Tops and Bottoms

This is a first for me, and maybe for KC area bloggers as a whole… everyone with a KC area improv blog is posting on the same subject today: The best & worst things happening in KC improv. I know it’s late in the day, but I’ve avoided reading anybody else’s to keep my inner slate untarnished. So here goes. Please to enjoy.

The 3 Best:

1. The Roving Imp

What kind of shameless self-promoter would I be if I didn’t lead off my list with my little theater, The Roving Imp? I wouldn’t include it on my list if I didn’t believe it to be true. In the one year since I’ve opened the theater (anniversary date: April 7), it has presented literally a hundred shows from groups all over the KC and Lawrence area. These groups have a venue for performing that they didn’t have before, and there’s nothing bad about that. High schoolers from surrounding small towns have had the opportunity to learn the craft, expanding our pool of performers. We’ve presented new formats, such as the Game Show, Antiprov,  and the Long Form Showcase; and have others on the horizon: Trivial Prov-suit and Movie-prov. For my money, there’s been no other single event in Kansas City in the past year that has been better than the Roving Imp for the craft and the art of improv. Have audiences been on the small side? Yes. Am I worried about that? No. When so many good things continually happen under one roof, it’s just a matter of time until this well-kept secret leaks out.

2. The KC Improv Festival

My second choice for the best is the KC Improv Festival. I have absolutely nothing to do with this (not because I don’t want to… I just don’t have time…), but I think that the festival is really important to the future growth of KC improv and to gain some attention for our area on the national improv stage. I would love to see not only the huge yearly festival with national acts, but also a smaller festival featuring our local folks six months later. Maybe I’d be able to tackle that one… one day.

3. Improv Thunderdome

The third best thing in KC improv is Improv Thunderdome. This little brain nugget was implemented wonderfully, and has generated more general excitement among the non-performing and performing alike than any other event I can remember. When you sell out consistently, gain that much media attention, and generate eight or twelve new performing groups, you’re definitely doing something right. Are there some issues? Sure. Would I maybe have some Friday night shows? Definitely. But it’s tough to argue with results.

The 3 Worst:

So much for the positive comment section of the blog. Now for the things that make me frown a bit…

1. Support of other groups

I try to get out to see other groups perform as often as I can. Since I’m in a show every single Saturday, it’s often tough, since when other groups have shows, they’re almost always on Saturdays. Speaking in generalities, of course, I find that when I’m in the audience, I’m the only improviser in the crowd. Not counting events such as FFC’s annual Best Of Show or Thunderdome, when was the last time you as an improviser attended a show that you were not performing in? Or a show of a group you’re not in? We’re all busy people with lives, but shouldn’t we help support each other?

2. Smack Talk

Man, I am not a fan of online, written down smack talk. So many ways of spinning madly out of control, and for what? It serves no purpose, other than to really scare away folks that are casually cruising the KC improv boards. You’ve gotta think that there are potential audience members or potential auditioners reading these things.

3. Developing & keeping audience 

I personally suck at developing audience. I don’t know if I just don’t have the time to do it right, but I want to be out front and say that I don’t have any suggestions on how to fix this. I’m open to advice on this (or anything else, for that matter). I have been in and attended so very many shows that have had small houses, and it’s not right. I alluded to small audiences earlier at the Imp, but it’s not limited to there. Most groups I’m familiar with have had audience problems at one time or another over the past year, either cancelling shows or performing for fewer than are in the cast. What’s the solution? Who the hell knows? But it’s sure a big problem.

There we go. My top and bottom three. Feel free to comment away.

Now that I’m done, I can go see what the others said.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 19:13 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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