Bonus episode. Ask the UCB.

Welcome to Improv for Humans with Matt Besser. Ask the UCB bonus episode. So,

I didn't have a big topic to talk about, but I had a bunch of little ones that have been building up

certain ones. I get the same question over and over again.

So, I thought I'd answer a few questions. If you're looking for comedy, it's not going to happen.

This is an Ask the UCB episode. Not funny, purely informational. So, let's see. First off,

a follow-up to, I think, the last Ask the UCB, where I made a statement. I'm not sure what I said.

I'm just going to clarify right now. I think I was talking about independent long-form improv shows

and comparing them to open mics and saying how they're both great, but can also be dangerous

if you get too comfortable playing to the particular types of audience that come with those

shows. So, at the independent long-form improv show, it's probably going to be a very supportive

environment, and open mics can sometimes be supportive, and sometimes they can just not be

supportive at all when it comes to stand-up. But in both places, sometimes you play to the back

of the room, as they say, which means you're playing to the performer. So, sometimes there's a lot

of laughs, which have nothing to do with your material if we're talking about stand-up. And sometimes

there's laughs in an improv show, which are more support laughs, or even laughs at failure,

than laughs at what hopefully we're aiming for, which is just good comedy. So, I think that happens

at both open mics and improv shows, but it's not bad. It's just something you should be aware of.

If that's the only kind of show you're doing, that's another reason to strive to do more than

those shows. So, you can test out your material or your improv in front of a more fair audience.

Don't let it become a crutch, and in the case of stand-up, you even change your material.

Another question I've gotten is about the improv manual. Some people are saying, I don't do

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