If you want to see a show, you need a gorram ticket.

Evilpandabear · Post by **Evilpandabear** » December 28th, 2005, 6:41 pm

and for the love of god use a different color ticket for the next time slot.... damn crafty free loaders...

beardedlamb · Post by **beardedlamb** » December 28th, 2005, 6:53 pm

what's gorram? is this a euphemism for goddamn?

arclight · Post by **arclight** » December 28th, 2005, 8:20 pm

Evilpandabear wrote:i really don't want to push that fact of NOT letting late people into shows. simply for the fact that a lot of shows struggle to get packed. improv isn't theatre nor is it opera. and that is a good thing.

Improv is theatre.

so long as they buy a ticket, i see no reason for letting people in a little late. i've even sold tickets half off when the audience member comes late and misses half the show. they wouldnt have paid full price so i took what money i could get. for a more formal setting like the out of bounds i can understand why you wouldnt want to let late people in. but for the week to week run of the year, i honestly don't see a reason for such strictness.

OoB was strict about not seating latecomers until the first break because mid-performance seating disrupts the show - that is disrespectful of the players and the rest of the audience who got there on time.

Pragmatically, we held the house open for as long as we could and didn't turn too many people away. And often we did sell late tickets but we absolutely did not seat people until a break. Remember that OoB had rented the mainstage and split the cabaret so there was a fair bit of OoB's money on the line; we were a bit more money-conscious than the average improv show. On balance however, I believe the lack of disruption was worth what little money we gave up.

No other theater in Austin will seat people while a performance is underway - why should we be an exception?

erikamay · Post by **erikamay** » December 29th, 2005, 11:39 am

it seems like there are a lot of valid points to be made with regard to this topic, and ones that should be discussed in person.

rather than me coming up with some document that may or may not reflect the collective opinions of AI members, i propose we set aside 30 focused minutes to discuss and resolve this topic at the january meeting. our goal is to come out of that meeting with a solid policy on the following:

1. public ticket prices & packages (increase to $10?)
2. AI members paying for AI shows for which they are not volunteering or performing (this is everything but the 8pm and 10pm on Saturday, which is still HoC).
3. tickets prices/passes for students enrolled in AI classes - we need to get this in place in advance of solidifying the educational offerings from AI
4. multiple show ticketing, discounts, etc.
5. late seating policy
6. box office placement for cabaret shows (upstairs)

please add if there are additional things to be discussed that you want added to the agenda.

also, in the interim, i propose that we post one person at the box downstairs, and one at the door upstairs. everyone is asked to empty the theatre and go downstairs if they are interested in buying a ticket for the next show.

bokay.

i am looking forward to hanging out whichooassholes tomorrow.

e

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » January 2nd, 2006, 1:31 am

what's gorram? is this a euphemism for goddamn?

That's it, you're out of the club!
More-or-less, yes. It is the substitute word they used in The all-too-short-lived Firefly/Serenity so that they could curse on TV.
"Gorram engine's blown out again!" and "That's the last gorram time I help a doctor." That sort of thing.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » January 2nd, 2006, 1:53 am

please add if there are additional things to be discussed that you want added to the agenda.

Just the fact that comped or not, if you want to see a show, you need to stop by the box and get a ticket. I don't want the simply thing that started all this conversation to get overlooked.

6. box office placement for cabaret shows (upstairs)

While this sounds like a good idea in theory, I don't know how well it would work. For one thing, we normally start selling tickets to the next show with 5 to 20 minutes left in the previous. With more shows on the slate, this overlap will be increasingly necessary to get the next show to start on time and you don't want that happening outside the cabaret door. Also, those stairs are hazardous enough without lines forming on them, especially forming during the time performers are running up and down the stairs the most. It is a little harder for other reasons as well, like when people just want to walk up and ask/get information about the shows or when they need to go to an ATM after finding we don't take credit cards or want to go back for beer before seating, etc. Having to walk up the stairs and back down and back up might discourage some people. Also, if we are going for an air of professionalism, then a guy with a money box sitting on the table upstairs kinda contradicts that. If you were to do something like convert the office or bathroom and put in a half door and make that double as a box, that would be one thing, but while it has some benefits, that is probably an impractical solution for the most part.
Personally, I don't see a problem with the box's current placement, just with the fact that some people have become so comfortable at the Hideout that they breeze on by it.

valetoile · Post by **valetoile** » January 2nd, 2006, 9:32 am

I think just having a ticket taker at the top of the stairs will be sufficient.

mdalonzo · Post by **mdalonzo** » January 16th, 2006, 4:45 pm

Evilpandabear wrote:improv isn't theatre nor is it opera. and that is a good thing. so long as they buy a ticket, i see no reason for letting people in a little late. i've even sold tickets half off when the audience member comes late and misses half the show. they wouldnt have ppaid full price so i took what money i could get. for a more formal setting like the out of bounds i can understand why you wouldnt want to let late people in. but for the week to week run of the year, i honestly don't see a reason for such strictness.

Jay,

You know how I hate to disagree with people on anytning, but here goes.

First of all, the idea that improv isn't theatre is a bit ludicrous. It is, of course, theatre, and should be respected as such. Now, while I don't mind Bob Mc's idea of improvisors being able to sit in empty seats, I DO feel that, if they're going to take advantage of that idea, they should at least be on time for the shows, and not walk in and out of the place like they own it.

