The Comedy Store Players is a group of

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

comedians who perform at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The group first came into being in October 1985. Members of the group have included: *Dave Cohen *

Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 19611 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Perrier Comedy Award at the Ed ...

Kit Hollerbach Kathleen Ann (Kit) Hollerbach is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She was born in Sacramento, California. In 1985, Hollerbach was a founding member of The Comedy Store Players. In the film ''Batman'' she played Becky Narita, the TV ne ...

Josie Lawrence Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in '' ...

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and someti ...

Neil Mullarkey Neil Mullarkey is an English actor, writer and comedian. Early life and education From 1972—1979, Mullarkey was educated at Kingston Grammar School, an independent school for boys (now coeducational), in Kingston upon Thames, followed by Rob ...

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollyw ...

Lee Simpson Lee Simpson is a British actor and comedian best known as a member of the improvisational group The Comedy Store Players. He has appeared in a number of roles, including in the sitcom ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' and the films ''Paper Mask'' and ''N ...

Andy Smart Andy Smart (born 16 June 1959 in Southsea, Hampshire, England) is an English comedian, actor, writer and TV panel show participant. Smart has been performing as a guest with The Comedy Store Players for 13 years now and a permanent member since 1 ...

* Jim Sweeney *

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...

Richard Vranch Richard Leslie Vranch (born 29 June 1959) is an English actor, improviser, comedian, writer and musician. He is known for providing the music for the British TV series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' Early life Vranch graduated from Cambridge Un ...

Currently there are five regular cast members;

, and

. Sweeney retired from performing in 2008 but is still listed as a member and is also the group's President. The Players currently perform once a week on Sunday, but have also in recent times performed once each on Wednesdays and Sundays. Performances are usually with the regular cast, although occasionally a guest performer will appear, which have in the past included the likes of

Niall Ashdown Niall Ashdown is an English comedian, actor, improvisor and writer. He has previously improvised in such television shows as Lifegame, Animo, Improbable Tales at the Nottingham Playhouse, Impropera and with the Comedy Store Players. He has wr ...

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian, actor and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is th ...

Stephen Frost Stephen Frederick Eustace Frost (born 28 December 1955) is an English actor and comedian. Early life Frost was born in Redruth, Cornwall, and is the son of the abstract artist Terry Frost and brother of painter Anthony Frost. Career Work w ...

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

Greg Proops Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his guest appearances on the U.K. and U.S. versions of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the ...

Steve Steen Steve Steen (born 26 December 1954) is a British television, radio and theatre actor and comedian, known for improvisational comedy works. Early career Whilst a pupil at Clapham College in London, Steen became friends with Jim Sweeney, and the ...

and

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...

. Shows start at 7.30pm on Sundays. They last approximately 2 hours (including interval), in which time they play 6 or 7 games. There is no one host of the show, and no points to be won, so every performer should get to have a go and are able to support each other. They are also in the Guinness World Records for being the world’s longest-running comedy show with the same cast. Usually, the games are: * Whoops - in which each performer takes turn to tell a story, with the audience shouting "Whoops!" when one makes a mistake. The game was formerly called "Die!" * Freeze Tag - two performers start in positions suggested by the audience, and act out sketches. The other performers will 'tag' someone to take their position and start a new sketch * Guess The Job - A Player leaves the room while an outrageous job is concocted. When he re-enters, he/she has to guess the job based on clues dropped into the sketch * Translation - Specialist lecture from a foreign expert who doesn't speak English, so another Player translates for him * Film & Theatre Styles - A sketch between 2 people, performed in different film and theatre styles * Musical - A story told with song, with the Players often playing several characters * Emotions - Another sketch between 2 people, this time changing based on different emotions suggested by the audience * The Three Headed Expert - An interview between one person and an expert (played by three people) Several of The Comedy Store Players appeared on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

comedy game show ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show originating as a British radio programme, before moving to British television in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1999, ABC began airing an American ...

.''

is the only one of the seven regulars named above to have not appeared on the TV show, although he has appeared in its live spin-off. Lawrence, Merton, Simpson and Sweeney also starred in ''

The Masterson Inheritance ''The Masterson Inheritance'' was an improvised comedy series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1993 to 1995 billed as ''"an improvised historical saga of a family at war with itself."'' There were three series and two Christmas specials. It was ...

'', an improvised comedy series which ran on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

from 1993-1995.

References

External links

The Comedy Store Players
1985 establishments in England British comedy troupes Improvisational troupes {{UK-comedian-stub