Funny ad-libs

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 7:06pm

What are some funny ad-libs you've heard? (And NO, I did not search...)

Most recent funny one for me was at EMERALD MAN on Saturday. Kate McCann couldn't get the phone back on it's hook. She just flung it onto the counter. A few minutes later, it rang as it was supposed to. She walked back out and went "That damn phone even rings when it's off the hook!"

[NJRae]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 8:28pm

Lol, that is really funny.

Can't think of any at this moment but will put on my thinking cap!

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 8:30pm

Jackie Hoffman is the queen

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 8:38pm

i would not call this an ad-lib but when i saw "Millie" during the mark twain scene sutton fell through the desk durring the sexy line...it was hysterical her and christopher seiber were hysterically laughing as with the audience.

[Just_John]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 8:41pm

In Dirty Rotten Soundrels the night before Norbert and Jonathon's last show, Greg Jbara was late for an entrance and they ad-libbed something that I can't remember because it seemed real but then they ran out of thigns to say so Jonathon was like and there is an actor who should be making an entrance any moment now. Then when he entered Norbert said How did you know that was going to happen?? Jonathon responded I dono I dono I just I dono.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:10pm

In the run of Bounce at the Goodman here in Chicago... during "The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me" ...when Howard and Michelle were changing out of their clothes into pajamas after they'd been married... it was clear the fly on Howard McGillian's pajamas was wide open... the lyrics in the song were something like "We know what comes next..." or "What comes next"... and as Howard McGillian noticed his fly issue and made an effort to fix it Michelle Pawk said something like "I know what's supposed to come next... but this is much better..."

It was funny.

kmc

[DevDev]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:13pm

If anyone has the newest Playbill Broadway Yearbook, Mylinda Hull talks about the adlib with Norbert and the elderly couple visibly walking out after Dirty Rotten Number. Well, I was there for that performance and can honestly say it was one of the funniest ad-libs ever.

For those who do not have the yearbook, I'll explain. After Norbert and Jonathan had just delivered a very powerful Dirty Rotten Number and everyone was clapping and cheering, an elderly couple must have assumed the show was finished and hurried out to beat the crowds. Well, everyone saw the couple exiting and burst into laughter. I don't know how he did it, but Norbert kept a straight face and waved them off (all the while mimicing the woman's walk) and said to Jonathan, "Well, they certainly aren't leaving 'cause of me." and then the audience roared with laughter yet again.

Another DRS ad-lib: Norbert wheeled out during The More We Dance and someone walked into him and the wheelchair and he said, "Hey, watch it! This is a 5,000 dollar chair!" Now, his mic was off so I don't know if he said that all the time... but being in the first row, I heard it for the first time and laughed really hard.

[SNLMedia]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:17pm

During John Pinette's last performance in Hairspray, Shannon Durig took a spill during the jailhouse scene after "The Big Dollhouse". Later on in the show, during the break in "Timeless to Me" when John and Stephen crack each other up, John ad-libbed "Our daughter fell in the jail!" He then looked down at the front row and said "It'd be a bitch if I fell!"

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:32pm

i've mentioned both of these but i'll do it again

At the producers Nathan threw his jacket behind him and it landed on the doornob (or maybe a coat hanger idr) he looked shocked then goes "I still got it" it doesn't sound that funny but it was a really good delivery

At History boys when Timms and lockwood were doing the scene from the movie where they smoke, the mathes woudnt light so Andrew just fiddled with them a bit then everyone just cracked up and they had to pretend to smoke

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:39pm

One of the few times they broke character during Odd Couple Natthew lost control of the flying pickle. Natt, during act 1, was supposed to throw it into the audience. It landed within the proscenium arch. Thew, while cleaning the apartment at the top of act 2, found it, and threw it to Natt. They spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what to do with it, until finally deciding to throw it to a kid in the first row.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:42pm

Natthew?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:47pm

Countdown to the 457,543 mention of: "Never put your own money in the show - that's TABOO."

3




2





1

[pandajen14]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:49pm

I have a few from The Producers. I saw a matinee with Richard Kind and Alan Ruck on Passover, and during Betrayed, Richard Kind turns to the audience and says, "So. How many of you Jews are skipping Passover tonight?" I also saw Roger Bart as Leo a few weeks ago and at the end during Prisoners of Love, he shouts to the prisoners, "Now just the pedophiles!!!" I don't know for sure if that's an ad lib, but he looked like he was trying not to laugh, so maybe.

