SNL the Improv Game

Silhouette of a person holding an "Applause" sign SNL is a comedy institution. So it’s fair game for satire.

I was watching SNL recently (I also remember the first year it came on the air… amazing… it shifted what TV could be)… and I noticed patterns about their skits. So I asked on FB: What would be the rules of an improv game based on the style of an SNL skit? The response was very strong. Here is how it breaks down:

I started with the obvious:

The actors never look at each other. They look past each other and act as if they are reading their lines from cue cards.
They read their lines with complete confidence.
One of the actors looks for or promotes a ‘catch phrase’. And repeats it often with a knowing smile.

Note: if you play with only these rules… you get something pretty funny.

But the suggestions kept going on. Some of they were a bit snarky. (What?, you say. Snarky comments on the internet?) Some people went on about how it should go on too long and then go on longer. I left out many of those comments, here are a few that might be fun to play with.

Rebecca Stockley suggests

Ask the audience for a brand new ‘catch phrase.’
One person plays a larger than life, loud character who repeats the (catch phrase) ad nauseum while others set up the character to say that line.
The scene ends with either: Breaking the fourth wall, mock injury, unmotivated making out, or the entire cast saying the catch-phrase at once.

More suggestions

Try harder than necessary to be interesting
Never find and ending but somehow end
Make sure one or more characters break at least once

Kimberly MacLean suggest

One person has to gregarious & loud physically & vocally
One person has to be doing a very stereotypical accent & characterization
One person has to be from the news that day
It has several funny possible button endings, but cannot end until there is a boring uneventful offer and then lights go out

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions and special thanks to Richard Laible who performed at Second City with many former cast members for reminding us:

This show has given some of the great comedians a platform to experiment and hone their craft on a television show that has not only been on for over 40 years, but to which every improv actor who replied to this thread would kill their families to be a cast member.

People who contributed to this fun discussion

Brett Bavar, Dave Dyson, Dave Ware, Amy Houtrow, Bob Kasley, Jodi Pfleghar, Al Roth, Toni Mazzuca, Goose Duarte, Rebecca Stockley, Frank Totino, Glen Micheletti, Kevin Bohnert, Scott Keck, Kimberly MacLean, Pamela Resser, Thomas Coates, Jennifer Tackman, Ken Newman, Christina Barber, Craig Good, Debbie Tsujimoto, Ana Nelson

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