The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and his future wife, Silver Saundors, and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the southeast corner of 9th Ave. The Improvisation was originally an after hours coffee house where Broadway performers could unwind after shows with an open mic inviting impromptu musical performances. Gradually comedians would use it as a venue to try out new material and talent scouts from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and other New York-based television shows began frequenting the venue looking for new acts to book. After several years of alternating acts between singers and comics, by the 1970s it was a stand-up comedy venue. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California (which immediately prior housed the Ash Grove, a folk music venue). In 1979, Mark Lonow became a general partner and with Budd Friedman ran the Melrose club and oversaw the expansion of the single room as it became a successful chain. When the Friedmans divorced in 1981, the divorce settlement gave Budd Friedman ownership of the LA Improvs and Silver Friedman was given ownership of the New York Improv. The original New York Improv closed in 1992. More information...
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