Friday, November 7, 2008 by John Robison.

A question arose on the city3 boards about pricing… it was interesting, and I posted the following. I repost it here in hopes that you will find it interesting, and perhaps throw your two cents into the discussion.

A lot of the pricing I do at the Imp has to do with the number of people in my cast… for a full show with six or seven folks, I usually charge $7.50, which has come down from the $10 we used to charge. I had a few audience members comment that perhaps $10 was a little high. I agreed… so prices came down a little, but they’re still enough that my players get a semi-decent payday. Exception: if it’s a group with a low amount of experience, I don’t charge as much.

For my other shows, I admit that I’ve been influenced heavily by ticket prices at i.o. We just had our first free Thursday show tonight… i.o. has a free show every Wednesday. You can see T.J. & Dave for $5… it seems wrong to think I should charge more for my two-person show than they charge. I might one day, but not now. Because they are fabulous.

I’m also currently trying to hook in a lot of families, who have really responded to a $5 per person price. They can afford to bring kids, and still end up spending quite a bit more in concessions. This is really working for our “Harold” and “Trivial Prov-suit” family shows. We’ve had kick-butt crowds for these shows lately. I also hope that this kind of pricing will help balance out the KC audience member’s thought that RI is a little farther away… which is also helping out. I have one audience member that drives out every weekend from Lee’s Summit. I’m not sure she’d do it if she had to pay $10-$15.

At this point, I’m not depending on ticket price to tell the audience what kind of show they’ll be seeing. Instead, I’m relying more on the Roving Imp brand… people are starting to know that whatever show happens under the RI banner will be a quality, fun show. I’m also making a semi-futile attempt to use kcstage.com to help folks figure out what kind of show they’re going to see. I don’t have to worry much about comparisons between groups and group prices… about 90-95% of my audience sees only RI shows, or has never seen an improv show before…

There you go. My whole pricing thought. What do you think, and who’s next?

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 by John Robison.

Kissing on stage…

I’d like to throw my two cents at this topic. It’s been brought up on the KC Improv blog as well as city3.org. It hasn’t created as much talk as I thought it might, so I’ll go ahead and be long-winded on my own.

I posted a blog a few months ago about my personal problems with physical contact, which I’m still working on, and I still have not had an improvised stage kiss… just putting that out there, so that you’ll know that what follows is a purely theoretical and intellectual discussion.

Some people are worried about emotional weird feelings once the actors leave the stage. I think there can be emotional repercussion (we’re only human, after all), but usually only if there were some sort of emotions floating around anyway. Two actors should be able to kiss one another at any moment, and it means nothing. I’ve done it tons of times on the scripted stage, with folks half my age, underage, 10 years older than me, people I couldn’t really stand, and even one that matched my gender. Were there crushes occasionally? Sure… but none that didn’t already exist. I believe that if you’re really there for the art, and aren’t using improv as some really ineffective dating service, you should be able to kiss anybody at anytime.

That’s one of the things about working with your family… it’s bound to happen one day… and you’d better hope the rest of your troupe is paying attention to help you avoid it. My sister, Julie,  routinely is onstage with me in the role of my girlfriend or wife, and we have (thank goodness) not managed to get even close. Except for once.   Nifer and Julie were playing a game of Stunt Double, with me as the stunt double. About a third of the way through the game, Nifer says, “Why don’t we just make out?” and then calls for a stunt double. Of course, she didn’t realize what she had done. The entire audience was rolling with laughter as they saw me slowly eke towards my own sister on stage, both of us completely out of character, but still completely playing the game. Somehow, out of some stroke of genius, as I was only a foot from here, she called out “STUNT DOUBLE!!” and ran off the stage, leaving me to make out with myself. Nifer still feels bad about it.

Now for the statement that lets you know how serious I am about this issue. In the case above, it was WAY funnier NOT to kiss. If it had somehow been funnier to do it, I would have kissed her. Not because I wanted to, or not because I enjoy inflicting mental anguish on my family members, but because the scene needed it. I think you have to be prepared to do whatever the scene needs at any given moment, with no consequences later. Let the scene happen, and go along for the ride. See where it takes you. Just because you play a pedophile in a scene on stage does not mean that you actually are. Just because you’ve kissed someone on stage doesn’t mean that you would do it in real life.

