If there is one thing that fascinates me about improv and that is how it is portrayed in Television, books and Film. This is becoming more and more apparent in recent years because the comedy art form is sort of in fashion. There are some interesting topics that we can gain from these ways they are displayed so every so often we are going to look at different scenes from different shows and films.

Whenever there is a new season of Taskmaster now it is becoming more and more easier to write an article about improv because a lot of them are now referring to it whether it be a game or just talking about it. Today we are delving back into the show and sorry to say it is not a positive representation of improv this time.

On Season 20, episode 5, the teams are tasked with making something more and more awkward throughout. Maisie Adams and Reece Shearsmith do a scene about a dead son and a really weird scenario. It is only after the scene when it is over and they discuss it is when improv is mentioned. They blame the scene on making it look like bad improv.

Now, when you watch it, improv does not spring to mind. It just feels weird and no it is not to make it look like bad improv it looks more like badly scripted scene.

I have a problem with this game – I don’t believe that this was bad improv. Initially I felt when I was watching this that it was just an excuse because the scene did not work well in relation to the game and didn’t get a great response from the audience. It is easy to blame improv when things go wrong.

If it was always the plan to do bad improv to create awkwardness then I have an issue with that as well. Again, it is becoming more and more easier for people of television to use improv deliberately to cannot a negative message in a public environment. They are a comedian and an actor in this team and the one thing I know from experience these two professions are not a fan of is improvisers, so it feels like a dig.

IMPROV CORNER WILL RETURN IN 2026

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