Originally, it was a 50-seat single venue (which immediately prior, housed a Vietnamese restaurant
[ at Ninth Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City near the southeast corner of 9th Ave. The Improvisation was originally an after hours coffee house where Broadway theatre performers could unwind after shows with an open mic inviting impromptu musical performances. In 1964, Dave Astor was its first comedian.]
In 1982, the L.A. Improv became the original site for the A&E Network television series An Evening at the Improv, running from 1982 until 1996, and was produced by Larry O'Daly, created by O'Daly and Barbara Hosie-O'Daly, with Budd Friedman as a warm-up host. Other locations have opened since then, such as in Tampa, Florida,[Charleston, Rita. "Budd Friedman knows success" , Northeast Times, 30 October 2003.] and Louisville, Kentucky.
Performances
The Improv was the place to see Richard Pryor, Robert Klein, Steve Landesberg, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Jay Leno, and others when they were just starting out. Dustin Hoffman played piano there. On any given night in the later 1970s, one could see Gilbert Gottfried, Joe Piscopo, Bruce Mahler, Robin Williams, Larry David, and many others. Often famous comedians would walk in to "work out" before appearances on The Tonight Show. It was not unusual to find celebrities in the audience.
Nearly every big name in comedy has played The Improv, including Richard Belzer, Milton Berle, Kevin Brennan, Drew Carey, George Carlin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield, Jeff Dunham, Bill Engvall, Dave Foley, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Hicks, Andy Kaufman, Carol Leifer, David Letterman, Richard Lewis, Jon Lovett, Norm Macdonald, Bill Maher, Marc Maron, Steve Martin, Dennis Miller, Larry Miller, Liza Minnelli, Freddie Prinze, Ray Romano, Paul Reiser, Joan Rivers, Joe Rogan, Jerry Seinfeld, Bo Burnham and Ron White.
Silver Friedman auditioned and rejected Eddie Murphy, a regular at The Comic Strip in New York City, for being "too vulgar,"[ and he eventually performed at the Improv in Los Angeles when he was only 15 years old.
]
Karen Black, Debra Winger and Barry Manilow, among others, worked there as waiters, waitresses, hosts or musicians before becoming famous.
New and upcoming performers have performed there as well. Comedy Central Dave Attell frequents Improv locations in Tampa and Hollywood. Comics Lewis Black, Mike Birbiglia, Louis C.K. and Jimmy Fallon have performed at the Improv in Louisville, Kentucky.
Locations
The following is a list of Improv locations :
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Addison, Texas (Dallas area)
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Arlington, Texas
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Brea, California
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Brookfield, Wisconsin (Milwaukee area)
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Cleveland, Ohio
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Denver, Colorado
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida
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Hollywood, California
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Houston, Texas
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Irvine, California
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Kansas City, Missouri
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Miami, Florida
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West Nyack, New York
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Ontario, California
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Orlando, Florida
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Oxnard, California
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West Palm Beach, Florida
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Raleigh, North Carolina
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San Jose, California
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Schaumburg, Illinois (Chicago area)
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Stateline, Nevada (south shore of Lake Tahoe)
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Tampa, Florida
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Tempe, Arizona
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Washington, D.C.
The following is a list of former Improv locations:
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Atlanta, Georgia
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Atlantic City, New Jersey
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Baltimore, Maryland
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Las Vegas, Nevada
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Louisville, Kentucky
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New York City, New York
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Reno, Nevada
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San Diego, California
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San Francisco, California
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Seattle, Washington
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London, England
See also
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List of New York Improv comedians
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Traffic School by Improv
External links
- * The Improv Atlanta
- * Improv Louisville