I haven’t found that it’s any easier to kiss men than it is women. Just recently, I was doing a Trivial Prov-suit show with the very talented and funny James Nelson. A scene came up where we were playing an odd musical instrument that in my mind was a single pipe with a hole at the top. Both of us were playing it, and our mouths were so very close that I suddenly felt a wee bit uncomfortable. The audience loved it, of course, and it turned out to be funnier to simply be uncomfortable than it would have been to break the tension by actually kissing him.

I guess in the end, that’s the whole deal… many times an actual kiss represents the dissolution of sexual tension or aggression, and tension is interesting to see on stage. So unless you’re at the very end of the set, showing an actual kiss may threaten to derail the energy you’ve got flowing… that’s why in so many old movies, the very last thing that happens is the two main characters finally kiss before fading to black. Where do you go from there in a scene? It’s resolution.

Unless it’s not… maybe that kiss actually is contributing to the energy build. Maybe that kiss is not the end of the sexual tension at all, but merely a suggestion of things to come. In that case, boy howdy, have you got some heightening to do. If you were a little leary about kissing someone, how do you feel about taking that kiss to the next level? Be prepared!

I think that there’s a definite time for on-stage improvised kissing, and you just have to feel it in the moment, just like anything else. To be funny, sometimes it’s appropriate to float across the stage in an out-of-control hot air balloon. Sometimes you have to become a basement gnome that eats potatoes. And sometimes to be funny you have to kiss your scene partner. The same thing goes for a more dramatic scene. If you’re in a tender moment with the person playing your spouse, it’s unnatural not to do it. If you don’t, you yank the audience out of the scene with your uncomfortableness, and destroy what you’ve worked so hard to create. If it’s a dramatic scene, make it look real. If it’s comedic, make it funny. Just do it, and don’t wuss out.

Agree? Disagree? Have cool stories of your own? I’d love to hear!

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Monday, September 29, 2008 by John Robison.

Performing improv is one of those hobbies that takes you out of your private world and thrusts you into the public realm. This is the same public realm that in its extreme has led hordes of photographers to harangue people, sometimes to death.

Luckily, those of us in Kansas City improv are far, far away from that end of the spectrum. It does, however, lead to some recognition, for better or worse, especially when you’re doing big improv in a small town. Most of the time the only public effect of my hobby is when people say, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Occasionally I get a “Hey, you’re that funny guy that does the plays!” when I’m out grocery shopping or something. I always get a bunch of people that call me right after the newspaper quotes me or runs a picture, and it’s always really great. That’s the good thing about low-level celebrity. (Forget D-List… this is more like R-list.)

As improv in town grows, its professionalism increases, and its popularity goes up, this kind of thing is going to continue.  And it’s going to get less nice. And that’s great. As stakes go up, so does the heat.

I can’t wait for the heat to get turned up on improv a little bit. That’s when we’ll know we’re starting to get attention. Sure, we’re starting to get some publicity now, but very little actual analysis or insightful comment.  In all the time I’ve been doing improv, my performing groups have been reviewed only three times that I can recall.

My very first was a one-line review of Improv Abilities’ performance at the 7th KC Improv Festival. It said something along the lines of “They were ballsier than usual, but not as funny.”

The second and third both came in the form of reviews on city3, and were speaking of the performance of Babelfish at the first Thunderdome. I recall both reviews being generally complimentary of the group’s performance… especially the Pitch reviewer, who still has a special place in my heart thanks to that review. The reviews were definitely more complimentary than I was of my own performance.

We need more reviews. More reviews lead to more buzz, and buzz will eventually lead to more audience - even if the reviews aren’t immediately great.

Reviews will fall somewhere along the scale of positive to negative, and can be used as a handy tool for introspection. Ask yourself some questions when you read them, no matter if the comments are positive or negative. Who is the source? Do they have an agenda? Do they know what they’re talking about?  Are they correct in whatever they say, in your opinion? If you think their opinion isn’t necessarily valid, still keep in mind that oftentimes, perception is reality. Maybe you really weren’t as good as you thought… or maybe you didn’t suck as badly as you thought.

Even really short, spoken feedback can sometimes be helpful. If you’re walking past someone, and make eye contact, and they say something like, “Great show,” I thank them and move along. This kind of comment is the theater version of “How are you?” Polite, and not necessarily requiring additional clarification. They’ll let you know if they want to say more. Same thing if they don’t say anything at all, or nod. For me, the body language counts as neutral feedback.

