Learning Improv from Someone Who Couldn’t Ad Lib a Belch after a Plate of Goulash

[Jerry Kail]

(Some thoughts upon reading an article about one of my comic heroes, Jack Benny.)

Jack Benny may not have been the funniest man in the world, but he was definitely in the top two (along with Groucho Marx). A classic Benny routine illustrates an important point about being an improviser in your daily life.

One time in the late 1930s, Jack appeared as a guest on the Fred Allen radio show. Allen, a notorious ad libber, began skewering Jack with a series of improvised comic put-downs as part of their famous (and completely staged) “feud.” (Choice example: “Jack, you couldn’t ad lib a belch after a plate of goulash!”) Finally Jack gave Allen one of his trademark “Hmmms” and brought down the house by responding: “You wouldn’t dare say that if my writers were here.”

So why do I point to Benny – a deliberate, measured performer who really did rely heavily on his writers - as an example of a Daily Improviser and not Allen?

Because Jack Benny was probably the most team-oriented, supportive boss of any of the legendary comics. He paid his writers the top salaries in the business and kept his writing team together for decades. He was well known for saying “I don’t care who gets the laughs on my show, as long as the show is funny.” And he knew his strengths – a straight man with a finely tuned sense of timing – and made sure his wisecracking cohorts were able to shine with their own comic strengths. To borrow a term from Kouzes and Posner’s The Leadership Challenge, he truly “Enabled Others to Act.”

Like Jack Benny, you don’t have to be a quick-witted, off-the-cuff performer in order to apply improv principles to your daily life. You just need the improv attitudes – listen, appreciate others’ strengths, support your team, have fun – and let your team explore and flex their way to success!