The Upright Citizens Brigade is 
Colby ~ Amy Poehler   
Trotter ~ Matt Walsh   
Adiar ~ Matt Besser
Antoine ~ Ian Roberts 

This interview was conducted in the green room of the now defunct UCB Theater in downtown 
Manhattan in the Summer of 1999. 

Since then, after a number of seasons, the UCB Comedy Central show has been cancelled. Matt Walsh 
and Ian Roberts have completed a feature film, "Martin and Orloff",  Amy Poehler has become a regular 
cast member on Saturday Night Live, and Matt Besser has taken the UCB to Los Angeles with various 
shows. The UCB Theater lives on in various venues in NYC, and the group also has their own Improv 
Classes. The UCB teaches long form improvisation techniques with special emphasis on the Harold 
(the original long for structure created by Del Close and Charna Halpern). 

You can get the latest UCB info at www.uprightcitizens.org

Doug: State your name and occupation.
Matt Walsh: Matt Walsh, Comedian.
Amy: Amy Poehler, comedian. The other one's Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts just left.
D: How did the Upright Citizens Brigade form?
A: We all lived in Chicago. These guys went to Chicago I think in 90'…
Walsh: Amy's from Boston, I'm from Chicago, Ian's from Secaucus, New Jersey and Besser's from Arkansas. We started 
doing stuff seven or eight years ago, then Amy got to Chicago like six years ago. Then in various incarnations we've 
been doing shows ever since. At a place called Improv Olympics.
D: So you were doing the UCB on stage first. How did you get hooked up with Comedy Central?
A: Yeah, we did different incarnations of it in Chicago for years, and then the four of us did two shows at the stage at 
Second City, then we came to NY and put on free sketch shows and improvised for two years. We passed out flyers 
and people would come to the shows.
D: You've been in this theater the whole time?
A: We've been in NY for three years, but we've been in this theater since Janurary of this year.
Walsh: With the green paint. ( The area in back of the stage is painted bright green) We painted it ourselves. It used to be an 
old strip club.
D: Do you guys have any upcoming projects?
Walsh: We have a lot of stuff planned for the millenium bug.
A: We're doing some Y2K. We're hoping to be the first sketch group on Mars.
Walsh: We're gonna do the parrot sketch by (Monty) Python.
A: On Mars though.
Walsh: We are helping to burn the ozone some more.
D: What adventures have you been on lately?
Walsh: I can think of some pranks we've done. We had a woman in a barrel and dragged her through the streets of 
New Jersey.  Someone made us a big, huge spiked glove with a knife and spikes on it, and we went to Planet Hollywood and 
pretended that it fell on my head. We had hidden cameras and started complaining and kept asking, "What movie is this 
from?" Then the manager came out and said " Don't worry about it, everything's fine."  They wouldn't give us back the glove 
and they actually thought it was theirs. He was like, "No, this is ours."
D: How many times have you gone to "The Today Show"?
A: Twice. One time Ian went as a character called Steve Youngblood, and he talked about Thunderball, which is a fake sport 
we made up.  He got Al Roker to talk to him, and it ended with a tight shot of him yelling "THUNDERBALL!!" Another time 
Matt (Besser) went as little Donny, the kid with the big dick and jumped behind Al Roker.
D: And they have no idea what is going on, right?
A: Yeah, It's nerve-wracking. We were all there with signs and Walsh pretended he was asking his girlfriend to marry him.  So 
Walsh had to ask his "girlfriend" who was actually his sister to marry him while Little Donny jumped up and down next to him.
D: Have you ever killed a man in the heat of combat?
Walsh: Colby has. She can't have sex unless she kills the man.
A: Like a praying mantis.
D: What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
Matt Besser: Taken classes at Second City.
Walsh: Voting for Hitler.
A: You voted for Hitler? Seemed like a good idea at the time?
Besser: Starting AIDS. Not a good idea. It was my science fair project.
Walsh: Super AIDS was probably a bad idea.
A: Yeah, because I was like, "We're fine, we don't need anymore."
Besser: We wanted to make AIDS better and we made it stronger.
Walsh: Inventing crib death.
A: We're working on the "Crib Def Comedy Jam".
D: What do you want on your tombstone?
Besser: A naked lady. I want the one on the truck flaps because she has a big dick.
Walsh: I want a dog. A dog cage with a live dog in it, guarding my grave.
D: What is the strangest thing you've ever been hit in the head with?
Besser: I just got hit with a side of beef. A side of Cobet beef.
Walsh: Mine would be a Road Warrior glove at Planet Hollywood.
A:  Mine would be a giant fake dick.
Walsh: Yeah we got hit with a dick. Hit by Little Donny.
D: If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?
Besser: Now you're saying, beyond the superpowers we have?
Walsh: I'd say more invisibility.
Besser: I'd like the power of Diplomacy. 
D: Well what powers do your characters have on the show?
Besser: Adiar can see weed through walls.
Walsh: Trotter can make Alcohol out of any two household objects.
D: What is the meaning of life?
Besser: Don't think.
Walsh: Make yourself laugh.
D: What did you have for breakfast?
Besser: I had a hotdog omelet. 
Walsh: I have a seven-egg omelet every morning. And potted meat.
D: What's potted meat?
Walsh: Potted meat is…well…horrible. It's really cheap. I think its innards from any kind of animal from the 
slaughterhouse. And they grind it up and it's like liverwurst and it comes in a can.
D: If you could meet anyone in existence, dead or alive, fiction or non, who would it be and what 
would you say to them?
Besser: Jesus, and I would say "Shut the fuck up."
Walsh: I'd have to say John Lennon. I'd say, "Why did you marry Yoko?"
A: He'd say,  "What's up man?"
Walsh: Yeah, I'd waste my question. "What time is it man?"
D: Do any of you play video games?
Besser: I'm playing Quake 2 right now. It's the only one I like. I tried Tomb Raider, but I don't get the ones where 
you have to try and jump across the crevasse. I don't find any enjoyment in that. They're like, "Oh you can 
use the gun."  And she has this lame six-shooter, and I can't find anyone to kill forever.
D: So you're more into blowing people up then solving puzzles.
Besser: Yeah, but there are puzzles in Quake.
D: So while you're solving puzzles you can blow people's heads off.
Besser: Exactly. Not enough killing in Tomb Raider. Don't get it. 
Walsh: Isn't she really sexy though, the girl?
D: Yeah but you mostly only see her from the back. Mostly.
Besser: I fucked Lara Croft.
Walsh: In the virtual world, or in real life?
Besser: She was at one of those conventions. I took her in the back. 
Walsh: I play Quake 2, and one we had up at Comedy Central, Marathon. And Duke Nukem.
D: Why did the pig have ink on its face?
Besser: Oh I know that one. Something to do with the O falling off oink so it's ink. We haven't done the jackass line tonight.
Walsh: It has to get set up.
D: How do I set it up?
A: You say, "Do animals go to heaven?"
D: Ok. Do animals go to heaven?
Walsh: Yeah, and you are going to heaven because you're a jackass.
Besser: You have to ask a question with a choice, like " How old are you, five, or eight? And the kid's six so he doesn't have 
an answer.
D: Do you have any words of wisdom?
Besser: Don't write band names on your shoes. Don't write "Mr. Funny Man" on the bill of your cap.
Walsh: Learn to read. Then learn to read backwards.