We’ve Made a Team…Now What?

Posted by Nick Armstrong on December 3, 2013

In July I wrote a blog 6 Ways to Make a Successful Improv Team and I wanted to do a follow up and dig a little deeper. So you’ve made a team…now what?

It’s an exciting and sometimes hard task to start a new team. Getting people to share a common schedule for shows, rehearsals and more. I’ve started, coached, directed a ton of teams in my over 10 years as a improv instructor and below is some advice I have for improv teams once they get started.

I’ve Got a Conflict!

This will happen 90 percent of the time. People will have conflicts. If you can’t get on the same page this way you’re going to have a difficult time from the start. There is a lot of, “Well I got this on this day so I can’t do it.” I see it on teams all the time. Then it ultimately comes down to who’s conflict outweighs another members. The only true good excuse I can think of is work. It pays the bills letting you do this art sometimes. If you are in a play, another team or some other commitment then that’s great go for it, you should do those things. But don’t commit to an improv team if you are doing those things. It’s all about priorities and when you start a team shouldn’t your team be a priority?

Priorities and Expectations:

An improv team needs rehearsal and practice. It takes a certain focus. In Long-form you have to create group mind, connect, know your philosophy of play and discover a shared language if you want to be a successful team. I want to believe that every teams intention is to make the next great improv team, but you have to set realistic expectations that match your teams priorities. If you want to be the “next great improv team” that’s going to take work and that’s some high expectations. You don’t have to decide on a form but you do have to start speaking the same language in expectations. If you want to be just a practice group and play then that’s a different expectation. A high expectation is a good thing, you should strive for greatness. But it takes work and your priorities need to be focused on this one group in order to have a chance to try and reach your expectations. My advice for a new group is sit down, have a chat and make sure everyone is on the same page. What kind of group is this going to be? A practice group? The best harold team ever? The new form team? Just make sure you’re speaking the same language and know what your expectations are so you can prioritize together.

Developing a Same Language and Group Mind:

Developing a language for a team and group mind is probably one of the hardest things to do in improv. It takes patience, time, wisdom and commitment. You don’t get this right away so don’t think it’s something you can get overnight. But you can start figuring out if you can achieve that by starting to speak the same language. What I mean by this is sharing, as an ensemble, what you agree upon as far as your philosophy of play. For instance, my Harold Team King Ten, speaks a language and philosophy of thematic, theatrical and deep idea based Harolds. We know this, we all agree that this exists within the bible of our team so we know what to look for when someone is trying to point it out or pull a move that associates itself with that move. Your team might want to be a team that plays physically and has no edits. It’s agreed upon you know what’s up. Start telling each other what you love about improv and try to incorporate that into your ensemble.

Who to Get as a Coach?

Not all coaches fit a team. I’ve coached some teams where I clearly was not a good fit and have told them that. Once you’ve decided what kind of team you’re going to be and have set those expectations find a coach that will fit those expectations. Sure you might have to try a couple first and if you’re a practice group you can probably filter through different coaches to get different flavors. If you’re a team that wants to be a great harold team, find someone that has a track record of coaching great harold teams, if you want to do a JTS Brown or Deconstruction find a coach that knows those forms inside out. You owe it to yourself and your team. Set yourself up for success. Yes, it cost money to get a rehearsal space and a coach, but you have to invest in your improv and acting education if you have set those priorities and expectations. Stay true to them.

Don’t Try to Be That Great Other Team Be Your Team

This is big. Watching improv is probably one of the best things you can do to learn how to be a better improvisor and team. Watch shows together even! But don’t become that team. Why? Because that’s already a team and they do what they do. What do you do? What stamp is your group going to put on improv? Your team is your own thumbprint on improv so be different, play to your strengths as an ensemble. Those people you just watched are 8 or so people who come from a different walk of life then you. Allow yourself to find who you guys are.

Support

If anything this is the single most important thing. Support your fellow ensemble on and off stage. Make them look good in life and stage. Be there for them, learn who they are as a person, their passions, triumphs and failures. Know them as a human. This will help you connect and know them on a deeper level gaining each others trust and if you can do that the sky is the limit onstage.

Nick Armstrong

Nick is Camp Director and Founder of Improv Utopia an improv retreat for grown ups in California and Pennsylvania. He is also one of the founding members of the National Improv Network. We are always looking for better ways to serve the community. Drop us a line and let us know what you want! To e-mail nick e-mail nick@nationalimprovnetwork.com. For more information visit: http://www.nickarmstrong.com or http://www.improvutopia.com

Giving Thanks

Posted by Bill Binder on November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving to all

It’s an incredible time to be an improvisor! As the world gets smaller, we all are reaching out and making connections with performers all over this country and around the world. We’re learning from each other, sharing ideas and discovering that there are so many more people than we ever imagined who share the same deep love of improvisation that we do. And for the most part, those people will do anything they can to help each other, laugh together play together and push each other to grow in improv even more. We are truly blessed.

