Nataley Davis | staff writer

By day, Drew Sieber is a Pittsburgh city firefighter, at night he’s an improv comedian.

Sieber has been honing the craft of improv for the past eight years in community theater, but decided to take it to the next level when a Pittsburgh social hall announced a partnership with a renowned comedy group last June.

The Upright Citizens Brigade, (UCB) a famous comedy institution, collaborated with a 70s themed bar in Allentown — Bottlerocket Social Hall — to open the first full scale UCB training center outside of New York City or Los Angeles.

Although Sieber is not necessarily looking to make a career out of comedy, he saw this as an opportunity to expand his skills and be a part of the group that bred famous comedians like Amy Poehler and Nick Kroll.

“There’s a whole new generation of performers in the city that I got to take classes with,” Sieber said.

“Relearning an art form that I kind of knew before, just in a new UCB way is really, really great.”

Bottlerocket holds a monthly “Improv Jam” for the UCBurgh students to showcase what they are learning and to prepare for their class show where they present to friends and family at the end of their course. The fourth showcase in the series took place on the evening of Jan.11.

The venue is quaint, with a bar at the front and concession stand-themed snacks for sale like hot dogs and candy. There is a small stage near the back of the venue with about 30 seats set up, most of which were filled that night.

The students of the improv classes and anyone from the audience who wished to participate signed up and were split into two teams.

During their turn each group asked the audience for a word to base their scene off of, and made up dialogue as they went, with people jumping in and out from the sides of the stage.

The first group’s word was “chess,” which they turned into a scene about an eighth grade chess tournament.

Instructor of UCB Pittsburgh’s Improv 101 class, Tyler Ray Kendrick, said that having a teacher on each team helps bring the students out of their shells.

“My No. 1 rule of improv is to make your scene partner look good,” Kendrick said. “I want that for my students, to bring them on stage, get them prepared for their class show that’s coming up or any show, because you need the experience, and it’s always nice to see a familiar face.”

Chris Copen, the owner of the venue, said that from a community standpoint, it’s too early to tell how effective the partnership between UCB and Bottle Rocket will be, but it has widened the bar’s opportunities nonetheless.

“We’ve been able to bring in a lot more acts that are UCB affiliated or have UCB history so that’s been great from a programming side,” Copen said. “I feel like the bar itself has not changed that much. It’s just been a fun, cool thing on the side, and I think this year we’ll start weaving it into the bar a little bit more.”

In March, Bottlerocket is hosting a show of comedian and UCB New York alumni, Mary Beth Barone’s tour at The Original Pittsburgh Winery.

Bottlerocket Social Hall opened in 2022, taking over what was once the St. George Lyceum social club.

The business has slowly grown into a niche community for comedy in Pittsburgh, bringing well-known acts to the city like the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy.

Copen believes that the partnership will continue to grow the comedy scene in Pittsburgh, but said he can’t speak to its full payoff until later.

“We definitely see a lot more people. 
I hear people talk about it as a reason to move to Pittsburgh… ,”

Copen said. “I think its true impact, we’ll know in like three years as people start to take more of the classes and people start to move on to other cities or the industry.”

Nataley Davis can be reached at davisn5@duq.edu