A Hollywood institution for over 30 years and makers of one of the most popular Youtube videos ever (David Blain Street Magic: the Youtube Edition with with over 20 mil. views and counting), improv group the Groundlings has finally seen fit to bless the rest of us with their talent by going online in a regular show format. And they are fabulous!

Improv groups/troupes/committees don’t always make the transition from a stage or TV format to online video very elegantly, but judging by the first 3 Groundlings’s videos released so far, I think that this won’t be a problem.

the Episodes so far:

Episode 1 “Tapped” takes the premise of NSA wiretaps and a mindless teenager telephone call to some very funny places. Other comedians might have tried to go over the top with this idea by over-acting the characters, but the Groundlings keep it very subdued and it turns into a surreal and hilarious piece.

Episode 2 ” “Killer Instinct”brings us into the uncomfortable situation of a reticent sales manager, Sean,  having a closed-door session with his best but overly aggressive salesman, Mark. The balance between the well-meaning but intimidated and ineffectual Sean and the progressively more violent Mark is, again, the key to the Goundlings’s effectiveness in this skit. Once again, they could have over-the-topped this one, but it was handled low-key which makes it that much funnier.

Episode 3 ” Pete and Paula” brings us the outtakes from the filming of a, presumably, television food show. Pete and Paula are working on the intro to a segment about a restaurant and they can’t quite nail it. Unlike the first 2 episodes of the Groundlings, Pete and Paula get progressively get nuttier and nuttier in their takes.

The Groundlings are highly recommendable watching for two basic reasons:

1. very funny concepts which are scripted and acted exceptionally well- too many comedy videos don’t get the balance right between believability and humor, this is something the Groundlings get spot on
2. professional quality video and sound – while smosh may be popular and sometimes funny, their video and sound quality is for shit compared to the good work here.

There is a lot of history in to the group and obviously a lot of pride in their A-list comedian alumni. It’s good to see them embracing the medium of online video and I’m eager to see more.

the Bottom Line:

5 out of 5 stars. Groundlings! What took you so long to get to the party?!