Do the infamous words "Live from Pickard Theatre: Ironic T-Shirt" ring any bells?
Pickard Theatre was the venue of choice whenever it was announced that Ironic T-Shirt would be previewing new skits. "Standing room only" was often broadcast to the throngs of students waiting in line for an opportunity to be among the first to see the latest creations of this comedic troupe.
Though the legendary Bowdoin comedy group took a slight hiatus from creating their notorious skits, the members have recently reassembled and started filming again, adding even more parodies to their repertoire.
Founded in 2003 as the College's first comedy sketch group, the original cast of Ironic T-Shirt, consisted of four members of the Class of 2007: Anton Handel, Adam Paltrineri, Nikolai von Keller and Dan Yingst.
"I didn't know them too well at Bowdoin," said new producer of the group, Nate Chaffetz '08, "but I had heard of them—they did a lot of shows that sold out every time."
However, as is commonplace after graduating from Bowdoin, its members went their separate ways; one member traveled the world on a fellowship and another tried to pursue a goal in directing.
After a few years free of production, two of the co-founders and directors, Handel and von Keller, decided it was time to revive their comedy sketches.
While the group lost some of its original Bowdoin members, Ironic T-Shirt also gained other talent to help in the sketches, like free-lance actor William Brasington and free-lance actress and writer Diana Wright. Though not living in Los Angeles, California with the other members, Paltrineri and Yingst still contribute to the group by offering feedback on the new skits.
The rebirth of the troupe has resulted in the production of new skits on a regular basis since April, with new entertainment being posted on their Web site every two weeks.
"[The skits are] highly produced," said Chaffetz. "We have writers meetings and the ideas are formally written out. Then we act out the skit with the principal actors, which is hard because we're all working full-time...there's a lot of work that goes into the skits."
While the comedians all hold full-time jobs, such as being a production assistant for South Park, or working for large companies such as Base Productions, production is made easier by the T-Shirt's members' common living arrangements.
"We all live together, actually," said Chaffetz. "It wasn't true before, but it's great for work."
Before being able to show its sketches in a public arena, Ironic T-Shirt has been focusing on increasing its portfolio of clips first.
"We're developing a body of work so we can [show our clips in public spaces]," Chaffetz said. "It's not out of reach, but it's something we really want to do."
Because the group can't show the clips to a public audience yet, they have recently created a new Web site to advertise its sketches and gain a wider fan base. Yingst, who currently lives in Chicago and does not perform in skits, designed the group's new Web site. The Web site consists of online clips of their sketches, bios about the members and contact information so the group can receive feedback on their skits.
"The Web site—newly launched—is an exciting new way to see sketches and has some old stuff we did at Bowdoin," said Chaffetz.
While Ironic T-Shirt is currently housed on the other side of the country, Chaffetz said the group would love to come back and do a show at Bowdoin.
"[We're] trying to make a type of comedy we don't find out here. Each sketch is different from the last so everybody has a different favorite," he said.
A new skit is added to the Web site every second and fourth Sunday of each month. To check out these sketches, visit the group's Web site at www.ironictshirtcomedy.com.