If you’re hanging out, and someone seeks you out to tell you “Great show,” I generally chalk that in the “Genuinely Satisfied” column.

The best kind of feedback, which I try to give whenever possible, is when someone tells you you had a great show, and then gives you a specific example of what they enjoyed. I love people like this. They tell you the one thing that spoke to them. If you listen carefully, sometimes they also tell you more… in the subjects they don’t talk about.

The kind of feedback that’s even more valuable to me is the kind that nobody talks about. It’s the kind of feedback that’s not appropriate to talk about out loud 99% of the time. It’s the kind that’s not even appropriate to write about 90% of the time.

Negative feedback. Ooh. That’s tricky. You have to have huge balls of steel to even attempt to do it. You have to be either a master wordsmith or an unfeeling bastard. You have to be an expert in the field to avoid massive backlash, which will probably happen anyway.  You can give completely untrue compliments until the cows come home… but if you give one piece of negative feedback, you’re an ass. If you have any doubt about this, join the kcstage.com e-mail list. Every couple months, a huge firestorm gets ignited by someone posting a negative review.

I personally enjoy a certain amount of negative feedback (aka constructive criticisms) just as much as positive feedback IF: 1. it is completely supported with examples; 2. it offers a possible alternative; 3. it’s well-balanced, and is not only an anti-show rant; 4. it comes from a knowledgeable source; 5. it’s true.

A well worded review helps my audience know what kind of show they can expect. If my shows are getting consistently rave reviews, it will help attract audiences.  If they’re consistenly negative, I’d better fix something, and I’d better do it pretty damned quick.

Nothing is as unhelpful and unkind as “That sucked,” or “That wasn’t funny,” or “I could do better.” I’ve heard audience members say all of these things about productions I’ve attended, after the show, but before the cast came out. The emotion is true, and is just as helpful as “Good show,” but definitely requires some explanation, in my book.

I have a couple trusted friends/family members that I trust to give me unbiased feedback, both positive and negative, and most of the time I use that feedback to verify that my own instincts are correct.  Many times, however, they point out something that I completely missed. I then evaluate and decide if it’s appropriate to act on that comment. I consider negative feedback an essential tool to improvement. If you don’t have an expert on the outside that you trust to give you advice as a director, you need to get one.

As important as I consider feedback to be, any comments, like the improv itself, should be considered, then moved on from. As soon as you decide to act or not act on any comment, you have changed yourself in some subtle way, and the comment no longer necessarily applies. Hopefully you’re better for it. Maybe you’ll find out when your next review comes in.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008 by John Robison.

Back in May/June, I started planning for the “Grand Proliferation” of Roving Imp troupes. I even posted about it back in June. Now it’s mid-September, and the realization of that planning and dreaming has materialized. Some of those ideas didn’t work out so well. Those ideas are some of the reason I’ve been a bit remiss on creating new blog entries. Excuses, excuses. At that point, I wanted to have eight different RI ensembles by April 2009. Here’s an update on the expansion I first mentioned on June 19.

Troupe 1: Trivial Prov-suit

At that time we’d already started Trivial Prov-suit, and it was just starting. We knew it was fun, and we knew it was probably going to be popular. What we didn’t foresee is just how fun and how popular it was going to be. The format lends itself to some of the most fun times I have ever had on stage in my entire life. As a sort of cerebral improviser most of the time, this is a great gift - the gift of play. It works from the other side, too. Audiences tell me they laugh so hard they cry. This show isn’t going anywhere until James decides to move away.

Troupe 2: The Roving Imps

We’ve scaled back on RI shows - down to two shows a month from four. The shows are fun, but haven’t drawn the audiences that the more targeted shows have drawn. Reducing the number of shows also makes each show more special and scarce… audiences have to wait longer to see their favorite short form games.

Troupe 3: High School Improv Showdown

High school shows will come back in November, after the high schoolers are trained enough to put on a good show. The high school shows have brought some of the largest audiences we’ve had, and I can’t wait to start working with the students again.  As last year, it’s difficult to gain a foothold in schools, and therefore difficult to reach students that might want to participate in this free program. The students I’ve managed to reach have had a great time, and I can’t wait to see what this program looks like in five years.

