Submissions for the 2025 UCBTLA Maude and Betty Teams are officially open!
WHAT ARE MAUDE TEAMS?
Maude Teams are UCB’s house sketch comedy teams. They are formed and overseen by the Artistic Directors and consist of writers and performers. Each Maude Team will be assigned a director who will oversee the writing, rehearsal, and production of a monthly sketch show at UCB!
Maude Night is Wednesdays at 8:30pm at UCB Franklin. Maude shows consist of new material written specifically for Maude Night.
UCB MAUDE TEAM INFO AND EXPECTATIONS
Maude Teams are expected to put up shows featuring polished, funny, UCB-style, game-based sketch comedy. Every Maude Team member is expected to boldly bring their unique voice and sense of humor to Maude Night.
Generally, Maude Teams meet twice a week for writers’ meetings and rehearsals. A typical monthly Maude schedule consists of a pitch meeting, 2-3 writers’ meetings, a read through, two to three rehearsals, a tech rehearsal, and the show. The exact schedule varies from team to team and is agreed upon by the director and the teammates. Maude tech rehearsals are always on the Wednesday afternoon of the show.
Maude Teams must be a priority for team members. This is demonstrated by attending rehearsals and performances. Team members with a pattern of poor attendance or lateness will be removed from Maude Night. Commitments to other UCB house teams (Harold/Lloyd/Betty) or at other theaters are NOT excuses for missing meetings, rehearsals, or shows.
Writers are not guaranteed to have a sketch in every show and actors are not guaranteed to be featured every month. In months where actors and writers are “light,” they are expected to support their team in any way that they can.
WRITER-SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
Writers must attend all Maude Team meetings, rehearsals, and shows. During writers’ meetings, writers will provide constructive feedback on other teammates’ material and be an active participant in the writers’ room.
In between meetings, writers must rewrite their sketches based on feedback from writers’ meetings, with director notes taking priority in rewrites.
PERFORMER-SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
The following are mandatory for performers to attend: pitch meeting, read through, rehearsals, show. Actors are strongly encouraged to attend tech rehearsal, but are not expected to take time off from paid work to attend. It is up to each individual team if writers’ meetings are mandatory for the performers, so performers should be prepared to attend the same amount of meetings as writers (all).
Performers must pitch characters for themselves at each pitch meeting, and show up to rehearsals familiar and/or memorized when required.
WHAT IS BETTY NIGHT?
Betty is UCB’s house character team! The team features 8-10 performers who each develop a 3-5 minute character piece to be showcased at the monthly show. The Betty team is also assigned a director who will oversee the writing, rehearsal, and production of the monthly character show at UCB.
Betty Night is the first Wednesday of the month at 8:30pm at UCB Franklin.
Betty teammates meet once a week, but are expected to write and rehearse outside of these meetings.
HOW TO SUBMIT FOR MAUDE NIGHT / BETTY NIGHT
Auditions for Maude and Betty will be held congruently. When submitting as a performer, you may choose to submit solely for Betty, solely for Maude, or both at the same time.
NOTE: You may submit to be a Maude writer and also audition to be a Maude/Betty actor. Submitting as a writer does not disqualify you from auditioning as an actor, or vice-versa. Nor does it gain you any advantage in either aspect. Please note that writers and actors will be evaluated separately, and that no writer/performer hybrid positions on Maude are guaranteed.
MAUDE WRITER SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Submissions for Maude Writers will be accepted until 11:59pm on Friday Aug 15th, 2025.
Writer Requirements:
Have completed or are enrolled in a Sketch 201 that will have its last session on or before Aug 15th, 2025.
OR
Will have completed Sketch 101 and one other UCB course with its last session on or before Aug 15th, 2025.
All current and former members of Harold, Lloyd, Maude, and Betty/Characters Welcome at UCBTLA or UCBTNY are eligible to submit as a writer or as a performer.
***This year, we’re looking to increase the volume of video sketches on Maude Night. If you have the skills and resources to be a video sketch creator on Maude Night, there will be a section of the submission form for you to let us know and include links to samples of your previously produced video content!
See below for information on requesting an exception to eligibility requirements
WRITER SUBMISSION PROCESS:
Packet Content
Submit the following Sketches:
Two (2) Sketches of your choice
One (1) Topical sketch (relevant between July 15th, 2025 – Aug 15th, 2025)
Five (5) pitches for new sketches that have not been written or produced. Pitches should be less than 50 words each and all be contained on one page.
