Emmy-winning host, producer, and singer Wayne Brady kicks off his epic search for America's first teen comedy sensation by putting hundreds of auditioning teens from around the country through a series of improv, singing, dancing, and acting exercises to test their Comedy IQ. Wayne must narrow the group down to the final six, who will work with him one-on-one in a comedy boot camp based on the lessons learned throughout his iconic career.
The final six kids arrive at Wayne Brady's Comedy IQ Academy, where they are immediately thrown into the fire. With the help of famed choreographer Marcel Wilson (Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson), the kids must choreograph, sing, and perform at a huge Hollywood birthday party.
Wayne Brady and Jonathan Mangum head up two teams in an epic head-to-head improv battle at Comedy Sportz. Pressure builds as the teens prepare for their first performance in front of a live audience. One teen must face off in an improvised rap battle against Wayne himself, while another struggles to support the rest of the group.
Wayne Brady and Jonathan Mangum team up with friend and longtime collaborator Joel McCrary (Over the Hedge, Dwight in Shining Armor) to challenge the budding comedians to develop three unique characters, employing voice, physicality, and backstory as ways to better understand empathy. The teens are thrown for a loop when Wayne ups the ante and challenges the kids to improvise while in character.
At the midpoint of the competition, Wayne Brady and guest Lauren Pritchard (MadTV, Show Offs) challenge the kids to pair off, create brand-new characters, and write sketch performances, applying such lessons as "knowing yourself," utilizing your "superpower," and "making each other look good." The kids must then perform their sketches in front of a live audience--and their parents--at a famed comedy venue.
The teens must battle their insecurities by writing and recording a rap song featuring their negative self vs. their positive self. Guest coach YouTube-sensation Epic Lloyd (Epic Rap Battles of History) directs the teens as they star in their very own Epic-Rap-Battles-of-History-style music video. But some of the teens struggle to let loose. At the lineup, Wayne delivers a jaw-dropping announcement that sends shockwaves.
With elimination looming, the cast gets the biggest challenge yet. The young comics have to write and perform a three-minute stand-up set for a live audience at an iconic Improv comedy club. Wayne Brady brings in legendary stand-up Sinbad to help the teens shape their sets. Pressure builds as one young comic is forced to re-write an entire set in under an hour. At the weekly line-up, the first cast member is eliminated.
After a dance lesson from celebrity b-boy Flo Master, and a battle against his 8-year-old son, Wayne challenges the teens to write, record, choreograph and direct their own viral dance challenge videos. With another elimination approaching, the kids must utilize their knowledge of content creation to win over the fickle online community or be sent packing. Throughout the challenge, one comic elevates their game, while another underperforms. At the line-up, Wayne announces an unexpected twist.
Tension runs high in a double elimination week as the teens feel the pressure to perform in the upcoming challenge. Whose Line Is It Anyway superstar Colin Mochrie mentors as the young comics face their biggest improv challenge yet and get the chance to perform alongside Colin. At the lineup, two teens are eliminated, sending the final three into the finale.
In the finale episode, the three finalists utilize all the lessons they've learned from Wayne Brady throughout the season to put on a one-of-a-kind performance at the acclaimed Upright Citizens Brigade theater in the heart of Los Angeles. Wayne joins the budding comics for a show-stopping opening musical comedy number, and the eliminated cast returns to help the finalists perform in their sketches for a packed house.