Troupe 4: Movie Prov

In June, we were set to do the very first Movie Prov the week of my blog post. That first show was really great, and the audience and cast really enjoyed themselves, but it also exposed several issues with the format. We tweaked things in the two following shows, and things improved… but in the end, an improvised, audience-participation movie MST3K-type event wasn’t much of an audience draw… so we’ve discontinued this one. It’s possible it might return one day - after we figure out how to draw people in.

Troupe 5: Omega Directive

In June, I was in the process of casting this group. We’ve now performed twice, and have had four really fun long forms based on television episode plots. It’s got good production values, and six of the most talented folks in the city. I was a little nervous when OD’s second show conflicted with the KC Improv Festival, taking half the cast and risking a show without an audience, but the three people that were left really rocked the house, which was surprisingly large. I see this group really becoming one of our star groups, and I see it functioning like the Reckoning from Chicago… we perform with however many of the group are available at any one time, whether it’s three or six. Any of these folks can handle it.

Troupe 6: Dictionary Soup

I had just started talking about reviving this group, and now we’ve done our revival show, been in the Kansas City Star, and surprised everyone (even ourselves) with a really interesting four character scene in our first show. I can’t wait to see what else we do with this group. It’s got a ton of potential, and is already entertaining.

Troupe 7: Red Rubber Ball

This group is made up of random folks from any of the other groups, and performs the same two longforms each time: The Living Room and Plus Ronde, a format I adapted from the traditional La Ronde. Both formats are pretty old school, and audiences have really responded well. RRB is at the moment a fill-in show, plugged into the schedule whenever there are holes. It’s the one of the new shows without a regularly scheduled show, so there’s a little randomness that’s appealing. It also creates a little sense of urgency for audience members that really enjoy the show… because you never know when the next RRB show might be (unless you look at the online calendar)…

Troupe 8: The Harold

This group is made up of the students from my adult improv classes on Saturdays. Most of the people in the classes are folks from my other troupes that want to improve faster and get a little more performing time, but there are new folks popping in and out all the time. This class does a traditional Harold, as well as occasional short form games. I would really like to get some more folks involved with this, as it’s a great deal for everyone, but I haven’t focused much marketing on it, so it remains a group of five to eight.

Troupe 9: working name: Happily Ever After

An absolutely brand new two-person troupe set for its first show Oct. 11. At the moment, it looks like this long-form format will involve showing what happens after the conclusion of popular books or movies.  However, until the first show, anything can change.

There are others rolling around in my head as well, but eight living groups is probably enough for one person to manage… at least for now. (It makes my Improv-Abilities nights that much more important… it’s a group I can just participate in, and not run!) It’s also a great coup that when Oct. 12 rolls around, I will have met my stated goal of eight groups… six months earlier than my original goal. Even better: quality is really good across the board (with occasional exceptions, of course), and we’re giving audiences a really good time at inexpensive prices.

What’s the next goal? Offering catered meals before the 7:00 Saturday and 8:00 Friday shows. Know a good caterer? Maybe you can help me beat the timeline on this goal, too.

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Wednesday, September 3, 2008 by John Robison.

Topic du jour: What do I expect to get out of the upcoming Kansas City Improv Festival?

Complex question, which must be split into three parts for me:

1. What will I personally get out of it?

2. What will my improv troupe get out of it?

3. What will my theater get out of it?

1. Personally, I’ll get an extra chance to perform, which I am always glad for. I’ll also get to see some of my favorite local troupes all performing in the same weekend. I don’t get a chance to see shows too often, and I’m going to love to be able to see so many shows at one time. Also, because the festival is in town, I’m going to be able to have a workshop with the lovely and talented Jill Bernard with Improv-Abilities on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to that.

2. The troupe will get exposure to an audience they wouldn’t normally have access to. We usually perform in a different area, and I’m fairly confident that 98% of the audience will be seeing the Roving Imps for the first time. It’s possible that the troupe might get a mention in the press, which would be nice, as we’ve never gotten any kind of critical statements (positive or negative) in any press of any kind. There’s been show announcement information, but never an actual review-type statement. It’s also nice that some members of my troupe are going to be able to take part in the classes offered by the nationally known improvisers. I can’t wait to see what they bring back.

3. I am not expecting the Roving Imp Theater to get anything much out of the festival. In fact, I expect that on the whole, my theater will be hurt by the festival. *Warning… pessimism ahead*

Though a bunch of people will be seeing the Imps for the first time, with so many other groups happening at the same time, I don’t expect any of those audience members to be converted into Imp regulars. It would make me super happy to be wrong, but I just have to be realistic. I’ve upped my chances a bit by having an ad in the program, but I’d consider it to be a great coup if even one or two new folks stumble in because of the festival.

