Think outside the Line

By Christina Bradley

"So, who do you want to see on the show??"

I can't count how many times I've seen this posted as a discussion question. Considerably more than "Is Brad single?" but slightly less than "Who's your favourite on the show?". The answers are always interesting, if a bit predictable. Jim Carrey usually makes it to the top of the list. So do Mike Myers, John Cleese, and [insert your favourite comic here].

What's strange to me is how many of these choices are comedians rather than improvisers. Yes, there is a difference. For one thing, improv is a hell of a lot more than just saying the first thing that comes out of your mouth (Something many of Whose Line's critics can't seem to understand). Watch Colin work sometime. Really watch him work. It's a juggling act of quietly directing and responding to a scene while your fellow performers are also directing and responding off in a different direction. You're working without a net here, and you don't even know where your next step will take you. Good improv takes listening skills which border on telepathy, and there are many performers who, no matter how talented they might be in their delivery of scripted material, will never be able to do that. Comic geniuses who spend hours perfecting an act that will leave you with stomach cramps for days have admitted that they'd be at a loss on Whose Line.

So, what about the performers who do have a background in improv? As interested as I'd be in seeing Mike Myers or Lisa Kudrow take a crack at it, I have a radical suggestion: What about some of the hundreds of improvisers who are performing right now? They're lurking everywhere - Second City, Theatresports, The Groundlings, your local bar - and they're very, very good. I'll admit that I'm getting a tad annoyed at the need for fame on the show. I'd much rather see good improv than eye candy or ratings bait. I can name fifty people I'd like see on the show before Jim Carrey, and I think I'd invite that drunk guy who tells jokes on my bus before I'd want to see another playboy bunny.

I'm lucky enough to live in Canada, where we have a little more exposure to non-WL improv on TV, so over the past few years I've fallen in love with several performers who will probably never make it beyond the audience of WL... and it's not for lack of talent. The best improvised scene I've ever seen on TV was not on Whose Line and had nothing to do with cats or tapioca. That said, nothing on TV can compare to seeing improv live. If I had to choose between heading out on a Friday night to go to Loose Moose or watching WL, I'd be setting the VCR.

I'm not saying that people should turn into snobs who see whose line as the gunk on the bottom of some great improvisational shoe. Whose Line is an excellent introduction to improv, but it's far from being the end of the road. There are as many different styles, formats and venues as there are performers. What you see on ABC is only the surface of a wonderful and unique style of theatre. So put on your great improvisational shoes (I'd imagine they have flames down the side), wipe off the playboy bunnies, and see where those shoes take you. There are far more than eight talented improvisers out there in the world, and some of them may be hiding in that little theatre downtown. Who knows... You might even like it.

Posted 18/09/2002

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Do you think Christina might be on to something? Have you had a great experience with local improv where you live? Write a letter to the editor & tell us about it! Or read the response we've already received!

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