The rag doll child is a lot easier to carry than a squirming and impatient kid would be, he walks comfortably assured that nobody's going to shove limbs up in his face. The same could not be said for times babies or toddlers were lent to him.

"Oh, that's fair," Russell reassures, and adds in a more confidential tone, "I think the 'good' improv artists have things pre-rehearsed, and cues agreed between them, to buy time to think."

Anyone who's anyone has tried improv, right? Even if most don't excel at it.