While the festival is happening, I will still be having separate shows… I still have the space, bills to pay, and a “show every Saturday” reputation to maintain. Such a huge improv festival will certainly impact my audience (as well as performers), and since the festival is all happening at Union Station, I have no choice but to remain open and present great quality shows. How do you compete with Jason Sudeikis, after all? We’ve got folks just as good, but nowhere near as famous. Time will tell, but with two Saturdays in a row pulling away improv audiences, I’m not expecting September’s numbers to be good.

Of course, it’s possible that the festival shows will be so good that it will create an immediate demand for great improvisation, and as the only improv theater in the area, the festival audience will flood toward the Imp, causing more performance opportunities to open up, and making this the highest-grossing September for years to come. Probably not, but there’s a tiny part of me that actually believes this will happen.

So to all the troupes out there… blow some folks away. It’ll do us all some good.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008 by John Robison.

I finally have a few minutes to write after an embarrassingly long time absent from the ol’ blog. It’s been a busy time, with a ton of performances (including with some new groups), rehearsals, classes, and even a little bit of non-improv-related activity. I apologize to any of you twisted individuals that might actually look forward to reading this little posting. The rest of you… what are you doing here? Go back to John McCain’s website.

I wanted to present a theory of structuring the world that works pretty well for me when it comes to developing suggestions into initiations. I’ve presented this theory in my classes before, to some looks of confusion, and some looks of absolute and sudden clarity. Stick with me here.

Imagine the universe. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Now, I’d like for you to move the universe to one side. On the other side, imagine a giant roll of chicken wire. Then unroll it, so it’s a great big sheet. For you city folk, chicken wire is basically a grid of wire arranged in a honeycomb-type fashion (that’s right… hexagons. Now imagine that this chicken wire is truly three-dimensional… so that there are hexagons extending out in every direction.

Now overlay the two images you’ve been holding in your mind. You should now have a picture of the universe that’s been separated into a handy, hexagon-shaped grid pattern. The universe is a bit expansive… go ahead and zoom in to something you’re more familiar with - say the room you’re sitting in right now. Do you still see your hexagons? If not, take a moment to re-establish those hexagons all throughout the room.

If you’ll now notice, the hexagons connect you to everything else in the room. If you were sitting where I am, the hexagons would be connecting you to the computer monitor, a box of tissues, my mortgage payment, my iPod, a roll of tape, two scripts, a bookshelf, a box of Star Trek merchandise (a long story), shoes, an ABBA CD, a fan, bottles of wine, my own fingers, etc. etc. etc. You get the idea. It’s all connected.

“That’s cool, John… what the hell does it have to do with improvisation? All you’ve done is cause me to have a brain hemmorage, and now I no longer recognize my own cat. Also, what kind of man has a box of Star Trek stuff next to an ABBA CD?”

When I’m on stage and I hear a suggestion, I use this segmented and connected universe to help lead me to scenes to play. I don’t like to use the actual suggestion in the scene if I can help it. If it’s the first thought in my head, it’s probably what the audience is expecting, and I don’t like to give them what they’re expecting. Humor comes from the unexpected, after all. So… I follow the grid. Zip along the grid, and see where you arrive.

Say the suggestion is “home office.” How convenient. I immediately establish my home office grid in my mind, and see which direction my mind takes me. I could do a scene starting with any of the items mentioned above, and in almost every case, when I tie it in with the original suggestion, I will be doing a scene about something the audience wasn’t expecting, while still being true to that suggestion.

You can do this with any suggestion. May I demonstrate a little from my own personal mind grid?

Suggestion: Album - ZZ Top - beards (initiate with “Man, I’m thinking of going easy rock.”)

Mean - Tina Fey - Saturday Night Live (initiate with “I’d like to check in. I’ve just been fired from Saturday Night Live.”)

Park - kids - blocks (initiate with “It’s only natural materials for my kid’s playground, Bess.”)

With practice, you’ll get quicker and quicker. For those of you with a structure-hungry mind, you may find this a great technique to use that’s more concrete than “Go with your second thought.” It’s a technique that’s plenty flexible to apply to almost any situation.

