Attend PHIT’s 2018 Black Friday Comedy Marathon at your own risk

We at BSR have warned you in the past about Philly Improv Theater’s annual Black Friday Comedy Marathon (BFCM), running Friday, November 23, through Saturday, November 24, at the Adrienne. And I personally would be remiss if I didn’t reacquaint you with the risks of attending in 2018.

First of all, the title is a misnomer: it implies that this Philly comedy extravaganza happens on Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving (AKA the day some of us have to start stressing about Christmas). Yes, this event begins on Black Friday, at noon, but it continues all the way until midnight on Saturday, November 24. That’s 36 straight hours of standup, sketch, improv, and variety shows, and many other things that frankly defy description. So don’t be fooled by the name: this isn’t something you can finish in one day, in between trips to the packed Käthe Wohlfahrt tent at the Christmas Village and Shake Shack at 20th and Sansom.

You’re being warned

As usual, there are many reasons to be wary of BFCM, if you do decide to get tickets (a single pass lets you come and go at will for the duration). One look at the full lineup will give you some sense of the weirdness that awaits, like The Improv Royal Rumble on Friday at 7:55pm. Created by Nick Elmer, it stars 25 performers on one stage, entering one after the other, one minute at a time, each with random theme music that inspires their character. A single “referee” manages the show and can disqualify any of the players at any time for any reason, like hesitation, being bad at the “yes, and…?” principle of improv, or offensive personal odors. The last person left onstage wins. Let’s remember to be kind to the winner and losers in a spectacle like this.

Starting on Saturday at 1:50am and running through 7:55am, BFCM debuts what it’s calling bit shows: back-to-back five-minute performances that organizers were probably smart to keep from the light of day. Like Burpees and Brewskis at 2:25am; Let’s Scream about Lord of the Rings at 3:10am; Let's Drunk Dial Someone at 6:25am; and Molly Scullion & Jack O’Keeffe Wear Blindfolds, Make Sandwiches, and Talk About 'The Good Wife' at 7:40am. I wish I was making this up.

Improv among us

It would be unfair to say that BFCM will leave you totally unmoored. You certainly can catch some favorite Philly improv teams, like The N Crowd at 3:55pm on Saturday; and American Express on Saturday at 8:35pm. At 9pm, catch ¿Que?, an independent Philly team made up entirely of Spanish speakers, except for one person. Hooch, PHIT’s first all-woman house team (better late than never), appears Saturday at 11pm. And standup comics like Yemima Cohen Aharoni and Megan Chialastri, whom we’ve enjoyed before, are onstage on Saturday at 8:15pm and 10:20pm, respectively.

For full disclosure, it’s also worth mentioning that some members of the BSR community have freely chosen to participate in this. On Saturday at 8:20am, watch Time Bandits, an improv team founded and helmed by former BSR editor-in-chief Judy Weightman. And BSR executive director Neil Bardhan is all over this thing. You can see him on Friday at 6:40pm in Motel Presents: Hostel, and then in a slew of potentially embarrassing Saturday-morning appearances, like Digital Marketing Prov at 5:25am; Babies of Interest at 9:55am, and Two Late with Rob and Joe and Kids at 11:10am.

Personal advice

How am I able to give you such good advice about how strange the BFCM is? I’ve been there. I’ve seen the improv and sleepy comedians and tortured singing, and watched one performer score cash off the audience and literally leave for Atlantic City with it while the show just kept going. I’ve waited in an awkward sea of balloons for a pizza-delivery person who inexplicably failed to show up for a fake surprise birthday party. And I can say that if you do flout all reason and decide to get tickets to BFCM, you can consult the schedule and catch your faves, but the essence of the festival lies in walking in, sitting down, and rendering yourself up unto whatever hits the stage.

The Philly Improv Theater’s fourth annual Black Friday Comedy Marathon starts Friday, November 23, at noon and runs through midnight on Saturday, November 24, at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia). Buy passes ($20; $10 for anyone with a receipt from a local business; $5 for industry folks) online or at the door. The Adrienne is a wheelchair-accessible venue with ADA-compliant restrooms.