ASIF – Review of The Alaska State Improv Festival

Posted by Nick Armstrong on May 18, 2016

The Del Close Marathon. The Chicago Improv Festival. The Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival. The New York Improv Festival. The Boston Comedy Arts Festival.

Chances are very likely that you’ve heard of these festivals, and probably attended at least two of them. I’m sure that you were exposed to an insane amount of improv troupes from around North America, and possibly Europe, and were blown away by the level of talent and variety featured at each of these festivals. I mean, how could you not be? There’s so much to see and experience. But here’s the thing about some of these mega-festivals: they’re so big and so intense that it becomes difficult to establish any sense of community amongst the improvisers that the typical performer’s e
xperience is to simply show up, get your performer’s pass, see a few shows, perform in your assigned time slot, and maybe see/do something in that city before it’s time to go home the next day.

Plus, one of the evils perpetuated in these types of mega-festivals is the illusion of status. Sure, some people/teams have achieved various levels of recognition be it through television, film, writing, talk shows, magazines, YouTube, or what-have-you, but there’s no opportunity to humanize them in any real way that matters because of the sheer amount of people attending these festivals. Sure, you might be able to go back to North Carolina and tell all of your friends that you got to tal

k with Jack McBrayer for five minutes, or that Amy Pohler accidentally spilled a drink on you in the Green Room. But where’s the humanity in that? Where’s the real life connection with another human being that matters? The answer is a simple one: The Alaska State Improv Festival!

Here’s one of the things that I love most about ASIF: Eric Caldwell, the festival producer, has been to so many festivals over the years that he knows exactly what to offer in terms of organization, variety, and community. Let me break it down for you.

Organization:

Once accepted to perform in the festival, Eric automatically adds you to the ASIF Facebook group where you receive updates and alerts in real time. I can’t stress enough how fantastic this is because it accomplishes a few things right off the bat: the ability to connect with other performers (both past and present), immediate and direct contact with the festival producer (what other festival can you say that about???), and pertinent information regarding the festival itself as questions arise.

Before the festival has even started, accommodations, rides to and from the airport, workshops, sight seeing tours, after parties, discounted performer “eats and drinks” hotspots, and other individual points of interest have all been worked out well in advance that you genuinely feel taken care of. This isn’t one of those festivals where you hope you are able to find a place to stay within budget that is within an Über ride of the venue. Nope. It’s all been taken care of for you!

AND on the back of your performer’s pass there is a schedule of all of the shows for the weekend so you can plan accordingly. Quite thoughtful.

And AND…for anyone performing in the festival, Eric has provided a webpage on the ASIF site specifically for improvisers providing information about all sorts of local grocery stores, restaurants, points of interest, workshop schedules, performance schedules, directions, phone numbers, maps, etc. It’s an amazing resource!

Variety:

There is so much about ASIF that I find outstanding that it becomes challenging where to start first. Let’s begin with the fact that you’re in Alaska’s capital performing improvised comedy! The landscapes are breathtaking, and are some of the most beautiful vistas I’ve ever seen (and I literally travel the world for a living)!

Then there’s the incredible talent that Eric is able to bring in from all over: Susan Messing, Amber Nash, Parallelogramophonograph, Pinque Pony, Scared Scriptless, Ranger Danger and the Danger Ranger, Nick Armstrong & Bill Binder, Pawn Takes Queen, and 1 Deep just to name a few off the top of my head. (There’s so many more that are going unmentioned that have absolutely blown me away! Seriously, everyone is just so, so talented!)

And that’s what is so great about this festival: A) the range of performances that you’d rarely get the opportunity to see again, and B) that you actually get to know the people behind the ensemble. What a rare blessing it is to actually have time to sit down to lunch with Susan Messing and talk about life! Which leads me into my last point about ASIF…

Community:

We, as improvisers, know the importance of community. It’s what strengthens us and brings us together both on stage and off. It’s what allows us to brainstorm new ideas and collaborate on projects. If it weren’t for these basic ideals there wouldn’t even be improvised comedy as we know it. We’d be fighting against each other constantly in the latest version of “The ME Show.” So why do we naturally gravitate towards perpetuating this idea that “my way is better”, or “I was taught the real way of improvising”? It’s silly and its destructive. But thankfully ASIF breaks those barriers down by creating a lot of community-building activities in which we get to really spend time together and appreciate other’s way of operation.

Exhibit A: The Whale Watching Boat Tour

When are you ever going to get this opportunity again in your life?! It’s incredible, it’s amazing, and it’s 100% worth it! I mean, come on?! It’s a boat full of rowdy improvisers! How could you not?! So much fun!

