The two most important words in any improvisational comedian’s vocabulary should be “yes” and “and.” In the world of improv, it’s well known that performers are obliged to accept what their scene partners are saying and then build on that by adding new information to the narrative. (“Yes, and…”) Things worked a little differently, however, when the people behind Adult Swim’s Rick And Morty got together to improvise a mini-episode of their berserk but beloved sci-fi comedy series. That show is currently between its second and third seasons. To tide fans over until the new episodes start appearing, Vulture assembled a panel consisting of actress Spencer Grammer (who plays Summer), co-creator Dan Harmon, co-creator Justin Roiland (who voices both Rick and Morty), and writer Ryan Ridley and then challenged the quartet to make up a little adventure right on the spot. The most important words in this exercise seem to be “feces,” “knees,” and “septic.” Harmon himself sets the tone: “Lower your expectations!”
First of all, Chris Parnell and Sarah Chalke are absent, so fans should not expect to hear from their characters, Jerry and Beth Smith. The performers who are present seem to have wildly different priorities. For Grammer, this is an episode about Summer trying to decide what college she should attend. She’s thinking maybe Yale, maybe MIT, but she’s willing to entertain Harvard as a possibility. Her grandfather, Rick, has more immediate concerns, namely injecting “120 CCs of feces” into Morty’s knees. Why? Because science, that’s why. Besides, Morty has been begging for this for weeks. Roiland has to switch back and forth between his two characters very quickly here, and he’s almost like two separate people. Morty is a generous improviser who listens to his other cast members. Rick, quite simply, is not.
The episode goes in a direction that is bizarre and disgusting even by Rick And Morty standards. If it were real, Cartoon Network would have to plunk down the money to use “It’s In The Way That You Use It” by Eric Clapton. Also, Morty becomes an eyelash, and Summer shoots John Lennon. And that’s before Nebutron, “a cow-headed demon from the underworld” shows up. Could be a good one.
[via Laughing Squid]