the comic's comic

Charlie Sheen's "improv" experience with Drew Carey and friends should have warned live audiences

So that Charlie Sheen clip on GSN's Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza aired last night.

I wish this had aired months ago. Because then, anyone who wondered about Charlie Sheen's live comedy skills could have seen that he had none. And anyone who wanted to help Charlie Sheen mount a live comedy tour could have seen this and realized he had no skills to sustain a paid audience of thousands. It's that bad. And this is an easy improv game.

Look. I listened to Charlie Sheen talk live on the radio overnight with Boston DJs Toucher and Rich, and he sounded downright friendly. Sane. Even slightly amusing. But if he wants people to pay money to see him, he should at least be professional enough to try to mount a professional show. Because this is not that.

Roll the clip!

 

Proops, Stiles, Mochrie and Kinney talk up reuniting for Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, debuts tonight on GSN

We never did find out Whose Line Is It Anyway? But the gang's all back together again to perform short-form improv games, only this time they're on a big Vegas resort stage (at the MGM Grand) and it's all for Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, which debuts tonight at 8 and 11, airing weeknights on GSN, aka the Game Show Network.

Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Colin Mochrie and Kathy Kinney talked up the new series recently, but before we hear their thoughts, let's look at a promotional clip!

So what makes them want to work with Drew Carey again?

Kathy Kinney: "Well, I was just going to say, Drew Carey—we were all there when Drew got addicted to improv. We heard the click and he has created these venues, places for us to just come and do the improv with, and because he’s loyal like a big wet dog, you know, he just always invites us all to come play with him. That’s my story. I’m sticking to it."

Colin Mochrie: "And I have pictures of him dressed as a big wet dog, so he tends to hire me for anything."

Ryan Stiles: "If Drew asks, we do it. We went overseas with him. If Drew asks, you want to do it. you want to please him

Kinney: "It's just about loyalty."

And how exactly will this be different from Whose Line is it Anyway?

Mochrie: "So it, it’s more like a taping of what our Vegas shows were. Where everyone takes time. Everybody has a chance to introduce the scene, set up the characters. So there’s no host that way. Also, unlike Whose Line, Ryan and I would always work together, you know, Brad and Wayne would always do the songs. So it’s really mixed up that way. We got a chance to work with everybody. I got to do a couple of singing games, which I — Whose Line I think was contracted not to have me sing. So, it has many, many differences." 

Stiles: "Can I add a couple?" 

Mochrie: "Yeah." 

Ryan Stiles weighs in on Charlie Sheen's performance on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, airing soon on GSN

We knew back in January that Charlie Sheen had joined in the fun during a taping of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza for GSN in Las Vegas.

Right after it happened, Carey himself mentioned it on Twitter, letting everybody know about it: "Charlie Sheen just got on stage with us during our improv show at MGM in Vegas. Hilarious!"

Carey then followed that up hours later with another comment:

This was barely 10 days before Sheen's partying landed him in the hospital, thereby setting this highly over-publicized trainwreck into motion that put a temporary and perhaps permanent halt to the top-ranked CBS sitcom (and top-ranked show in syndicated reruns, too), Two and a Half Men.

And now Sheen is billing himself as a live comedy act, going on a limited tour and even selling out venues as large as New York City's Radio City Music Hall.

But back to that night in January.

One of the other comedians improvising onstage with Sheen was his castmate on Two and a Half Men, Ryan Stiles. Stiles plays the "half man's" stepfather, Dr. Herb Melnick, and has been a recurring character since the sitcom's second season. During a conference call this afternoon, Stiles weighed in on Sheen's improv performance, which will air April 12, 2011, in the premiere week of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN.

Stiles said: "It was great. We weren't even sure if he was going to come up. He was sitting in the audience. But we asked him to do a scene. Usually when we ask actors like that, they're like, 'Oh, I don't think so." Sheen was game, though. And Stiles said he enjoyed the whole taping.

"You could hear him in the crowd. He laughed at everything. Even the stuff that wasn't funny."

As for Sheen as a comedic improviser? Stiles quipped:

"I think he carried himself well. And I'm not saying that because I have to go back to Two and a Half Men, because I don't."

The cast of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza includes: Carey, Heather Anne Campbell, Jeff Davis, Chip Esten, Kathy Kinney, Jonathan Mangum, Sean Masterson, Mochrie, Proops, Brad Sherwood and Stiles, with special guest appearances by Wayne Brady.

