This past weekend, I was very fortunate to be able to teach and perform with my group Switch Committee at the HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota for Eighth annual Twin Cities Improv Festival. We had met Butch Roy, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Huge Theater, and Hannah Catherine Wydeven when they were performing as Michael Keaton at the Phoenix Improv Festival in April. We had talked about the possibility of Switch Committee coming out to Minnesota for the festival to which we all replied, in unison, “ABSOLUTLEY.” You could call it networking, but I just call it meeting new friends with the same interests as ours. Both of them are great. For the trip, we left at 9:30pm on Friday night and made the 6 ½ hour trek up to Minnesota. Despite some bumper to bumper nighttime construction and one lane highway traffic for a little while, it wasn’t that bad. We actually spent the ride singing 90s hits while I played DJ using Spotify. One continuous song I kept playing, for no reason whatsoever, was Haddaway’s “What is Love”. More on that…never.

Following breakfast, we arrived at HUGE and I must say, this place is BEAUTIFUL. I loved every single detail about the theater. There were writings on the wall (because the walls had dry-erase paint) and writings on the floor. Yes, there are things written on the floor like the words “theater” and “restrooms.” The reasoning behind this is because, according to Butch, “People tend to look down when they walk into a new place.” That’s genius! In addition, another cool factor, at the right angle (standing outside in front), you can see that the inside of the theater says ‘HUGE’ because there are giant letters on each of the walls inside.

In my opinion, one of the most inviting and accommodating things a festival can do for their performers is to hook them up with swag bags or something ‘personal’ that basically says “hey welcome to our festival!” Twin Cities did just that. The red bags we were given were filled with knick knacks and trinkets, a show schedule, as well as our performer badges. It seems like a small thing, but to me it’s something that attributes to an overall great experience. I’d show a picture of the HUGE Theater sticker, but it’s currently on the back of my phone (along with a Phoenix Improv Festival sticker). REPRESENT! Jill Bernard, Co-Founder and Director of Education of HUGE, as well as overall joy to be around, tried to find me a ‘HUGE’ shirt, but all that was left was an XXL. This was, of course, after we joked about how there probably wasn’t any shirts small enough. A real life joke come true. Ironically, the shirt WAS huge. (Queue laugh track). In addition, they provided coffee, donuts, and muffins for everyone taking the workshop. Did they need to do that? No. But they did and that’s awesome. Our workshop went really well and included a lot of screaming, crawling, and jumping all over for all of those involved. Thank you everyone who took it!

Later that night we performed and jumped on and off of pretty much everything in the theater. We threw our bodies all over the stage and hung from the rafters because in that scene (justifiably) the building was on fire and later it was because we were stuck in a tree house. That scene involved carefully dropping me over the wall and down into my partner’s arms. A scene that, if it went wrong, would probably have been my last improv scene ever.

Furthermore, one of the amazing things about this theater is that the stage is unlike any other stage I’ve ever performed on before. Repeat: Unlike any other stage I’ve ever performed on before. That’s because it’s actually made out of material that, to my knowledge, no other theater is using. I got a chance to speak with Butch, who told me, “The stage is made up of a super compressed paper called Skatelite, which is made for outdoor skateboard parks and BMX ramps. It can be manufactured in a curve or purchased as flat sheets. The material is impervious to water or really any liquid and it is black all the way through so even if it did manage to get chipped somehow it would require no paint.” I’ve never heard of any stage using this before, but definitely think more theaters should as stages are under constant wear and tear.

Following the festival, there was an after-party at one of the local performer’s (Beard Men Improv) houses. Just another example of how warm and welcoming the Minnesota improv community is to out-of-town performers. We were invited to come to someone’s house, who we didn’t know, to hang out simply because we were all a part of a something together.

In the end, I absolutely loved this festival and thought it was very well run. I very much enjoyed Minnesota as it was the first time I’d ever been there. The weekend went off without a hitch. They are definitely doing it right and the fact that the festival has been running for 8 years speaks for itself. Before I finish up, there were so many hidden gems within the theater that I’d like to make mention of. There are cool drawings and posters through the theater that need to be mentioned.

If you were performing this past weekend, you are also aware of the one word mantras spread around the green room. Maxims like the three simple, but very powerful words written in the greenroom for the performers to see. Breathe, Enjoy, and Play. Simple yet paramount reminders before going on stage.

Thank you Twin Cities Improv Festival and HUGE Theater. You were awesome!

Photos courtesy of Tamara Bredemus

---

is a graduate of iO, The Second City Conservatory, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. Ryan performs improv comedy with his independent team Switch Committee as well as on the Playground team Desperado. In addition, he is an Associate Producer for Big Little Comedy, which is responsible for the Big Little Comedy Festival each year. In 2013, he completed an entire month of comedy by performing 31 days in a row for the month of January. He’s a frequent blogger (here, The Second City Network, and the iO Water Cooler) Instagramer, Pinterester, and Tweeter in his spare time. You can follow the madness @TheRyanNallen.

It’s marvelous how many festivals are going on each week. Almost every weekend we hear from folks traveling to other cities and sharing ideas. But probably very few weekends have such a large number of performers shifting around the country as this weekend. Del Close Marathon and The Twin Cities Improv Festival are both going on this weekend. Two more different festivals could not exist, but both offer a great opportunity for performers to get out of their normal comfort zone and see some of the best performers in the country do their thing. And to our friends up North, The Edmonton Festival is happening in Canada right now too. So I hope everyone up there is having a blast.