So today, we take a break to remember the things we are thankful for. As individuals we have all had a year of huge triumphs and defeats. As improvisors, we have much to be thankful for in 2013. Everyone is welcome to add their own thoughts. These are things I’m thankful for as an improvisor this year.

I’m thankful that we share an open and supportive community. Always celebrating in each others successes
I’m thankful that even the most celebrated and revered performers and teachers will always take the time to help a level 1 student.
I’m thankful for the performers and teachers who fly from city to city, sleeping on couches and cheap hotels to share their knowledge.
I’m thankful to all our families, who may not fully understand why we are doing this instead of using our engineering degrees, but support us 100%.
I’m thankful that more than anytime in history, audiences are coming to understand improv – not as a gimmick – but as a way to truly explore the human condition.
I’m thankful that there are over 50 active festivals across North America alone, introducing new people to improv almost every weekend somewhere.
I’m thankful that new theatre companies are starting and old theatre companies are finding new homes.
I’m thankful for the bosses in our “day jobs” who understand that a few times a year we need Fridays off to go play in another city.
I’m thankful for the new friends I’ve met in this year.
I’m thankful that the gifts we give each other onstage don’t require waiting in line at Best Buy.
I’m thankful for people like Lucien Bourjeily and hundreds of others who have literally risked their lives to bring art and improv to parts of the world where it was once forbidden.
I’m thankful for those pushing the limits of form, character work, technology and performance to create new shows we never could have conceived of.
I’m thankful that more incredibly talented performers like Pete Holmes and Chris Gethard are getting the praise they deserve and paving the way for more performers.
I’m thankful that Chicago, New York and Los Angeles will always have great theatres, but they’re no longer the only cities that do.
I’m thankful that all of us; students, teachers, performers, coaches, directors, producers and theatre owners are are taking ownership of this thing we love; protecting it and dedicating their time to it. I know that those who came before us sacrificed so much to make the road easier for us today and we continue to work to make the path easier for the improvisors who will come after us. Each year more and more performers have the chance to play and love to the fullest of their potential. I am thankful for every improvisor in the world who makes this happen.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And to everyone who has joined us in this daring adventure of a webpage, a most heartfelt thank you. We came to you with a simple idea and you have all yes anded it into something wonderful and still growing. From everyone at NIN, you have our deepest gratitude.

Spotlight On: The Milky Way Improv Festival

Posted by Nick Armstrong on November 26, 2013

The Milky Way Improv Festival, held in Roseville, CA (Near Sacramento) will be celebrating it’s second year March 21-23 and we couldn’t be happier. I had the privilege of attending last year and they treated us right. Great venue, great people and a great town! I had a chance to interview the Festival Producers and owners of Blacktop Comedy Paul Burke and Betsaida LeBron:

This is your second year throwing the Milky Way Improv Festival. How did the idea of doing this festival start?

We had attended a lot of improv festivals (Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angelas). An improv festival is this perfect blend of talent, passion, and openness. It’s all about the art form at a festival, and everyone wants to share, and listen to ideas. Simply attending the festivals inspired us. We wanted to bring the Roseville/Sacramento community a festival that could showcase incredibly talented improv productions from all over. We want this area to be inspired, and realize, “We can do that with improv?!”

Why Milky Way Improv Festival as a title?

Maybe there’s life on other planets! We’d hate to limit our festival to Earth and possibly miss out on some improv troupe submission from Gliese 581. We wanted to suggest this festival is big and welcoming. We want to include as many teams as possible. There’s so much amazing improv being produced and performed, and we welcome all of it to the Milky Way Improv Festival.

What’s the improv scene like in the Roseville/Sacramento area?

I’d say ‘growing’ and ‘learning,’ describes the scene. New faces drop into an improv class every week and keep coming back! Seeing new performers, people who have NEVER stepped onstage before, realize, “I can do this!” is pretty inspiring. As performances go, you can find both long and short form improv in Roseville/Sacramento. Everything from a classic harold, to an all female acappella improv group perform in Sacramento/Roseville.

What are your goals for the second year?

The first year was so fun and we got a lot of positive feedback. We did learn a number of things and are excited for the 2014 festival.

Our goal this year is threefold.

First, let the improv community know about our festival. We’ve met a number of improvisers who have told us, “we didn’t know about the Milky Way Improv Festival.” That’s on us, and we’re working to fix that.

Secondly, we’re looking for lineup of shows that extends beyond California. California troupes and beyond, we welcome your submissions!

Thirdly, we’re looking to offer more improv courses. As the local improv community grows, we would love to bring them, and all festival goers, a variety of classes. Interested in teaching a class? We’re accepting submissions!

What can improvisers expect if they attend your festival?

We want you to enjoy yourself. Think of this as a weekend long party for improv. One of the biggest perks of the festival is our theater venue. We’re lucky enough to partner with a Tower theatre in Downtown Roseville. The Tower Theater is a gorgeous 200+ seat theater. Social events at local bars and restaurants will be planned and organized, so you will have an opportunity to spend time with other performers. Discounted hotel rooms will be arranged. If you would like to teach a class, a classroom with be provided to you. What would you like to see at our festival? One thing we do well is listen, and are always open to ideas.

