Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
We have affordable, high quality shows seven nights a week in NYC and LA. Our original comedy videos have garnered the national spotlight. We also run the first nationally accredited improv and sketch comedy school in the country. For information on our courses visit the Training Center.
The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam
"The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam" is a two person "multi-media" comedy lasting just under one hour.
While waiting to say his 4 lines each week on the ill-fated 2003 NBC Drama Mister Sterling, Dean Cameron received email from a Nigerian con-artist posing as the wife and son of a dead Nigerian leader. After writing back as a sexually confused Florida millionaire, whose only companions being his cats, houseboy and personal attorney Perry Mason, Dean embarked upon a 9-month correspondence with the con-man. With Victor Isaac as the bewildered and tenacious Nigerian, the duologue, taken from the actual email, documents the hilarious relationship as it descends into a miasma of misunderstanding, desperation, and deception.
Originally performed over two evenings in Los Angeles at the Sacred Fools Theater as part of their very popular Crime Scene program, The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam was seen in various "workshop formats" at events including the "Professionals Against Confidence Crime" seminar in Chicago, James Randi's "Amaz!ng Meeting 3" in Las Vegas and the Skeptics Society monthly meeting at Cal-Tech in Pasadena, California.
With the help and urging of director Paul Provenza (director of the film The Aristocrats) they traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland and played to sold out houses and critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the month of August, 2004.
After returning from Scotland, The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam was remounted at the Sacred Fools Theater and ran for nearly four months, garnering even more rave reviews and feature articles in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Citybeat, the L.A. Weekly and the popular Motley Fool web site among several others.
As Dean's correspondence with online scammers continues to evolve and change, so does the show. A "faster, funnier" Nigerian Spam Scam Scam has been featured at the Tricklock Theater's festival in Arizona, the Brick Theater Festival in New York and, thanks to hurricane Katrina, a never aired segment on Nightline right after their return engagement to a larger theater for the Edinburgh Fringe, 2005.
Dean and Victor were invited to be featured at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" festival summer 2006, along with internationally acclaimed acts exactly like Demetri Martin, Stuart Lee, L.A'.s favorite son, Billy the Mime, Phil Nichol, and the show "Man 1 - Bank 0". Late 2006 saw The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam sharing the bill once again with their quietly disturbed friend, Billy the Mime at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre back in Los Angeles.
In addition to his continuing directorial guidance and support, Paul Provenza got "SpamScam" a weekend this past June at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago as part of a summer series with shows and performers exactly like Julia Sweeney, Michael Ian Black, Louis CK, Daniel Packard and the silent and ubiquitous Billy the Mime. Thanks in part to the reception in Chicago, they will be appearing again at The Lakeshore in Chicago this August 10th & 11th.
Now, with over 150 shows under their collective belts Dean & Victor teamed with Windwood Theatricals to "get the show on the road" and booked performances from New Jersey to New Mexico and hope to be appearing soon in a theater near you.
"Screamingly funny..." "...like Larry David on happy dust." -Los Angeles Times
"An absolutely brilliant show... a masterclass in comedy writing." -The Stage Online
"It's a great show. It's a smart show. It's a skillful show. It's an important show. It's a fall on your ass funny show." -Penn Jillette
"...twisted comic super-genius, part Wile E. Coyote, part Paul Lynde..." -Eric Stoltz
"...this is funny stuff..." -Recommended by The L.A. Weekly
"As hysterical as it is absurd." -The Scotsman
While waiting to say his 4 lines each week on the ill-fated 2003 NBC Drama Mister Sterling, Dean Cameron received email from a Nigerian con-artist posing as the wife and son of a dead Nigerian leader. After writing back as a sexually confused Florida millionaire, whose only companions being his cats, houseboy and personal attorney Perry Mason, Dean embarked upon a 9-month correspondence with the con-man. With Victor Isaac as the bewildered and tenacious Nigerian, the duologue, taken from the actual email, documents the hilarious relationship as it descends into a miasma of misunderstanding, desperation, and deception.
Originally performed over two evenings in Los Angeles at the Sacred Fools Theater as part of their very popular Crime Scene program, The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam was seen in various "workshop formats" at events including the "Professionals Against Confidence Crime" seminar in Chicago, James Randi's "Amaz!ng Meeting 3" in Las Vegas and the Skeptics Society monthly meeting at Cal-Tech in Pasadena, California.
With the help and urging of director Paul Provenza (director of the film The Aristocrats) they traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland and played to sold out houses and critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the month of August, 2004.
After returning from Scotland, The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam was remounted at the Sacred Fools Theater and ran for nearly four months, garnering even more rave reviews and feature articles in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Citybeat, the L.A. Weekly and the popular Motley Fool web site among several others.
As Dean's correspondence with online scammers continues to evolve and change, so does the show. A "faster, funnier" Nigerian Spam Scam Scam has been featured at the Tricklock Theater's festival in Arizona, the Brick Theater Festival in New York and, thanks to hurricane Katrina, a never aired segment on Nightline right after their return engagement to a larger theater for the Edinburgh Fringe, 2005.
Dean and Victor were invited to be featured at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" festival summer 2006, along with internationally acclaimed acts exactly like Demetri Martin, Stuart Lee, L.A'.s favorite son, Billy the Mime, Phil Nichol, and the show "Man 1 - Bank 0". Late 2006 saw The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam sharing the bill once again with their quietly disturbed friend, Billy the Mime at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre back in Los Angeles.
In addition to his continuing directorial guidance and support, Paul Provenza got "SpamScam" a weekend this past June at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago as part of a summer series with shows and performers exactly like Julia Sweeney, Michael Ian Black, Louis CK, Daniel Packard and the silent and ubiquitous Billy the Mime. Thanks in part to the reception in Chicago, they will be appearing again at The Lakeshore in Chicago this August 10th & 11th.
Now, with over 150 shows under their collective belts Dean & Victor teamed with Windwood Theatricals to "get the show on the road" and booked performances from New Jersey to New Mexico and hope to be appearing soon in a theater near you.
"Screamingly funny..." "...like Larry David on happy dust." -Los Angeles Times
"An absolutely brilliant show... a masterclass in comedy writing." -The Stage Online
"It's a great show. It's a smart show. It's a skillful show. It's an important show. It's a fall on your ass funny show." -Penn Jillette
"...twisted comic super-genius, part Wile E. Coyote, part Paul Lynde..." -Eric Stoltz
"...this is funny stuff..." -Recommended by The L.A. Weekly
"As hysterical as it is absurd." -The Scotsman