#groundlings

[gazebo-components]

Improv Is Cool Now: reflections on the past, present, and future of improv on the internet

DISCLAIMER: this is LONG -- not because it’s comprehensive or correct, but because I have a lot of thoughts. i am not an authority on improv, i just like it. these are some things i have noticed & been thinking about over the last couple years.

TLDR: the world of digital comedy is getting increasingly improv-ified. because of this, improv is forced to adapt to digital forms, which is sometimes awkward but (i think) generally very exciting! it's taking on a new life and reaching more people than ever before and it's maybe... even... cool now ? i investigate dropout’s and smosh’s recent improv ventures to find an answer and then i talk a little bit about saturday night live. also, there's color-coding.

IMPROV OVERVIEW

- Basically there are 3 big improv schools/theaters that are seen as launching-off points for comedy stardom: Second City, Groundlings, and Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). SNL hires from them, a bunch of famous comedians have come from them, etc. Of course there are other schools and other ways to “make it” in sketch/improv, and many people have critiqued the school system for being gatekeepy/culty, but the big 3 schools are pretty much the center of the improv/sketch world. 

- The big 3 each have their own class tracks for sketch and improv that can eventually lead to auditions for house teams, which are SUPER competitive. At UCB you audition for Harold teams (improv) and Maude teams (sketch). At Groundlings you audition for Sunday Company and are then possibly invited to join the main company. I know the least about Second City but I think you audition for a touring company & are then possibly invited to join the main company? IDK.

- I cannot stress how competitive these auditions are, at all 3 schools. Over 1000 people audition for UCB Harold teams every year and less than 1% get a spot. Getting on a house team is a BIG FUCKIN DEAL. 

- There are (basically speaking) 2 kinds of improv: short-form (more structured: games, wacky characters) and long-form (less structured: scenes, plotlines). Short-form is often seen as "easier" and more palatable for a non-improv audience than long-form, which can be really esoteric and confusing and hard to watch. Groundlings and Second City focus on short-form & sketch, UCB Harold is long-form, UCB Maude is sketch.

RECORDED/TELEVISED IMPROV

- Improv on TV, especially long-form, has historically not been good or successful — UCB experiments with recording/televising longform shows in the 2000s, but nothing really goes mainstream. One exception is Whose Line Is It Anyway (a short-form show by Second City alums), which runs from 1998-2007 and is pretty popular. Whose Line comes back in 2013 but is on shaky shaky ground, might be over now? IDK.

- 2020: Recorded longform improv has its first big moment in Ben Schwartz and shitty guy Thomas Middleditch (both former UCB Harold performers), whose special Middleditch and Schwartz prompts Vulture to ask, “What if improv were good?" IMO, this is the point where Improv Starts Being Cool.

DROPOUT

- Early CollegeHumor team is full of improv comedians, mostly UCB. Many (Brennan, Siobhan, Trapp, Ally, Zac, Grant, etc…) have been on Harold/Maude teams.

- 2020-ish: Big dramatic CollegeHumor -> Dropout shift; one major takeaway is that unscripted content does much better than scripted content. Dropout pivots to focus on unscripted, eventually premiering Make Some Noise, a short-form show often compared to Whose Line. (Sam Reich says MSN has brought more people to Dropout than any other show.)

- 2022-2023: Dropout introduces multiple longform improv shows, including Play It By Ear and Very Important People (both hosted by UCB Harold performers). VIP performs exceptionally well and is even submitted for Emmy consideration.

- 2023: Wayne Brady from Whose Line appearing on MSN is a MAJOR passing-the-torch moment for improvisers. Wayne tells Sam that only two productions have ever gotten filmed improv right: Whose Line and Dropout.

- 2024: Dropout Presents, a set of original comedy specials, includes 2 longform improv shows: Bigger! With Brennan And Izzy and From Ally To Zacky -- a performance by Yeti, a graduated UCB Harold team made up mostly of Dropout regulars.

- TAKEAWAY: DROPOUT IS DOING MORE LONGFORM. I mean, they're doing more of a lot of stuff, including short-form. But VIP and the longform Dropout Presents specials indicate a willingness to try recorded longform à la Middleditch and Schwartz, which makes perfect sense given that so many of them were/are UCB Harold performers. Will it pay off?? We'll see!!

SMOSH

- 2016: Smosh’s first Try Not To Laugh, a version of the improv game Bus Stop/Park Bench. To my knowledge, the cast at this time has no one from the big 3 improv schools -- of course, this does not mean they aren’t good improvisers (because clearly they are!), just that Smosh isn’t connected to the traditional improv world at this point.

- 2020: Smosh hires its first professionally trained improvisers as cast members: Ify (UCB), who eventually leaves to do a bunch of Dropout stuff, Jacklyn (Second City), who eventually leaves to join Second City NY, and Amanda (Groundlings), who was on Sunday Company and gets on a UCB Maude team in 2022. In other words, they’re all excellent school-trained improvisers.

