Today's post is penned by Ben Masten, a performer we've cited here previously. You can see his work at various comedy venues around the city, but in particular at the PIT, about which we're privileged to have his input today. --SD

The People’s Improv Theater (which has been featured on the blog a few times before) occupies an interesting niche in the NYC improv and sketch scenes. It’s a smaller and younger theater than UCB, which means it tends to fly somewhat under the radar among people who aren’t comedy geeks. The geeks themselves, however, have always supported the theater in force.

Over the past several years, the PIT has been able to attract solid audiences while slowly building a critical mass of skilled performers and students who use the theater as a relatively pressure-free environment to learn and grow. Now some industry folks have begun to take notice.

A couple weeks ago, The PIT announced that NBC has partnered with the theater to offer a diversity scholarship that will pay for the entire slate of PIT improv classes for two lucky female students or students of color. Here’s the press release:

NBC Universal and The PIT Partner in Diversity Scholarship

May 2, 2008: As part of their new Talent Diversity Initiative, NBC Universal is proud to announce its Improv Scholarship Program in partnership with The Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT) in New York City to support and promote diversity within the arts.

NBC Universal and The PIT will each sponsor one student for The PIT’s entire year-long improv program, which takes students from Level 1 to Level 5, and is taught by some of comedy’s newest and greatest talents including Kurt Braunohler, Ptolemy Slocum, Rebekka Johnson and Ali Farahnakian.

“NBC is proud to join with the The PIT in sponsoring this vital scholarship that will encourage new voices within the minority community to learn valuable skills under the guidance of such an excellent program,” said Marc Hirschfeld, Executive Vice President, Casting, NBC Universal Television. “This involvement underscores NBC Universal’s continuing commitment to promote diversity.”

“I love the idea of working with NBC, it is the channel I grew up with,” said Ali Farahnakian, the owner and founder of The PIT, and former SNL writer. “To me NBC is television and the best it has to offer. To be in partnership with them in any way is an honor.”

“I am thrilled and honored that NBC has offered to sponsor a new and improved Improv Scholarship program here,” said Katie Goan, Managing Director of The PIT. “It’s exciting that more students will now be able to experience the joys of improv due to this promising partnership.”

All performers, particularly talented women and people of color with a strong desire to study improv, are eligible to apply. The candidate will submit an official Improv Scholarship application along with a five-minute DVD in which the candidate explains why he or she should be chosen and performs an original comedic work. The two scholarship recipients will be selected by The PIT and NBC Universal executives, and awarded in September.

Scholarship Details:

• Full ride scholarship to study improvisation in The PIT’s one-year improv school for two students, Levels 1-5.

• SUBMISSION WINDOW OPENS: May 1, 2008 (All submissions must be received by August 1, 2008 by 5:00p EST to be considered.)

• Submission packet must include application, performance resume and a five-minute DVD.

• Scholarship awarded in September by The PIT and NBC Executives.

The NBC Talent Diversity Initiative was created to promote on-camera diversity through community involvement and development, showcasing non-traditional casting choices and creating programs to raise awareness at NBC Universal and within the entire entertainment community. This initiative is part of NBC Universal’s ongoing commitment to diversity, both on and off camera.

The Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT) is dedicated to the instruction, performance, and development of original comedy. The PIT strives to entertain and educate the community about the comedic arts in a safe and nurturing environment. The PIT is composed of four elements: a school that focuses on the craft of improvisation, an eclectic variety of electives and an unparalleled professional writing program; a theater that presents original comedy six nights a week; a video production company focused on producing comedy series for the Internet; and a corporate and educational workshop program that offers team building, leadership and business training.

You can check out application info for the scholarship here.

Aside from the obvious benefit of promoting diversity in comedy, it’s great to see the hard work of all the people at this fast-growing theater get some recognition from the industry powers that be. With any luck, we’ll all see some PIT-developed talent stepping into the spotlight in the not too distant future.