***SKETCHES SHOULD BE NO LONGER THAN FOUR PAGES IN STANDARD SCRIPT FORMAT.
***YOUR STRONGEST SKETCH SHOULD BE THE FIRST ONE IN YOUR PACKET
***Please note that we cannot consider material you have co-written — include only sketches you’ve written solo.
STEP ONE:
Email your packet to lamaude@ucbcomedy.com by 11:59pm on Friday Aug 15th, 2025 formatted as follows:
Subject line:
WRITER 2025 – LAST NAME, FIRST NAME
(EX: WRITER 2025 – WESTON, WILLA)
Body of Email:
– Sketch of Choice 1: Title
– Sketch of Choice 2: Title
– Topical Sketch: Title
Attach to email:
– PDF version of writer packet with file named in this way: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME2025.PDF (EX: WESTON_WILLA2025.PDF)
A single PDF should contain all sketches and pitches. DO NOT SEND FINAL DRAFT OR OTHER TYPES OF FILES.
STEP TWO:
Fill out this form by 11:59pm on Friday Aug 15th, 2025.
2025 UCBTLA Maude Night Writer Submission Form
Late submissions will not be accepted. The only way to know if your Google form has been submitted is if you receive a copy of your answers to your email. Submitting late due to technical problems is not an excuse.
PERFORMER SUBMISSION INFORMATION (Both Maude Night & Betty Night)
Submissions for Maude & Betty Performers will be accepted until 11:59pm on Friday Aug 15th, 2025.
Performer Requirements:
Have completed or are enrolled in a Character 101 that will have its last session on or before Sept 6th, 2025.
OR
Have completed or are enrolled in a Acting For Sketch that will have its last session on or before Sept 6th, 2025.
OR
Will have completed any two performance-based UCB courses (Improv, Character, Storytelling) that will have their last sessions on or before Sept 6th, 2025.
All current and former members of Harold, Lloyd, Maude, and Betty/Characters Welcome at UCBTLA or UCBTNY are eligible to submit as a writer or as a performer.
See below for information on requesting an exception to eligibility requirements
PERFORMER SUBMISSION PROCESS:
The 2025 Maude performer auditions will consist of three rounds, while Betty will consist of only the first two rounds.
Round One– Video audition of your material.
Round Two– Solo live audition of your material.
Round Three– Maude Only Callback where you will perform two sketches we assign.
ROUND ONE: VIDEO SUBMISSIONS (Maude & Betty)
Content Details:
Please show us your best characters and impressions, along with any other skills you’d like to show off (ie– singing, physical comedy, etc).
Show us your range, what you think is funny and what makes you unique! We want to see characters that could be showcased on Maude Night and/or Betty Night… don’t just read a phone book in a variety of accents (unless it’s super funny).
Technical Details:
Your video should be shot in landscape orientation and consist of a single shot, two minutes in length. Videos with cuts or edits will not be considered. Likewise, videos longer than two minutes will automatically be discounted.
You are welcome to use a lower title to name your characters or you can announce your characters within your tape, or do neither!
We recommend using YouTube, Vimeo or Google Drive, but anything with a direct link works. Please make sure your chosen permission options would allow anyone with a link to view the video. If you choose YouTube, we recommend you make the video ‘Unlisted.’
Fill out this form by 11:59pm on Friday Aug 15th, 2025:
2025 UCBTLA Maude / Betty Performer Submission Form
Late submissions will not be accepted. The only way to know if your Google form has been submitted is if you receive a copy of your answers to your email. Submitting late due to technical problems is not an excuse.
ROUND TWO: LIVE AUDITIONS (Maude & Betty)
Actors chosen for live auditions will be notified at least one week before their live audition.
Live auditions will take place Sept 5th – 7th on the UCB Franklin stage.
These auditions will consist of a 3 minute live performance for the Artistic Directors and Maude Committee. The live audition should showcase your comedic acting skills. While in the video auditions we want to see RANGE, in the Live Auditions we will want to see DEPTH. We ask for two or three characters max in your allotted time.
ROUND THREE: CALLBACKS (Maude Only)
Maude Callbacks will take place Sept 12th and 13th on the UCB Franklin stage. You must have availability in this window to be considered for Maude Night. Betty will be formed from all live auditions, and thus Callback availability is not required.
Actors will be assigned two sketches that they will prepare and perform with another actor who has received a callback. You are expected to show us that you can make funny comedic choices that showcase the game of the sketch.
***MAUDE / BETTY PERFORMER SUBMISSION EXCEPTION POLICY — PLEASE READ***
Below you will find the eligibility requirements to submit to Maude and Betty. If you do not fulfill the requirements to submit to Maude or Betty but feel you are uniquely qualified, you may fill out the Exception Request Form below. We will be granting very few exceptions this year.
2025 Maude/Betty Exception Request Form
The deadline to fill out the Exception Request Form is 11:59pm Aug 1st, 2025. If you are granted an exception, you will be notified by Aug 8th, 2025 and, at that point, you can fill out the Maude / Betty Performer submission form. Please do not fill out the regular submission form unless/until you’ve been granted an exception.
Given that this is a shorter window, it would be advisable to be preparing material ahead of the submission window.
NEW TEAMS PREMIERE!
New Maude and Betty teams will be announced mid-September and the new teams will premiere on Wednesdays in October.