Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Ben Schwartz (Parks & Recreation), Ellie Kemper (The Office), and Nick Kroll (The League, Kroll Show) are among those making the annual pilgrimage to theaters in and around Chelsea and the East Village to celebrate the great Del Close. One of the Grand Poobah’s of modern improvisational theater, Close led a very colorful and comedic life that included performing with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, touring with the Merry Pranksters, teaching improv at Chicago’s Second City, and serving as house metaphysician at Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. Since his death in 1999, the gang at the Upright Citizens Brigade (Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser) have been paying homage to the legend with a marathon of uproarious, off-the-cuff theater. This year’s celebration runs non-stop from 5:30pm on Friday, June 26 to 11:30pm on Sunday, June 28.

Featuring improv groups from all over the world, the 17th edition serves up over 630 shows and takes place at nine theaters. Passes, which get you into all the shows space permitting, cost $35 and are available at UCB and other participating stages starting on June 26 at noon. If you’d prefer a guaranteed seat, there are a selection of premium shows happening at larger venues which you can buy tickets for now. Among these are:

Friday, June 26
7:30pm – Key & Peele Writers at SVA
7:30pm – Broad City Live! at FIT (sold out, there will be a stand-by line)
9:30pm – The Hooray Show with Horatio Sanz at SVA (Jimmy Fallon hurt his hand, new guests:Nick Kroll, Ben Schwartz, and Adam Pally!)
11:15pm – Cast of Silicon Valley at SVA (sold out, there will be a stand-by line)

Saturday, June 27
7:30pm – Gravid Water at FIT
9:15pm – Nick Kroll & Friends at FIT (sold out, there will be a stand-by line)

Sunday, June 28
3pm – Special Preview Screening of Thank You Del Close followed by a Q&A with Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Amy Poehler at SVA
7:30pm & 10pm – ASSSSCAT 3000 at FIT (both shows are sold out, there will be a stand-by line)

As for the non-premium shows, which clock in at 30 minutes and under, you’ll find some great improvisers appearing in multiple shows throughout the weekend. We recommend checking out anything featuring Scott Adsit, Thomas Middleditch, Tami Sagher, Nick Kocher, Chris Gethard, Gary Richardson, Connor Ratliff (Broad City), Mike O’Brien (SNL), and Rebecca Drysdale (Key and Peele). Mike Birbiglia is also paying his respects with another installment of Mike Birbiglia’s Dream, wacky Chicago troupe ChicaGoGo are stopping in, and Match Game ’76 is returning.

For a complete schedule and list of venues and performers visit the 17th Annual Del Close Marathon website.

(Del Close Marathon runs June 26-28. Passes are $35 and are available at the venues starting June 26. #DCM17)