Caveat: This won’t work for everyone. Some people will find that this technique does nothing but puts them directly into their own heads, where they will not have fun and they will no longer be a productive member of the improv team. If you’re one of those people, I hope I haven’t contaminated you, and I hope I come up with a good technique for you one day.

Everyone else… give this a try in your next rehearsal. See what happens. Let me know what happens. Did you love it more than anything? Did you think it was absolute rubbish? I want to know. I have a feeling it might be more than just me that Improv String Theory appeals to.

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008 by John Robison.

The Imp Creation Story, Part 2:

I searched for an appropriate building for a long time. I looked in all parts of the city. My target area at the time was somewhere around 75th & 1-35. However, it soon became apparent that any type of commercial property in that area was going to be WAY out of my price range. I found a building I really liked that was just on the Kansas side of Westport. I loved the building. It was perfect. It was $400,000.  The only building I was able to find that both had potential and was in my price range was on the main street of Bonner Springs, about 20-30 minutes west of Kansas City. However, I wasn’t able to reach a deal with the owner that we were both happy with.

So I decided to chill out for awhile. It was the beginning of November. My thinking was that if I waited until after the first of the year, the market would have changed enough that more buildings might be available for better prices. After a month, just after Thanksgiving, I got a call from the owner of the building in Bonner Springs, a man in his mid-60s originally from Italy. He said, “I haven’t heard from you… what’s going on, you don’t like foreigners?” I shot back, “Foreigners I’m OK with. It’s the Italians I’ve got problems with.” Within another two weeks we’d hammered out a deal. It turned out that time had done a lot of the negotiating for me, and it was a lot easier this time. The only real consideration at that point was that the building wasn’t in the center city. However, it did have two apartments connected, with potential space down below, so there was a guarantee of income. I decided to go ahead, reasoning that if you have a quality product, people will come to see it no matter where it is located. Also, Bonner Springs was something of a cultural void… ready for the planting of cultural seeds that will one day be ready for harvest. (By the way, so far, the “build it and they will come” approach has worked out OK…)

We were scheduled to close on March 1, 2007. I was super freaked at this point, as everything that had before been a pie-in-the-sky fantasy was suddenly terrifying stark reality. It was all going down, and I was the one in charge of it. At that point, my thinking was that we needed to get up and running as soon as humanly possible. We would have the building, and we needed to start the operation of the business so we could start revenue streams. (or at least revenue trickles.) I set the completely insane “what the hell are you thinking” deadline opening date of April 7, 2007. That’s right. One month. One month to remodel the inside of the building, do marketing, assemble a performance team, advertise for classes, and implement the business plan. It was the most thrilling, frightening, exhausting, exhilarating month I have ever lived. It was terrible, hard work, as we had to completely gut the interior and rebuild it in our chosen image. Once we decided on the final layout (we chose our third option), we started working in earnest. I’ll never be able to repay my two brothers, sister, or wife for that month. Two walls came down. Three walls went up. Two bathrooms materialized. A new ceiling went up. The seats got moved in and attached, despite the guy at the U-Haul threatening to burn my house down in the middle of the night because I had the gaul to complain that he’d overcharged me. (Yes, that really happened.) A big complex light box went up into the ceiling. The stage got built. The sound system went in. Advertisements went into newspapers and online. I talked to everyone I knew. Some really kind people came in and helped construct and paint. Rehearsals happened. I remember a few of those early rehearsals when we rehearsed in a small corner of the room because it was the only space that was clean enough in which to exist.

On some level I must have known that it was possible to do. Because we did it. There were a ton of weird city-specific regulations that nearly hung us up at the last minute (it was boring enough living it… no need to re-create it here), but we opened with three mini-shows followed by snacks and chatting. It was a great night all around. Were the shows great? Probably not. But they happened. Everyone has to start somewhere. Not bad for a group that had virtually no experience doing improv. The original group of six included me, my sister, two people I’d met doing a musical the previous summer, a friend that I’d met doing a show, and he later performed in something like four improv shows, and some random teenager that happened to wander in. That first show was fun and energetic, if not the most artistic thing to ever hit the world. The important thing is that we have gotten better since then, by several magnitudes.

