In Uptown Showdown's most incendiary show ever, two cultural icons stop playing nice and start to slay, the old-fashioned way. When Taylor Swift battles Beyoncé, will one Break the other's Soul, and will the loser ever Shake It Off? Calling all Swifties and every Bey in the BeyHive, defend your queen! Annnd—I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! OF ALL TIME! This installment features Sydney Duncan (Wild’N’Out), Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Michael Hartney (How to Die Alone), Gabe Mollica (This American Life), Chloe Troast (Saturday Night Live), and Sophie Zucker (The Daily Show)!
The popular comedy debate series invites two teams of funny folks from the worlds of stand-up and late-night television to tackle topics of great importance to pop culture, such as which pet is superior—cats or dogs—and is it better to be comfortable or fashionable? The verbal sparring and all-around absurdity only stop when the audience decides the winner. Featuring guest host Kevin Townley.
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Past Performers include Elna Baker, Maria Bamford, Michael Ian Black, Guy Branum, Wyatt Cenac, Ronny Chieng, Jo Firestone, John Fugelsang, Janeane Garofalo, Jon Glaser, Ilana Glazer, Josh Gondelman, Dave Hill, Maeve Higgins, Mehran Khaghani, Julie Klausner, Hasan Minhaj, Aparna Nancherla, Kristen Schaal, Baratunde Thurston, Kevin Townley, Michael Showalter, Dan Soder, Bowen Yang, Sasheer Zamata, and many more.
Sydney Duncan is a New York-based comedian, improviser, writer, and actor and is one of the newest cast members of Wild’N’Out. She has trained extensively at UCB, The PIT, Magnet Theater, and Dallas Comedy House studying advanced improv, musical improv, and sketch. Before comedy, Sydney was a professional ballet dancer. She previously trained at ABT, Alvin Ailey, Texas Ballet Theater, and Ballet West among others. Her credits include Regional Broadway shows such as The Will Rogers Follies, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Solange Knowles’s music video When I Get Home. She has been featured on Comedy Central’s IG and TikTok and is a recipient of The SNL Scholarship Award. You can catch her regularly performing in Comedy Theaters all over NYC including her monthly character show at Brooklyn Comedy Collective, her one-woman show ACAB! for New York Comedy Festival, Adam McKay's political sketch show Lifestyle, Understudying for Second City New York's Mainstage, and UCB NY's Betty & Maude House Team Shows.
Josh Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City, where he currently lives and recently worked as the head writer and an executive producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime. Gondelman also contributed to the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which was a thrill for both him and his parents. Prior to that, he spent five years at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, first as a web producer and then as a staff writer where he earned four Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and three WGA Awards. His debut standup special, People Pleaser, was produced by Comedy Dynamics and is available to stream now.
Michael Hartney has been a Comedy Central Comic to Watch and a New Face at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. At New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, he spent over ten years as a writer, performer, and director, co-creating the hugely popular Characters Welcome show. His television credits include 30 Rock, The Politician, The Break with Michelle Wolf, The Who Was? Show, How to Die Alone, and Throwing Shade, where he also served as a staff writer. Hartney created the roles of Stanley and Mr. Williams in the original Broadway cast of School of Rock The Musical. In late 2020, he co-founded Squirrel Comedy Theatre, a nonprofit offering shows and classes.
Gabe Mollica is a comedian, storyteller, and the star of Solo: A Show About Friendship, the hit Off-Broadway comedy featured on This American Life. His online sketch collaborations with Alexis Gay have 10's of millions of views. He's perhaps best known for the viral story of his pen pal relationship with the late Stephen Sondheim. You can follow him @GabeMollica where he will probably answer your DM rather quickly.
Chloe Troast is an actor, writer and comedian based in New York City, recognized for her work as a writer and featured cast member on Saturday Night Live. Film credits include Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain and the forthcoming Sweethearts and Goodrich. Her digital sketch Feminism Professor was profiled by Vulture, and her debut Adult Swim Smalls series Dohls is currently being developed into a full-length adult animation series at Netflix. In 2023, she was named a New Face in Comedy at the Just for Laughs Festival. Troast regularly performs her acclaimed solo show An Evening with Pepper Slit live at venues nationwide.
Sophie Zucker is an Emmy nominated comedian, living in Brooklyn. She's currently a writer on The Daily Show. Other credits include Apple TV+'s Dickinson, the upcoming HBO projects Sweethearts, Tim Robinson's The Chair Company, and an animated pilot for Paramount. Her one woman show Sophie Sucks Face was shortlisted for the Comedian's Choice Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, and recommended by British Comedy Guide. She performs with her all-female comedy collective Ladies Who Ranch all over New York. Sophie grew up in New York and attended Hunter College High School. She went on to graduate from Oberlin College with a BA in Religion and Creative Writing. She is down to hang out!
Kevin Townley is a New York–based artist who has performed in Hollywood blockbusters, elementary school cafeterias, and everywhere in between. His screen credits include My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Sitter, Men in Black 3, The Detour, Madam Secretary, The Last O.G., and Law & Order, and he has appeared Off-Broadway in Goodbar, My Deah, and Shockheaded Peter. From 2010 to 2020, Townley co-produced and -hosted The Talent Show Brand Variety Show with Elna Baker, featuring the likes of They Might Be Giants, Rachel Maddow, and Ira Glass. He wrote, directed, and starred in the short film Who Knows?, and his first feature film, Alien Hearts, will complete production in 2024. In 2022, he published his first book, Look, Look, Look, Look, Look Again: Buddhist Wisdom Reflected in 26 Artists. Townley is a certified meditation instructor.
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