Oh Midge

Improv Comedians vs. Stand Up Comedians

I have been taking an Improv class at Second City Training Center in Los Angeles. It’s been really awesome and I’ve learned a lot about the comedy world. For one, the difference between Improvisation Comedians and Stand-Up Comedians. They are two breeds, indeed.

The typical, and maybe this is a stereotype but it seems to be true from my experiences, stand-up comedian is a tortured soul in a number of ways. He or she probably has a complex about being “different” and feeling left out. They most likely, have an extreme personality and are often times heavy to moderate drug users. There seems to be an inferiority complex trend going on too. They can be self-depricating and get a lot of laughs out of that, but the laughs become a type of drug in themselves. God bless them, they’re hilarious!

Then, there’s the Improv Comedian. He or she may also feel like they are outsiders for the most part. They are sometimes pretty dorky and quick witted and they use this for their craft. They are less tortured than the stand-up and play a different comedic game. In their line of work, they have to keep everything up and on the positive side, because if they don’t, they’ll lose the momentum and the skit will fail. Good improvers seem to be more positive in general. Drugs can drag down your impulses and make you slower. That’s a disastrous side effect for the improver. They have to be quick and on “the ball” in order to be successful at their art form. God bless them. It’s a hard thing to do!

And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you.