When it comes to comedy, a really good laugh can come from an elaborate punch line or some high-concept sitcom hijinks, but sometimes all that’s needed to send the audience roaring is some goofy, throwaway line or movement that will leave the audience in stitches.
Easy, accessible comedy is what Whose Line Is It Anyway? is all about, and is what makes it so fun to watch. The show features a several seasoned improv comedians play game after game where the performers are tasked to be funny just by saying and doing what pops into their heads. The show originally premiered in 1998 on ABC with host Drew Carey and introduced TV audiences to primary performers Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles.
After being cancelled in 2007, the show was revived in the summer of 2013 by The CW. Stand-up comedian and The Talk co-host Aisha Tyler was brought on to host, with Brady, Mochrie and Stiles all returning to the show. In honor of the second season currently airing, The Celebrity Café is counting down the Top 10 improv games played on the show. Check out our list below.
10. Hollywood Director
This game starts our innocently enough, with three of the performers tasked with acting out a simple scene; then a fourth performer acts as director and yells “cut!” gives the actors notes on how to improve the scene. Mochrie always fills the director part in this game, and it’s incredibly amusing to see him play the archetypal angry director who sputters out his frustrations by hurling many crap-related puns to the other actors in between takes. With each new suggestion, the scene becomes sillier and sillier, providing a great showcase for the supreme goofiness that is at the heart of this show.
9. Living Scenery
A great exercise in physical comedy, Living Scenery calls for two performers, almost always Mochrie and Stiles, as they act out a scene, while two other performers act as the various props needed in the scene. Mostly, this game serves as an excuse to make the people-as-props as uncomfortable as possible. From jet-skis to be ridden, bathrobes to be adorned, or trees to pick coconuts from, this game has all of the performers get up close and personal. A particularly memorable run-through with special guest Richard Simmons remains of the all-time classic clips the show has produced.
8. Newsflash
This game involves the magic of green screen technology. Two performers act as newscasters in the studio, who then throw it over a third person (always Mochrie) who is reporting on a breaking news story that’s being shown on the green screen. It’s up to Mochrie, who can’t see what’s on the green screen behind him, to guess what’s being shown thanks to clues from the other two performers. Often times, the green screen images are either extremely ridiculous or extremely disgusting, which makes it extra fun as the reporters lob hints through grimaces or expressions of shock. Yet it’s Mochrie who really sells this game, switching from flustered news reporter to nonchalant bystander with ease. He almost always guesses correctly too, showing that good improv comedians pay attention to what others are doing almost as equally as the jokes forming in their own heads. The best version of this game liberally takes advantage of Mochrie’s position behind the green screen, poking fun at an unsuspecting victim.
7. Sound Effects
The best of the games that use audience participation, Sound Effects has two performers act out a scene with sound effects provided by two poor, unsuspecting members of the audience. Proving that the most important rule in improv is “yes, and…” the performers roll with any and every terrible sound effect they provide. Often played by Mochrie and Stiles, the fun watching this game comes from the actors reacting to every poor attempt at a gunshot, bird call or alarm system made by the audience members, while seeing them crack up from the absurdity of it all.
6. Party Quirks
Similar to honorable mentions Let’s Make a Date and Weird Newscasters, Party Quirks has multiple performers act out a scenario with a strange quirk or identity. In this game that scenario is a party, where one actor has to guess what characters the other three are playing. This game makes the list over the other two mentioned above due to the sheer ridiculousness of watching all of these wacky characters interact in the same space. Part of the fun of watching this game is seeing what new, crazy idea for a character the show can come up with, and seeing the transformation and commitment that the performers have to these role on a moment’s notice.
5. Props
A game so simple that it can be played at home, Props is just about trying to come up with as many funny things as possible with strange looking props. A fun game to play while watching is to count how many times the props are used for some sexual innuendo (happens more often than expected.) While not a super involved game, it’s one that really embodies the spirit of the show: give an improver just an inkling of an idea, and they’ll turn it into something hilarious.
4. Hoedown
Yee-haw! Always a crowd pleaser, Hoedown has all four performers sing a jaunty southern tune one verse at a time. Whereas a lot of the other games are so rapid-fire with the jokes, this one has much more of a slow-build, as each performer works up towards a hard-hitting punch line at the end of their verse. One of the best running jokes of the entire series has been Stiles’ disdain for the Hoedown, and it’s almost expected for him to lament his participation anytime the game is played now.
3. Irish Drinking Song
Like Hoedown, Irish Drinking Song has all four performers sing a tune, this time as a rowdy bar song one line at a time. This game requires some of the most rapid-fire improv chops out of any one on the show, which is what makes this game so entertaining to watch. Some of the show’s most memorable moments come out of this game, mostly because Mochrie is almost always left with the final punch line and usually ends on a gut-busting zinger that will send all of the other performers into fits of laughter. If only real bars were this funny all of the time.
2. Greatest Hits
This game is simple enough: two performers play TV pitchmen trying to sell the newest compilation album, while one or two other performers sing the songs that are on the album. Greatest Hits earns the number two spot on the list simply because all of the moving parts come together in a coherent and awesome way. Brady, the requisite singer of the group, gets to show off his supreme singing skills as he busts out song after song with only a title and a style to off of. While his musicality is incredible, Mochrie and Stiles are equally as good as the two pitchmen. The two have fantastic chemistry as they try to one up each other in ridiculous segues and goofy song titles. The two funnymen are often paired up for a number of these games, and watching this one play out it’s easy to see why.
1. Scenes from a Hat
Scenes from a Hat is a true embodiment of the “anything can happen” spirit of the show, and why it earns the top spot. The premise is super simple: scenes are randomly pulled out of a hat, all audience suggestions, and all of the performers have to act them out. What makes this game so incredibly fun is how unpredictable it is, anything from “If statues could speak” to “World’s worst person to be stuck with at a party” to “Outtakes from the Hillbilly National Theater’s Shakespeare Festival” could be pulled from the hat and all of it is completely hilarious. More than any other game, this is the one where one gag or throwaway line can have the both the audiences and the other performers completely howling. Wacky ideas performed on the spot is what Whose Line is all about, and nowhere is that any more evident than in this game here.