Quotes About Improv

At the end of the day, stand-up comedy is like acting when the audience are the other characters that I'm acting with.

Improv seemed to replace stand-up, which was very big before that. Stand-up comedy was real hot in the late '80s and through the '90s.

I liked that improv and sketch comedy were collaborative, but you really depended on other people and a stage to perform. With stand-up comedy, I liked that you had no one else to blame and depend on.

An improv team would have eight guys and one woman; that was still pretty standard. If you were a woman improviser, it was actually kind of an advantage because, if you were halfway decent, you'd get a lot more stage time.

When I finished my residency in New Orleans, I went to L.A. where I would work as a doctor during the day, and then at night I would actually go to The Improv and do standup, all the while kind of cultivating my comedy resume.

I graduated from Improv Olympic. I used to do standup comedy.

I miss improv. I hate it in a way - watching it, doing it - but only because it's so challenging and nerve wracking. Improv is the only belief system I've ever experienced that directly works on how to be. Just how to be.

The first laugh is always key. I've done some improv stuff. Once you get your first laugh, you're good. Up until that point, it's a little nerve-racking.

TV becomes easier because you get to spend time with that character. It's going to go on for a while, and the more you know something, the easier it becomes, the less nerves you have about it, and the better it is for improv because you have that camaraderie between cast regulars. In film, it's harder because you got to get in and get out.

Improv is so freeing because there are no bounds; there's no safety net. You just say something and get an instant response.

A nightmare would be when somebody is trying to be funnier than everyone else. And you've got a group scene or two-person scene, and one person decides, 'I'm the funny in this,' and bulldozes everyone else, and they make sure they're the reason everyone loves the scene.

But, yes, I learned everything working in theater. I learned the importance of community - I was constantly going to play readings, stand-up nights, improv. nights.

A lot of times, good improv is when both people, or however many people are in the scene, really have no idea what the next thing you're going to say is.

She wanted to be given a funny script so that she could make it funnier.

I think 'SNL' was such a unique thing because it was material you created and you're very comfortable with it, even though the setting was pressure-packed.

I did one touring show with Horatio Sanz. We went to, I think it was Iowa State University, and we were in this field house, so people were sitting on the floor. It started out with 2,500 people in there. We delivered the most mediocre improv, and it went from a crowd of 2,500 to 250 people in the course of 45 minutes. It was grim.

'SNL' is all about discovering the unknown, the unexpected.

I started doing standup when I was in college, and I would incorporate a lot of characters into my act.

I'm a comedy geek so anything comedy related, whether that's standup shows, improv shows, I'm all over that. That's my favorite way to be entertained always.

I do standup every week in L.A. at the Laugh Factory and the Improv.

I come from standup and improv.

I'm more of a sketch guy than a standup.

'Dinner' is completely scripted. There are some improv elements, but I'm not interested in pranking people. It's more like a play than standup.

We come from a live background of sketch improv and standup.