The Dead Alewives was an improvisational comedy troupe during the 1980s and 1990s from Milwaukee. Some of the group's individual members went on to become noteworthy after the group's breakup. The Dead Alewives began as a splinter group from the Milwaukee-based national comedy organization ComedySportz. The split occurred out of a desire to do a less family-oriented, more uncensored style of improv than the "clean" variety offered by ComedySportz. The group took its name from the local phenomenon of multitudes of dead alewife fish washing up on the shore of Lake Michigan during summers in the mid-1980s. Its shows featured music from local bands during their set breaks. The Dead Alewives began performing in the ComedySportz theater space in Milwaukee's Third Ward district. They appeared on several theaters in the Milwaukee area during their existence. Other venues that played host to their shows included Thai Joe's, The Avalon Theatre, and the Miramar Theatre, which is where they wound up their weekly live shows in the late 1990s. The Dead Alewives ceased their weekly live performances in the late 1990s, and the individual members all pursued other interests.

Founding members

Other Dead Alewives

Dungeons and Dragons sketch

Dungeons and Dragons (also known as Summoner Geeks or Attacking the Darkness) was a comedy sketch parodying the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game experience. It was produced in 1996 by the Dead Alewives and comes from an album of like sketches titled Take Down the Grand Master. Voice talent was by Dead Alewives members Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, Peter Alberts and Mondy Carter. In the 1980s, the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons reached a peak in popularity. Misunderstandings of its fantasy settings led those glossing over the content of the game to assume that it had elements of the occult, witchcraft, and Satanism, arousing controversy. Written by Harmon, the Dungeons & Dragons sketch parodied these controversies; introducing itself as something of an exposé on the supposed "horrors" the game was "introducing" to children, it instead depicts a fairly mundane game of Dungeons & Dragons among four adolescent boys arguing over minutiae, ending by humorously pinning the blame for their interest in the game on their gym teacher for "making them feel outcast when they couldn't do one single pull-up".

Popular quotes

Connection to Summoner

In 2000, Volition released a computer animated version of the sketch titled Summoner Geeks. It was a 3D animation test turned promotional video for the Summoner video game and featured characters from both Summoner and Red Faction. The "Where are the Cheetos?" character was played by an oversized demon, Luminar. The video was included in the game, and can be found by viewing the credits.

References in other media