whenever I coached or taught improv, which feels like a hundred years ago, i'd invariably preach that it's the good improviser who can make the audience laugh, but it's the great improviser who can make them cry.
because when the audience is moved to laughter and tears, it means you've absolutely, 100% got 'em -- you've taken them away from their everyday, you've made them forget their worries, their pains and their whatevers, even for a split second. i'd footnote all this by saying those moments, especially in improv, were incredibly rare, but when it happens, it's pretty much magic incarnate.
in this video, which i know is sketch but it still applies, listen to the audience at the end of superman's song (around 3:59). the emotion is palpable, and pretty damn cool. (big h/t to susan messing / pat shay)