- 2022: Smosh hires two UCB sketch/improv performers, Angela and Chanse, who were on a Maude team together with Smosh writer Patrick McDonald and editor Josh Fleury.

- 2023: Anthony comes back and they start doing old-school sketches that incorporate the rest of the cast. They do ok, but unscripted content like TNTL continues to be more popular (echoing Dropout’s experience)

- 2024: Angela and Chanse are announced to host the variety/sketch/improv show Bit City. The first episode contains 2 sketches, a 10-minute character improv piece from Amanda, and a 10-minute reunion (semi-improvised). The cast are clearly very excited about being involved in "traditional" sketch/improv (as opposed to just being in pit/games stuff).

- TAKEAWAY: SMOSH IS GETTING MORE INTO TRADITIONAL IMPROV. Try Not To Laugh continues to be one of their most popular series, Bit City is being extremely hyped up, and the cast has gone to multiple Groundlings workshops together. My guess is that Smosh will stick to short-form, because their audience is less comedy-nerd-y than Dropout's and none of the Smosh cast are UCB Harold alums (remember, Angela and Chanse were on a Maude [sketch] team, and Amanda did Groundlings, which is short-form and sketch). Again, this doesn't mean they can't do long-form (they definitely can), but I do think their skills/interests lie mainly in sketch and character/short-form improv.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

- SNL is decidedly not an improv show, because improv is much scarier to do on live broadcast television than sketch is, but it is still a live show and historically many of its performers have been improvisers. Again, SNL hires improvisers almost exclusively from the big 3 theaters.

- SNL undergoes an identity crisis around 2020-2022 as many well-loved cast members (many of whom are improvisers) leave, hiring mainly standup comedians, not improvisers, to replace them

- Current SNL cast improvisers: Bowen Yang (UCB), Chloe Fineman (Groundlings), Ego Nwodim (UCB), Mikey Day (Groundlings), Heidi Gardner (Groundlings), Chloe Troast (indie, to my knowledge!). The rest are stand-ups, or are named Colin or Kenan.

- TAKEAWAY: SNL IS SAME OLD SAME OLD, BUT... Lorne Michaels is speculated to leave after this season (50), discussions of a “new era” and major shifts for the show. Possible replacements include Tina Fey and Seth Meyers (both are career improvisers, unlike Lorne) — could SNL incorporate improv in the future? Again, historically difficult because of broadcast television rules, but idk, it's an interesting thought

CONCLUSION

- improv is cool now! more and more digital comedy productions are turning towards improv, maybe a reflection of greater desire for authenticity/humanness on the internet? idk.

- the big 3 theaters continue to be a driving force of the improv world, despite some people's desires to move away from that kind of institutional importance. UCB in particular is being showcased a lot because of dropout, though idk if that translates to anything in the real world.

- dropout is doing more longform (yay!!) and is making their real-life improv connections/teams/relationships more explicit with filmed live improv shows and bringing in established groups of improvisers like Improvised Shakespeare.

- the current smosh cast contains three classically trained improvisers, and the channel seems to be making moves towards traditional improv in the style of the big 3 schools, but will probably stick to shortform. (also, no, the smosh-dropout merger is not happening anytime soon.)

- young people think SNL is cringe now (imo it's just as cringe as it ever was... live sketch is HARD). the show will have to make some major changes if it wants to stay relevant, and they'll be looking to the success of digital comedy as inspiration and competition. my prediction: after season 50 they'll do a big overhaul, get a new young host, might even poach a couple Dropout stars.

- there’s A LOT OF stuff I didn't get into: the evolution of standup/crowdwork/recorded standup specials, SNL hiring trends over the years, the pandemic + comedy (particularly TikTok sketch), the Smosh Sitcom Live, what the hell a Harold even is and why it matters. this is already very long and i am, frankly, very tired.

FURTHER READING:

UCB Harold/Maude rosters -- command-f your favorite dropout people to see who they were on a team with

Improv Nation -- the ultimate improv history book; i read it my sophomore year of high school and i was obsessed

this guy’s blog post about wayne brady on MSN

this breakdown of SNL cast member origins up to 2013, which ends with a series of wildly incorrect predictions (fewer standups, no internet performers)

thanks for reading!

[newwavesylviaplath]

every time someone brings up die antwoord i am instantly reminded of when kroll show's recurring sketch "show us your songs canada" was changed to "show us your songs commonwealth" and the south african auditions consisted of bo burnham with a british accent followed by kristen schaal and kurt braunohler doing what i can only describe as the best and also most disturbing parody of die antwoord out there

[blogbirdfeather]

Banded Groundling - Libélula-de-banda (Brachythemis impartita): male

Vila Franca de Xira/Portugal (7/09/2023)

[Nikon D850; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR with Nikon AF-S TC-14E III; F8; 640 ISO]

[the-bard-of-avon]

hello mr. Shakespeare can you settle a debate between me and my friends please. Is Olivia from Twelfth Night meant to be gay???