For those who haven’t been to Roseville/Sacramento, what are some of the things people can check out in the city during the day or any places to visit?

There are lots of great things in the region. Here are just a couple (we’ll list more on the website soon):

Placer County Wine Trail

Hiking and Biking trails

Award Winning Restaurants

Sacramento Kings basketball

The Crocker Art Museum

white water rafting in Montreal

Old Town Sacramento

Maybe I’m biased because Sacramento is my hometown, but I have to say this festival was amazing and the venue is a great place to do your improv show! It’s an amazing theater and you’ll get a great crowd! Paul and Betsaida have created a wonderful community here and the Sacramento/Roseville area is a great place to explore. It’s Gold Rush town!

To submit to the festival instantly on NIN click HERE.

Nick Armstrong

Festival Travelling Tips

Posted by Bill Binder on November 21, 2013

Congratulations on being accepted to your first festival. You’re going to get to perform for people in a new city and go on a road trip with your friends. It’s going to be a fantastic time. But if it’s your festival, there are a few things that will make your time more fun overall.

1. Pack accordingly

This is just like any non-improv trip, but it’s a good reminder. Check the weather. Know how many days you’ll be there. Bring the right toiletries etc.

2. Drive if you can

Sometimes flying is the only feasible option, but if you can drive – do it. It’s not only a cheaper option (most but not all of the time) it gives you two advantages. First, a road trip with your cast is fantastic group mind building. You’re show and your future ensemble health will be better for it. Second, you’ll be able to get around in town. There’s nothing worse than being stuck at the venue and not able to find a ride back to the hotel.

3. Stay near the venue

If there’s an official hotel. Consider staying there unless it’s really outside of your price range. You’ll get to spend some time at the continental breakfast and in the late nights meeting and sharing with other improvisors and you’re more likely to get rides back and forth. If there isn’t a hotel, find one that’s nearby. You don’t want to be so far from the action that you can’t get back to your hotel for a shower or a nap.

4. Party after your show

There are often parties every night. Go. Have fun. But don’t overdo it the night before your show. Doing a show with a hangover is miserable and you’re going to feel crummy for going all that way and not having the best show you could.

5. Record your show

Often times a festival will be recording shows anyway, but if not, ask the tech person if you can set up a camera to record your show. And be respectful. The tech person at a festival is often one of the most thankless jobs at a festival and they’re stressed. Be respectful of their time.

6. Thank volunteers

Speaking of thankless jobs, any festival has countless volunteers who are working their tushes off just because they love improv. Let them know they’re appreciated. The festival wouldn’t be happening without them.

7. See shows

For Pete’s sakes, you’ve come all this way. Why not see something you don’t normally get to see. Go see your friend’s shows, but also try to catch as many shows as possible that you’ve never seen. In our own cities, we often build up our own assumptions. It’s great to have those assumptions challenged.
And if you like a show. Tell them. It’s always nice to hear that you did a good job.

8. Talk about improv outside of the bar

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about improv when you are at the bar. Do it, it’s awesome. You’ll have some passionate debates and idea sessions there. But most of them will be forgotten. Check in during the downtimes during the day. Ask people about their shows and their philosophies. They’re always happy to talk. More and more festivals are having conferences. Go to these, they’re amazing chances to grow.

9. Buy the T-shirt

Yes, you will regret being the only one to not have one.

10. Say goodbye

Take a chance to say goodbye to the people you’ve met on your trip. You’ll see them again in another month in another city. You’re now part of the great travelling nomadic culture of performers. But for now, say goodbye and head back home.

Share the Love!

Posted by Nick Armstrong on November 19, 2013

So I was thinking of what to write about this week and even had a great plan to write about how Improv is much like Star Wars! But instead I wanted to share with you some other blogs and podcasts that I read and listen to.

A.D.D. Comedy Podcast with David Razowsky

The first is a must listen to podcast from Master Teacher and former Second City Artistic Director David Razowsky A.D.D. Comedy Podcast. Dave has some great interviews here with some improv legends. This is a must listen to for any improvisor.

Improv Nerd (Blog and Podcast)

Then there’s the Improv Nerd, Jimmy Carrane. This is a very honest blog and Jimmy has no problem sharing his personal struggles and triumphs. He also writes improv advice and interviews great guests on his podcast.

IRC Podcast with Kevin Mullaney

Also a must listen to is Kevin Mullany’s IRC Podcast. Kevin has great guests as well. Listen to him talk to improv greats like Armando Diaz, Craig Cackowski and Joe Bill.

Geeking out with… (Pam Victor’s Blog)

Pam’s blog is almost like a podcast on paper. Great interviews! Pam is a journalist and it shows in these blogs and she treats here guest like poets and scholars.

Some Recent Improv Blogs I read that you may like:

Here are two recent blogs I read, one is about the recent Harold Auditions at UCBLA. I thought it was an interesting read because its author Rebecca Drysdale really puts things in perspective for people who stress about not getting on a Harold team or the process of auditioning in general. Read HAROLD MOON

There was a recent shake up at iO West in Los Angeles where all the house teams were disbanded. This was an interesting take on the situation from the perspective of Erik Voss who was one of the people who was on a team that was broken up. Read CLEANING HOUSE.