Exhibit B: The Mixer Jams

You know what’s even more fun than performing with your team? Performing with a group of extremely talented improvisers from all over everywhere in a completely bonkers show where literally anything can happen! So much fun!

Exhibit C: The Afterparties

Each night after the last run of shows, Eric has made arrangements for everyone to gather together at some of the local bars, restaurants, and local Juneau hotspots just for the sake of hanging out and getting to know each other better. Seriously, what mega-festival does that? Ok, ok…the Del Close Marathon does that. But it’s not open to all performers, AND it’s not an environment conducive to connecting with performers that you’ve never met before. ASIF is the very definition of bringing people together to celebrate this most amazing art form that we all love more than life. So much fun!

Exhibit D: Workshops

I’ve had the pleasure of learning from some of the improv “greats” in my time, and the workshops offered during ASIF are no exception. These master artists (and I refer to them as such) have taught me more about improv, the love of the art form, the creative nature of performing, and small technical approaches that I can apply in my own way than any other workshop I’ve ever taken in the past.

Plus, you’re learning/honing your craft amongst a mixed group of your peers, of whom you may never get the opportunity to perform with ever again. I’ve made so many special bonds with many of Juneau’s local improvisers that will stay with me forever! And I’m genuine in saying that I love these people. I love the connection that we created together. I love the pure joy of discovering things together while being directed and steered towards positivity, emotion, story, and humanity. These are some of my most cherished memories only available to me through ASIF’s magical ability to bring people together.

Special shout outs to Susan Messing, Parallelogramophonograph, and Rich Baker. So much fun!

The long and the short of it is that attending ASIF is like summer camp for adults. You make new friends, you experience new highs, you get to see some of the best performers in the world at the height of their game, and you get to experience Juneau, Alaska in a way that you truly will never be able to experience outside of the festival. It’s magical. It’s personal. It’s beautiful.

The Alaska State Improv Festival – the best festival I’ve ever attended! There, I said it.

Mike Brown

Review of the Improvamonium in Rochester, NY

Posted by Nick Armstrong on May 11, 2016

We reached out to our community to get some feedback on festivals. Here is a review of Improvamonium in Rochester, NY by attendee Ron Williams:

This festival was awesome! First, it was free to register. All you had to do was find a way to get to RIT. They put you on the poster for the event, so it makes your team feel super official. After arriving and finding the building (it started to snow on the way up), we were very happy to get 26 minutes to perform a set. A lot of the talent was local, and we were the only team from NYC. The college crowds are very receptive, and it was easily one of the best shows we’ve ever done.

Where to Stay: There is a hotel right next to RIT.

Where to eat: Plenty of bars right next to campus with burgers.

Overall, I’d do it again if the rest of my team wanted to. It was well run and the auditorium was huge (had to be over 200 seats).

Site Update: Instructor Submissions Now Available

Posted by Bill Binder on February 3, 2016

Having the instant submission tool for improv troupes has been great. I’ve been coding away to make that same functionality available to instructors. And it’s finally online!

Starting today, any festival that uses the instant submission tool on our site can also elect to take submissions for instructors as well.

How it works

A more detailed walkthrough will come soon, but the quick answer is this:

If you’re a festival producer. You are offered a checkbox when creating a new event to accept instructor submissions.

If you’re an instructor (and you have an instructor profile on the site), you’ll see a button like the picture below. Just click it. That’s it.

How it looks

Festival producers will already be familiar with the visual layout of the submission review page. It’s modeled after the troupe submission review page. In fact, you don’t even have to go anywhere new. It’s added as a tab to your review page.

You will actually be presented with two lists. The first looks like this.

This is a list of instructors who have submitted to teach at your festival. Although instructors are not required to submit a troupe if they are submitting as an instructor, it is useful information for producers. So any troupes the instructors perform in which have submitted to the festival are listed below their names. Clicking on their names will take you directly to their teaching profile and workshop lists.

The second list is a passive list. This is a list of instructors who have not specifically submitted to your festival, but are members of troupes who have submitted to perform. Having this information can be very helpful to producers when knowing who might be coming to the festival anyway.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Producers can use this tool at their leisure and instructors can submit to any festival using the tool for free.

What doesn’t it do?

A few things. There aren’t as many options as the troupe submission tool, because it’s not really clear which of those features will be useful. Right now, it’s pretty much just a list. I’m very open to new features being added to this as time goes one.

