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The beloved sitcom’s scene-stealer may now be hot Hollywood property, starring alongside Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage, but he refuses to move on from his first love. As he scores a Netflix special and heads for the UK, he explains its allurePlenty of Hollywood stars started out in improv: Amy Poehler, Bill Murray, Mike Myers – they all got noticed on the improv stage then moved on to loftier things. What makes Ben Schwartz different is that, even as his Tinseltown career rockets – he is in Apple TV+’s The Afterparty and the forthcoming Nicolas-Cage-as-Dracula movie Renfield, and is the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog – he just won’t leave his much-maligned first love behind. “With the specials and with this tour,” says Schwartz, “the goal is to show that improv is fun, exciting and freeing. That, like standup, it can be done successfully in front of thousands of people.”Those Netflix specials, under the banner Middleditch & Schwartz, are three fantastic long-form improv shows (not sketches, but a whole, hour-long story) performed with his occasional sidekick Thomas Middleditch. It is the streaming platform’s first experiment with live improv. The tour is Ben Schwartz & Friends, which has been circulating North America in the (rare) gaps between the 41-year-old’s acting work, and is coming to London. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to get on that stage in England and do a show,” says Schwartz, his motormouth positivity buzzing across the transatlantic Zoom line. Continue reading...