Mike Birbiglia’s second film takes its name as much from an improv comedian’s tactic of making things up on the fly as it does from a typically melancholy 1962 Bob Dylan song. Both references would seem to make equal sense. In Don’t Think Twice, Birbiglia plays a longtime member of a New York City improv team that’s on the verge of dissolving when another member lands an opportunity to audition for a late-night sketch show that seems a lot like Saturday Night Live but definitely is not Saturday Night Live for legal reasons. Like Birbiglia’s 2012 debut Sleepwalk With Me—which drew heavily from his own life—this looks to be another small dramatic comedy about struggling comedians and the way that their creative passions intersect with their interpersonal relationships.
Written and directed by Birbiglia—who spent his time in the improv trenches in college—this will likely feel exceedingly real to anyone who has ever played Zip Zap Zop or struggled to wrap their head around the concept of “Yes, and…” The cast is full of former or current improvisors, including Key and Tami Sagher (both Second City alums), Key & Peele’s Keegan-Michael Key (Second City e.t.c., among others), and Chris Gethard (of the UCB team The Stepfathers). And while neither Kate Micucci (of Garfuckel And Oates) nor Gillian Jacobs (Community) seem to have any on-the-books improv experience, they’re certainly veterans of the comedy world.
Don’t Think Twice rolls into theaters on July 22.