I wanted to share the love today to all of you. I’m sure you’ve heard of some or all of these. But as I sit here and write blogs for the National Improv Network I’m always reminded of some other great resources for improvisors. I think of improvising as a never ending quest on knowledge and this is a great way to get improv advice, hear about the history of improv and just laugh from the greats.

Nick Armstrong

J.T.S. Brown: An Improv Journey

Posted by Nick Armstrong on November 12, 2013

Nite Terrors

When I first finished iO West in 2002, my level 6 class was confronted with a decision to make. The decision that all improvisors who come to the end of their improv education at an institution come to. Are we going to stick together? Our answer was yes. At the time Craig Cackowski was our level 6 teacher and he agreed to continue on as our coach. We formed a group named Nite Terrors. Craig had asked us what we wanted to do. We knew we didn’t want to do the Harold as we had done it in class. He recommended we’d be ready to do a form called J.T.S. Brown. It would change the way I do improv.

The J.T.S Brown was developed in Chicago in the late 90’s. The cast included names like Jason Sudeikis, Ed Goodman, Jack McBrayer, TJ Jagadowski, Peter Gross, Ike Barinholtz and Directed by a few directors one of them being Cackowski.

Here is what Craig had to say about the J.T.S. Brown:

J.T.S. Brown was not a form so much as a philosophy of play. It was designed for a large cast (10-14 people), to involve as many players as possible at a time, to have a higher level of theatricality and polish than a typical improv show, and to encourage any move to be made at any time, with the idea that anything that happened was the perfect thing to happen. We didn’t have a set structure, but we had a few rules to abide by:

1. No sweep edits. Every edit was a transformation. Transformations could come from within or without. Even in a 2-person scene, an improvisor could abruptly change character, initiating a new scene with the same partner.

2. No walk-ons. As soon as someone joined the scene, it became a new scene. Anyone in the previous scene should instantly choose to either exit, become a new character, or become some inanimate or expressionistic element in the new scene. If someone knocked at the door to enter a scene, it became a new scene the second the door was opened.

3. No sidelines. Anyone not in the scene was watching from backstage. Anyone the audience could see was in the scene.

4. The playing area was not limited to the stage…the whole space was used.

5. Any scene could recur at any time, so the players were fine with a scene being edited after 10 seconds, knowing they could bring it back whenever they wanted.

6. There were “worlds within worlds”. If, for instance, Scene I tranformed into Scene II into Scene III, it was fun to spiral back out and have III become II and then I again (similar to the shortform game “Spacejump” or “5 to 1” or “7 to 1” or whatever).

7. We had a number of “gimmicks”–devices that we had rehearsed that could be pulled out at any time. They included:

Hemingway: The players narrate their own scene as well as playing it.

EdTV: A scene can return to a pivotal moment at any time, presenting an alternative outcome. Usually done in threes. (This was named after Ed Goodman, not the Ron Howard film).

The Third Degree: The players could come out and ask 3 rapid-fire questions of a character at any time. These were the sort of questions that you might ask while sidecoaching a scene (“How long have you known this person?”, etc.)

Shadows: A character was sometimes “shadowed” by a another improvisor playing their essence, or id, or subtext. The 2 characters’ shadows would then have a scene of sorts in the background, presenting a more representational version of the original scene.

Shapeshifting: Any improvisor could play anyone’s character at any time. Particularly effective in cross-gender scenes. This fostered the idea of group ownership…every character is owned by the group, not necessarily the improvisor who created it. The show began with a shapeshifted character monologue, which allowed the audience to meet the cast members one at a time.

8. There was an emphasis on physicality, sound, and environment. The players were encouraged to be architecture, inanimate objects, animals, weird shit, etc. All this probably sounds crazier than it actually played. We tried to eliminate weirdness for weirdness’ sake. The idea was that the form was crazy, but the content was solid. It was an interesting package for good scenework. We worked hard to emphasize gift-giving and relationships in the scenework. In fact, we tried to, at some point in the middle of the show, have a “spotlight scene”, a 6 or 7-minute 2-person scene that was not fucked with in any way. In the middle of a fast-moving, constantly evolving show, it was a nice to have a little scene oasis and to take a deep breath.

Yeah! Pretty awesome! I liked the JTS because it was a philosophy of play and when Nite Terrors did it, Craig always said make it your own. That what they did was great, but you are different people who can bring new things to it. It’s a philosophy of play so bring your philosophy to it. Unlike the Harold, which can be rigid sometimes, the JTS was a breath of fresh air. You could do anything! It’s mantra is “any move to be made at any time, with the idea that anything that happened was the perfect thing to happen.” This mantra should be in any form or philosophy really. The JTS is not to be just thrown up, the original team rehearsed for around 6 months before putting it up and Nite Terrors rehearsed for a while before putting it up too. You have to build trust, a group mind and a have a great director who knows the JTS inside out. It’s not a thing you just rehearse a couple times and put up. It takes time and patience but the reward is huge.

