Lace up your hiking boots, grab a few cases of PBR and some granola, your best ghost stories, and well, a pair of your most fasionable jorts because
Lace up your hiking boots, grab a few cases of PBR and some granola, your best ghost stories, and well, a pair of your most fasionable jorts because Rich Girls Comedy want you to come on a camping trip.
The funny guys behind the local comedy group will put on “Salute Your Jorts,” a camping-themed comedy show filled with improv, sketch comedy and perhaps some S’mores making this Friday at Gallery 5.
It will be the third event at the gallery for the six-member improv and sketch comedy group and it’s the first with a camp theme.
Jason Velez, Patrick Nowaczyk, Jody Allen, Brandon Beswick, Chris White, Neil Heltzel, and Jordan Halpern are the guys behind the improv and sketch comedy group and have been performing as a team for the last year and a half.
“The whole idea of it is a bunch of like-minded people in the stand up comedy scene decided to get together and form a group in hopes of performing more shows and bring something a little different to the Richmond comedy community,” Rich Girls member Patrick Nowaczyk said.
All of the Rich Girls Comedy will act as the “camp counselors” and put on a play the first night of camp, of course.
We try to combine improv, sketch, and standup in most of our shows,” he said. “We’re going to play different games, improv games and short sketches and stand up all revolving around the camp theme. People coming into the show will be like campers on their first night of camp.”
If you haven;’t been to camp before, then you’re for a treat because Nowaczyk said the Salute Your Jorts event will also have arts and crafts, a survivial session, aquatics, cooking, archery, and of course improv games.
Rich Girls Comedy started about three years ago. The group performs stand up, improv, short videos and sketches online and around town and books the bigs through new agent East Coast Entertainment. The comedy team mainly performs at Gallery 5, open mics across the city, McCormack’s Irish Pub, and sometimes the Funny Bone. They’ll all mostly Richmond natives about 25-27. Nowaczyk has been a stand-up comic for three years.
“We all met through stand up open mics and performing,” Nowaczyk said. “Eventually we decided to form a group.”
Rich Girls Comedy performs at private gigs as well.
“We did a show a month ago for an 80 year old man’s birthday party,” he added.
Honoring the 90s TV hits and one of my faves, “Salute Your Shorts,” the guys had the help of Unusual Uptown to come up with the name and concept for the poster which all came together about three weeks ago.
Audience members will be able to suggest ideas using Twitter.
“What we try to do with Twitter is get suggestions from Twitter and use those suggestions in real time so people are joining during the show,” he said. All show won’t be like that, some shows the audience will be able to participate and yell out suggestions.”
Nowaczyk said having the audience participate is what brings the shows together.
“People really dig the improv stuff, they are part of the show it’s a really fun environment and it really brings crowd in on the performance,” he added.
And although it’s camping-themed, don’t plan on bringing your sleeping bag or bunking with a fellow camper, because it’s just a one-day camp!
“The show will run about an hour and 15 minutes,” he said. A camp song at the end of the show will be a thing too that’s how we’ll close it out, but don’t bring any tents or fire starting.”
The free event is this Fri., June 19 at 8 pm at Gallery 5 at 200 W. Marshall St. The group has over 80 people attending so far.
