Colin & Brad: Two Man Group (TV Movie 2011) Poster

(2011 TV Movie)

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An hour of improv (for the most part) comedy
ltlacey24 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I have seen the original show of which these 2 came from, so I wonder if those who voted had actually seen that show (Drew Carey's) or this Two Man Show; basing their votes from the original show. The original was sort of lame and really went nowhere a lot of the time, though there were some funny moments, but this particular show, with just Colin and Brad is so funny I think I hurt myself laughing so hard. At the very least I got about an hour aerobic workout. I also learned quickly that one cannot eat or drink anything while watching these 2. The premise is simple: Audience members (shills???) are brought to the stage to help out with some routines, and for the most part these are very funny, but where these 2 guys really shine is when they just work off of one another. The last routine was so funny I had to stop a few times to either catch my breath or because I was laughing so hard that I could not hear what they were saying.
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6/10
Good display of the rough life that is improv comedy
diac2285 November 2013
Pretend that Bill Cosby and George Carlin had decided in the 80s to tour together and perform comedic bits together.

Are they both hilarious? Absolutely, these two are among the best comedians in the history of the game. But could they work together? Absolutely not, since they are two totally different styles of comedy. Bill Cosby is an excellent storytelling genius with an ability to engage with the audience and never talking down to them and never attempting to become offensive. George Carlin is a linguistic phenomenon that has a bitter taste of anti-establishment that made him an underground sensation. They are both funny and legendary in their prime, but if you put them together there will be some quality friction.

This is my sentiment with Colin and Brad: Two Man Group.

On one hand it's an excellent display of how very, very, very little of Whose Line is it Anyway was fixed or was pre-planned. To a lesser extent you can even call this an experimental film displaying the difficulty and the sheer unpredictability of improvisational comedy. But on the other hand you have two men that although they were each on the show had very different strengths and weaknesses.

Colin Mochrie, perhaps the funniest actor in the history of the improv television show, is at his best with physical comedy and deadpan delivery. Brad Sherwood is funny but looks like he is very restricted since he has to keep the vulgarness that he clearly has a knack for to the minimum. He doesn't do physical comedy as much, for he isn't as nimble or energetic.

And this is where the movie has a roller coaster ride of laughs. Some of the skits pay off significantly (The Sound Effects, and the Most Dangerous Improv Game in History) while others failed to truly deliver (The Closed Captioning bit was very hard to muster). But the beauty of Whose Line is at in the face of adversary, when the audience isn't as engaged, when the material to work with is tougher to deliver, the chemistry and ability to interplay with the strengths of each member yielded amazing results during moments that should not have delivered anything.

With Two Man Group, it's just two men, and two men that hardly work together. The movie would have had a far, far better chance if it was Colin and his usual partner-in-crime Ryan Stiles. While there were indeed laughs, especially in the final sequence, the lack of true-blue experienced chemistry prevented this film from rising above mediocrity at times.

At the end of the day, improv comedy is extremely tough because it requires for all the pieces to work together and all the elements to be on your side for the ultimate payoff of sheer laughter to be accomplished. Otherwise, it takes your ability to turn lemons into lemonade to push through the production. Colin and Brad have this ability----just not when working together.

The degree of difficulty and talent far exceeds the final product, but at lease you'll have some fun moments along the way.
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