This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page.
When someone talks about improvisation, odds are your mind goes to what is known as short-form; theater games or quick scenes, the sort of performances popularized by “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and seen in small theaters. Most people have seen – or been in – groups like this.
Long-form improv, as the name implies, offers a different challenge. Rather than taking suggestions throughout a show for different scenes, performers only take a few suggestions at the top of a show and proceed to perform the rest of the show based on those. While there may be several scenes within a show, the idea is that they are all related to those initial prompts.
While it may be high-risk, it’s...
When someone talks about improvisation, odds are your mind goes to what is known as short-form; theater games or quick scenes, the sort of performances popularized by “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and seen in small theaters. Most people have seen – or been in – groups like this.
Long-form improv, as the name implies, offers a different challenge. Rather than taking suggestions throughout a show for different scenes, performers only take a few suggestions at the top of a show and proceed to perform the rest of the show based on those. While there may be several scenes within a show, the idea is that they are all related to those initial prompts.
While it may be high-risk, it’s...
- 6/5/2023
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
At this point, we’re almost legally obligated to start off TV roundups with some variation on this idea that there’s a lot of TV out there, but it really is impossible to keep up with everything. And calling attention to it doesn’t make it any less true!
So, given that TV time is reaching astronomical heights in 2020, how does one find something to watch, let alone focus on just the best of the best? That’s where we come in.
Keeping track of the dizzying amount of television we’ve reviewed so far in 2020 is a task in and of itself, so we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible. Below, we’ve gathered each of our 2020 TV reviews, each with a season number and the network/service where the new episodes first aired for U.S. audiences. Hopefully, this will help you decide what...
So, given that TV time is reaching astronomical heights in 2020, how does one find something to watch, let alone focus on just the best of the best? That’s where we come in.
Keeping track of the dizzying amount of television we’ve reviewed so far in 2020 is a task in and of itself, so we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible. Below, we’ve gathered each of our 2020 TV reviews, each with a season number and the network/service where the new episodes first aired for U.S. audiences. Hopefully, this will help you decide what...
- 12/28/2020
- by Kristen Lopez and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.) The Series: Middleditch & Schwartz Where You Can Stream It: Netflix The Pitch: Middleditch & Schwartz is a two-person improvised show. Based on a short audience Q&a where someone in the crowd […]
The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘Middleditch & Schwartz’ Delivers Improvised Comedy Gold That Will Crack You Up appeared first on /Film.
The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘Middleditch & Schwartz’ Delivers Improvised Comedy Gold That Will Crack You Up appeared first on /Film.
- 4/28/2020
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
While stand-up has become a key part of the Netflix strategy — it's shelled out millions for specials from Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle and Amy Schumer — the streamer is breaking comedic ground with its first long-form improv comedy special, the three-part Middleditch & Schwartz, starring Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch and Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz.
After touring the country with their improv act, which starts with an idea from the audience and snowballs into an hour-long story, the two filmed three performances at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, with ...
After touring the country with their improv act, which starts with an idea from the audience and snowballs into an hour-long story, the two filmed three performances at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, with ...
- 4/21/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz are masters of improv comedy. But if you ask them, the secret to that weird and wonderful art form is easier to demonstrate than it is to explain.
According to Middleditch, “You just gotta have it, kid.”
The pair’s set of three full-length comedy specials under the name “Middleditch & Schwartz” debut April 21 on Netflix. TheWrap sat down with the pair over Zoom to find out how it’s done.
“I think one of the basic things that people talk about is, you start out with an idea and you say, ‘Yes, and,'” Schwartz said. “It’s a hard thing to explain — it’s more exciting to be in the room where it happens.”
Also Read: Ben Schwartz Tells Us Exactly What Jean-Ralphio From 'Parks and Rec' Would be Doing in Quarantine (Video)
He was interrupted by Middledtich bursting into the...
According to Middleditch, “You just gotta have it, kid.”
The pair’s set of three full-length comedy specials under the name “Middleditch & Schwartz” debut April 21 on Netflix. TheWrap sat down with the pair over Zoom to find out how it’s done.
“I think one of the basic things that people talk about is, you start out with an idea and you say, ‘Yes, and,'” Schwartz said. “It’s a hard thing to explain — it’s more exciting to be in the room where it happens.”
Also Read: Ben Schwartz Tells Us Exactly What Jean-Ralphio From 'Parks and Rec' Would be Doing in Quarantine (Video)
He was interrupted by Middledtich bursting into the...
- 4/20/2020
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
In today’s TV roundup, Netflix released the official trailer for Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz’s improve show, and Disney Plus announced that its original series “It’s A Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” will premiere May 15.
Dates
TBS has set the Season 2 premiere of comedy game show “The Misery Index” for May 14 at 10:30 p.m. Host Jameela Jamil and panelists The Tenderloins from truTV’s “Impractical Jokers” will return to judge how well two teams can rate real-life events on the misery index, a ranking system created by psychologists. Special themed episodes will include dueling grandmothers, a showdown between motherlands and a visit from one of The Tenderloins’ relatives.
AMC has announced that its three-part series “Quiz” will premiere May 31 at 10 p.m., with the second and third episodes airing the following weeks but being available to stream immediately on May 31. “Quiz” tells the real-life story...
Dates
TBS has set the Season 2 premiere of comedy game show “The Misery Index” for May 14 at 10:30 p.m. Host Jameela Jamil and panelists The Tenderloins from truTV’s “Impractical Jokers” will return to judge how well two teams can rate real-life events on the misery index, a ranking system created by psychologists. Special themed episodes will include dueling grandmothers, a showdown between motherlands and a visit from one of The Tenderloins’ relatives.
AMC has announced that its three-part series “Quiz” will premiere May 31 at 10 p.m., with the second and third episodes airing the following weeks but being available to stream immediately on May 31. “Quiz” tells the real-life story...
- 4/7/2020
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
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