TheMiddleditch & Schwartzspecials suggest a future where the form belongs to performers, not theaters.
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It was the 28th dayof quarantine in New York City.
Or was it the 16th?
At the last second, the owner pulled her dog back.
There was a pause.
And then the owner looked at the couple … and screamed at them for not wearing masks.
At this point, I decided I was done with the world for the day.
Home, I turned on Netflix to watch the second of threeMiddleditch & Schwartzspecials, and something funny happened.
Not funny haha though there is a ton of haha but funny unusual.
Or, to use a word that is declasse, somethingnicehappened.
To which Schwartz responds, with a smirk, You want me to …abandon my boy?
Middleditch doubles over laughing, seemingly to the point of tears.
But that day of quarantine, whichever it was, it was nice.
And theres a lot riding on that niceness.
Nothing less than the future of improv depends on it.
Middleditch is probably best known for starring inHBOsSilicon Valley.
Comedy fame is a weird thing.
I first met both of them separately around the end of the aughts.
I vividly remember one taping when Schwartz auditioned to play an assistant.
The two of them got pizza.
Really fast, insane stuff, and we both just had a ton of fun, Middleditch recalls.
They have performed dozens of much longer shows together since.
Playing a space not traditionally used for improv put an idea in Middleditchs head.
The goal was theaters with lots of seats and expectations from the people who fill them.
That seems simple enough, but why hadnt it happened before?
In retrospect, as beloved as it might have been for some up-and-coming improvisers, the UCBs 2005A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.
The main reasoning is always the same: It would be impossible to re-create the audience experience.
Both Schwartz and Middleditch have tried to put improv on TV before.
I have seen it.
It wasnt an easy sell, Schwartz tells me, talking aboutMiddleditch & Schwartz.
What is the show going to be about, though?
Schwartz says theyd respond, We have no idea.
It could be about anything.
Understandably, this was a hard thing to blindly agree to.
A lot of networks wanted a framing equipment.
Some executives pitched special guests as a possible solution.
Netflix, however, had been looking to try improv for some time.
Its like spending a night with the two best friends you ever had.
It doesnt do justice to what it feels like to be in a room watching an improv show.
They think it worked but more than anything, they hope it did.
That could have significant ramifications on improvs position in our culture.
All of what is goodand annoying about American improv was there at the very beginning.
To this day, improvisers dont call it performing; they call it playing.
In turn, her son, Paul Sills, became improvs first true believer.
Considering whom they taught, their influence on modern comedy is undeniable and tremendous.
In 2003,the New YorkTimesreportedthe UCB taught some 500 students.
In the past 20 years, the country went from a handful of improv theaters to nearly 200.
Reno has two, Sacramento has three, and the state of Florida has 16.
You would be hard-pressed to find a college that doesnt have one, if not more than that.
But youd never know by the way they talk about it.
Those people are idiots.
Improvs greatest sin is encouraging the mediocre, he writes.
It values the indulgence of the performer over the satisfaction of the audience.
Just look at how its portrayed in media.
At the core of this shame is the cynicism adults feel toward the naivete of youth.
But with each new stage of an improvisers journey, its theimproviser who pays more money.
Bad improv becomes the norm; great improv the exception.
I see guys onstage having fun.
And its not just the UCB.
This is whats at stake with Middleditch and Schwartzs success.
The duo offer a glimpse of what it might mean to divorce improv from its institutions.
But Middleditch and Schwartz suggest a future where the means of performance belongs to the improvisers.
So how is the show?Good!
Very silly, but good, if you like silly things.
Their act is small and grounded, and frankly it comes off a bit flat.
It only happens once, and it is the most compelling second of the entire documentary.
The performers inMiddleditch & Schwartzare the exact opposites.
Im 100 percent certain Im going to beat you, Schwartz says.
Two-person improv, more than other formats, is really rooted in the friendship of the performers.
Talking to people through Twitter, I learned a lot of them are performing over Zoom.
I watched one show on Instagram Live by the Brooklyn comedy groupLadies Who Ranch.
Weve all heard Yes, and before, but its not just a trick to keep a scene going.
Its about acknowledging a shared reality.