[NJRae]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 11:27pm

Oh, ok, I knew I had one! I have mentioned this before, but here goes anyway!

During a performance of "Everythings Turning Into Beautiful" Malik's guitar fell over. When he went to play it a few minutes later it was, of course, out of tune. Daphne said to him, "You need to tune that thing." He said something like I know and started tuning, but to fill the empty space he added, "Talk to me." She said, "I am." But she wasn't. The stage was silent. So Malik said again, "No, really, talk to me." Daphne looks up at him and says, "I'm sorry about your guitar. But that was as stupid place to put it anyway. There are candles there you know. It could have melted, or burnt down or, I don't know. Something. It could have gotten knocked over, which it did. A few times, I'm sure. But anyway I'm sorry it happened." Finally the guitar is tuned and Daphne went back to her original line leading into the song. Maybe you had to be there, I don't know, but it was really funny. At least to someone who had seen the show and knew it was an ad-lib.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 2:08am

When I saw DRS, during Great Big Stuff when the mansion set starts turning Norbert yelled out "Holy crap! It turns!" It was awesome.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 2:08am

Oh yeah, and Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked doing the How to Be Popular book bit.

[Janelle188]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 2:36am

"When I saw DRS, during Great Big Stuff when the mansion set starts turning Norbert yelled out "Holy crap! It turns!" It was awesome."

That wasn't an ad-lib. . . he always says that. He did it during the Tony performance, too.

Funny though, when I saw DRS, I felt like so many things were ad-libbed. They seemed so completely off the cuff and hilarious. Like the "okay. . . L-A-H-O-M-A" thing when Andre starts laughing too. . . I completely thought that was ad-libbed and then found out it wasn't. To give them credit, though, those lines seem very fresh. . . completely new, so they had me convinced. :)

[SuttonFan]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 2:37am

Hey Gertie -- I think Norbert said that "It turns" line all the time. He said it on tour in L.A.

[AnnaB]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 4:29am

Another Hairspray one, also with John Pinette & Stephen DeRosa. In "You're Timeless to Me" during the dialogue in the song, John's boobs had somehow fell lopsided. Stephen noticed this and was obviously trying not to laugh. During a a break in the dialogue, John looked down to see what he was laughing at, realised, looked back up to Stephen and abruptly fixed his boobs. The pair of them burst out laughing and continued to do so even as they walked off stage in the blackout after the song.
It was hilarious.

[Claire2141]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 7:42am

Well last week the set broke down (again) in Wicked's London production. The Wizard's head wouldn't spin so Idina turned to the audience laughing saying 'That's live theater folks' did a little dance then they shut the show down for 15 minutes.

[Anakela]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 10:29am

One of my fav ad-libs is actually one I didn't even hear myself, but rather from this Wicked review that DG2 posted, about the bubble malfunction that stopped the L.A. show, and how later in the cornfield scene the line became "Well, we can't all come and go by bubble.....and apparently NEITHER CAN YOU!"

For some reason that line still cracks me up to this day.


Bubble malfunction story

[Claire2141]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:06am

Lol shame Idina didn't use that after the London bubble malfunction...

[NJRae]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:47am

At Kristin's last performance in Wicked . . . instead of "Come with me to the Emerald City" Idina said, "Stay with me. I'm going to miss you. Oz will never be the same." So sweet.

[batboy4692]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 1:27pm

the other day at the NYMF show The Children....there's a scene in a convenience store type thing and the guys are throwing store items and a thing of coke exploded by accident...the main character, Jeff Hiller dressed as a woman named Molly, ad libbed 'you break it, you buy it' before going on with the song. it was hilarious. the actors said it had never happened before.

[singtopher]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 2:09pm

I did a production of YAGMCB where our Charlie would ad lib on a line in the glee club rehearsal scene ecah night.

"Sorry we're late, snoopy was in a bidding war on e-bay"
"Sorry we're late, snoopy was getting his back waxed"

I did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was in High School. Something went awal druing the Mike TeeVee/TV room scene and the fire alarm suddenly went off. It stopped the show for about 10 minutes. We started right where we left off, and our Willy Wonka said, "I told you not to touch that, Mike!"