Any fan of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” is well aware of Wayne Brady’s next level musical improv skills. He’s done it a million times, and yet each new on-the-spot performance seems as magical as the last.
In fact, it was this particular set of skills that landed Brady his breakout gig in the first place, which he recently explained on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”…just before going into a completely freestyle rap routine using random objects.
And since it’s Wayne Brady, he of course did not miss a beat.
While appearing on the late night show to talk about his new role as The Wizard of Oz in a revival of “The Wiz” on Broadway, Brady told Fallon that he had no expectations of making it past the first round of “Whose Line” auditions. But then everything “flipped” when he was asked to improvise a song.
Committing to the age-old improv philosophy of “yes, and,” Brady agreed to give it a go. “At the end of the day I had a job. It was ridiculous.”
At the time, Brady was working two jobs. One as a Power Rangers performer for kid’s parties, and the other as a singing Beetlejuice for Universal Studios. Even after getting hired by “Whose Line,” Birthday kept the job at Universal. That is, until he was recognized by some front row audience members, and the rest is history.
Brady’s story then prompted Fallon to say, “You are so good at improv and freestyling…It’s unbelievable what you do. You’re so talented. I thought it would be fun for the audience if you did a little freestyling maybe about ‘The Wiz’ tonight.”
He then added, “but I know you like a little pressure. So what I have here is random things, and if I show the object can you add them into your freestyle?”
Wayne accepted the challenge, calling it “easy money.”
With The Roots backing him with a beat, Brady seamlessly incorporated a slice of pizza, Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album, a Polaroid camera and a guitar into his rap…all before ending it with a Playbill for The Wiz.
Watch below. Brady truly is the musical improv master.
Source: https://www.upworthy.com/wayne-brady-jimmy-fallon