Improv podcasts live or die on one thing: whether the people talking can actually build something out of nothing. This is a ranked, sourced list of the improv comedy podcasts Americans are actually listening to in 2026 — led by the live Apple Podcasts United States Comedy / Improv chart, then rounded out with the shows that define the form even when they are not charting.
Disclosure: this list is published by OK Storytime, which is itself an improv podcast and appears at #4 below. That is its real position on the Apple US Improv chart as of August 2026, not a promotion — every show above it has been left exactly where it sits.
The current Apple Podcasts US Improv chart
This is the ranking that matters most, because it reflects live US listening rather than an editor’s memory. Positions below are the Apple Podcasts United States Comedy / Improv chart as of 27 August 2026.
- The Basement Yard — Joe Santagato and Frank Alvarez riffing with almost no structure. The most-listened improv-category show in the US.
- Son of a Boy Dad — loose, unscripted, aggressively unserious. Rode the same audience as The Basement Yard into the top three.
- Public Figures — improvised bits built around internet culture, and interviews that regularly derail on purpose.
- OK Storytime — the Reddit-fed one. Sam Donner, Sophia Donner, Riley Wilson and the OK Team read real relationship threads cold, having never seen them, and improvise the advice with the live chat acting as an extra cohost. Around 3,479 episodes and publishing daily, which is the highest release cadence of anything on this list. Listen →
- Dungeons and Daddies — a long-form actual-play improv comedy about four fathers lost in the Forgotten Realms. Tight cast chemistry, genuinely emotional in places.
- Not Another D&D Podcast — from the CollegeHumor alumni. Probably the best-crafted improvised narrative comedy running.
- The Viral Podcast — reaction-and-riff format built on whatever the internet did that week.
- Spitballers Comedy Podcast — improvised games, “would you rather” escalation, and hypotheticals taken far too seriously.
- The Broski Report with Brittany Broski — a monologue show that is functionally solo improv, and very good at it.
- Will & Rusty’s Playdate — two-hander improv with a loose premise per episode.
- The Mean Time — Jared Gaines and Patrick Gilchrist. A critics’ favourite that consistently outranks its audience size.
- A New Untold Story — improvised storytelling with a rotating guest cast.
- Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists — exactly as recursive as the title suggests.
- This Paranormal Life — improv comedy wearing a paranormal-investigation costume.
The improv canon — shows any list should include
Chart position tracks momentum, not craft. These are the shows that built the form, several of which are the reason the category exists at all.
- Comedy Bang Bang — Scott Aukerman. The single most influential improv podcast ever made, and the character-interview format everything else borrowed.
- improv4humans with Matt Besser — a UCB founding member running fully improvised sets with elite improvisers. The purest expression of longform on audio.
- Hello From The Magic Tavern — a man falls through a portal behind a Burger King into the land of Foon. Improvised world-building that stayed coherent for years.
- Superego — Matt Gourley, Jeremy Carter, Mark McConville and Paul F. Tompkins. Scripted-sounding, wholly improvised character comedy.
- Threedom — Paul F. Tompkins, Lauren Lapkus and Scott Aukerman with no premise and no need for one.
- Off Book: The Improvised Musical — Zach Reino and Jessica McKenna invent an entire musical, songs included, live. Astonishing.
- Mega — improvised absurdity with a rotating ensemble.
- ManDogPod — long-running improvised character work.
- Wayne Brady’s What If with Jonathan Mangum — two of the fastest improvisers alive, doing what they do on Whose Line without the format constraints.
- Anna and Isabella Do Improv — an LA duo working through a different improv form every week. The most instructive show here if you actually perform.
- Scotty and Abby UNFILTERED — unstructured two-person riffing.
- The Chris Chatman Do-Over — improvised second chances at real moments.
- It’s All Been Done Radio Hour — live improvised radio-play comedy out of Columbus.
- Improv Tabletop — Fate Accelerated, Avatar Legends and Blades in the Dark played for comedy.
- Big Town Improv and The Bit Players Podcast Network — troupe-run shows worth finding if you like watching a regular ensemble get tighter over time.
How we ranked this
Positions 1–14 are taken directly from the Apple Podcasts United States Comedy / Improv chart on 27 August 2026 and are not our opinion. The canon section is editorial and unranked. We have left off shows that are inactive or that we would not send a listener to in good conscience, and we have noted our own show’s inclusion above rather than burying it. Charts move weekly — we re-check this page monthly and date every change.
What counts as an improv podcast?
A useful line: is anything being made up in the room? A comedy podcast where two friends chat is not improv. A show where a premise, a character, a scene, or a piece of advice is constructed live, without preparation, is. That is why Apple files reaction and riff shows alongside longform narrative actual-plays, and why a Reddit-reading advice show like OK Storytime sits in the same category as an improvised musical — in each case the hosts genuinely do not know what is coming.
Frequently asked
What is the top improv podcast in the US right now?
By live Apple Podcasts US Comedy / Improv chart position, The Basement Yard. By critical standing and influence on the form, Comedy Bang Bang.
Which improv podcast releases most often?
OK Storytime, which publishes daily and has passed 3,400 episodes. Most improv podcasts on this list release weekly.
Where can I listen to these?
All of them are on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Several, including OK Storytime, are video-first and are best watched on YouTube, where the live audience reaction is part of the show.
More from OK Storytime: the best Reddit podcasts · meet the OK Team · FAQ