"Ha, Ha Hospital," "Knights at the Round Table" and "The Laugh Factory."
None of those stuck, so one of Gainesville's newest comedy troupes went with Ugly Step Children, and the choice seems to be working well for them.
Although they're new to the UF comedy scene, the Ugly Step Children is a familiar name in Tampa, where the troupe got its start.
Consisting of Taylor Gonzalez, Dylan Rigsby, Santos Contreras, Adrian Jimenez and Damian Garcia-Sarraff, the alternative sketch comedy troupe makes its Gainesville debut this month.
"Our sketches are a little off-center," Contreras said. "We're like the Quentin Tarantino of sketch comedy."
Long-time friends, roommates and fellow performers since meeting at Hillsborough High School, they formed a spin-off of their student-run sketch comedy troupe, On The Brink, to bring to Gainesville. Reaching out to Tallahassee, the group coordinates shows with No Bears Allowed from Florida State University, who are an extension of their Tampa kin.
"We started it up here at UF to relive those moments again," Jimenez said.
When they're not challenging each other to break character, they're pushing over tables to rehearse in Beaty Towers about twice a week. It's about having fun, and they "do it for the ‘lawls,'" especially as they dig for ideas in everything they do.
Handling every aspect of its shows from start to finish, the group is its own in-house writing and performance team, generating about 30 sketches, obscure musical transitions and incorporating themes of parenting, cross-dressing, children's TV shows and more.
In the past, the group would sell T-shirts for every performance and donate the proceeds to the community. Local firefighters and The Children's Home Society are just two organizations they've benefited, and they hope to set admission charges so they can go back to giving the community more than just laughs.
From Donald Glover to "Saturday Night Live," and Craig Ferguson to Dave Chappelle, the group draws from all angles for ideas and even recycles some of their older, classic sketches to include in newer shows.
With younger sketch-comedian siblings, Ugly Step Children already has an inheritance ready for the future. As they continue to grow and book shows, they're open to new talent and sticking around to entertain as long as possible.
"I want this to be around even when we're gone," Rigsby said.