I feel that one of the best ways to step up the quality, and therefore the marketability, of the shows at the Hideout is to treat the shows themselves with the kind of respect you would want out of the people that come to see them. Yes, in the short term, this might piss some people off, but, in the long term, it will train them to realize that we are not performing in some standup joint, and this is not a concert or a TV show, where you can phase out what you're not interested, and wander around while you do it.

I'm tired of people filing in and out during shows, and I know, as an audience member, it's distracting. I know we can fill these shows early, but we have to hold strong and not adapt every time something seems to go wrong. That means a couple of things...

1. Shows start on time, or at least at a regimented 5-10 minutes late. If people are going to come and see a show downtown on a weekend, they're going to have to learn that they need to get there early and park.

2. Shows END on time. Without question. We need to turn houses over quicker, and we need to make sure that people who have advertisted their shows aren't waiting an interminably long time, and having to apologize to their audiences, while earlier casts and audiences are meandering around like nothing else is happening that night.

3. We need to be more dilligent about the things we set up. Don't flinch. If things don't work, we need more data than one experience. If it's the idea that people think will work, give it your resources. Give it some time. See what develops.

I think, in this time of success, we need to work even harder to maintain it. This is certainly no time to become complacent. Enjoy the good things, but keep working.

M

valetoile · Post by **valetoile** » January 16th, 2006, 5:34 pm

I think the new schedule has helped enormously in shows starting and ending on time. The extra thirty minutes added onto the early shows makes sure that everyone gets full stage time while still leaving a nice fifteen minute window to get everyone out and tidy up before the next show. I noticed this over the weekend. Things ran so much smoother!

Evilpandabear · Post by **Evilpandabear** » January 16th, 2006, 6:16 pm

jesus tap dancing christ

if i knew it would be a ridiculous semantic battle... look, i love theatre. i love scripted shows, musicals, operas. i earnestly believe that improv is it's own legitimate form of theatre and a highly underrated one at that.

the real question is this:

i don't see the hideout, nor do i want to see it as the paramount or the state. i don't want to see it as esther follies either, dear god. it's this growing trend of stuffiness around the hideout i can't stand.

i honestly feel this is no need as of yet to not let late people into shows. i really don't like the fact that it becomes a AI or Hideout matter, when the troupe(s) performing should make that call as it is THEIR show.

obviously this gets tricky & sticky with the 3fer, style, etc.

but if i'm doing a thursday night show with my troupe and i want late people to come into my show, then goddammit i should be allowed to do that. and it's simply ridiculous to NOT let people in late for things such as the late night lab or hullballooza or whatever they call it. if i have to take a shit mid show can i not get back in? it's not as if we're the fucking national opera house boys & girls and who the fuck wants to be that stuffy any damn way. it's improv. it's fun. it's friendly. it's not the fucking opera house.

and OOB is OOB. it is NOT the Hideout.

the real truth is our number one priority should be filling those fucking seats as soon as possible. while we may have more shows we're not gaining an audience yet. we're generating the same money as last month. we need to focus on filling them as opposed to bombarding ourselves with ultimately useless regulations. we're in a delicate situation here folks. one good experience generates a good amount of "word of mouth" advertisement (the best & cheapest form there is) but one BAD experience can lasts months on end, and generates TONS of BAD "word of mouth" that we truly can't afford right now over trivial bullshit as this. in fact the friend of the cold town heroes that i turned away during OOB, was still bitching and upset that i turned him away from the door when i saw him at the Hideout just a few weeks ago.

i do agree that in the future this is something to consider but it's not something of a mounting importance as of today. we have seats to fill. lights to fix. bulbs to buy. rooms to paint. rooms to clean. a stage manager to hire. and MASSIVE MASSIVE amounts of advertising that NEEDS to be done and get done. we really need flyers to blanket over this entire city.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » January 17th, 2006, 1:18 am

we really need flyers to blanket over this entire city.

Not to beat a dead horse, but we had 50,000 happy opportunities pouring out of DKR Stadium Sunday night to do just this.
Anyone interested in growth needs to help out and put their proverbial money where their metaphoric mouth is. (I'm not meaning you in particular panda, as you have helped out at 1st Thursdays and other events). People can put their literal money on the line, too, as some people have been bearing imbalanced costs. Regardless, the community as a whole has to come together and help get the word out. If only 10% of the people involved in Austin improv helped out at each advertising event, individuals would only have to do an event every 2 or 3 months or so (if that). Hardly and imposition.

I'm walking the line as to the larger issue of theatrical professionalism. But I do believe that we can be more professional without being anal. (And you can always turn away late comers by claiming the show is full, which not only teaches people to come earlier, but makes us sound popular and in demand. I'd love to have to turn away people every show. That's where I want us to be by May, so full that we are turning away patrons in such a manner that they only want to come back and get in that much more.)
We can definitely make improvements without being overly rigid. But the fact is that the theater has become so lax, that neither audience nor improvisers treat it like a theatrical show most times. In many ways, that is a shame and will keep improv from being seen as anything higher than something to do to kill time before going out drinking.

I just think that there is room to be both more professional and keep a fun, friendly, light-hearted atmosphere.