 

More about that new Drew Carey improv comedy show coming to GSN in Spring 2011

Remember how I told you Drew Carey would be rounding up his improv comedy pals for a new show on GSN?

Here are the details:

GSN has ordered 40 episodes, to start airing in spring 2011, with Drew Carey and Joe Roth producing. The show does not yet have a title, but it'll include Carey and his friends, plus "surprise" guest stars, performing half-hours of improvised sketches with audience participation. It'll tape in January and February at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. So, essentially, if you liked Whose Line is it Anyway? and the live touring shows of Drew Carey's Improv All-Stars, then this should be a lot like that.

“I’m thrilled to be working with GSN—this is a real passion project for me,” Carey said in a press release. “My cast and the live audience and I will be having more fun than probably should be legal and, thanks to GSN, fans across the country will get to be a part of the fun.”

 

Whose improv is it anyway? Drew Carey and friends return to TV with GSN show in 2011

Whose Line is it Anyway? may be a glimmering memory, and you may not even remember Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, but there is...another. Another new improv comedy "game show" featuring Drew Carey and his collection of comedian friends is coming to TV, this time on GSN, the Game Show Network, in 2011.

Drew Carey put out the news early this morning via Twitter:

"I am pleased to announce that I now have a NEW IMPROV SHOW on GSN! Taping live shows at MGM in Vegas starting 1/13/11"

No further word is available. Check the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino site for ticket sales. Carey cohort Wayne Brady already spends a lot of time in Vegas as the host of Let's Make a Deal.

Remember when The Drew Carey Show was live and also improvised

Oh, to be live and on television. Memories. Remember all the way back to last night, when NBC did not one, but two live half-hour editions of 30 Rock to entertain three of America's time zones in real time?

Wait. Hold that thought. Remember way back to when all TV shows were produced live? Nope. Went too far back. Third try. How about a decade ago, when Drew Carey and his cast and friends produced multiple live episodes of The Drew Carey Show? I remember that, not only because it was a popular show, but also because they upped the ante by incorporating one of the short-form improv games from Whose Line is It Anyway (as well as some of the comedians from that series), in which they'd ring a bell without warning, prompting the character to come up with a new punchline on the spot.

As you see in this 2001 episode, Drew Live III, the improv added an extra layer of living to live TV, as well as chances for characters to break. Roll the clips!

They also incorporated a few other short-form improv games in this episode. Keep watching: Part Two. Part Three.

Pic of the Day: Drew Carey, before and after losing 80 pounds

Drew Carey hosts The Price is Right, not The Biggest Loser, but sometime between taping his game show and Tweeting about the World Cup, the comedian improvised a weight-loss plan of basic diet and exercise to drop upward of 80 pounds. Carey, 52, told People magazine that he cut the carbs and hit the cardio because he was sick of being fat and having Type-2 diabetes. 

"I like being skinny," Carey said. "I was sick of being fat on the camera. Really, I just got sick of it. Once I started losing weight, again, like once I started dropping a couple pant sizes, then it was easy 'cause once you see the results, then you don't wanna stop."

Congrats, Drew!

UCB's first film, "Wild Girls Gone," now for sale; plus other random comedy news

Back before they were famous for being the Upright Citizens Brigade, the UCB players produced their first feature-length film that spoofed both Spring Break and Girls Gone Wild. Naturally, it's called Wild Girls Gone, and it's only now available for your digital download pleasure via iTunes.

Would you like to buy it?

Would you like to see the not-so safe for work trailer? In addition to Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts, you also see Andy Daly and others. Roll it:

That seemed so random, but then again, this isn't the only random comedy news for today.

• Betty White confirmed to People magazine that she will be on SNL this spring. When, and how, still to be determined. (People)
• Demetri Martin is now being played by Jonah Hill? Martin is out, and Hill is in, as the stats-cruncher co-starring with Brad Pitt in the adaptation of Moneyball. (ESPN)
• Mo'Nique surprised nobody by winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress in Precious, so of course, today people are circulating an old clip of Jeffrey Ross roasting her at the fete for Emmitt Smith. Very NSFW (YouTube)
• Drew Carey has some ideas on how to save his hometown of Cleveland, and he has documented them on film. (Cleveland.com)