Spontaneous Combustion

A few days ago I gave the thumbs down to a new improv show on NBC, and improv as well. It turns out Dan Kois in Slate hates the show, too. He makes a very good point within a very bad point.

The good point--the show's not really improv. The guest star is shoved in with the regular cast and the cast has a general plot they must follow. Okay, this is still a form of improv, but a degenerate one. (Having a scenario to work within is actually a well known type of improv, but seeing how one cast member not in the know will react to twists is a stunt.)

The bad point--Kois has done improv and keeps claiming how wonderful it is when done right (and how wonderful he's been in it).

Here's a representative line: "It's funny to see someone come up with a quick-witted joke; it's astonishing to see a team invent an entire well-structured, hilarious scene from scratch." I agree, it's astonishing, because it never happens.

Ask someone to write a well-structured, hilarious five-minute sketch in five minutes. Can't be done. Expecting two or more people to do it, while trying to keep up where the others are going, is even tougher.

As I said, the main attraction of improv is the knowledge it's being created on the spot, not that something truly great is being made. It's been my experience that improv is a lot more fun for the performers than the audience.