Loading quickly. It doesn’t do that. I know. More than any other page on the site right now, it’s a bit of a memory hog. It will load slowly the first time you load it. I’m working on that.

Notify producers. Right now, producers won’t get notified every time an instructor submits. This is a relatively minor thing to be added, but I’m going to wait a few weeks to work out any potential bugs people may find. I don’t want producers to get flooded with bogus messages due to a bug somewhere. Messaging will be here before March.

Why is it only for festivals?

Don’t worry. There is another tool coming soon which will help facilitate getting instructors and theatre companies talking. In the mean time, I hope people keep reaching out to each other through their respective teacher and theatre profile pages.

What should I know to use this tool responsibly?

As a producer. If you have a general model for how instructors will be paid, it’s helpful to put that info up front. It’s not binding at this stage of course, but it helps instructors know which festivals they can submit to in a sustainable way. You can also check their booking information on their own instructor page to get a feel for their expectations. It’s best to have both parties familiar with the expectations of the other so there are no surprises down the road.

As an instructor, look for festivals which accept instructors. But if they elected not to, they probably have a reason. You probably don’t want to email them to try to get them to change their minds.

And that’s about it for now. There will be changes to this tool as with all tools. But it’s up now. Hopefully this will get some awesome workshops at festivals.

Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival.

Consider Teacher Workshops at Your Theater or Festivals

Posted by Nick Armstrong on January 6, 2016

NIN’s year of the teacher was amazing. We created the Teacher Tool which will allow you to submit yourself, for free, as a teacher to a festival and let theaters know when you’re in town so they can hire you if you in the neighborhood…NEATO! With that said, I’d like to chat with our readers about hiring veteran teachers to come to your festival and/or theater to do teaching or coaching workshops. There is huge value in this. I think we have a responsibility as theaters and festivals to start training the next generation of improvisors to become great teachers and have the tools and knowledge they need to succeed.

A lot of theaters, festivals and communities are still young. I’d say about 80 percent of the theaters and festivals I go to fit in this category. For theaters, a lot of communities are growing pretty fast and we are basically making teachers out of students or recent alums. I get it, the demand is there from incoming students and you want your business to push forward, but what about the teachers? Teaching is a different art all together. Especially teaching something like improv. Just like improvisors who need training, so do teachers. Sure, you may have to shell out a few dollars to get a master teacher to come out, but your return on investment is going to be huge. The better the teacher, the better the business, and the more chance to have returning students. The better the student, the better the performer, the better your audiences will get because of the quality of work – Trickle-down Improv-nomics. You may not see the money right away, but invest in your theater it will be worth it in the long run. I know some theaters are doing this already and to you guys! YAY! You’re ahead of the game and I’d be interested to hear about the experience. You have to think big picture. I know it’s hard to think that as we try to figure out how to pay our rent for next month or buy more paper towels for the bathroom, but the long game is where it is at and it’s worth it.

For festivals, what a great opportunity to offer this course to your community and improvisors coming into town. We are so focused on the teaching of improv skills and forms, we are forgetting that a lot of these improvisors are going to become coaches or teachers eventually. If you’re inviting a master teacher to come to your festival, have them do an improv workshop, but also have them add an instructor workshop. Why not? You have them there. Again, may cost more, but I feel this is something that would do really well. After all these people are the best in the business and have years of experience in teaching. They know what works with students and what doesn’t.

I want to take a second to thank all the teachers and coaches out there for doing the work and committing to our art form. You’re paving the way for the future of improv. Right now we may not get paid as much as we deserve but I do see a day where that will change and it’s all because of the blood, sweat and tears coming from your passion. So, thank you!

Nick Armstrong

Nick is Camp Director and Founder of Improv Utopia an improv retreat for adults in California, Yosemite and Pennsylvania. He is also one of the founding members of the National Improv Network and performer and teacher at iO West and The Groundlings. He has also taught many workshops at theaters and festivals around the world.

Guest Blog: Improv is My Therapy Part 1

Posted by Nick Armstrong on December 8, 2015

There is a fair amount of anecdotal evidence on how improvisation helps people. Many of us have firsthand experience on how improvisation has changed our lives and have probably heard similar stories from others in the community. Improvisation is also used in corporate workshops and in drama therapy as a way of teaching skills that are useful for increasing workplace effectiveness or dealing with mental illness. As an individual who teaches psychology and does improv, sometimes I wonder why improvisation seems such an effective tool for improving the lives of individuals. In what I hope to be the beginning of a series of articles (note my optimistic “Part I” in the title), I will begin by discussing why “Yes, And” is therapeutic by drawing comparisons with similar psychotherapeutic concepts.

