Flyover Comedy Festival 2023 | Night 2
Improv Team DASARISKI featuring Craig Cackowski, Rich Talarico, and Bob Dassie in Flyover Comedy Festival at The Improv Shop St. Louis.
All photos copyright and credit of Michael Shepherd Jordan 2023. Please Contact for use.
Night two of Flyover Comedy Festival 2023 started with Abby and I going to see another old friend from Chicago, Zach Zimmerman headline a stand-up set at Urban Chestnut in The Grove. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take photos of Zach performing, but trust me when I say, he crushed. It was great to see Zach again. He’s been living in NYC for 6 years now, and his book Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? was recently option by Sony Pictures Television.
Improv Team MRS. SOMEBODY featuring The Improv Shop founders Andy Sloey and Kevin McKernan in Flyover Comedy Festival at The Improv Shop St. Louis.
After catching up with Zach, we headed to The Improv Shop at the opposite end of The Grove to finish the night with two amazing improv teams featuring icons of the improv community.
First up was DASARISKI featuring Craig Cackowski, Rich Talarico, and Bob Dassie. For nearly 25 years Dasariski has been known for their "slow play" style of long-form improvisation, taking a single audience suggestion and creating an hour-long piece of theater, focusing on character and relationship, eschewing the cheap joke for the longer-term payoff. Bob, Rich, and Craig met at Chicago's Improv Olympic Theater in 1993, and were trained by iO founders Del Close and Charna Halpern. Collective TV and film credits, as writers and actors, include shows like HBO's Funny or Die Presents: The Carpet Brothers, Community, IFC’s The Spoils Of Babylon, Adult Swim's Mr. Pickles, FX’s The Comedians, Comedy Central’s Review, MADtv, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Key & Peele, Wabbit, Veep, Mindy Kaling's Sex Lives Of College Girls, Earwolf podcasts, The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Kevin Pollack’s Alchemy This, and the web series, WeirDass: Eleven Year Itch.
The night ended with a performance from MRS. SOMEBODY, a St. Louis improv team featuring The Improv Shop co-founders Andy Sloey and Kevin McKernan. I’m consistently amazed a the improv comedy community that Andy and Kevin have built in St. Louis. These two St. Louis comedy icons closed the night with a 60 minute two-person improv set highlighting the unique characteristics of St. Louis improv Comedy. Always a joy experiencing the energy, passion, and funny they pour into every performance.
I want to give a special thanks to Adam Huber of SplyceHouse Productions for letting me borrow his Sony FE 1.8/85mm lens over the weekend to capture these amazing performances.