History Main / ImprovComedyIsInane

-->'''Lucifer:''' [[RapidFireNo Oh, no, no.]] Not this. Better a snuff movie, a ''[[Film/TheHumanCentipede Human Centipede]]'', clown porn, but not improv!

* ''Series/InLivingColor'': In a sketch of ''HBO's Tired Comedy Nite'', one of the featured comics is named "the stupid improv guy" who isn't too liked by the crowd until [[spoiler: does a "trick" where [[SuicideAsComedy he hangs himself onstage]]]] which earns him a ''standing ovation.''

* ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'': In "My Little Monkey," Lucifer decides to try and be more like Dan, even dressing like him and imitating his accent. Dan, not unreasonably, assumes he's mocking him and avoids Lucifer as much as possible. This ends with Lucifer following Dan to whatever it is he does in his time off, which he discovers - to his horror - is an improv club. Lucifer follows him in just in time to see Dan do an improvised scene imitating Lucifer, and the two have a confrontation that becomes a heart-to-heart where they realise neither of them has it as figured out as the other assumed.

--->'''Male Performer''': ''[Acting drunk]'' Uh, excuse me, I need a ''(Hic)'' I need a coffee. Can you change a billion-dollar bill?
---> '''Female Performer''': Our coffee COSTS a billion dollars. This is Starbucks... in Siberia!

Your typical improv group in fiction will have a PunnyName and an overly cheery nature that the audience may or may not find endearing. They'll often be set in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} due to that city's particularly large improv scene (usually through The Second City). Due to the lack of structure in improv comedy, your average performance is stereotyped as [[SmallNameBigEgo self-absorbed amateur actors]] stuck in HamToHamCombat, jumping onto each other's bits and throwing around random invisible props until the scene is no longer comprehensible. They may [[ComicallyMissingThePoint miss the point of improv]] by trying to do the bits they want to do without actually adapting to their fellow actors or try to push the exact same bit over and over again. When stuck for a scene idea, they'll hastily invoke ChandlersLaw. Expect remarks about how these actors spend hundreds of dollars on improv classes only to learn nothing useful about comedy. Some works may parody the flash mob approach popularized by Creator/ImprovEverywhere, with onlookers being confused and annoyed. At its most unflattering, these improv groups may be depicted as creepy or even cult-like despite their chummy exterior.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': Fozzie tries to incorporate improv into his act, bragging that he can make a joke out of any word suggested by the audience. His backstage rehearsals fall flat, and when he comes onstage, Statler and Waldorf stump him by suggesting "amoeba". ("No foreign words, please.")

Your typical improv group in fiction will have a PunnyName and an overly-cheery nature that the audience may or may not find endearing. They'll often be set in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} due to that city's particularly large improv scene (usually through The Second City). Due to the lack of structure in improv comedy, your average performance is stereotyped as [[SmallNameBigEgo self-absorbed amateur actors]] stuck in HamToHamCombat, jumping onto each other's bits and throwing around random invisible props until the scene is no longer comprehensible. They may [[ComicallyMissingThePoint miss the point of improv]] by trying to do the bits they want to do without actually adapting to their fellow actors, or try to push the exact same bit over and over again. When stuck for a scene idea, they'll hastily invoke ChandlersLaw. Expect remarks about how these actors spend hundreds of dollars on improv classes only to learn nothing useful about comedy. Some works may parody the flash mob approach popularized by Creator/ImprovEverywhere, with onlookers being confused and annoyed. At its most unflattering, these improv groups may be depicted as creepy or even cult-like despite their chummy exterior.

* ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'': In "My Little Monkey," Lucifer decides to try and be more like Dan, even dressing like him and imitating his accent. Dan, not unreasonably, assumes he's mocking him and avoids Lucifer as much as possible. This ends with Lucifer following Dan to whatever-it-is he does in his time off, which he discovers - to his horror - is an improv club. Lucifer follows him in just in time to see Dan do an improvised scene imitating Lucifer, and the two have a confrontation that becomes a heart-to-heart where they realise neither of them has it as figured out as the other assumed.

** One of the high school theater sketches incorporates some improv into the show, with the students asking for a suggestion from the audience. An audience member gives "basketball." The students then put on a clearly pre-rehearsed scene about a mother comforting her son after kids are homophobic to him in school, then announcing they're going to have ''basketball'' for dinner at the end.

-->"Too much improv," says ''Improv Magazine.''

** In "The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee," Jocelyn is hesitant to join the titular band because she mistakes it for an improv group, and an improv group kidnapped her cousin.
** In "The Millie-churian Candidate," Millie freaks out over Louise potentially not being her bestie, but tries to save her campaign by claiming it was just practice for when she starts an improv club. Tina remarks, "I think Millie just lost," but Gene insists [[ComicallyMissingThePoint the only losers in improv are the audience]].
** In "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS11E15SheshankRedumption Sheshank Redemption]]," Teddy joins an improv group and gets very invested. However, he insists before the show that Bob give "underpants" as a suggestion, indicating he isn't actually willing to improvise. Even more oddly, he ends up choosing a different suggestion at the show.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E3SpiesReminiscentOfUs Spies Reminiscent of Us]]," Peter, Quagmire, and Joe decide to form an improv comedy group called Room for Improv-ment, since improv is "the most consistently funny form of comedy." Quagmire, having been a member of several improv groups in college, quickly becomes domineering at their rehearsals. At their first performance, Quagmire's attempts at conventional improv fall flat with the audience, while Peter easily wins them over with a bad Creator/JohnWayne impression and lame puns.

---> '''Male Performer''': ''[Acting drunk]'' Uh, excuse me, I need a ''(Hic)'' I need a coffee. Can you change a billion-dollar bill?

Your typical improv group in fiction will have a PunnyName and an overly-cheery nature that the audience may or may not find endearing. Due to the lack of structure in improv comedy, your average performance is stereotyped as [[SmallNameBigEgo self-absorbed amateur actors]] stuck in HamToHamCombat, jumping onto each other's bits and throwing around random invisible props until the scene is no longer comprehensible. They may [[ComicallyMissingThePoint miss the point of improv]] by trying to do the bits they want to do without actually adapting to their fellow actors, or try to push the exact same bit over and over again. When stuck for a scene idea, they'll hastily invoke ChandlersLaw. Expect remarks about how these actors spend hundreds of dollars on improv classes only to learn nothing useful about comedy. Some works may parody the flash mob approach popularized by Creator/ImprovEverywhere, with onlookers being confused and annoyed. At its most unflattering, these improv groups may be depicted as creepy or even cult-like despite their chummy exterior.