In 1963, The Improvisation opened up in New York City, and Budd Friedman, the founder, was just over 50 years away from having two landmarks in comedy history on either coast as well as a nationwide chain of comedy clubs. Comedy Central is marking the occasion with a documentary special, The Improv: 50 Years Behind The Brick Wall, airing this Friday, May 2nd at midnight ET.
Following the legacy of The Improv, this documentary will feature stories from Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Ray Romano, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and more as they discuss how they started in comedy, how The Improv affected the direction of their career, and how it brought them to where they are now.
You’ll get to see Richard Pryor work out in black and white at The Improvisation:
…as well as some of their earliest bits:
Considering how young an art form stand-up comedy is, you’ll probably get to see more than good portion of stand-up’s history in this documentary special.
The special is also on Netflix right now…:)