On What He Will Miss the Most About ‘Whose Line’
I’ll miss the people — not only the people working on stage but the group. We’ve gone through so many things over 30 years. A lot of the crew has been there for the entire time, so we’ve seen marriages happen and dissolve, kids born, and unfortunately, some people pass away. But it really has been like a big family. I will miss that. When I walked in on Saturday (for the final season’s initial taping), I was like, “My God, I haven’t done this in four years!” Then the minute you walk on set, it’s like, “Oh no, I did this yesterday.”
On the legacy of ‘Whose Line’
I’ll remember a show that showcased my only talent and gave me a career. It gave me a chance to do what I love all around the world.
I love the fact that Whose Line introduced improv into the mainstream. Improv had been around for years. You had Second City, of course, but improv was mostly used then to come up with new scenes for the next show. It certainly wasn’t widespread until Whose Line came along. Nobody knew what improv was.
A lot of improv purists hate the show, which I understand. But we never claim that this is the end-all, be-all of improv. I like to call it the vaudeville of improv. This leads you to long-form, to all the different kinds of improv that have been honed over the years. Whose Line was a way to get the audience to go, “Oh, this is what improv is.” Sort of Improv 101.
I think especially young people saw this and thought, “This looks really cool. I want to do this.” They started high school improv troupes. Colleges started improv troupes. There was one at Harvard that I worked with. Karen Chee, who was the head of it, went on to work for Seth Meyers. Improv is a great skill to have — not only if you’re going to do it for a profession, but it’s a great life skill to have. It makes you feel more confident in situations. It quickens your thought process and makes you sharper. And it helps you troubleshoot little problems that you come up with in day-to-day living. You improvise different ways of getting around that obstacle until you find the one that works.