I’ve learned a lot about everything since then, not just about the art of improvisation. For example, I’ve found that newspaper advertisements for me are just as useless as posting flyers. Both are activities I really pursued with gusto in those early three months. Neither produced as much as a single audience member. I’ve learned that I need to not indulge my artistic temperament… just because I’m excited about something doesn’t mean I should immediately devote all resources towards that goal. Nowadays I put forth the idea, sit on it for a couple weeks, and then make plans to implement it two or three months down the line. This is the reason that I plan all my shows and activities at least three months in advance. It prevents me from getting excited and jumping into some foolish and fun notion.

I’m sure there’s a ton more for me to learn. As long as they aren’t painful lessons, I welcome them. Even though it was a really tough time, there’s nothing like watching a dream come true to feed your soul. Even when my soul was covered in drywall dust, paint, sweat, and more blood than I care to remember, it was still smiling. Even though financially I will certainly never be the same, one day when this theater is rolling along at an acceptably successful level, I’d consider opening another one - at a much slower, more careful, better planned and better funded pace. Don’t tell my wife. She’d leave me.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008 by John Robison.

When it comes to feedback and directing a group, is there such a thing as being too blunt or too nice?

No brainer. Of course. There are multitudinous levels, and it’s tough to pick the right level for the right group. I always, always err on the side of too nice. It’s just my personality.  There is a time for bluntness, but it is entirely possible to do it in a nice way. I consider myself to be quite good at this, when it’s important. Be blunt, but be nice, and be realistic. As someone that works with a lot of beginning improvisers, there are a ton of things you just have to let go. I like to focus on one skill at a time, and let other things slide for awhile during that particular training time, though it makes the ol’ skin crawl. I also tend to think that being too blunt destroys the sense of safety that you’re supposed to have in the rehearsal space. You just can’t overwhelm people with too much, or they’ll get discouraged.

The improv workshop is not the place for survival of the fittest. It’s not a competitive sport. In competitive sports, you have a concrete goal (sometimes literally), and a concrete strategy to make it to that goal. There are tried, tested, and true strategies for making it to that goal. There are a particular number of spots available on any particular team. The individuals with the best skills to achieve the goal make it. Everyone else is cut. Period.

In improv, there is no particular goal. Our whole deal is that each time, you’re going to see something different; you’ll get a different experience. In sports, you get one of two experiences: Win/Lose (or in the weird sports, Tie). In improv, there are an infinite number of possible goals, and an infinite number of possible ways to get there. Since this is the reality we’re living in, I believe you should be supportive in helping people to discover their own best way to be successful the majority of the time. Being overly blunt would imply that your personal style is the best style, or the only style, and would mean that you’re ignoring and dismissing alternate ways of doing things. Well, who the hell are you? Depending on the person, we might end up with a whole generation of performers that do nothing but poop jokes. Taking a more laid-back approach may take longer, true, but you’ll end up with more diversity on stage, and an overall more interesting experience.

In the end, that’s the real reason for erring on the side of niceness. We’re trying to grow interest in the art of improv, and you’re not going to do that with verbal abuse. If you don’t preserve the sense of fun, openness, and diversity, beginners won’t come back. Sure, I could make people think that I’m some sort of crotchety improv genius, and that it’s a privilege to work with me, so they should just put up with me… but holy crap - that’s no way to live your life. There’s enough negativity in the world without adding it to improvisation.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008 by John Robison.

Grammar note: this post replaces all gender-specific pronouns with “them” or “they.” Many apologies to those of you whom this grates upon. 

After a period of time, people naturally fall away from your group for a variety of reasons. As the person in charge, I constantly try to make sure that the theater is an environment people love as much as I do, so when someone leaves, I always go into a mode of “OK… what could I have done better?”

The reasons people give for leaving are just like the reasons people give when they break off any relationship. “It’s not you… it’s me.” I have a tendency to not believe that reason… at first. However, taken on a case-by-case basis, I find that the reasons people give are generally genuine.

At this point in Roving Imp history, over the past year, I’ve had a total of 22 people who have at one point called themselves an Imp. Of those, I still have 13 as active members. So over the first year and a third, that’s a drop rate of 41%. I have no idea where that might be in the whole spectrum of first-year performance groups with bi-weekly performances… at most points, it has seemed high. Right now, it doesn’t seem so bad.

As examples, here are the following real-life reasons, along with my suspicion of the real reason, with all names taken away, as I still really like and respect these people.

Person A: Stopped coming, and then said they had to quit to take care of familial obligations.  I think this one was true. I knew something of their personal life, and think this one was honest. Hooray!