After 3 years the Nite Terrors retired. But I still crave the form every once in a while and we even re-booted it with the iO Repertory team in 2008. I even teach it now out in LA sometimes. We were lucky enough to have Craig as our director for 3 years and I believe we were all lucky to master this philosophy because it’s influenced everything I do in improv.

Links to more information about J.T.S. Brown:

To read up more about it there is a wiki page: Click HERE.

Interview with Jason Sudeikis about J.T.S. Brown.

Nick Armstrong

Book Highlight: UCB Manual

Posted by Bill Binder on November 7, 2013

Most improvisors have the same core books in their libraries; Truth in Comedy (Close / Halpern, Johnson), Improvise (Napier), Impro and Impro for Storytellers (Johnstone) and of course Jill’s Small Cute Book of Improv. These are the great starting books to learn the core of our craft. There are of course dozens of other great books that focus on specifics, and countless terrible books.

Many of these books were written in a near vacuum. They were invaluable resources for people who had previously had practically no introduction to true improv. This last decade has been an exciting time of growth. Theatres across the world are resources for this knowledge. We’ve reached a form of critical mass where there is a market for something more, something more specific.

Anyone who went to The Del Close Marathon this year (and saw the mystery box) knows that after a long wait, The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual is finally here and one of the first books to make this step into more specialized improv training.

The book is perfectly named, this isn’t a book like Improvising Better. This is a manual, a textbook. And I don’t mean that it’s cutely formatted like a text book. It’s an Honest to God text book on UCB style play. The book is filled with exercises, terminology, examples, scene analysis and all the other things you would expect from this kind of book. No book can ever be a substitute for actual live training, but the book will solidly prepare you to understand the method and techniques of performing at The UCB.

Does that make this book useless for those who play in other styles? Of course not. The core ideas and evaluations will make any performer stronger, but it’s certainly designed specifically around UCB’s style of play. And that’s fantastic. It fills a gap left by more generalized books on the subject.

The book does indeed seem designed for those with a functional knowledge of longform play, but is always careful to explain even the simplest concepts for the truly beginning improvisor reading the book. That said, although the book is extremely thorough and attentive to the smallest detail, there does seem to be one oddly missing piece of information. Being a UCB book, there is a strong emphasis on game play. There are dozens of wonderful examples and exercises to identify and create game, but there doesn’t seem to be any intro to what a game “is”. That seems to be the one and only assumption the book takes in it’s readers – an understanding of the concept of “the game”. I found this surprising, but even if an unfamiliar reader might be confused in the early chapters, I think the concept becomes fairly clear, if not explicitly addressed.

Improv is growing and education and sharing of ideas is growing with it, both online and in more tangible forms. The UCB Manual is a fresh new take on improv training and I think every performer – UCB or not – longform or not – should give it a read. And this isn’t the end. There are more books coming in the next year with exciting other forms of training. (Including one that will be discussed in two weeks right here.)

What about you? What other books are you excited about?

Hooray books!

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

My Experiences on the Road: My 2013 Improv Travel Diary

Posted by Nick Armstrong on November 5, 2013

This weekend marked the official end of my 2013 improv travels. I wanted to share with you my experiences over the last year of meeting some amazing improvisors and show you why I love this community so much! I hope you enjoy!

The Experience: Milky Way Improv Festival:

This year marked the first improv festival ever in my hometown in the Sacramento/Roseville region in northern California. I was extremely proud to finally come home and know that not only was there a great improv community forming but a really amazing improv fest in one of the most beautiful venues. It was a classic theater in old town Roseville with an audience of 200 plus!

Why You Should Visit:

Sacramento has got a lot of history to check out, plus the Milky Way Improv Festival is a nice place to perform and a supportive audience and improv community. Also, if you are ever passing through or find yourself in Sacramento Blacktop Comedy Theater always has its doors open for out of towners.

Improv Utopia

The Experience: Improv Utopia

My next adventure was at Camp Improv Utopia. This is a camp I am the Founder and Camp Director of. Being a Boy Scout growing up and an improvisor as an adult I wanted to combine both my loves of childhood and adulthood because I figured…Yeah improvisors are like adults and kids all at the same time that would be cool! Flash-forward to 4 years later and I’ve had the amazing opportunity to meet improvisors from all over the country connecting me to them and learning about their improv, their festivals, their cities and their theaters. Also, what my campers showed me was how great the improv community really is. I might have provided the venue for this but the campers and the national improv scene have created the camaraderie there.

Why You Should Visit:

Camp is an amazing experience that brings the national improv community together for a camping retreat. Filled with workshops, camp activities and more it’s a great place to have fun and share your love of improv with a great community.

The Experiences: Spectacles Improv Engine: (Fullerton, CA)

Spectacles Improv Engine visit!

