the stand-up side of things, Chip Chantry, Benny Michaels, and Mike Gleason will be taking care of that.
Chip Chantry grew up in suburban Philadelphia and is a rising star in the Philadelphia comedy scene. He isn’t known to perform the same set twice so his stand-up style has been described as “ever-evolving.” It makes audiences want to come back for more just to see what he’ll do next. He’s joked about pet owners who love their pets more than their own children in the past. And his goal for a set is just to hear the howl of laughter from the crowd.
Benny Michaels, a Delco comic, might be the greatest stand-up comedian you’ll ever see in your life according to his MySpace page.
He has opened for the Reverand Bob Levy in the past and has performed all over the mid-Atlantic area.
Mikey Gleason is an accomplished writer, director, and producer who dabbles in stand-up.
All in all, if you’re looking to see comedy from some of Philadelphia’s best sketch comedy groups and comedians, this is the chance to do it.
Tickers are eight dollars advance and 10 dollars on the day of the show. 21+ only.
Chris Monigle is a fifth year studing majoring in Literature. He can be reached at CM660983@wcupa.edu