Its five broken brains: The Groundlings long-running Crazy Uncle Joe Show keeps saying 'Yes, and...'

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Set us as preferred After taking a suggestion from the audience, Jordan Black and Roy Jenkins begin an improvised scene in which they are playing two exterminators whose jobs are their identity.It plays out for just enough time to establish character, the stakes and relationship before another member of the cast sharply claps from the sidelines, abruptly ending the scene to create a new one from scratch that riffs off the revealed details.The rest of “The Crazy Uncle Joe Show” unravels as a barrage of rapid-fire ad libs that makes the 90-minute improv show feel like a comedic sprint.

The number of storylines begin to stack up by the second, but it’s no one’s job to remember them all.“Everyone remembers enough,” Black said.For the last 25 years, the cast — Black, Jenkins, Ted Michaels, Stephanie Courtney, Brian Palermo (when he flies in from Seattle) and a couple of rotating guest performers from the Groundlings — has hit the stage to perform the longest-running long-form improv show in L.A.every Wednesday at 8 p.m.“It’s five broken brains,” added Courtney.But the cast (known as “Joes”) never envisioned it becoming a staple of the L.A.

comedy scene — they just wanted to make one another laugh.“I will not do a show unless I think it’s got 25 years in it,” joked Michaels.Throughout the years, the format has stayed the same: They take three suggestions from the audience, create new scenes and build on it from the initial ideas.Originally the Joes would go for 90 minutes straight, but sometime during its 25 year run, they decided to split it into two acts.There have been times when they get bored and want to try something different and change it, but they always end up having a bad show that takes them back to the original concept.“I’d like to offer a change that was not specific, but it w...