there’s something special about going off book

and we’re not just talking single line,

this gotta be a back and forth, give and take, entire scenes.

These are the top 10 improvised scenes of all time.

When you think of improv, there’s hardly a name which comes to mind before Judd Apatow.

Judd has been behind for the decade’s best adlibbing

from The 40-Year Old Virgin, to Knocked Up, to Superbad

and it’s mostly because he treats his actors like true equals in the creative process.

As a result, he has helped launched the careers of some other funniest guys in Hollywood

but for our list, we didn’t pick any of them

instead our number 10 goes to the women in “Bridesmaids”.

You carry on, huh?

No,

Yeah, I noticed.

I know she didn’t put anything in the overhead bin either

and I get it… get it.

I want you to know

I protect and serve air marshal style.

The 2011 breakout was hysterical from start to finish

partly because of the killer’s script

but mostly because they usually tossed it out the window.

Coming up with enough material for a 20-hour version of the movie

that supposedly exists somewhere

and while the whole cast deserves a spot on this list,

we gotta give it up to the air marshal scene

between Grammys’ veteran, Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone.

You're an errand boy,

sent by grocery clerks,

to collect a bill.

Next stop in number 9 is “Apocalypse Now”.

If you haven’t heard the stories,

you should definitely check out hearts of darkness: the making of documentary.

But it was basically a year of heart attacks,

seizures, typhoons, monsoons,

actual war and human corpse

that drove the entire cast and crew to the breaking point.

It also led to a cinematic masterpiece

and some of the best scenes to boot.

And these weren’t necessary improv of invention so much as of last resort.

Martin Sheen’s opening scene was completely improvised

and had him actually slicing his hand up

because of his not so pretending intoxication.

But we gotta hand it to Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz for our number 9 slot.

Of course, Brando’s no stranger to improv his famous monologue

from On the Waterfront was scripted for a year.

I couldn’t be a contender.

But for “Apocalypse Now”, Brando showed up on set

without having so much as read the script.

He shut down the production for a week

while Coppola try to get him to learn his lines by reading it to him out loud.

Well, that didn’t work.

Brando said he just wing it so he babbled for 18 minutes worth of madness

before declaring to Coppola

that he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

If you wanted more, you could hire another actor.

Is it better to be feared

or respected?

I say,

Is it too much to ask for both?

Next up is number 8,

we’re looking at pretty much the entirety of Iron Man.

That’s right, Robert Downey, Jr.’s motor mouth Tony Stark

was pretty much completely off the cuff.

When studio executives is greenlight the first entry into the modern marvel franchise,

they got a little too caught up in the special effects to worry about the script.

By the time of shooting rolled around, all they really had was an outline.

So Director Jon Favreau sort of just winged it.

When Jeffery just had trouble wrapping his head around the chaos of it all,

he says he just bought of it as a 200 million dollar student film and roll with the punches…

and some student film

Wait a minute, wait a minute,

you ain’t heard nothing yet.

At number 7, “The Jazz Singer”.

Back in 1927 when Warner Bros. set out to revolutionize the movie business with sound,

they figured out that It would be perfect for musical numbers.

They intended for people to sing not talk.

But when Al Jolson finishes his first musical number,

he did something to change Hollywood forever.

He started speaking.

That’s right the whole concept of the dialogue came from an adlib.

As you can imagine, audiences ate it up

and the rest, as they say, is history.

Next up in number 6 is none other than Bill Murray.

Mr. Murray seems to be more myth than manly

for a good reason, he’s one of the most effortlessly funny human beings on the planet.

After training at Second City Improvisational from National Lampoon to Saturday Night Live

to his breakout role in “Meatballs”

and he’s been crafting scenes on the fly ever since.

Whether he was adlibbing every line in “Ghostbusters”,

That feels so funky.

stealing the show entirety,

I wish I had t-shirt that is only open when it rains.

Or whispering something we’ll never know in Scarlett Johansson’s ear in “Lost in Translation”.

Bill improvised most of the classic comedy moments from our childhood.

But for our pick, it’s gotta be his Cinderella’s story form “Caddyshack”.

What an incredible Cinderella story?

This unknown, comes out of nowhere

to lead the pack

at Augusta.

He's on his final hole,

he's about 455 yards away.

He's gonna hit about a two-iron I think.

