52 Pick-Up


Kurt Fitzpatrick and Natalie Thomas in a scene from 52 Pick-Up at the Gene Frankel Theatre in Manhattan in April of 2007.

 
Kurt Fitzpatrick began acting in high school, entertaining his buddies with ridiculous homemade comedy tapes and stories, which led to acting in skits, plays, and musicals such as Little Shop of Horrors and Jesus Christ Superstar.  Being very shy and having a stutter didn’t stop Kurt from doing what he wanted to do – entertain the masses!


Kurt attended Temple University, majoring in television and film.  While there, he acted in forty-some student films, including live studio productions.  Once a week, Kurt would venture out to Society Hill’s Comedy Works and perform his stand-up routines, which led to performing in various bars and venues around Philadelphia.

After graduating, Kurt moved to New York City and worked as an assistant on feature and commercial shoots.  A year later he went on to write, direct, produce, and star in his own feature film, Kin.  The film received very positive reviews and was shown in the New Filmmakers Series in New York, the Brooklyn Film Festival, the IMAGE Film Series in Atlanta, and now on Cinemanow.com.

Kurt redirected his career somewhat to pursue improvisational and sketch comedy in New York.  For four years he was part of the five-person troupe The Unusual Suspects, co-writing and co-starring in such comedy revues as Don’t Eat The Mall Staff, Healthy Weird Preferences, and The Joy of Sketch.  The troupe performed at Collective:Unconscious, the Producer’s Club, and other venues around Manhattan.

With Suspects, Kurt created many characters for the stage and performed as part of New York’s once burgeoning Lower East Side comedy scene.  In addition to the sketch revues, the troupe performed ten and twelve week runs of improv comedy shows at the legendary performance space Surf Reality.

During this period Kurt appeared in leading roles in various plays such as John Patrick Shanley’s Psychopathia Sexualis, one-act plays such as No Exitway in Horse Trade’s Winter One-Acts, and feature-length independent films such as Economics 101 (with Bobby Moynihan from Saturday Night Live) and 100 Stories.

He was also a member of the improv comedy troupe Klaatu for two years, and a guest performer with the troupe The Tenderloins.  He studied improv for some years at HB Studios, Second City, and the Upright Citizens Brigade.

In 2003 Kurt began performing solo with his autobiographical show Hooray for Speech Therapy.  A year later he brought the show to the San Francisco Fringe Festival, which introduced him to the world of Fringe touring.  Having toured the state of Texas with the National Theatre for Children in 2001, Kurt had always wanted to tour with his own material, and here was his chance!

In 2005 Kurt toured festivals in Cincinnati, Saskatoon, and Indianapolis, which led to a three-month Canadian tour in 2006 with a new show entitled Rebel Without a Niche.

In 2007 Kurt produced and starred in TJ Dawe & Rita Bozi’s play 52 Pick-Up, which ran at the Gene Frankel Theatre in New York City.  Soon after he toured the U.S. and Canada with both of his solo shows, and continues to tour festivals and theaters, such as Venture Theatre in De Pere, Wisconsin, where he has had two runs of shows.

Kurt has been interviewed on television on The New Yorkers twice, Breakfast Television and Global TV (which did a full piece on Kurt) in Edmonton, and the Indy Music Channel in Indianapolis.  He has appeared on CBC Radio in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.

In 2008  Kurt created a YouTube presence  with a  trilogy of videos  -  The LOST Reel, The Next Big Thing, & Quaker Love.  Also Vote for the Future, and several videos with clips.  A new version of KurtFitzpatrick.com was created, and Kurt continued to perform in New York and elsewhere.

In 2009 Kurt continued to tour with Hooray for Speech Therapy and created a new multimedia one person show entitled The Last Straight Man In Theatre.  The show played Fringe Festivals in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Boulder, and received rave reviews.  He also played a bit role on Law & Order.

Currently in New York City, Kurt has two reoccuring live shows, which he appears in once a month - Tom Soter's Sunday Night Improv and Lindy Loo's Country Cuzins show at Banjo Jims (as Chuckie Loo).  In 2010 Kurt is touring again with The Last Straight Man In Theatre.


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