For many, the rule of “Yes, And” is the first tenet of improvisation that they learn. This phrase reminds us to first say yes, to agree with what the other person in the scene has said, and then show that we are agreeing by adding to that. While the temptation is often to go “No, But”, we learn over time that by saying yes and building something together, we create a much more enjoyable experience for ourselves and the audience.

Our desire to say “No, But” is usually related to control. Studies in social psychology tell us, we are fearful of things that we perceive to be foreign to us (such as the thoughts in someone else’s head), and trusting of the things that we perceive to be from us or similar to us (such as the thoughts in our own head). Improvisation is a frightening experience (as we often forget) in that we are coming to the stage with nothing prepared; this activates our fight-or-flight response and causes us to want to default to our primal settings. Our simple, anxious minds want to stick to what we tend to perceive as good, which is anything that we can control (i.e. the thoughts in our own head). Instead of trying to trust another person, we try to save ourselves. Improvisation teaches us to embrace and acknowledge our fear, but not to be controlled by it.

In psychology, we often refer to people’s perceptions of the amount of control they exert over their lives as their locus of control. Individuals with an internal locus of control believe that they have control over their life, while those with an external locus of control believe that their lives are controlled by external forces. To be healthy, an individual should be somewhere in the middle; it is important to be comfortable with not always controlling everything, but also to be aware of what one can control. Individuals with an internal locus of control benefit from Yes-Anding because they learn to accept what they can’t control (by saying “yes”); individuals with an external locus of control benefit because they learn that they have some control over their environment (by saying “and”).

Agreement is not a one-way street; not only are we agreeing with what our partner is saying, but they are agreeing with what we are saying. Carl Rogers, an influential American psychologist, developed the idea of unconditional positive regard. According to Rogers, a therapist should show unconditional positive regard to a patient, that is to say, no matter what a patient shares with their therapist, the therapist should show acceptance without negative judgment of the basic worth of the individual. On stage, we are asked to show unconditional positive regard to our teammates, and that can be very therapeutic. We base our self-esteem partially on how we are viewed by others, and when our thoughts and ideas are supported and elevated to the level of comedy gold, we feel great about ourselves; we learn to trust our ideas. Being yes-anded reminds us that we are valuable, worthy, and wanted. Yes, And teaches us how to relinquish some of our need to control the world around us, to thrive even when we are fearful and uncertain, and to remember that we are individuals of worth and brilliance.

Guest Blogger and NIN Member Jeff Thompson

Jeff has been an improviser since 2002 and has studied at iO West, ComedySportz LA, Second City Hollywood, The Groundlings, Nerdist, and UCB LA. He is also one of the producers of the Hollywood Improv Festival.

When not on-stage, he can be found teaching psychology, coaching teams, consulting for businesses, or playing video games.

Let’s Be Alpacas Together

Posted by Bill Binder on November 6, 2015

For a group of people who pride themselves on never going on a script, we fall back into a lot of the same sayings over and over again; “Support Your Partner”, “Heighten the Game”, “Play to the Top of Your Intelligence”. We sometimes get into such vain repetition that we kind of forget what those words really mean, and also assume that those we’re saying it to will somehow understand exactly what we mean.

Around NIN circles, one of those sayings is “A rising tide lifts all boats”. Now, if you know me, you know I believe that to the core of my soul. But just because we say those words a lot doesn’t mean we can always back them up. We’ve become so confident that it is true, that we never really talk about that idea in a real clinical or analytical sense. Maybe we should.

Well, it turns out there is some math to support it. Some 18th Century Math to be specific. That kind of thing was all the rage among the prominent nerds of the 1760s. But I don’t think we want to go that far back today.

Instead let’s go back to 2008 and Dan Gilbert’s excellent Ted Talk.

If you haven’t watched his videos or read his book, they are absolutely filled with very straightforward ideas which are great tools for marketing your theatre or your festival. In fact, you should really watch his whole video here when you can. Each of his points could be the topic of a blog post (and if there’s interest, perhaps there will be.) But today, let’s just talk about one of them.(slightly altered to fit this post)

: This is an alpaca

: This is a dog

Thought Experiment

If you’re reading this you may live in a major city, or at least near one. I want you to think about that city and answer the following question. You can’t Google or research this answer. Simply answer.

Are there more dogs or alpacas within the city limits of the city you’re thinking of?

