New York Daily News - September 2, 2005
On TV: Room for improv-ment
By JULIAN KESNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


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Ian Roberts is willing to go to great lengths to score ratings for his improv group's Bravo special, "A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.: Improv," airing Wednesday.

"If anyone who reads this has a Nielsen box, there's a $100 check in it for them," he jokes.

Roberts shouldn't have much to worry about, though. Fans have shelled out $8 on Sunday nights for nine years to watch Roberts, Matt Besser, Amy Poehler and Matt Walsh perform as A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. at the Chelsea-based Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.'s format is simple: An audience member shouts out a single word, which a guest monologist then uses in a brief story.

"We've had everyone from an 8-year-old girl and an Episcopalian priest to Ira Kaplan from Yo La Tengo," says Poehler, who is beginning her fourth season on "Saturday Night Live."

The group, joined by four to five guest comedians, improvises scenes based on the monologue for about 15 minutes. This cycle repeats three times for an hour-long show.

"We all believe that this form can work on television," says Lisa Leingang, the Bravo special's executive producer.

Guests on the special are former "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" sidekick Andy Richter, current "Conan" writer/actor Kevin Dorff and "SNL" members Horatio Sanz (a UCBT veteran), Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch. Fey and Richter take turns on the monologues.

What does A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. actually stand for? Bravo insists it's "Automatic Sprinkler System Shutdown Siamese Connection Alternative Theatre" - but not even the group members seem sure anymore.

Poehler has a slightly different take. "The acronym is kind of bull-," she admits. "One time Horatio was in a scene, and he just started yelling out 'ASSSSCAT!'

"I don't know if it was something to do with a cat or what. It just worked."