Reflection: Televising Improv

Today, my thoughts went back to my most ambitious creative project that skimmed the ground briefly before running out of gas.

About the same time my sports show Four-Pro Forum was being produced at the college, I met up with a man who was a graduate of Detroit's chapter of Second City comedy club. Jerry was a specialist at improv, a comedy niche I knew something about, but not totally. What I did know was that nothing of that nature was televised before, it had only been staged.

I attempted to break through and produce a variety show, Kaveman's Korner, that would combine Jerry's comedic talents with my take on a Tonight Show / Late Show format.

It was an interesting premise as we devised the script for the first show. I expected interest to come from a lot of the students in the production classes, but either they were unsure, or scared, to see something that major being produced. No one had tried to produce a variety show of that magnitude in the small, cramped studio on campus, and I quickly found this out -- although I was willing to work around it.

"Kaveman" was perhaps the most challenging show I had come up with or worked on. I can't count the re-enactment of Annie Hall that our class did, or the remake of Pulp Fiction that I edited for my final class project. This show would be a one-hour, straight through, with previously-recorded roll-ins introducing various comedy sketches.

Those side sketches, called "wrap-arounds" in the business, were the easiest to produce, and were very naturally funny. The actual studio segments, though, were quite hard. We had to squeeze a curtained stage, interview desk, and platform for a four-piece live band into a 150-square foot area, then strike the set when finished. There was action in all corners of the studio, but as I found later, not enough lighting and not enough microphones. My friend Alan always salivated at the prospect of assisting on major productions, but even he became frustrated with the lack of mobility, and frustrating him was something that was not easy to do.

But what became the most tedious was the reaction to Jerry's material. I found out that improv does not produce the same type of pacing as regular comedy or interview spots do. On the first show, he opened with a two-minute explanation of what improv really was. To say I wasn't shaking my head to myself would be a lie, but I was hoping for the best. I didn't think for one moment I was in over my head, but I guess the lack of interest from staff members may have dictated otherwise, though I would never have admitted it.

All good comedians will tell you that audience reaction is do-or-die; they thrive off positive reaction and are encouraged to become funnier off-the-cuff if the reception is warm. We had no room for an audience, so I had to insert a laugh track in post-production. But in presenting material before the cameras, he had to rely on banter with his bandleader and nothing else. This disappointed him more than anything. I wasn't keen about shooting on location, and to make a long story short, it contributed to the premature ending of this idea and the parting of ways.

I regret all partings that happen before their time, and I do wish that I had put forth a little more effort into being more flexible. That's part of who I am as a producer: I will admit faux pas, even though they may come late. Would this be a show I would do now? I would definitely try again, given better facilities, and a better understanding of how the genre of improv works.

Apparently, improv is not at its best when staged deliberately. If the natural aura is killed, so must be the enthusiasm. I only wish I knew - it would have been a very interesting & unique pedigree on my record if it had gone through.