It’s not a trick question. You know the answer. It’s obviously dogs. You don’t need statistics to know that’s correct. But why do you know that?

You know that because you see dogs. There are dog parks. There are dog grooming centers. There are magazines about dogs. There are clearly lots of dogs in the city. That doesn’t mean there are no alpacas around. There probably are. Maybe in a zoo or in a farm somewhere. There just aren’t nearly the same number of dogs, or you’d know.

The brain is pretty smart. That kind of reasoning is how humans cope day to day with making informed decisions without firm hard statistics at every moment. It helps us make good decisions. But that part of the brain can also be hacked.

As few alpacas as there are in your city, there are probably even fewer Powerball millionaire winners. But it doesn’t feel like it, does it? Every week on the news, they show the newest winner. Every jackpot billboard has a picture of a winner. A different winner on every billboard. You start seeing Powerball winners. They must be real, because you see them. And the more Powerball winners you see, the more likely you are to get a Powerball ticket. Even if you’ve never bought a lottery ticket. I’ll bet you thought about it more than you thought about getting an alpaca. Tell me I’m wrong.

The truth is, people make decisions based on familiar things. When I am hanging with my troupe and we think about grabbing a bite, pizza is an option. Because pizza places are everywhere. When I visited Vancouver last month and we talked about where to eat, people suggested grabbing donairs because there are donair joints everywhere in Vancouver. You know why we don’t consider that in Phoenix? Because no one I know has ever heard of a donair. There is actually a Canadian donair places within short driving distance of me. I just never saw it. And even if I saw it before, I probably wouldn’t have gone in because it wasn’t familiar. Pizza must be good or there wouldn’t be pizza places everywhere.

We’re Alpacas

If you own an improv theatre, if you run a festival, if you have a troupe: You, my friend, are an alpaca in your town. Improv is growing faster than it ever has. People know it beyond just a TV show now. Some day we’ll be ferrets. Some day we’ll be goldfish. And I know someday, we’ll be adorable puppies. But today? We’re alpacas. It’s OK. Own it.

When the people in your town think of getting a pet. They think about getting a dog. When they think about going out. They think about going to a movie. Advertising your shows, fliering the local record store, putting a poster up on that community board? It’s not enough. The people who see those fliers know that you have it in your mind to do improv. Big whoop. It doesn’t mean it’s worth their time. That attitude is not going to change as long as you’re the only improv flier they ever see.

There are more improvisors in your town than there are alpapacas. There are way more improvisors in your town than there are Powerball winners. There are probably more troupes and theatres in your town than there are Powerball winners. So act like it. Put that face out to the people of your city. Let them see a different improv troupe when they turn the corner. Let them know about what the guys across town are doing. Put up a poster for the festival being put on by the people you only talk to three times a year.

There are still so few of us out there, people don’t know we’re here. Why in God’s name would you hide that fact by not promoting shows around town that are not your own? Show your city that improv is worth doing. Show your city that improv is worth seeing. Invite those people to join a real true improv community. Because if you do, they will. It’s not just a warm fuzzy thought, it’s solid business sense.

So yeah, a rising tide lift all boats. But that tide doesn’t just appear from nowhere. That tide is the people of your city and they will lift you up. But you have to let them see the boats.

Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival. And he wants to give a special shout out to Jeter’Z, NCT Phoenix, Chaos Comedy and ImprovMania who make the greater Phoenix area an place of improv.

What’s Your Next Step?

Posted by Nick Armstrong on October 27, 2015

Whether you’re a veteran improvisor or one that has just finished classes you’re probably asking yourself what’s next? It’s a pretty daunting question really. I’ve been doing improv for over 15 years now and I always ask myself what’s next. I think it’s something you should always be asking yourself as an improvisational artist. It’s an important question. Why end up getting stale, why not grow and keep learning?

As students just finishing, stale may be a ways away. If you just finished classes your “What’s next” can be any of the following and should help guide you:

Audition for a troupe – Does your theater hold auditions? Then do it. Even if it’s scares the crap out of you…DO IT! Yes, you may fail, but you have to experience it you can only become better by practice and auditioning is an art all onto itself. You can be a good player and still really succumb to the pressures of “the room.”
Start your own troupe – This is in your control. Just finished spending a long time with a group of good people from your class? Know some friends of yours that are improvisors too? Start your own troupe and go for it. Start getting onstage and doing shows. There’s no better training then getting in front of a crowd.
Start training at another theater – Get another perspective from someone that has a different philosophy. It’s your own personal journey, go see a show at some other places and see what connects with you the most. Then start taking classes there.
Take part and watch as many shows as you can. You can learn by watching the good, the bad and the ugly.

