![]() ![]() ![]() It was like “What can we give someone who comes to our shows in the special…” Where they’ll have a different experience on television than a live show. We thought the more cameras we brought, the more coverage we could get, the more choices we had afterwards. Just to make sure that we got everything.īS: I think that was the best way to protect ourselves. We just knew that we had to have a ton of cameras. It’s just like “How are you going to capture it? How are you going to not just bring the audience in, but bring them in at the same pace as the audience that’s in the theater? So no one’s ahead or behind.” There were a lot of question marks. Two person, team building long form improv is different than Whose Line Is It Anyway, it’s different than a stand-up comedy special. And it’s a lower budget, but they really do capture this team building. It’s called Trust Us This Is All Made Up. and Dave, who are kind of like an inspiration for us. But there’s a great improv documentary about T.J. What were some of the things you knew not to do? We had more examples of what not to do than what to do based on like previous attempts to capture long form improv on film essentially. Was there that same uncertainty in terms of whether the live show would be able to translate to the audience at home? Even though we have no idea what it is, let’s go for it.” I think once we started doing those shows for bigger places, like Carnegie Hall and the Chicago Theater and the Met, we thought about the idea of “Oh, we could get a bunch of cameras and really try to capture this so we hopefully get more people interested in coming to the show and enjoying showcasing our love of improv. Because when networks hear what it is and are like “Yeah, but what’s going to happen?” You just say “Well, we have no idea.” So it was very cool of Netflix that they understood it and said “Okay, we’re into it. So once we started touring, playing to these bigger venues, and it felt like an actual thing that we could do, we went out and tried to pitch it to people and found that it’s a difficult thing to pitch. Whenever you come to one of our live shows, outside of this taping that we did, it is still in that moment. So what finally made you guys want to go ahead and film these three specials to Netflix? Was it a no-brainer?īS: I would say that, for us, the live experience will always be that. Now I know you guys have said previously that you didn’t want any videotaping going on at your shows because you wanted it to remain an experience that stays in the room. It’s a quote from when Chris Farley had that role in The Big Lewbowski. We recently spoke to Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz about their new specials, how their chemistry was formed, what goes on in their head after a show, and how to play improv to the back of the room. And they did so quite effortlessly, at that. Middleditch and Schwartz have clearly found an ingenious way to hone in on this market that seemed nearly impossible. This way, when you’re sitting at home, you can enjoy it without feeling like you’re missing anything beyond the first few minutes. They build upon that exchange they had with an audience member in that first 5 minutes, but that’s it. How Middleditch and Schwartz approach it, in their 3 new improvised comedy specials now on Netflix, is they spend the first 5 minutes talking to an audience member to create an idea, before they turn to each other and never turn to the audience for help again. It’s one of those things where “You know, you really had to be there.” It’s a very tricky thing to pull off, especially if you want to pull off three separate shows like they have here. But, as far as long-form improv goes, there hasn’t been a whole lot. Sure, you have things such as Whose Line is it Anyway? that serve as an introduction to the sub-genre of comedy for many. Improv has been one of those art forms that hasn’t quite found a way to be properly represented on the screen. And that’s the thing you walk away with, is just how much trust each performer installs in one another. Trust that, no matter what weird turn Thomas may take, or if Ben wants to experiment with something new, the other will be right there in one swift motion. But the most integral thing, to any comedy duo really, is trust. They both have similar styles and approaches to the craft that also help. The sort of chemistry that two comedians would be lucky enough to stumble upon once in their life time for just 5 minutes. When you watch Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz, both incredibly talented in their own right, perform onstage together, there is a natural chemistry. ![]()
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