Congratulations to the Underground Collaborative for garnering a runner-up acknowledgement in the Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee 2014.
The annual compilation, based on votes by readers, listed the UC along with Comedy Café as runners-up to ComedySportz as the area’s best comedy club. So way to go for those places, too!
The UC is a relative newcomer, founded in 2012 by three creative arts groups: Milwaukee Comedy, Pink Banana Theatre Co. and Studio Kristelle. It covers 8,000 square feet in the lower level of the historic Plankinton Building, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Features include an art gallery, dance studio, recording studio, workshop rooms and the 150-seat Arcade Theatre, a black box style theater with more than 1,600 square feet of flexible event space. The Arcade Theatre has housed hundreds of dramatic presentations and comedy performances, from national headliners such as Nick Thune, Johnny Pemberton and Josh Fadem to local shows offering a wide range of up-and-coming practitioners of sketch, improv and standup comedy.
“Underground” suggests unknown, or at least hidden. But judging from the Best of recognition, it’s an emerging place for comedy.