For veterans, you probably ask yourself this question a ton like I do. You’ve been on that one or two teams for 5 to 10 years now and are pretty content with showing up and getting onstage. You’re not phoning it in, but it’s not as challenging. What can a veteran do to spice things up?

Like I told the newer improvisor take classes at another theater that has a different philosophy then the theater you trained at. I know you’re screaming, “Screw that” I’m not paying X amount of dollars to do that. Why not? In 2009 after doing 8 years at iO, where I was teaching, I decided to take classes at The Groundlings. It was tough doing a level one class for sure, but I sucked it up and it was actually a great learning experience. These theatre’s two philosophies are way different and I learned a ton. It really gave me another perspective on things that helped me become and even stronger and more consistent performer and an even better teacher. You see as a vet performer you get to learn things in two parts. One, is you learn their way of doing things and two, you get to learn how a teacher teaches in their style. It’s a win win!
Take a break – It’s always nice to take a sabbatical once in awhile. If you’re doing the same thing, maybe it’s time to take a vacation from improv for a bit and come back to it with a new and fresh perspective on things.
When or if you attend festivals take a workshop that sound interesting to you or that you haven’t done before. For instance, I was at the Detroit Improv Festival and I took a physical workshop from two amazing improvisors from Canada who, at the time, I’d never heard of, but I was really taken by their workshop, their style of play and their commitment to that skill. It really rubbed off on me and I incorporate it into my work today. Yes, I’m an old war horse when it comes to improv but we can all still learn and see what new things are happening.
Challenge yourself and start a new team. As a vet I feel we have some responsibility to help the younger improvisors at our theaters. Start a team with a mix of vets and newer improvisors. It will be refreshing for you and it will help them play with people that are better then them.

For every improvisor it’s a personal journey. But It’s a journey that can take twists and turns. As an artist we should always be evolving and never become content with what we are doing. If you feel that way, shake things up a bit! It’s scary but can have amazing results.

Nick Armstrong
Nick is Camp Director and Founder of Improv Utopia an improv retreat for adults in California and Pennsylvania. He is also one of the founding members of the National Improv Network and a performer and teacher at iO West and The Groundlings. He has also taught many workshops around the world.

Spotlight on Antelope Valley

Posted by Bill Binder on October 3, 2015

There are lots of big festivals in the state of California. But a new festival is happening up in Lancaster and it’s producer has a lot of excitement to put Antelope Valley on the improv map. I had a chance to talk to Chris Calvin Murphy about the fest.

A lot of people aren’t familiar with Antelope Valley. Where exactly is it? What’s the area like, and what’s the improv like?

The Antelope Valley is located in the high desert of LA County, about 45 Minutes to an hour northeast of Los Angeles. It is made up of two main cities, Palmdale and Lancaster (Our festival is taking place in downtown Lancaster this year.), and has a a few smaller surrounding cities. The AV is a great change of pace from LA. A lot of actors and artists live in the Antelope Valley but, commute to LA each day. After working, auditioning, or rehearsing in the city all day coming back to the AV is a nice change of pace and stress reliever.

The improv scene is definitely starting to grow. There are a couple troupes that actively perform throughout the AV, my troupe the Comedy Illuminati being one of them, and we have been offering training programs to people interested. Antelope Valley College has a popular improv class, but, it is a bare bones beginners class. Our audiences grow every show we put on and there is a general consensus that the residents of the Antelope Valley want a larger thriving comedy and entertainment scene so they do not have to drive all the way to Los Angeles each weekend.

There are many improv festivals and theatres within driving distance of you. What have you learned from those scenes? What do you hope to bring of the greater California community to your area?

One festival in particular, the Coachella Valley Improv Festival ran by Jeannette Knight, gave us a lot of advice on how to run our festival, which because of our similar city’s and demographics has helped out quite a bit. One thing that keeps being ingrained into us is too treat the troupes and comics that are coming to our festival like Rock Stars. We want to give all of these talented, generous, and adventurous people the best weekend of their lives. We also hope that this paves the way to give our city what they have been craving: a strong and active comedy scene.

In contrast, what do you think Antelope Valley has that’s unique that you hope to show off to the rest of the state and the country? What should visiting performers take away from the festival?

