When it was first announced that the ship was sinking, Dan and Jay panicked, losing many of their scripts in the rush to leave.  Noticing the band was setting up on the deck, however, they decided to try and help calm things, so decided to perform some “Extempore Comoedia,” or what would later be known as “Off the Cuffers,” and eventually as “improv.”  Having no idea where to start, the looked to the screaming audience for a suggestion of a location in which to start their humorous scene.  The first suggestion was purported to be “a sinking ship,” which made for a very awkward first sketch, which they repurpose to this day.