Hello Mr. Anonymous!

No she was not, in fact she is intended to be quite devastated at the recent death of her brother, although I do confess later in the play she becomes rather giddy at the prospect of marrying who she believes to be Cesario. Although, I would say the play as a whole carries a rather gay tone to it along with the melancholy of the beginning!

[peepshowburlesque]

That’s fellow Groundlings alumni Lorraine Newman, not Traci.

Pee Wee Herman, Traci Lords and Elvira step into an elevator...

[theneighborhoodlisten]

Ep 103: This week on Dignity Falls’ #1 podcast, Burnt and Joan discuss Joan’s daughter and her tiny food, guinea pigs in need of a home, and “The Incident.” And Marian (Jordan Black) joins the show to break down the bad luck with his broken-mirrored furniture!

[thrashntreasure]

Ep79 Evan's Last Hurrah w/ Andrew Leeds! (Hollywood!)

3 dudes are in a room bitchin' as we're joined by Mr. Andrew Leeds - who's gone from strength-to-strength since debuting on Broadway as a 6-year-old! (Say what?!) This week, we bid fare-thee-well to Evan with the final part of the Falsetto's trilogy, Falsettoland, as well as Adalitas Way and their self-titled album. Plus we chat the Falsettos movie that never was, Mandy Patinkin, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist- and other titles, Groundlings, as well as gender-swap the characters in Marvin's trilogy- among so much more!

www.twitter.com/LeedsAndrew

[carolynbridgetkennedy]

How much do I love being in Writers Lab at The Groundlings? You tell me… 😉 @thegroundlings 💕 #actor #actress #actorslife #actorlife #writer #comedy #comedian #sketch #sketchcomedy #improv #losangeles #hollywood #acting #writerslife #writing #sketches #groundlings #theatre (at The Groundlings Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIj7VkyUqg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[hellsitegenetics]

This blog is amazing i am obsessed. Could you do the steamed hams Simpsons bit?

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Closest match: Athrips mouffetella genome assembly, chromosome: Z Common name: Dotted Grey Groundling

[the-spooky-mind-of-spiderwish]

Elvira, Pee-Wee Herman and Laraine Newman.

[blogbirdfeather]

Banded Groundling - Libélula-de-banda (Brachythemis impartita): female

Vila Franca de Xira/Portugal (10/10/2024)

[Nikon D500; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR; 1/2000s; F10; 400 ISO]

[the-bard-of-avon]

The Bard of Avon? more like the BAD of Avon because your plays SUCK! hire an editor for once in your scummy life. I hope you die

Hello Mr. Anonymous (Or Ms. 😳) (Or Mrs. 😳😳😳). Many groundlings and others have expressed such opinions throughout my career and normally I would throw a tomato at them but I am simply not in the mood so instead I will recommend you a play. Once when I was feeling down I wrote a play about a pessimist just like you Mr. Anonymous! It is called Hamlet and I think you will find it answers all of your questions. If you are not satisfied with this answer we can discuss it over dinner perhaps?

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

A gorgeous Dusky Groundling Moth (Condica vecors) munching on the Joe-pye weed in my pollinator garden :-). Thx to Jake McCumber for the id.

[petriflor]

made it to london. have already seen 2 of the hottest men ive ever encountered. off to a good start

[weerentheworld]

My final attraction is to re-visit the Globe Theater to see a play!

You have a few options for viewing if you choose to watch a play here- you can either book one of the seats, or for a cheaper price pay to watch as a “Groundlings” who stand in the area to watch the show.

I’ve elected for a Groundling ticket- in part for the experience, in part because it was the only option when I booked.

The play being performed is Much ado about nothing.

This is one of Shakespeare’s comedy’s I’m a bit familiar with since we got a brief lesson on it to go along with the film in high school. But we didn’t study it as much as Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet.

I think it’s probably good that I’m at least a bit familiar or I think I’d quickly be lost as to what was happening!

The pay is structured around the courtship and scandal involving Hero and her suitor, Claudio, but the main focus is really the exchange of wits between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice.

It should also be noted that this play is pretty sexist by modern standards. The “nothing” is a euphemism for either sex or virginity (I forget which) and the value of Hero is very much called into question upon scandal. (Spoilers she’s innocent and should have dumped the quick to shame Claudio.)

Still the performance is quite fun. I absolutely loved the set dressing and costumes!

And the moments of Audience interaction are an unexpected bonus. We got to sing a song, and are thrown roses at the end!

My feet are killing me by the 2nd act however!

I think if I went to another show at the Globe I’d a) want to sit and b) want to see a tragedy for comparison.