The Antelope Valley is home to a LOT of incredible talent. While several of our members have trained at some of the notable training grounds in Los Angeles, like Groundlings, Second City, UCB, etc… a lot of the actors, comics, and improvisers out here have not had the luxury to. Often times the AV is looked down upon by people in Los Angeles because it is often thought of as a lower income area, which is for the most part true – – but that does not diminish the crazy scrappy talent that exists among these artists that are doing anything they can to get their voices heard. I would like visiting performers to take away the knowledge that they can accomplish whatever they put their minds to if they work hard enough. This festival was an extreme challenge, but, we have enjoyed every moment of it thus far.

What’s the venue like?

Our venue is the top floor of an art house cinema called the BLVD Cinemas. It does not have a traditional stage or feel to it, but, it plays host to several comedy shows every month. It is full of comfy leather couches and ottomans, and seats a little over 100 people. It also over looks the arts district of Downtown Lancaster. I think it is the perfect venue for our first year, it really has a great atmosphere and feel.

For visitors from out of town – both performers and audience members – what is there to do in Antelope Valley outside of the festival?

The AV is a great place to unwind and get away from the hubbub and stress of the city, that is not to say the AV is a small town. The AV is a great place to get connected to nature again. We would recommend a hike at the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve. The real treasure of the AV is The Blvd, the downtown arts district of Lancaster, there you will find some great art galleries and museums, delicious restaurants, cafes, and coffee shoppes, an array of unique and cool boutique shops, the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, and the BLVD Cinemas where our festival is taking place.

Being your first year, what do you hope to showcase to local audiences and performers? What do you hope will happen in Antelope Valley in the next year?

We would like to show local audiences how broad and unique the improv world is, and also how endearing and accepting the community is. We hope that this festival paves the way for a larger comedy scene and opens the door for other unique artistic opportunities locally.

If you had one word to describe what makes this festival unique, what would it be?

Scrappy… we may be a bit naive and slightly disorganized, but we are determined bunch, and we are going to do what it takes to make our festival unique and fun.

Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival. He tours teaching and performing across North America.

Spotlight On Alaska

Posted by Bill Binder on September 29, 2015

The Alaska State Improv Festival is back and you have one more day to submit. A lot of you know about the great festival, but if you’re on the fence. Here’s a little sneak peek as I interview Eric Caldwell, the festival’s producer.

ASIF continues to get some of the best word of mouth out there. Why do you think that is? What can first time performers expect if they come on up?

The production created the festival that we would want to attend. Every performer is offered a ride from the airport, and we always divert to the Mendenhall Glacier before going to the hotel. Once everyone has a chance to recover from the scenery, they experience McPhetres Hall – our performance venue. McPhetres Hall is a modern facility designed for theater with quality sound and lighting capacity in a beautiful natural cedar facility. It is clear to any performer walking into the facility that we are taking their presence seriously and giving them a gorgeous space in which to do their work.

Juneau has a very supportive audience that is open to all kinds of improv. What kinds of new shows are you hoping to bring up this year that might not have been in past festivals?

The production team always looks for quality and diversity. Any time we review a submission and say, “We’ve never seen that before!” we get excited. AS IF has enough of a history of binging in acts that expand our audience’s definition of what improv can be that our audiences expect they’ll see something different. This year, we invited Parallellogramophonograph from Austin, Texas because they have a chameleon-like ability to stage many forms of narrative improv. There are some groups in the pool right now that approach improv from interesting directions, and we hope there will be a few more troupes that sneak in at the deadline that blow us away.

Lots of whale pictures up on Facebook. Can you talk a little about the whale watching tours?

The past two years, we have contracted with Dolphin Jet Boat Tours to provide a whale watching charter at a discount rate. So many people who submit to AS IF are looking for The Alaskan Adventure and this is one way we can make that happen. Because AS IF happens a week before the tourist season, we have the jet boat all to ourselves and we get extra crew to help spot for whales,seals, and other creatures. This past year, they even sent out a scout boat for us so that we’d get to the whales that much quicker. The operators are huge fans of the festival as well and can be seen near the front wearing their vendor passes throughout much of the festival.

You travel to festivals pretty frequently, but many Alaska performers don’t get that chance. What are you hoping to expose local performers to at the festival this year. And what part of the local scene are you looking forward to showing the rest of the world?