My third stop was at Spectacles Improv Engine in Fullerton, CA. This is a great and growing community in southern California that has a great community of improvisors. Lead by the amazing and wonderful Josh Nicols, they have not only created some great teams and improvisors but have brought an improv festival to Orange County with such acts as The Reckoning attending. The thing I love about the scene down here is their willingness to learn and grow. Bringing great acts and workshops to their community and not being afraid to bring other local improv theaters into their community to try to expand the presence of improv behind the Orange Curtain.

Why You Should Visit:

The Orange County Improv Festival is hosted by Spectacles Improv Engine and they work hard to get great acts and workshops together for their out of town and local acts. They are also just extremely nice and fun to hang around with!

The Experience: DuoFest

DuoFest is such a cool festival. Intimate and amazing this year was headlined by Scot Adsit and Jet Eveleth and they put on a hell of a show. But the thing I got most out of this festival was how passionate their organizers were especially one of the board members Rick Andrews.

Why You Should Visit:

If you have a two person show this is the mecca for it! That’s all they do no exceptions. Also, it’s Philly! Historical and beautiful. Go visit Independence Hall and say hello to the weird tour guide there! I loved it so much here I found our East camp in Pennsylvania this same weekend!

The Experience: The Detroit Improv Festival

Razowsky and Clifford at the Detroit Fest!

To the EAST! In August, I was off to Detroit, MI to attend my second year at The Detroit Improv Festival. When I say I love this festival, that’s an understatement. The gang here have really taken an improv fest and turned it into a rock concert! This year they had pretty much every major improv headliner there is…TJ and Dave, Craig Cackowski and Rich Talarico of (Dasariski), Razowsky and Clifford, Messing with a Friend with Susan Messing and Tj Jagadowski. I mean Detroit was the improv mecca for a week in August! Thank god a nuclear bomb didn’t go off in Michigan or improv would have taken a huge hit! This was truly a great event bringing acts from all around. And not only do they have great acts but they have great full audiences too! And they treat their improvisors very well here. I was so full from all the free food it was crazy!

Why You Should Visit:

Hands down one of the best improv festivals in the country right now. A chance to mix and mingle with improvisors and headliners from all over the US and Canada and a ton of great opportunities to see great shows and do workshops from the best.

The Experience: Ventura Improv Festival

Performing with Kind Strangers in Ventura

Labor Day Weekend! I went to the small beach community of Ventura, CA and stopped off at The Ventura Improv Festival. Run by the Ventura Improv Company, the festival is mostly local acts with a few acts from out of town. The theater and community is really great here and very welcoming. A mix of short-form and long-form, the audiences were packed in every night giving us improvisors a great and enthusiastic crowd. The one thing I really get from this festival is their tightness as a company. They almost seem like family there. And they should be…the company has been around since 1989 bringing improv to the Ventura region.

Why You Should Visit:

Located in a beautiful beach city, they are always willing to put up traveling improv groups or have you in one of their shows. It’s a great community that makes you feel at home!

The Experience: The Kansas City Improv Festival

The Mullaney Chain: Kansas City!

Off to the Midwest! In September, I found myself deep in the midwest at the Kansas City Improv Festival in Kansas City, Missouri. This was a really fun fest for me. It was a dream come true to play with Kevin Mullaney, Jill Bernard, Trish Berrong and Ed Doris in Mullaney Chain. I also got to play with After School Special, which is a local troupe who invited me to play with them and we had such a fun and magical show in front of a packed house.

Why You Should Visit:

The improvisors in Kansas City are really great and welcoming and they have a few improv theaters there. A great chance to meet improv vets and see some great acts. Also, Kansas City is a great place to hang out for the weekend. And if you do pass through go see After School Special. They’re pretty rad!

The Experience: The Red Rocks Improv Festival

The Narrows – Zion National Park

Man, I can’t say enough about this festival. I’ve been their since it’s inception four years ago and I keep going back. This is for sure the smallest fest with the biggest heart. Run by Off the Cuff Improvisation out of Cedar City, Utah it’s a weekend of not only shows and workshops but group bonding! One of the highlights of this fest was trudging through water in Zion National Park with a group of improvisors from all over. We even jumped off a rock into icy cold water!

Why You Should Visit:

The location and people! Off the Cuff Improvisation is a great company that takes care of you. Finding you places to stay, bringing in huge crowds in such a small community and even renting a huge van to commute you around to different nature hikes. This city is surrounded by beauty not only by nature but by the friendships you make here.

The Experience: Coldtowne Theater (Austin, TX)

Austin, Tx is just a fun town! I was invited out to teach and perform out here and was amazed at the family feeling I got from them! My friend Amy Carpenter, who I first met in Phoenix on one of my favorite teams Mail Order Bride, let me stay at her house for the weekend. The backyard was filled with chickens and I even had a welcome sign in my guest bedroom. Amy was also converting one of her rooms into a small theater! The Artistic Director of Coldtowne Cody Dearing has done a wonderful job in creating a great environment there and they are always welcoming in bringing in guests and troupes. Hit them up if you’re in town!

Why You Should Visit:

Austin, TX is an amazing town with tons of great food and food trucks. Coldtowne Theater puts on some great shows and their theater is a fun place to perform, you can feel the passion of the artform all over.

