# Ad-libbing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416 "2009-05-14T15:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/41 "2009-05-14T22:11:33Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Whatever happened to that guy? Look, I don’t know anything about movies and actors. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of movies I’ve watched in the past year, and still have some left over. So if I’ve said something stupid… I honestly don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/42 "2009-05-14T22:19:31Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Look, I don’t know anything about movies and actors. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of movies I’ve watched in the past year, and still have some left over. So if I’ve said something stupid… I honestly don’t know. It’s just funny that you know the trivia about the diarrhea but didn’t recall Harrison Ford’s name, like he was nobody worth mentioning or something. _shoots the joke dead_ ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/43 "2009-05-14T22:23:06Z")
I’ve heard that a substantial part of Bill Murray’s role (Carl the groundskeeper) in “Caddyshack” as well as some of Chevy Chase’s part (Tye) was made up on the fly as cameras were rolling… One of my all time favorite movies, and it sounds like it was a pretty wild time on set with the cast. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/44 "2009-05-14T22:56:27Z")
Albert Brooks is a well-known ad-libber: many pieces of his dialogue from _Finding Nemo_ and his guest appearance in a first-season episode of _The Simpsons_ was made up on the fly. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > There is, of course, **The Line** from **Shark Attack 3: Megladon**. Definitely not safe for work, but you can find it at http:/ /www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1XOfHax6Q8 (link disabled, of course). On a somewhat similar but different tact, for some reason I’m reminded of The Line from _Snakes on a Plane_. Of course, that wasn’t an ad-lib, but it wasn’t originally meant to be in the film either- it was added after someone came up with it on the Internet as an example of what Samuel L. Jackson might say in a movie about snakes on a plane. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/45 "2009-05-14T23:28:47Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > \*\*_The Usual Suspects_, there’s a lineup scene with all the con men. Some of those clips are ad-libbed. You can tell from the pacing of the scene and the way they cut out, the actors were goofing around. That wasn’t quite an ad-lib. Everyone was speaking the correct lines, but the actors couldn’t say it without cracking up so Bryan Singer just let them go crazy with their own take on how to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/46 "2009-05-14T23:47:16Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I’ve heard that a substantial part of Bill Murray’s role (Carl the groundskeeper) in “Caddyshack” as well as some of Chevy Chase’s part (Tye) was made up on the fly as cameras were rolling… Bill Murray pretty much ad-libs most of his lines from most of his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/47 "2009-05-14T23:55:12Z")
> [@](#): > > (I was at my brother’s school play yesterday. One kid was playing two parts- a Brazilian sailor, and a landlord’s assistent. He accidentally came onstage wearing his sailor costume instead of his landlord costume. He realized what had just happened, and quickly yelled, “I’ve just come back from the Navy!”). That’s nothing… A play I was in in high school, a whodunnit mystery, one of the actors gave the key line which ended the act a scene early. Which meant we skipped over that scene entirely… The scene where the audience (apparently) finds out who dunnit. Fortunately, that guy was an absolute god of improv: I can’t remember how we made it through, but somehow, we did. ---
**Author:** ![Buddha\_Clause](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@Buddha\_Clause](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buddha_Clause)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/48 "2009-05-15T00:20:16Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Albert Brooks is a well-known ad-libber: many pieces of his dialogue from _Finding Nemo_ and his guest appearance in a first-season episode of _The Simpsons_ was made up on the fly. In the season 8 episode where Albert Brooks plays Hank Scorpio his entire speech about Hammock stores was ad libbed. If anyone likes the idea of ad libbing they should try out a couple of episodes of Dr. Katz. They work off of skeleton scripts to set up situations but the entire dialogue is improvised. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/49 "2009-05-15T00:37:39Z")
The great Ella Fitzgerald once forgot the lyrics to “Mack the Knife” in the middle of a live performance. She plowed on ahead and ad-libbed the words, resulting in a [Grammy-winning record](http://www.last.fm/music/Ella+Fitzgerald/_/Mack%2Bthe%2BKnife%2B%2528Live%2B%25281960%2B%252F%2BWest%2BBerlin%2529%2529?autostart): > [@](#): > > Oh, whats the next chorus? > To this song, now > This is the one, now > I dont know > But it was a swinging tune > And its a hit tune > So we tried to do Mack the Knife ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/50 "2009-05-15T00:48:26Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Dreyfuss may have come up with the line- I don’t know, I’ll take your word for it- but it’s spoken by Chief Brody (Roy Scheider). He says it after backing into the cabin in a daze after the shark surfaced while he was chumming. Nah, I just got which character said it wrong. I’ve only seen it once, and that was last week. I’m fascinated with movie trivia though. From the IMDb trivia page for [Jaws](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/trivia): “According to writer Carl Gottlieb, the line ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat’ was not scripted but improvised by Roy Scheider.” That’s all I’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/51 "2009-05-15T12:55:00Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It’s just funny that you know the trivia about the diarrhea but didn’t recall Harrison Ford’s name, like he was nobody worth mentioning or something. > > _shoots the joke dead_ Eh, like I said, I don’t give a an elk about famous names. Boring. But an actor ad-libbing an entire scene because of a case of the trots? _That_ bit is memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/52 "2009-05-15T12:57:08Z")
