Why Are We Pursuing A Tired Old Medium?

I'm glad there's nothing good on the box; it'd really cut into my comedy time.

'Whose Line is it Anyway?' was brilliant though, wasn't it? I spent many hours laughing at the likes of Greg Proops and Josie Lawrence making up some of the best comedy on TV in the 90's. And if you watch the repeats they are still brilliant, still standing up to the test of time. That's pretty rare; I was bored of 'Little Britain' after 3 episodes, but I suppose that's what happens when you do the same episode for three series' instead of making new stuff up for every show.
I digress (already).

Many's an hour been spent in conversation with fellow improvisers about how we could get a decent British improv show on our telly-boxes again. We thought we might get one earlier this year, but were sadly disappointed by the beeb. And more recently Channel Dave followed in those never-to-return-for-a-2nd-series footsteps. Still, the question is asked: How do we get a good impro show on telly?

The US has had some success quite recently. 'Drew Carey's Improvaganza' did well (despite stealing the name from Rapid Fire Theatre), but that's been cancelled now. If you include shows like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and 'Reno 911' you COULD say improv is almost mainstream over there. Almost.
And if you DO include those, then you could consider 5% of 'Outnumbered' was a fairly good British impro show.

But we're still losing comedy airtime to 'Mrs. Brown's Boys', so it's not going that well.

I was having a chat with Paul Foxcroft (Horse Aquarium) a while ago. He said something rather sensational but worth a nod,

"TV is dead."
- Paul Foxcroft

I thought then about when was the last time I actually regularly watched the expensive black rectangle in the corner of my lounge.
Ummm.
He was right, y'know. Apart from the occasional iPlayer catch-up of Dr Who, and the even fewer times when I remember I've downloaded the latest cool HBO series - my TV lays dormant at the edge of the room. If anything, I'm usually out anyway: rehearsing, watching or performing shows preferably.

Watching a show live on stage is rarely a completely bad choice. There's unbelievable amounts of good stuff out there, impro and other (lesser) stuff. And it's not even always expensive (London Improv nights are a fiver, as a rule).

Even if you accidentally end up at a bad show (eg: at the Dominion theatre), it's likely a social experience that you can laugh about afterwards with friends. A totally shite show can spawn the most joyful of discussions, and give you some valuable lessons about your own performances. Winner.

So I've given up on the idea of TV impro. Unless there's an influential, energetic, maverick producer out there willing to take the time to understand improvisation as an artform, it's a fruitless pursuit. And in a world where execs would rather commission another series of 'A Bunch of Morons Applying Fake Tan' it's highly unlikely.

The joy of impro is on the stage, so that's the thing to focus on. It's already going on pretty much every night (London-centric, sorry) if you look for it. I don't need to sit through half an hour of 'Fast And Loose' to watch Ruth Bratt or Dave Reed be stifled by oppressive producers, I can just go and see them play with glorious freedom in real life, and I get much longer in their company too. It's really very superior. A lot.

Unless it's from someone who cares about improv, the telly will continue to falter in it's pursuit of a successful improv show. And I'll join the legions of passionate improvisers who switch off in disappointment.

And that's coming from someone with a really nice telly, too.

(He says, blowing dust off an X-box.)

- Jonathan Monkhouse