The Cinderella story,

outta nowhere, a former greenskeeper now -

about to become the Masters champion.

It looks like a mirac.

It's in the Hole!

The scene is scripted with only two lines on stage direction

and meant as a simple transition shot

but the director, Bill’s Second City co-star Harold Ramis

had a different idea and told Bill Murray to go wild

which is exactly what he did.

Now if you give Bill Murray and Harold Ramis two lines of stage direction,

you end up with a scene like that.

But if you give it to Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese,

you’re bound to wind up with something completely different.

And that’s exactly how we ended up with the famous mirror sequence from Taxi Driver.

You’re talking to me?

You’re talking to me?

But for our number 5, we’re going with a difference Scorsese proxy.

Yes, we’re talking about the funny how scene between Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta in “Goodfellas”.

That’s really funny. That’s really funny.

It made me funny.

It is a funny story

It makes a story, it’s funny, you’re a funny guy.

What do you mean funny? Funny how? How am I funny?

When Pesci told Scorsese a story about

calling a mobster funny back when he was younger,

Scorsese told him to recreate the incident on screen with Ray.

The only catch was he didn’t tell anybody else.

The resulting scene perfectly captures the manic nature of Pesci’s character

and the danger of the world they lived in

all without a single page of script.

At number 4, “The Breakfast Club”.

John Hughes shot this high school classic entirely in sequence

and when he arrived in a dramatic climax where they all sit in circle

and explain how they ended up there.

Hughes tossed out the script and told them to improvise

letting the actors rely on the instincts they built up over the course of the shoot.

And the result is one of the most touching scenes of the film

and we don’t wanna give too much away so we’ll just let them do the talking.

What’s bizarre?

We’re all pretty bizarre.

Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.

How are you bizarre?

He can’t think for himself.

Now there’s one genre that’s just a gold mine for improv. It's mocking memory.

Borat so Sacha Baron Cohen unleashes his wild Kazakhstani antics on unsuspecting public

and Christopher Guest has directed a long string of mocking memories from Waiting for Guffman to Best in Show.

But on number 3 goes back to where it all began with “This is Spinaltap”.

He’s just fell in love in between stupid and clever.

Completely unscripted and based on party gag,

Rob Reiner shot Spinaltap exactly as if it were a documentary,

taking nine whole months to essentially right the movie in the edit bay.

But we had to pick a single scene from Spinaltap,

even though there are so many,

it’s always gonna be the one with the amp that goes to 11.

This is a top that we use on stage but it’s very special

because if you can see,

the numbers all go to 11... one loud.

Why didn’t you just make 10 louder

and make 10 be the top number and make that a little loud?

This counts to 11.

Kubrick’s widely-known as one of the most meticulous and controlling directors to ever walk in set.

Hardly letting anyone change so much as a single line

but if you look at his body of work,

he’s got a surprising amount of improv throughout

from Peter Sellers and Dr. Strangelove

to R. Lee Ermey’s nonstop abuse in “Full Metal Jacket”.

I bet you’re the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and

not even have the goddamn cum in courtesy that you gave him a rich around.

And even Nicholson’s classic line from “The Shining”,

“Here’s Johnny!”

But on number 2 goes to the home invasion from “A Clockwork Orange”

I'm singing in the rain...

Just singing in the rain...

What a glorious feeling,

I'm happy again.

Kubrick has spent four days working on this scene

and still felt that something wasn’t working.

Frustrated, he asked Malcolm McDowell if he could try something else

perhaps a dance on the next take.

So McDowell decide to include a song with his dance

and he belted out the only one he could remember at the time

which just so happened to be singing in the rain.

The result is one of the furious juxtapositions caught on film

and it just so happened to be completely unplanned.

And finally at number 1,

pretty much the entire body of work of the master of improv himself,

Robin Williams

We’re sad to let him go but grateful for the last he left behind.

Here’s a wrap.

GOOOOD morning, Vietnam!

Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!

Hello!

She used to fart in her sleep.

One night it was so loud it woke the dog up.

What’s the weather like out there?

It’s hot! Damn hot! Real hot!

Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it.

Well, tell me what it feels like.

Fool, it’s hot! I told you again!

Were you born on the sun?

Son of a bitch!

He stole my line.

So, what do you think?

Do we leave out one of your favorite improv scenes?

Did you find one of our picks to be widely overrated?

Let us know in the comments below

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