- The Improv
The Improv is a
comedy club founded in1963 inNew York City . A second location was opened in1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District ofLos Angeles ,California .Started by
Budd Friedman , it was the place to seeRichard 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 ,Mark Schiff ,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
show business has played The Improv, includingMilton Berle ,Drew Carey ,George Carlin ,Chevy Chase ,Bill Cosby ,Billy Crystal ,Rodney Dangerfield ,David Letterman ,Steve Martin ,Freddie Prinze ,Joan Rivers ,Jerry Seinfeld , andLily Tomlin .Even
Liza Minnelli appeared at The Improv, andJim Carrey bombed on his first appearance at the club.New and upcoming performers such as Dante,
Dane Cook andPablo Francisco ,have performed there as well. Comedy Central'sDave Attell also frequents Improv locations in Tampa and Hollywood.Comedian
Eddie Murphy was a regular at The Comic Strip in New York, but in California performed at the Improv when he was only 16 years old,Jeremy Ruder at 18, andJim Carrey at 19.The Improv has a bar and a restaurant named "Hell's Kitchen" that features Italian entrees named for comedy stars, such as "Billy Crystal's Gnocchi Alla Bolognese" and "Tim Allen's Eggplant Parmigiana". Actresses
Karen Black andDebra Winger worked there as waitresses before getting their big breaks as movie stars.The LA Improv was the original site for the
A&E Network television series "An Evening at the Improv", which ran from 1982 until 1996.External links
* [http://www.improv2.com/IMPROV-history.shtml Improv website history]
* [http://www.cablecenter.org/education/library/pdf/albrecht.pdf#search=%22Chris%20albrecht%20Improv%22 Interview with Chris Albrecht]
* [http://www.northeasttimes.com/2003/1030/rita.html article about Improv founder Budd Friedman in theNortheast Times ]References
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