Person B: Said they had to quit to take care of familial obligations. I think this one was also true. It seems that having to quit because of family changes is a common one.

Person C: Just stopped coming, with no communication at all. I have no idea what the reason might be… other than the fact that this person lived kind of far away. Maybe they didn’t feel like they fit in. Who knows? I would like to know. I do know that the “let’s avoid confrontation by just not going anymore” is the most frustrating for me. Lots of people have done it… and why not? For the person not coming back, it’s a super easy way to do it. No fuss, no muss, no risk. For me, however, it sucks the Royal Teat. I realize that you’re a performer, and not necessarily organized, and not necessarily prone to good communication, but if you know you’re not coming back, just let me know so I stop wasting mental energy on you. I hope they aren’t dead.

Person D: Just stopped coming, and said they were going to come back once things settled down with their personal life. This first part was true. Their personal life was all over the place, though they still haven’t come back. I will take this opportunity to put forth my Absence Theory: In my experience, if someone that has been a regular in your group leaves and is gone more than a month, they’re not coming back.

Person E: Just stopped coming. After a couple months, I happened to run into them, and they said their job switched days, and that they’d like to come back once that changed. Probably true… but they still haven’t come back. See the Absence Theory.

Person F: Got too busy. I’m pretty sure this is true. This person is very talented, and very busy due to the fact that they seem to have a tiny issue with overcommitment, much as I had when I was in my early 20s… when I would say yes to almost anything.

Person G: Got another acting job that would take them away for six months. I have no doubt that the reason is true, but I have doubts that they will return. We shall see if Absence Theory holds up.

Person H:  Left due to the fact that they got a job with a national touring company. I’m pretty sure it was true… it was too specific of a story to not be, and there was no reason to not be truthful.

Person I: Said their schedule was too busy. I suspect this statement was masking the actual reason. I was super relieved when this person made a point of thanking me for making them feel so welcome… Another group I have performed with has lost talented folks by not making them feel welcome or included. The day one talented person announced they were leaving, I talked with them and they said, “John, you were the only person my first day that came up and talked to me and went out of your way to be friendly.” That statement alarmed me, as I hadn’t realized that I had done anything… and I hadn’t realized that others weren’t talking to them. Since that time, I’ve tried to be super aware of including new folks and making them feel welcome.

So out of the nine, only one gave a reason I suspect to not be completely true, and one just disappeared. I like to think that I have an open and communicative atmosphere with the performers I work with. Other groups I work with get the old “I’m taking some time off,” when I think they were really feeling “I’m not having as much fun as I should be,” or “I’m not feeling necessary and/or appreciated.” I can think of five such examples of people using that reason in other groups in the past year. Have any of them returned after their time off? Please refer to the above Absence Theory. It hasn’t been proven wrong yet.

I never like it when someone leaves, but I understand that this kind of crazy life isn’t for everyone. Lots of people don’t realize it until they’ve been doing it for awhile. Weekly rehearsals and performances don’t fit into everyone’s life forever. Generally, I’m glad I got to share some fun, quality time with them, and wish them luck. And secretly hope that one day they’ll return, despite any theories to the contrary.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008 by John Robison.

It seems like a long time since I’ve done a scripted show… although I did two last year. However, it’s been since August of 2007 since I directed and acted in “The Complete History of America, Abridged.” The other show of last summer was “Basehor The Musical 2,” which I was commissioned to write by the Basehor Historical Society. Writing a show is something that I really enjoy and detest at the same time. I love the process of creation, but don’t really like the fact that I am pretty well cut off from society and my family for large chunks of time. I seem to write best when I do a lot at once.

To date, I’ve written three full length plays, a musical, a one-act play, and now a one-act musical based around a couple’s love for the musical “Mamma Mia.” This last one just got finished this past Sunday. It was kind of a rush job… I had about a week to write it, and we’ll have a week to learn it before performing it this weekend. Just as with most of my others, I’ll be the writer, director, and male lead. It’s not that I think I’m all that, but it’s really tough to find a talented male actor of the right type that not only can sing, but is available at the right times.

So, this is the reason for the abbreviated and/or absent blogs of this two to three week period. I’m desperately trying to memorize lines (another love/hate relationship), learn songs (which I love), and learn choreography (mostly just a hate relationship).

This is why I don’t do scripted shows very often anymore.

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