Comedy Comics Improv Club People Tv Jokes Troupe

In the United States, many people like to go to comedy clubs where they can spend an evening listening to comics and having a drink with their friends. Other people like to stay at home and watch "Comedy Central," a cable TV channel that has comedy shows all the time. Generally there are two types of comedy: stand-up comedy and sketch comedy.

A "stand-up" comic stands alone on the stage and speaks informally with the audience, making jokes. Often the comic uses jokes that he or she has memorized, but sometimes the comic is performing "improv" comedy, meaning that he or she is thinking of what to say at the moment, without having prepared the jokes earlier.

A "sketch comedy" is performed by a "troupe" or a group of comic actors. They perform several funny, short "sketches" or scenarios for the audience. Usually the troupe practices these sketches before the performance and knows what they will be about, but they usually do some improv, too.

One of the most famous sketch-comedy troupes is "The Second City" in Chicago, Illinois. Many of the comics from this troupe have become successful actors and comics on TV and in movies. For example, many of them have worked as actors for the popular sketch-comedy television shows, Saturday Night Live, and Mad TV, both of which use a lot of improv.

Improv comics must be able to think quickly and creatively. There are many schools of "improvisation" or improv that help comics develop their improv abilities. Some of these schools are ImprovOlympic, The Playground, and ComedySportz.