In Midnight Cowboy, the scene where the taxi almost hits Joe & Ratso and Dustin Hoffman bangs on it and says totally in character “Hey. We’re working here” was totally ad libbed. In Rosemary’s Baby, Mia Farrow’s friend Tony Curtis dropped by the set, but Mia hadn’t seen him. Director Roman Polanski had him do the telephone voice for Donald Blamgart, the blind actor that Rosemary calls. Mia’s reactions are totally real, as she is wondering why the voice sounds so familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/53 "2009-05-16T03:22:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In Midnight Cowboy, the scene where the taxi almost hits Joe & Ratso and Dustin Hoffman bangs on it and says totally in character “Hey. We’re working here” was totally ad libbed. The line is, “I’m walkin’ here! I’m walkin’ here!” According to the [imdb.com](http://imdb.com) trivia page for Midnight Cowboy, there is a dispute about whether this line was scripted. Producer Jerome Hellman says it was, while Dustin Hoffman says it was ad libbed. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/54 "2009-05-16T04:32:43Z")
In **Goodfellas** , the scene where Pauly is talking to Henry about messing with that “junk” (I think that was his description of coke). Pauly is telling Henry not to mess with coke while he’s out of prison and that he did what he had to do while in prison, but now that he’s out, to stay away from cocaine. During this, the actor playing Pauly slaps Henry and it wasn’t in the script. The look on Ray Liotta’s face is genuine. As heard from the DVD commentary/extras. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/55 "2009-05-16T06:02:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Oh, for God’s sake. > > Here’s the exchange he’s talking about, as quoted on the IMDB: > > Cataline Stone: [sigh] I’m exhausted. > Ben Carpenter: Yeah, me too. But you know I’m really wired. What do you say I… take you home and eat your pussy. > > Honestly, **Chuck** , it’s not that good a line, or that shocking. FUCKING THANK YOU. Safe for work TEXT!? If your boss can make out the font, you’re probably already busted for surfing a message board. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/56 "2009-05-16T06:16:23Z")
Here’s the worst ad-libbing on the Internet - perhaps ever. > [@](#): > > Brian Collins agreed to fill in for a friend on Ball State University’s campus newscast during his freshman year providing sports highlights. When the teleprompter failed and printed copies were not in order, he improvised. Eventually posted on YouTube, the newscast is now known as “the Collins incident” in communications classes. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W45DRy7M1no/hqdefault.jpg "Boom Goes the Dynamite") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45DRy7M1no) ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/57 "2009-05-16T09:03:50Z")
All of the legendary 1970’s actors have ad-libbed every now and then. Embarassingly enough, the only I can think off the top of my head is the “big ass” exchange from Heat: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXpX3o3W2Q) It’s hillarious though. Al Pacino and Hank Azaria are having a serious discussion when Al Pacino suddenly decides to ad-lib about asses. The shock on Azaria’s face is priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/58 "2009-05-16T12:26:20Z")
Most Mike Leigh films are improvised. According to Wikipedia “Leigh begins projects without a script; instead, he sets out a basic premise, and lets the ideas develop through improvisation by the actors, who explore their character.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike\_Leigh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Leigh) ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/59 "2009-05-16T16:01:37Z")
**Stargate SG-1** had a bunch, but one of the most entertaining was in the episode “Full Circle”. Our heroes had just negotiated a deal with one of the villains of the piece. Jack (Richard Dean Anderson) was supposed to say some line about “I never expected that to work”. Instead, he says “Well, spank me rosy”. It’s worth it to see Chris Judge and Amanda Tapping valiantly staying in character. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416/60 "2009-05-16T20:38:30Z")
In _War Games_ Barry Corbin’s line when Matthew Broderick is allowed at the computers was something like “Why the hell not, what have we got to lose?” but they decided it wasn’t right for the character. Since Corbin’s a country boy from Texas in real life they asked him to say something folksey about trying and nothing to lose, have at. He came back with something he remembered his uncle once saying: “Goddamn it I’d piss on a spark plug if I thought it’d do any good!” Per the DVD commentary they had to call “Cut!” because everybody on the set including the extras and the techs fell apart, then had to do several more takes before they got it through with a straight face. Hannibal’s slurping/chewing sounds after the “fava beans and a nice Chianti” line were improvised as was the pronunciation kee-ANN-ti, both to throw off the total professional Foster after several takes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-libbing/496416.md?page=4)