Since opening the doors of its current location in April of 2003, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has offered longform improvisational and sketch comedy classes and a packed, 7-night schedule of cheap and edgy performances to a varied audience. Perhaps because the cost of entry is so low, or perhaps because of the artistic and collaborative nature of UCB improv itself, the theater exudes a noticeably low-key, friendly vibe that imbues the entire experience; it feels comfortable, like hanging out with a roomful of friends you’ve never met. 

And so it seems appropriate that Lena Dunham and Amy Poehler, influential female actors and writers in their respected realms of comedy, would choose this year to publish memoirs detailing their experiences as women in entertainment. Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned, released in September, and Poehler’s Yes Please, published a month later, build on the now well-established trend of intimate autobiographies penned by female entertainers. In fact, in her preface, Poehler cites the memoirs of comedians like Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Silverman, and Rachel Dratch as inspiration for her own writing.