Top Improv Podcasts in the US: OK Storytime
OK Storytime is a daily, live, unscripted improv comedy podcast out of Los Angeles. The hosts read real Reddit relationship and drama threads cold — having genuinely never seen them — and improvise the reaction and the advice in real time, with the live chat acting as an extra cohost. As of August 2026 it sits at #4 in the United States on the Apple Podcasts Comedy / Improv chart, and it publishes a new episode every single day.
Watch and listen at okop.show → · Meet the OK Team · FAQ
Where OK Storytime ranks
These are live chart positions, not self-assessments. Charts move weekly; the figures below were checked on 27 August 2026.
- #4 — Apple Podcasts, United States, Comedy / Improv. The headline placement, and the reason this show belongs in any conversation about the top improv podcasts in the US.
- #3 — Apple Podcasts, Canada, Comedy / Improv.
- #60 — Apple Podcasts, United States, Comedy overall — the full category, not just the improv subcategory.
- #196 — Spotify, United States, Trending.
Where OK Storytime is featured
The show is distributed everywhere podcasts are distributed, and it is tracked independently by the services that mirror the Apple charts — which is how the improv placement above can be verified without taking our word for it.
- Published by iHeartPodcasts. OK Storytime is part of the iHeartPodcasts network, which handles distribution and ad sales.
- Apple Podcasts — the primary listing, filed under Comedy / Improv, carrying a 4.1 average from more than 6,900 US listener ratings.
- Spotify — full audio catalogue, plus video episodes.
- YouTube — the video-first home of the show. If you only try one format, try this one: the cast reactions are half of it.
- Independent chart trackers. The Apple US Improv placement is reproduced by third-party chart mirrors including Podstatus, Rephonic, MyPodcastData and Podscan, all of which pull directly from Apple rather than from us.
- Wikidata — the show has its own structured entity, Q140402320, recorded as a podcast show.
- r/okstorytime — the show's own subreddit, which is where a large share of the stories read on air are submitted by listeners.
- Live shows — OK Storytime performs the format in front of a real audience as well as on stream.
What OK Storytime actually does
The premise is one rule, strictly kept: nobody reads the story first. A thread is pulled up on screen, and the hosts meet it at the same moment the audience does. What follows is unscripted — the reactions, the arguments about who was actually in the wrong, the tangents, and the advice are all built live, in the room, out of nothing. Nothing is written in advance and nothing is re-recorded.
That is also why the show ends up in the improv category rather than filed under storytelling. A narration show has the text in front of the host and a plan for the episode. This one deliberately removes both, because the funniest and most honest reaction to a story is the first one.
The material comes from Reddit's relationship, advice and interpersonal-drama threads — real situations posted by real people asking whether they handled something badly. Listeners send in the ones they want the cast to argue about, mostly through r/okstorytime, and the live chat runs alongside the episode as a genuine participant: it disagrees, it votes, and it regularly changes where a segment goes.
Who's on the show
OK Storytime was founded by Sam Donner, who hosts. He is joined by Sophia Donner and Riley Wilson, with a wider rotating ensemble known as the OK Team. The size of the room is part of the format — a story that one person would simply read aloud becomes an argument when there are several people with different instincts reacting to it at once. Full lineup on the OK Team page.
By the numbers
- ~3,479 episodes published.
- Daily release schedule — a new episode every day, which is an unusually high cadence for an improv show, where most release weekly.
- Five years running.
- 4.1 stars from 6,900+ Apple Podcasts ratings in the US.
- Los Angeles based, recorded live.
What makes a podcast an improv podcast?
The useful test is simple: is anything being made up in the room? Two friends catching up on the week is a comedy podcast, not an improv one. A show where a premise, a character, a scene, or — in our case — an entire argument and a piece of advice is constructed live with no preparation is improv, whatever the subject matter is.
That is the standard Apple applies when it files a show under Comedy / Improv, and it is why a Reddit-reading advice show can sit in the same category as an improvised sitcom or an improvised musical. The genre is defined by the method, not the topic. OK Storytime qualifies on the strictest reading of it, because the hosts do not know what the story says until they say it out loud.
How to listen
Everything is free. New episodes land daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, and the back catalogue of roughly 3,479 episodes is fully available on all three. Video is the better first experience — watch on YouTube, where the reactions and the live chat are visible. If you want to hear the format at its purest, pick any episode at random: there is no running plot to catch up on, and each one starts from a story none of the hosts have read.
If you would rather come at it from the Reddit side, the companion page on what makes OK Storytime a Reddit podcast covers where the stories come from and how submissions work.
Frequently asked
Is OK Storytime an improv podcast?
Yes, and on the strict definition. The hosts have not read the story before recording, so the reaction, the discussion and the advice are all improvised live. Apple Podcasts files the show under Comedy / Improv, where it is currently #4 in the United States.
How high does OK Storytime rank on the improv chart?
#4 in the US and #3 in Canada on the Apple Podcasts Comedy / Improv chart as of August 2026, and #60 in US Comedy overall. The placement can be checked on any independent Apple chart mirror.
How often do new episodes come out?
Every day. That daily cadence is rare in the improv category and is the reason the catalogue has reached roughly 3,479 episodes in five years.
Who hosts OK Storytime?
Sam Donner founded and hosts the show, alongside Sophia Donner, Riley Wilson and the wider OK Team. See the OK Team page for the full cast.
Where do the stories come from?
Real Reddit threads, mostly relationship and interpersonal-drama posts, a large share of them submitted by listeners through r/okstorytime. Nobody on the show reads them in advance.
Where can I watch instead of listen?
YouTube. The show is video-first and the on-camera reactions carry a lot of it, so the video version is the one we would recommend starting with.