No, But

I’m not a fan of improv. I’ve even walked out of a class before—being told to pretend to give birth just wasn’t for me. But its popularity was once never in doubt: people were all too willing to shell out hard‑earned cash to watch performers fumble through impromptu sketches. Nowadays, the form has lost its shine, and Dennis M. Hogan traces whether it still has a place in today’s culture. The inspired title alone means this is a read you should say “yes” to. During the boom years of the late 2000s and 2010s, improv persuaded many people that it was not just a wacky gimmick but, as I believed, an art in itself. The rise of stars like the improv-trained Steve Carell, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler convinced casting directors and network executives that improvisers had graduated from sideshows to being bankable talents in their own rights. Performances were packed with newbies and aficionados alike. Major theaters added classes and facilities to meet growing demand, allowing many improvisers who never made it big to eke out livings as teachers and theater staff. The gospel of improv spread to those far outside the comedy world, from self-improvement seekers hoping to level up their interpersonal abilities to corporate suits eager to take advantage of the latest team-building and soft skill-optimization fad. More picks on performing My Mother Died On Screen But Survived Hollywood “Making sense of a complicated family legacy.” Secrets of the Magus “Ricky Jay does closeup magic that flouts reality.” Is Yoko Ono the Most Radical Artist of the Trump Era? “In the 1960s, she invited an audience to cut off her clothes. As attacks on women’s rights escalate, ‘Cut Piece’ and other decades-old works of feminist art feel more relevant than ever.” Looking at Art Will Never Be the Same Again “A conversation with the art historian Claire Bishop about technology’s influence on museums and galleries, and her recent book Disordered Attention.” How Sandra Hüller Approached Playing a Nazi “The German actress probes characters with unusual depth. But to portray a Fascist wife, in ‘The Zone of Interest,’ she reversed her usual approach—and withheld her empathy.” Everybody Knows Flo From Progressive. Who Is Stephanie Courtney? “A polo shirt, a white apron and a retro hairdo changed an actor’s life forever.”