Improv Comedy

Mr E

Any fans of improvised comedy?

I was watching Whose Line Is It Anyway on Dave earlier tonight, and I forgot how funny it was. Hard to believe its been off the air for 10 years now.

Anyone remember S&M on Channel 4 in the 90s? It was like an improv sketch show with Tony Slattery and Mike McShane... I'd love to see it again.

hotspur

I've always been of the opinion that improv is a blight on the art form of stand up comedy. In my experience your average improv'er is more of a failed actor or a hack than a talented comedian. It's essentially just an excuse to hide a lack of talent and to not have to bother creating anything. Even the very best exponents of it rehash the same 'improv' over and over.

I realise I must come across as very ungenerous about it but your average improv performer in a club should be shot

Galvasean

hotspur wrote: »

I realise I must come across as very ungenerous about it but your average improv performer in a club should be shot

:eek:

Bit harsh. Ive seen a fair bit of improv in my time. It ranges from diabolical to hilarious.
You should check out Dublin Comedy Improv who are doing the rounds at the moment. They're definately one of the better examples.

hotspur

Galvasean wrote: »

You should check out Dublin Comedy Improv who are doing the rounds at the moment. They're definately one of the better examples.

You mean the old school International Bar comics who weren't good enough to make it bigger than they did as standups? I know them well. Each one is a second division comic.

Galvasean

What about Ian Coppinger's group? Or Barry Murphy and Friends?
Surely you like some of them?

mickrourke

Monday night comedy immprov at the international is by far the best. Joe Rooney used to do it as did Patrick O'Donnell. A lot of comedians used to sharpen their skills their and get new ideas, some of it was rubbish alright but most was excellent. Ian Coppinger is the funniest oompa loompa ever, no offence Ian

hotspur

Galvasean wrote: »

What about Ian Coppinger's group? Or Barry Murphy and Friends?
Surely you like some of them?

Ian Coppinger's group is who we were talking about right? I can't recall ever seeing Barry doing improv, but I'm a fan of his stand up. He could have been huge. Joe Rooney is a hack. Hmm I should stop contributing to this thread as improv brings out my overly critical side...like musical comedy.

orestes

I'm with hotspur on this one. Some comedians who do improv are also great stand-ups, but usually they aren't. Improv is usually just a exercise in randomness and absurdity with the audience doing most of the work. "Shout out a situation, a person and an inanimate object" , "queuing up at the bank.....a cowboy.....a dildo" so-called hilarity ensues.

But Coppinger is a fantastic stand-up, no question!

grames_bond

hotspur wrote: »

improv brings out my overly critical side...like musical comedy.

hey theres nothing wrong with musical comedy, stephen lynch for example is f*ckin high-larious! and i have recently seen rodney carrington doin his "country music" (i hate country but this stuff was really funny)

and what the hell do you mean second division comics, ian coppinger is as good a comedian as tommy tiernan (he's just not as mainstream) the fact they have incredibly similar styles is probably why i mentioned him!

hotspur

Well we're going to disagree very hard again then Stephen Lynch and almost every musical comedy act is a comedy con job. If you take the stuff that Lynch gets his laughs with and analyse it without the music it is usually just juvenile drivel with very few jokes- laughing at disabled people, joking about a priest abusing an alter boy etc etc. He's a good performer, he gets good reactions for what he does, but is material is just not very strong comedically.

Here's my main issue with musical comedy. I'm a comedy purist. The overwhelming majority of the time improv'ers really wanted to be actors, and musical comedy acts wanted to be musicians. My view is that they usually aren't good enough to be one or a proper comedian so they straddle the two.

Virtually any musical comedy act gets away with sheer bloody murder. If you strip away the guitar strumming and non-comedy lyrics and just analyse the strength of the actual humorous bits then you will find not only a massive paucity of actual comedy material relative to any proper stand up routine on a per minute basis, but also that it is very weak.

Maybe you have to be inclined to analyse the material more than a normal punter should to realise that, but I am certain of the weakness of 99% of musical comedy material relative to regular stand up material at a comparable level of performance stage.

I didn't mean to single out Ian Coppinger, someone else mentioned him first. I've probably seen him too much as an MC and not enough as an act in his own right.

grames_bond

thats fair enough, you make a few valid points but again i have to disagree! but im not here to change anyones opinion, or to push my own on anyone! but all i have to say is you really shouldnt over analyse comedy, musical comedy is just that.....COMEDY! dont over think things just sit back, enjoy and laugh! and if you dont....fine!

inisboffin

Here in Ireland, there seems to be a lot of crossover between Stand-ups and improv, particularly in short form improv.
I lived in the States for a good while and I can tell you I have seen some top notch improv there (even done some ;P).
I would completely disagree that improv is populated mainly by failed anyones...Imrovisers are often a hybrid, some coming from stand-up, some from 'straight acting'..the latter often tending to do long form improv..I notice there is very little of it here, I am hoping that will change, when it is done well, it is magnificent:D



Did a long form show with Ryan Styles to packed houses. That show was populated with actor/improvisers and comedian/improvisers, and it worked very well to a packed house...then again it was America, I will grant you, we are picky feckers here
What happens is stuff in improv can get stale, the trick is to rotate cast/games in short form frequently and take risks.
Improv is also a great tool to develop sketch and indeed stand-up. I was in a theatre group that inadvertently used a lot of improv years ago before I headed off, and at least two or three of the former members are in the biz, if not household names in a few countries.

Everyone to their own, but please don't knock the whole name 'Improv' just because you haven't seen one you like.