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, 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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Sunday, March 30, 2008 by John Robison.

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.

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