We know that a huge number of NIN members are on the road this week, so no traditional blog post on theatre management or festival organizing today. Just well wishes for safe travels, especially those of you who are driving overnight. You’re in for a great experience. I hope to see some of you in New York, and I know plenty of folks will be in Minneapolis. Don’t be shy to reach out and meet new people. That’s what the network is all about.

Have a safe and fun weekend everyone. See you next week, and feel free to leave your favorite memories in the comments section here.

---

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

We all have goals and dreams. We have short-term goals and we have long-term goals that we have created for ourselves. Those goals can be for our personal lives or professional lives and as detailed or as general as we want. No one can judge you because they’re your goals and the only person responsible for checking up on you to make sure you’re accomplishing those goals is yourself. Although, no matter what, there will always be someone standing there to tell you that you’ll never get what you want in life. The important thing is how you react to that adversity. In my opinion, there are 3 different ways you can respond to someone’s doubt in you. You can: 1) agree with them and immediately halt what you’re doing because you believe what they say is right, 2) you can set out to prove them wrong making their doubt the motivation behind everything you do or 3) You can ignore what they say and continue doing what you’re doing because you believe in yourself. Simply put, you can quit, prove them wrong, or prove yourself right. The purpose of this article is to address the problem with the ‘proving them wrong’ mindset and how changing it to ‘proving yourself right’ can make all the difference in overall happiness.

When you sit down and think about where you are in your life and why you are or aren’t where you want to be, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. In my life, I’ve been doubted and told ‘no that’ll never happen’ time and time again. There will always be someone there to say something negative to put you down. Stemming out of jealousy and insecurity, they’ll say “you’re not that good”, “you’ll never make it there” or “it’s only because you know (insert important person name here).” These haters will always say things. Why? They say it because it’s easy to stand on top of their pedestal and judge. It’s easy to focus on someone else’s efforts and doubt them rather than focus on their own lives and trying to accomplish their own goals. Proving someone wrong can be quite the motivator in getting something done. However, in my opinion, it is the WRONG motivator. The sole purpose and reasoning behind doing something shouldn’t be to later rub someone’s face in it, but instead to look yourself in the mirror and say, “I did it.” In the comedy world, we may hear from time to time, “You’re not funny.” Then, we get upset and think, “They don’t think I’m funny? I’ll prove them wrong!” In my opinion, that mindset is a recipe for failure; it’s the wrong mindset for a variety of reasons. Trying to prove to someone that you’re funny means you’re going to TRY to be funny which can be an absolute disaster. In this case, once you’ve shifted your motivation and reasoning for being on stage to ‘proving them wrong’ you may have just proved them right.

Furthermore, the main feat is to focus on staying on the path you’re on and not letting someone’s words deter you. Have time for a short story? Okay cool. I remember when I was in high school and I was wrestling, one of my dreams was to one day wrestle at a Division I University in the Big 10 Conference. I had just started out, but I had big dreams for myself and was ready to reach for the stars. I remember the saying “Dream big or don’t dream at all.” I remember one of the kids on the team, who had already been to the state tournament and was more skilled than me because he’d been wrestling his whole life, saying, “You’ll never wrestle at a Division I school.” For a second, because of his experience in the sport, I believed him. I thought, “If anyone is going to know what it takes to get to that level it’s someone who’s been doing it longer than I have.” Then, I wanted nothing more than to prove him wrong. Naturally, I think it’s an inborn trait that when someone tells you that you can’t do something, you want to show that person that you can. I know at first that was my first thought. Thankfully, greater minds prevailed and I thought, if I do accomplish this, why would I attribute my success to that person? They were the reason why I did all those things to get what I wanted in the first place, right? If it wasn’t for their doubt, I wouldn’t be where I am, right? Wrong. I kept that in mind and continued on my path working as hard as I could because it was MY goal in the first place. Flash forward to my freshman year of college standing in front of my wrestling locker at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, a Big 10 Division I school. I would wrestle that whole year until I quit to pursue theater and comedy (which brought me here). The choice to leave the wrestling mat for the stage is a story for another day. While I may have proved that person wrong the more important thing is that I proved myself right. My drive and determination behind every workout I did wasn’t because I had to show that person they were wrong, but instead because I knew deep down inside that I was capable of accomplishing what I told myself I could. The mindset you create for yourself is what makes all the difference in your life. In addition, personal happiness should be the end result of any goal you ever set for yourself. While it does feel good at first, the happiness you get from proving someone else wrong does not last. The happiness you get from proving yourself right, however, lasts forever.

In the end, don’t make someone else’s doubt or jealousy in you be your reason for pursuing your dreams. You should be pursuing your goals and dreams because you want to prove to YOURSELF that you’re capable of accomplishing them. Dreams don’t stem on the beliefs of others. Proving yourself right will keep you on track to continue to set goals for yourself because you believe you’re capable of accomplishing them. Proving someone else wrong will halt your goals once you’ve accomplished them because, well, you proved that ONE person wrong. With that mindset, you would need someone to step in and doubt you every time you attempted something. It’s your goal and you’re the person who set it, not someone else. Now, go prove yourself right.

---

Ryan Nallen is a graduate of iO, the Second City Conservatory and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. Ryan performs improv comedy with his independent team Switch Committee as well as on the Playground Incubator Team Desperado. In addition, he is an Associate Producer for Big Little Comedy, which is responsible for the Big Little Comedy Festival each year. In 2013, he completed an entire month of comedy by performing 31 days in a row for the month of January. He’s a frequent blogger (here, iO Water Cooler and the National Improv Network), Instagramer, Pinterester, and Tweeter in his spare time. Based on that previous sentence, it can be assumed he has a lot of free time.