Top 10 Times Whose Line Is It Anyway Bits Went Wrong

Top 10 Times Whose Line is It Anyway Bits Went Wrong

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 times “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” bits went wrong.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the funniest times in which the entire cast broke character and/or cracked up from a bit going off the rails.

What’s your favorite “Whose Line” moment? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

#10: Backstreet Boys!

Is Colin the funniest member of “Whose Line”? Tough to say, though it often seems like Colin is the only one who can really make Ryan break. During a game of Greatest Hits, Ryan gives Colin a riddle: [what kind of bird always says the name of their next band?] Not taking the riddle seriously, Colin says arctic tern, before claiming that arctic terns scream “Backstreet Boys!” The surprising answer, plus Colin’s complete dedication to the bit, causes Ryan to break into hysterics. The laughing continues for almost a solid minute while Colin sits there looking particularly proud of himself. As he should be!

#9: “And Take Me on a…!”

Drew Carey wasn’t a master improv performer, but he was always good for a laugh. Even if those laughs were sometimes… unintentional. Case in point - this bit from a game of Three-Headed Broadway Star. The point of the game is to sing a funny song one word at a time. While singing “You’ve Got Sole,” Drew gets a little carried away and passionately sings five words before realizing his mistake. The bit goes totally off the rails, and Drew can’t even finish the song without laughing. And then he accidentally interrupts Wayne and things get even worse. What a complete, albeit hilarious, disaster.

#8: TAPIOOOOOCA!

Here we have another game of Greatest Hits and another instance of Colin utterly obliterating Ryan. In one of the most famous segments from the show, Colin makes Ryan break by singing “Tapioca” in Ricky Ricardo’s voice. Ryan desperately tries to get through it without laughing but eventually succumbs in the middle of his sentence. They try to get through the rest of the bit, but Ryan has difficulty composing himself and continues laughing. It’s exceedingly rare to see Ryan laugh like this, so fans cherished every second of it.

#7: Horrible Segways

In this bit, Ryan learned a valuable lesson: don’t tick Colin off with a clumsy segway. It will come back to haunt you. After Ryan awkwardly segways to the jitterbug, Colin simply stares at the camera in disbelief and sarcastically comments on Ryan’s work. Ryan adds insult to injury however, with a jab at Colin’s age. And Colin spends the rest of the game making increasingly-awful segways. We go from “bend a car” to Pat Benatar and then the particularly horrendous “bed cot philly paper” to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Even Ryan can’t believe that one.

#6: Colin Chokes

Oh, the wonders of doing comedy in front of a live studio audience. Sometimes people goof up, and sometimes they choke on their own saliva. That was the case in this game of Greatest Hits, as Colin choked in the middle of his sentence. Ryan immediately cracks up, but Colin’s follow-up joke causes him to lose it completely. Perhaps the best part about the gaff is hearing Drew Carey giggling off screen. These being masters of the craft, they use Colin’s goof to launch into a whole new bit, with Colin stating that he was doing a “punk thing” reminiscent of his time with “The Naughty Boys.” And then he totally ruins it by segwaying from a punk voice to an old sea captain.

#5: Chip Jumps on Ryan

Sometimes the performers get a little too excited. In this game of Hollywood Director, an over-excited Chip jumps directly onto Ryan’s back, and Ryan is clearly none too thrilled with the idea. He immediately breaks character, yells at Chip to get off, and even swears in frustration. Meanwhile, Wayne hilariously stands off to the side and cringes. Colin immediately jumps in and ends the segment, chiding Chip and telling him that Ryan is “over 40!” Ryan continued to joke about the incident after returning to his seat, referring to the sensations of discs popping and vertebrae rubbing against each other.

#4: Wrong Names

It’s only natural for “Whose Line” cast members to poke fun at each other, and in this hilarious case, it came at the expense of Wayne. While introducing a game, Drew accidentally calls Wayne “Brad”, mixing him up with fellow cast member Brad Sherwood. Wayne makes the most of it, jokingly walking away in upset disappointment. In retaliation, Ryan calls Drew “Clive”, a reference to the UK “Whose Line” host, Clive Anderson. Not wanting to let it go, Drew once again targets Wayne by apologizing to “Greg.” It’s always great watching a bit go wrong when it’s all in good fun. Especially when the bit hasn’t even started yet!

#3: Ryan Bangs His Head

The desk light fiasco has to be the most popular bit in “Whose Line” history. While playing Party Quirks, Ryan is assigned “Carol Channing whose head keeps getting stuck to things.” He starts easy by butting his head into Colin’s chest and the floor. And then he goes for Drew’s desk. He accidentally runs into and shatters the desk light, prompting the audience to gasp, Kathy to scream and check on Ryan, Colin to cover his mouth, and Drew to lean over and survey the damage. Ryan does his best to keep the bit going and never breaks character, even when Drew is picking glass out of his hair. The game continues for another minute, but everyone just jokes about Ryan’s misfortune.

#2: Richard Simmons

In one of the show’s most popular episodes, fitness instructor Richard Simmons was brought in to play Living Scenery. And while everyone knew things would get wild, no one could have predicted just how hilarious and outrageous they would get. Throughout the game, Colin intentionally puts himself and Ryan in compromising positions that are meant to elicit suggestive responses from Simmons. Simmons does the rest. The game is a bust from the very beginning, as everyone collapses into fits of laughter. Both the audience and Drew go absolutely ballistic, with Ryan and Colin even admiring the wild and guffawing audience. While they’re obviously used to laughing, they’ve likely never seen an audience so delirious and unrestrained.

#1: “Irish Drinking Song” Shenanigans

As we’ve seen, “Whose Line” is filled with some glorious disasters. But none were as bad as this one during a game of Irish Drinking Song. It gets exactly three lines in before it goes haywire, with Ryan mumbling nonsense that causes Wayne and Drew to break into hysterics. Colin proceeds to meow like a cat and the music slowly peters out while everyone collects themselves. It eventually starts back up again, but the lyrics prove just as disastrous. By the end, Colin is the only one standing and singing the song, as everyone else is bent over in laughter. Never before has a bit gone to such shambles in such a short amount of time. It’s really quite extraordinary.