The Experience: The Denver Improv Festival

Who doesn’t like fall in Denver? What a beautiful city. And not only that they have such a wonderful community. The Denver Improv Festival, run by the non-profit organization Group Mind Foundation runs heck of a fest! On the first night the Voodoo Comedy Playhouse offered performing improvisors free beverages! You know they were all over that! It’s a beer town of course they would! Again this is a festival that brings in great acts and workshops too. It’s also a well established improv community that has around four major improv theaters.

Why You Should Visit:

Denver is beautiful in October, which is when the festival usually happens. The Group Mind Foundation and the participating theaters make you feel welcome and offer performers some great perks.

The Experience: GhostFest (Phoenix, AZ)

This improv marathon is one of the only ones that I know of out West. It’s a two day marathon with a ton of shows and performers. GhostFest is a fundraiser for the popular Phoenix Improv Festival. The great thing I love about this marathon is people experiment! Shows are not alway about being funny, which a ton of them are, but they are not afraid to be serious and take some risks.

Why You Should Visit:

A great opportunity to meet a ton of improvisors and do a lot of shows. You can even hop into shows. If you’re around you might just be asked to join. It’s a fest that is fun, funny and spiritual all at the same time.

The Experience: Finest City Improv (San Diego, CA)

Finest City Drink Menu

My last stop was Finest City Improv who will officially open their theater in December, but has a soft opening happening now. Run by their Captain Amy Liweski, an improv warrior in my book, is really trying to grow the improv scene in San Diego. Opening this theater is one way she is doing it, the other way she will be doing it is by producing the San Diego Improv Festival that will be Valentine’s Weekend in February of next year. I love watching the thirst and passion to create a community down here. They’re not alone we even got to hang out with some of the Sidestage Improv folks too who have their own shows, but also cross pollinate between the two and will be helping put on the festival as well.

Why You Should Visit:

San Diego it seems always has great weather. And the Finest City gang always have an open door policy to any improvisor from San Diego or from out of town. The cool thing about the theater there is it’s attached to a hotel, so you can get a room, food and drink anywhere at anytime even in the theater! I got tater-tots and Lava Cake one night! YUM!

Wrap up:

It’s been a great and fun journey and I really want to say that if you get a chance to go to a festival or go to a theater if you’re visiting a town or city do it! You will always feel at home when you visit improvisors, theirs always a room or couch waiting for you, an eager improvisor to show you their city or have you perform with them. I can’t believe how far we’ve come as a community in only really the last 5 years. It’s been pretty amazing! No matter how big or small the fest or theater is, one thing is always true in all my travels. Improvisors are the most kind and amazing people on this planet!

Nick Armstrong

Who should I submit?

Posted by Bill Binder on October 31, 2013

The hardest choice in the world

Back in the olden days (circa 2002), submitting to festivals was a bit more of a chore; mailing addresses, VHS tapes, CD-Rs with pictures. It was a messy business. On the other hand, one part of festival submissions was easier back then, knowing who to submit. Before improv theatres started growing in many cities, most improv troupes were islands and – unless you lived in Chicago – most performers were in one, or maybe two shows.

It’s a different world now. Performers have more freedom to explore their craft and play with many new players. That’s a great thing. The only tiny downside is that when an exciting festival is on the horizon, we have to ask “Who should I submit to go?” It’s not the hardest question in the world, but here’s a few things to think about to have the most fun year round.

1. Have an honest conversation with your group

We’re improvisors, so we say “yes” to everything. When you ask your friends if they want to go to a festival, they will instantly and excitedly say yes. Then later – maybe – they’ll ask when it is and what it might cost them to go. There is nothing more disheartening than getting accepted to a festival and then having to decline because your troupe can’t get the time off from work. And as a festival producer I can tell you, you won’t get blacklisted if that happens. We understand things come up. But it will lower your chances a bit of further invites.

Have a realistic conversation with your troupe before submitting. Find out who can go, who can’t. If one member can’t make it, will your show still be solid? Will it hurt your group mind to go without a member? Often times the answer to both will be yes and it’s not a big problem, but it’s best to ask.

Pro Tip: Try to bring what you promised to a festival. IF you submitted an eight person show and only seven people can make it, that’s understandable. If you submit a four person show and one person and two different people not in the submission come, you weren’t accurately representing yourself and it will hurt your chances of being invited back.

2. Talk to the festival

Get in touch with the festival producers. They’re always happy to talk to you about your show and offer advices on their own festival. Each festival has their own vision of what they’d like the weekend to be like. They also know how many slots they’ll have available. Tell them about your shows and what each one can bring. They may offer specific suggestions of what is more in tune with their festival. They may offer only some general advice on what they’re looking for that you can consider. Please keep in mind that a festival producer does want to help, but offering advice on which show would be a best fit for their festival doesn’t guarantee acceptance. Most of the time, festivals wish they could invite everyone, but it’s just not possible.

