benjoseph asked: In a lot of interviews, I've noticed older comedians and dramatic actors use the term "ad lib" instead of "improv." Thoughts on the terminology? Implications of the two different words?
This is a great question I had never thought about, but I believe is very true.
My reaction: “ad lib” is an old school’s comedian’s term for someone who can come up with a well crafted joke on the fly: something you’d say about Groucho Marx, Jack Benny maybe even Johnny Carson. It’s a compliment for a great stunt.
“Improv” probably sounds like the same thing, but has come to mean something else. It means the art of collaborating on a scene together in front of an audience. It has more to do with reacting specifically and honestly while being suggestible than being witty. Improv is long-form — a great conversation, not a great line.
BUT people who don’t know still expect improv to just be a series of jokes. That’s what audiences expect. “Ooh, based on that suggestion I wonder what jokes they will say? Will they ‘win’ with that suggestion?” And then they get disappointed when the first two lines are about something only related to the suggestion, but then (hopefully) are won over by a funny and dazzling scene that they then realize was made up in front of them.
We don’t ad-lib. We improv.
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