More Alaskan performers are going to festivals now. Urban Yeti (from Anchorage) performed at both the Del Close Marathon and at Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin. I was in the audience for the Out of Bounds set, and had a lot of joy watching them absolutely kill it in front of a full house at one of the largest festivals in the country. With our group, we have three self-described “dirty old ladies” who are performing as Seriously Obnoxious. Once they have their feet under them, they fully expect to be going to Outside festivals. Morally Improv-erished has some new cast members and are exploring different styles. We’ll see which one wins out by the time April rolls around.
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ASIF is definitely a special festival in many ways. What makes this year’s special for those who have been there before?

Well, they probably learned that I make seafood dinners for the performers who come early or stay late. Maybe they stay an extra day or two this time. For those interested in Northwest coast art and culture, the Walter Sobeloff Center has opened and is available for tours. The building features a Tlingit longhouse and some exceptional art and history displays. Beyond that, they can expect more of our Alaskan hospitality, maybe seeing some sights they missed last time, and a festival that continues to improve every year.

Submissions are still open, but only for a few more hours. Be sure to submit today.

Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival. He tours teaching and performing across North America.

Spotlight on Denver

Posted by Nick Armstrong on August 28, 2015

I’ve been to the Denver Improv Festival a few times now and it never disappoints. Not only is the festival amazing the city is pretty awesome to visit too. I had a chance to talk to Emily Coates, one of the producers of the festival about the upcoming Denver Improv Festival.

What are you most excited for in this years DIF?

I am super stoked about our headliners this year, and about one of the new festival venues that we’re using. 2015 should be the biggest DIF yet. The new venue and the headliners will be a big step forward for us and I’m really excited about what this step could do in terms of continuing to put Denver on the map as a great improv city. I’m also really excited about our sponsors. We have a new ticket sponsor – TicketsWest – and it feels very official to have a ticketing company come on board and give us their support. Sexpot Comedy and Denver Relief are also supporting us again this and they’re doing crazy fantastic work for comedy. All of these sponsors are serious about this festival and they believe in us. They inspire us to work even harder and to stay motivated.

I’ve been to this festival twice and loved it. The city is amazing. I’m addicted to One-Up Barcade. But I’m sure Denver has a lot more to offer, what can improvisors do in the city?

Denver is an awesome city. Besides hanging out with really cool and nice people, we have a lot to offer in terms of great weather, great breweries, cool music, unique art, and, of course, really killer comedy. You can see great comedy here any night of the week now pretty much and I think that’s amazing. There’s a lot of heart in our comedy scene.

What do you look for in a troupe submission?

Great energy and chemistry are big elements we look for in submission videos. Those are often, in my opinion, the elements that tend to make an improve set great. We also just look for solid sets in video submissions or buy views in YouTube with the help from https://themarketingheaven.com/. It could be that we know a team, and we know they’re capable of doing great work, but if the video they submitted isn’t as great, then they might not score as high. We also look for a strong opening and getting to the good moments right away. I personally am happy to see a set really pick up and do well toward the end, but, in general, we look for a strong start and consistency throughout.

What kind of workshops will DIF be offering this year?

I am really looking forward to our workshops this year. Plus, they’re going to be held at another new venue and I think that will add to the festival tremendously. We haven’t finalized everything just yet, but two of the workshops, that for sure are happening, are going to focus on forms and on characters. I’m so thrilled about our headliners teaching, and I’m really looking forward to having them share their experience and insight with us.

What is the current improv scene like in Denver these days?

The improv scene in Denver is rockin’ awesome right now. It’s growing and more and more people are getting into improv. You can see an improv show here almost any night of the week in Denver. That’s amazing! And many of our shows are definitely on par with what’s going up in places like New York and LA. This is also a loving community. I personally feel really supported here and I couldn’t ask for more as an artist.

If an improv troupe gets accepted what can they expect?

If a team is accepted to the DIF, and if they commit to coming out here, they can expect to have an awesome time. Denver truly has one of the best, if not the best, comedy scenes right now. They can expect to hang out with other awesome improvisers and comedians and to have a killer weekend. All of our performers and volunteers will get super cool stuff – like a DIF t-shirt, free beer and free pizza during and after shows, discounts and support from our sponsors, free breakfast burritos on workshop day, and more. They can also expect to feel a whole lot of love! We really care about this festival and about making everyone feel welcome. I personally feel very grateful for anyone who takes the time to come, so we want to do everything we can to make it worth it for them.

The festival takes place November 6-7, 2015. To submit click HERE.

Nick is Camp Director and Founder of Improv Utopia an improv retreat for adults in California and Pennsylvania. He is also one of the founding members of the National Improv Network and performer and teacher at iO West as well as member of The Sunday Company at The Groundlings. He has also taught many workshops around the country.

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