You and some others at the Mercury rain hell on improv all the time, but you never... EVER... explain yourself. What I'm thinking is that you saw some bad improv a few times and decided it was all like that, and then stopped going. I could be wrong, but you paint the entire improv world with the ugly brush - unfairly.

And Sketch festivals are great - the best of the best. You can't compare everyday improv shows with that, but high-level improv is amazing, funny, well-acted, and not schmoozy in any way. Pity you apparently never tried to see any. Check out a major festival sometime, or just look for some big names.

And don't for a second think that Second City counts. They do improv for one reason: to come up with ideas for sketches.

P.S. Good job, Mercury, on tying my comment to the wrong article.