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Carey's All-Star Improv troupe headed to Valley
By ALBERT CHING
GET OUT

Anyone who's watched an episode of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and seen one of the performers make up elaborate scenes seemingly out of nowhere has probably had this reaction.

“I could never do that.”

Good news! Drew Carey, host of that show and ringleader of “Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars,” is coming to town Friday and says improvisational comedy is not quite as tough as it looks.

“If I go to a party, I don't think to myself, ‘Oh my God, I have to make some friends, I have to make people like me at this party,' ” Carey explains. “I just show up in a good mood and I just know innately inside that people are going to like me and I'm going to make some friends.

“That's all there is to it, really. The reason people think they can't do it is they can't imagine having that much trust and faith in themselves.”

The former star of “The Drew Carey Show” does admit that it's an unnatural leap for most people to make.

“It really is an obstacle to get over, because people aren't taught to think that way,” he says.

Another common pitfall of improv comedy he's observed is performers overthinking.

“You shouldn't be thinking at all,” he says. “You have to be listening to what everybody's saying, the situation they're in ... you have to kind of be in the moment.”

A comedian shoe-horning prepared material into an improv situation can kill a bit on the spot.

“If you're in a car, and you think ‘Oh, there's this car joke, I'm gonna try to work it in somehow,' you're not going to be thinking about what's going on,” Carey says.

“You're going to miss all kinds of opportunities for laughs and good things to say.”

Carey says improv is an almost religious experience.

“It's like a real, philosophical, Zen Buddhist way of thinking,” he says. “You have to get rid of all the chatter in your head.”

Carey believes he's been drawn to improv comedy for much of his career because it's just easier for him.

“It's less planning, less work,” he says. “Stand-up, all that stuff, it's so much writing and preparing.”

Drew Carey and The Improv All-Stars
What: Improv comedy from Drew Carey, Kathy Kinney, Greg Proops, Jeff Davis and others
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Dodge Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix
Cost: $53-$56
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