Friday Night Schadenfreude: The Cast Of This Week Sucked

/ CSz Philadelphia/
This Week Sucked Cast

This Friday, This Week Sucked, Philly’s newest comedy show opens for its’ November run. Inspired by critically-acclaimed and sold out show runs at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles and The Fallout Theater in Austin, TX, This Week Sucked takes audience stories of their crappy weeks and turns them into comedy gold.

With a cast of audience favorites from ComedySportz company, indie ensembles and several newcomers to the Philly comedy scene, This Week Sucked promises to deliver laughs, relief and maybe a little bit of therapy.

We sat down with cast members Jessie Preisendorfer, Joel Sumner and Vishnu Murthy to ask about their background and the show, as they get ready for opening night on Nov 2nd.

Thinking about your background as comedians, where did you guys get your starts?

Joel Sumner: I became obsessed with improv in high school and have been doing it in some form ever since.

Jessie Preisendorfer: I've been a member of Comedysportz forever.

Vishnu Murthy: I became obsessed with watching improv while in college. Three years ago, I started doing long-form improv in Pittsburgh, and have kept it going since moving to Philly a year ago.


We’ve all had bad weeks, and super cringe-worthy experiences as humans. What’s a recent, memorable sucky experience that you have had, personally?

JP: I left my lights on at work last week and one of my students’ fathers jump-started my car.

JS: Where to begin? When I turned 14 I was in a new school and invited a bunch of classmates to my house for what I hoped would be a cool birthday party, no one came.

VM: I once was pretending to trip and fall while carrying my sister’s antique tea set, but then did too good of a job and actually tripped and fell.

What interested you about This Week Sucked?

JS: I really love audience interviews and weaving storytelling into improv. A one word suggestion is great, but being able to pull inspiration from an entire experience is amazing.

VM: I love the idea of taking someone’s bad experience and using it to bring a sense of lightness in humor. They say comedy equals tragedy plus time, but here we get to skip the time part.

 
“When I turned 14 I was in a new school and invited a bunch of classmates to my house for what I hoped would be a cool birthday party, no one came.”
 

There are going to be so many parts to the show: soliciting stories, conducting the interviews and then using those stories for inspiration for the scene work. What are you looking forward to most, once the show is up?

JS: The experiences people have had week to week and if any nightly themes magically develop.

VM: Hearing the dozens of ways a person's week can suck.

JP: It will be interesting to hear what the audience brings to share

Some shows do better with certain audiences than others, like science fiction fans or people that are really into slapstick. Who do you think should see this show?

VM: Anyone looking to shake up their Friday night a bit with some Schadenfreude.

JS: Anyone who enjoys sharing in the collective joy of laughter.

JP: The show is for anyone who's had a bad week ever. So, everyone.

Want to check in out?

Join Jessie, Joel, Vishnu and the entire cast for the opening show of This Week Sucked on Nov 2nd at 10pm. The show runs through Nov 23rd and tix are $10. BYOB with free margaritas on opening night (while they last).

Advance tickets recommended!