Slow Comedy
An approach to improvisation that prioritizes patience, listening, and organic development over rapid-fire joke generation. Slow comedy allows scenes to breathe, trusts that humor will emerge from character and situation, and avoids the temptation to go for quick laughs at the expense of emotional depth. TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi are widely associated with this approach.
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Further Reading
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Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy
The Harold
Matt Fotis
Theatrical Improvisation, Consciousness, and Cognition
Clayton D. Drinko
Improv Nation
How We Made a Great American Art
Sam Wasson
The Funniest One in the Room
The Lives and Legends of Del Close
Kim Howard Johnson
Truth in Comedy
The Manual of Improvisation
Charna Halpern; Del Close; Kim Howard Johnson
The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
Matt Besser; Ian Roberts; Matt Walsh
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Slow Comedy. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/learn-improv/concepts/slow-comedy
The Improv Archive. "Slow Comedy." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/learn-improv/concepts/slow-comedy.
The Improv Archive. "Slow Comedy." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/learn-improv/concepts/slow-comedy. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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