If you ever wonder where comedians get their material from, an easy answer might be the frontal lobe. At least that seems to be the case with improvisational comics. An interesting article called “Tall Stories” in Prospect examines the plight of patients who have incurred severe brain damage and become incredibly adept at making up fictions that they briefly believe to be 100 percent true. The condition is called “confabulation.” A passage from the article:

“If asked where she has just been, a patient might say that she was in the laundry room (when she wasn’t) or that she’s been visiting Scotland with her sister (who’s been dead for 20 years), or even that she isn’t in the room where you’re talking to her, but in one exactly like it, further down the corridor. And could you fetch her hand cream please? These stories aren’t maintained for long periods, but are sincerely believed.”

Of course, there are easier ways to try to become the next Amy Poehler or Matt Walsh.

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