If you don't already know, America Meet World is a comedy website whose main goal is to unite the world through the shared enjoyment of a good laugh. So far I think we've been pretty successful, but there is no way we can do this alone.
That's why it's great to see other people pursuing our goal in a similar way! Lloyd Ahlquist (of Epic Rap Battles fame) has started a uniquely ambitious project with YouTube: a continuous live streaming improv show that will showcase troupes from around the world called "Off the Top."
The first “Off the Top” event was broadcast on August 1st and 2nd and comprised of three segments: “Pain-prov, involving a torture element; improvised rap battles; and improv games with actors in YouTube studios in London and Tokyo”.[Variety] Much like Whose Line is it Anyway? uses audience suggestions, all skit suggestions for “Off the Top” came from audience comments made on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
Ahlquist plans on taking the roughly 2 days worth of footage and cutting it down to 10 minute episodes of the best material. (I would hate to be that editor.) If you're interested in checking out the uncut, live streamed footage, it's all here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4mqcvPe80ZQ
Be warned, that video is 6 hours long. (Make a weekend out of it.)
Because “Off the Top’s” first run featured improv troupes from only Tokyo and London, we thought we’d suggest a few more that would be perfect for round two and could turn this into a truly global event:
Long Shots Improv - South Africa
The Long Shots are an improvised comedy troupe from Cape Town. Working with one-word audience suggestions, the players create unique scenes on the spot that have never been done before and will never be performed again.
Improv Comedy Mumbai - India
Improv Comedy Mumbai has been in existence since 2009 and has performed shows in all the major cities of India. Improv Comedy Mumbai is “pushing for new growth and change for the face of the global comedy community, both in India and beyond”.
Artificially Intelligent:Improvholics Anonymous (AIIA) is a young Malaysian improv troupe formed in late 2007 to create diversity and expose Malaysian audiences to the possibilities of Improvisational Theatre.
Founded on April 1, 2008 and based in Dubai, Dubomedy are the “pioneers of the local comedy community in the UAE.”
So what does this all mean for comedy? We still have time to see if Ahlquist’s big idea will blow up like Epic rap Battles has, but what's most important here is that people are warming up to the idea that "comedy translates". Video Ink reminded us that, Yakov Smirnoff said laughter was the "universal connection." We knew he was on to something all along.