I dated a member of the GW improv comedy troupe ReceSs throughout college- spending a lot of my first few years of higher education getting high, getting drunk, scream laughing, and eating Manny & Olga’s with the budding comedians- who are all pretty accomplished now. It was orgiastic, messy, and loud. It was beautiful.

Apparently these days receSs members are spending less time getting wrecked and more time getting shit done… or maybe they are just really high-functioning alcoholics. Proof: the revivial of Slate: The World College Comedy Festival that will feature every college improv group worth anythingas well as professional improv groups like Derrick Comedy, Washington Improv Theater, and Upright Citizens Brigade.

Local stand-up comedienne Erin Ryan chatted with ReceSs’s Darren Miller and Kevin Mead about the comedy blitzkreig befalling our district this weekend. Think about it: drunk college comedians running loose all weekend- the beauty and the horror is almost too much….

What prompted Recess to revive the Slate Festival?

Slate has always been a big part of receSs history.  We keep a big box of tons of old receSs posters, sketches, videos, and mementos.  Even some audition sheets.  The best part of going through that history box has always been finding the old program for the first Slate, in 1998.  It was this amazing event with a bunch of different schools, premieres of new South Park episodes before they aired, and the original UCB Four doing sketch and improv.  Yet it only happened once.  Getting to the point where it would be feasible to do it again has always been a huge goal, and fortunately we’ve worked really hard this year to make it happen.

How did you score big name acts such as Derrick Comedy, WIT, and the UCB TourCo?

receSs has been around for about 18 years now, and has been traveling to festivals every year.  Both Derrick Comedy and UCB TourCo have been important fixtures in recent years at the National College Comedy Festival at Skidmore College.  In the past few years, members of receSs have taken classes at UCB Theater in NYC, and being able to get to know Derrick and TourCo on some level at least made it so that when we contacted them and asked them to come down, they knew who the hell we were.  Also, this past year at the NCCF, we had an ongoing battle with Derrick throughout the weekend and pretty much proved that we’re way more into hip hop than they are.  And we’re pretty sure they thought they were really into hip hop.

Derrick Comedy’s Bro Rape

I’ve heard Recess is the longest running Comedy Group in DC – how long have you guys been around?

receSs has been around since 1990. Famous-ish alums include TJ Miller (Second City, ABC’s Carpoolers, Cloverfield), Chris Himes (Saturday Night Live), Emily Axford (McSweeney’s, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Colbert Report), Herschel Bleefeld (A Lot Like Love, I Love The 90s, Six Feet Under), Hilary Winston (My Name is Earl, The Orlando Jones Show, Blue Collar TV.)!

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being “excellent”, how would you rate the overall sense of humor of DC residents?

You mean like college kids? 6.8.  Or do you mean political junkies?  They’re more like 3.9.  If you’re talking about DC Hipsters, they’re like a 7, or a 2, depending on the day, and on which hipster you’re talking about. Tourists fluctuate too, because there’s often a language barrier, and/or an age gap issue.  But while we’re on the subject, DC babies have a surprisingly wonderful sense of humor.  8.8.  I guess it’s really a case by case basis.

What kind of pandemic preparations are you making for visitors to the festival?

Everyone will be naked and sneezing.

Which act of the festival would you call MUST SEE / CANNOT MISS?

Well, the last receSs show of the year, and the last receSs show ever for the four seniors, will not only feature their “Senior Moments,” a receSs tradition where each senior gets stage time to do whatever he/she wants

without telling anyone beforehand, but will also be co-headlined by UCB TourCo, and MAY include a surprise guest performance by some really awesome receSs alums.  But I’d also say, as far as run-on sentences go, the former sentence about the show alone was pretty boss.  But to be honest, every show has at the VERY least one guaranteed mind-blowing moment.  Trust us.

What was your favorite Recess activity as a kid?

Darren:  Four Square, for serious.  That’s why we’re having a FREE BBQ AND ALL-COLLEGE FOUR SQUARE TOURNAMENT IN KOGAN PLAZA IN THE MIDDLE OF CAMPUS ON FRIDAY ALL AFTERNOON SO YOU SHOULD ALL COME!

Kevin: Well, I didn’t really start doing improv until I got to college

Which College in the festival has the best mascot? Will they be in attendance?

We had to do some research for this one.  For some background info, the schools participating are BU, School of Visual Arts, Penn State, UMaryland, Georgetown, and Skidmore College.  The mascot for the School of Visual arts is called “Squidly” and appears to be a Squid shaped like a hand, wearing a beret.  That’s tough to beat. Then we’ve got Terriers, Terps, and Lions, and Thoroughbreds, pretty standard (although Thoroughbreds may be a little bit loaded, politically speaking).  Georgetown’s mascot is the Bulldog, but their team name is the Hoyas.  THAT’S SUPER CONFUSING, GEORGETOWN!  Our logo is pretty great as well.  We’re the colonials.  Which means our mascot is a guy who would be willing to kill you, if he saw you walking through the woods wearing red.

A formal invitation to Slate

Do you hope to continue The World College Comedy Festival annually?

Definitely.  We’ve actually already booked the theater for next year.  We hope to build on everything that works each year, and make it better every time.  So this interview will happen again next year, only the answers will be wiser and more thoughtful.  Like wine.
This Saturday is your last Recess show ever, and you’re co-headlining with the UCB TourCo. Is that bittersweet, or just really sweet?

It’s both.   Our time in receSs has been incredible, and being able to contribute to its legacy in some way is all we could ever ask for.  And performing with UCB TourCo makes it really special, because UCB stands for what we’ve always strived for since the beginning, and now they’re here with us in the end.  Is “strived” a word?  If anyone comments on this article, an it be to answer that question?

See Slate website for festival details