3. Don’t oversubmit

If you feel there are a couple of troupes that might be a good fit for a festival, there’s nothing wrong with submitting both. Smaller festivals will likely not accept both because they want variety, but larger festivals often accept two troupes with some overlapping members. But don’t submit every show you’ve ever done. You know which shows are the ones you’re proud of and which ones are filler. The reviewers don’t. Your good shows will get lost in your own shuffle.

That said, don’t be afraid to mix it up sometimes. You might be on a couple of house teams that travel frequently. But there’s nothing wrong with once in a while taking a gamble and submitting a show that doesn’t travel often. You might not have the name recognition, but sometimes it’s the little offbeat shows that fill a gap in a festival schedule.

Bonus Note: Theatre owners

Most of the advice here was for autonomous troupes that submit for themselves. Many theatres have a slightly different setup where the theatre’s artistic director wants to send some representation of their theatre and needs to choose which shows to submit. A lot of the same ideas can be easily modified to your use, but keep in mind that – especially if your a younger theatre – many of your shows will be pretty similar in style. You love those shows and know the subtle differences between them, but the submission reviewers don’s share that context. Try to view those troupes from an objective point of view and see which troupe best represent your theatre. Keep in mind that you’ll probably be submitting to a few festivals throughout the year and you can always rotate the troupes you submit.

Have a good luck
Make good choices when submitting to festivals and you’re likely to have a more well rounded festival season. Don’t forget, submissions for Eau Claire and Phoenix both close tonight.

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

NIN: Where We Are and Where We Are Going!

Posted by Nick Armstrong on October 29, 2013

A message from Co-Founders Nick Armstrong and Bill Binder –

In the Beginning…

After our official launch at Camp Improv Utopia in California at the end of May it’s been a whirlwind and we can’t thank you enough for your support. When we came up with the idea of NIN a few years back we wanted a place where we could bring improvisors together under one roof and help them grow as performers and as a community. We also set out to help improv theaters and festivals grow and help Improvisors find what they wanted to find: theaters, festivals and improv content. We still to this day believe in this philosophy and will always hold NIN to this standard as long as it exists.

Where We Are…

Flash-forward to today, we have 722 members, 63 festivals listed, 353 Troupes and 60 theatres listed. Now, we will be the first to admit it hasn’t been easy. Like any new site there are some bumps and holes. The site was running extremely slow due to the former server we were on and that was frustrating. Nobody was as frustrated as we were. We fixed it and now it’s running smoothly. We want a site that is user friendly and we apologize for that little hiccup. So far NIN has helped improvisors and festival organizers, with our Instant Submission service, be able to submit to a handful of participating festivals. Some of them include: The Detroit Improv Festival, The Denver Improv Festival, Eau Claire Improv Festival, Houston Improv Festival, Twin Cities Improv Festival, Milky Way Improv Festival, Big Little Comedy Festival, Orange County Improv Festival, The Phoenix Improv Festival, The Alaska State Improv Festival, The Red Rocks Improv Festival. Most all of the festivals listed have experienced more submissions than ever and better quality of troupes. Why a better quality? Because the members on our site are amazing and put up great and complete troupe profiles. So congrats you guys for being a festivals dream!

Where We are Going…

We aren’t just a submission service. NIN is so much more! Here are a list of things we are working on for you:

Chat Feature: See someone you like online? Curious about where they’re from? What improv they do? Well we want you guys to chat!
Master Teacher and Instructor pages. That’s right if you’re a Master Teacher or improv instructor you will be able to list your workshops and submit them to festivals as well! Or if you’re a festival organizer, you’ll be able to contact instructors, and read over their workshops. If you’re a teacher you will be able to upload your workshops and resume as a PDF and you’ll be able to list it on your personal profile site as well. *Our Master Teachers will be selected by a committee of Master Teachers. We will release those names when we launch the feature.
Troupe Profiles will be able to upload their songs so that festivals can just download them for easy use when they are accepted and perform at that festival.
Communication to our Members: We will have an area on each of our pages that will have the latest news or features introduced so you know what’s happening on a day to day basis. If we want you to know about it you’ll find it there!
Communities: 722 users can be daunting. But we’ll be adding public and private communities for improvisors to share ideas in smaller forums. Oklahoma improvisors, musical improv, marketing ideas. There will be many communities to find like-minded performers.

NIN Myths and Clarifications:

With all new things there are often times miscommunications. We have been guilty of miscommunications so we want to clarify a few things. NIN is a free site. Anyone is allowed to list their theater, festival, personal and troupe profile for free. However, if a festival uses our instant submission service there is a small fee per submission. The fee goes toward keeping the site maintained and paid for so we can continue to bring you this resource. If a festival decides not to use our submission service they can still list their site and direct their festival link to their own registration page for free. Every festival, theater and performer has different needs and we want to help all no matter what they’re need is.

Finally…Thank You!

We want to thank everyone who as joined the site, read some blogs, submitted to festivals and shared our site to their communities! We could not have done this alone. We honestly believe that we are all better together and we truly thank you for making NIN possible.

Nick Armstrong and Bill Binder

Co-Founders – National Improv Network (NIN)

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