The Improv

An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up

By: Budd Friedman, Tripp Whetsell, Jay Leno - foreword

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

In 1963, 30-year-old Friedman - who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to his hometown of New York to become a theatrical producer - opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. His goal? Simply to make a living, and if all went according to plan, to also make enough professional contacts to be able to mount his first Broadway show within a year's time.

Later shortened to the Improv, its first West 44th Street location in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen had previously been a Vietnamese restaurant. Initially attracting the likes of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Albert Finney, Christopher Plummer, and Jason Robards, as well as a couple of then-unknowns named Dustin Hoffman and Bette Midler, Friedman's new venture was an instant hit. But while it drew near-capacity crowds almost from day one, it wasn't until comedians began dropping by to try out new material that the Improv truly hit its stride, not only becoming the first venue ever to present live stand-up in a continuous format, but in the process reinventing the art form and creating the template for all other comedy clubs that followed.

©2017 Budd Friedman with Tripp Whetsell (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The Improv was a cauldron of talent. Whetsell writes about it wonderfully and with respect for its importance to comedy." (Robert Klein)

Fantastic work!

An illuminating insight into the history of one of the most influential institutions of American comedy. A must read for comedy fans

Great insight. Loved it. Start to finish.

Great insight. Loved it. Start to finish. A small portion of me wishes there was some kind of device used to make it clear that Budd was done reading off someone else’s written insights and moving back to sharing his own again. Sometimes it took me a second to recognize that Budd was back to narrating his own writing.

very informative

Good info. A good history of comedy of 60s, 70s, andd 80s. Budd Friedman was a maker of stars so good to hear his insights.

The Improv and Budd

Great story. Belongs on the shelf with the good history of stand up comedy books also a great story in its own right.

Comedy Is Gritty, Not Pretty!

It was very interesting to hear the stories about all the Improv alumni over the years, from the early 70s through 2000s and about the life of a comic just starting out. I was surprised to hear that Budd Friedman didn’t pay his comics at first, even though they were the reason people went to the club and how Mitzi Shore (Pauly Shore’s mother who died eight days ago) mistreated her comedic talent, insisting that they work exclusively at her rival The Comedy Store and refused to pay them, although she was getting quite rich off them until they, led by David Letterman, Jay Leno and Tom Dreesen, picketed her establishment in 1979 and after six weeks, she relented and agreed to pay them the princely sum of $15 per set, basically meal and gas money so they weren’t literally “starving comics”.

So many comics that got their start doing stand-up at the Improv went on to be famous on TV shows and in movies that it was really interesting to hear about their early years making people laugh; practicing and honing their craft!

Strange format, OK story.

The Improv has obviously had a large impact on comedy and the book is gives a good look at the history of it. The format is a bit strange as the author who was also the founder of The Improv will discuss a particular performer which will then be followed by other people commenting on the performer or time period, but in doing so will be putting themselves or the author "over" so to speak. So while it does give a good insight into the development or history of this historical comedy club, it comes across a bit egocentric.

Shockingly tone deaf

As someone who has followed comedy over the last 50 years, and also the #MeToo moment, I have to say how offensive it is to me to now hear every female performer described in terms of her body and whether she is attractive or not. The author speaks of women in ways he doesn’t also see men. He doesn’t speak of the overweight unattractive men he worked with, nor does he describe them as “delicious”, as he does of one performer. I turned off the book because we had young adults in the car who are over it. Unfortunate that this history was more inappropriate in the retelling than the jokes themselves. Don’t tell me it was a different generation, a different time. Weak. Editors failed writing for todays audiences.