How do troupes form?

[arclight]

At today's AIC meeting Wes brought up something about troupe development but he left before I could talk to him.

I've been thinking about this for a while, and again, I needed to get this out of my head and onto paper, etc. before I forgot it. Does this look like the way most troupes form in Austin?



There are a lot of lines, I know.

A couple notes: Play in 'pickup' show means Micetro, Powerball, or any show where the cast varies from night to night. I'm biased because I'm trying to figure out how to get from the top of the page (General Public & Local performers) to the bottom (Perform solo run) - once a group reaches that point, we've done our work, and they don't need the AIC anymore. For that reason, you won't see arrows pointing from Form a troupe back up the page even though individual troupe members will take classes, play Micetro, watch shows, etc. I'm also biased by assuming that only troupes play in the Threefer.

Finally, I defined classes as having a sequence and prerequisites and a graduation show; workshops are not part of a series and there's an expectation that participants are taking or have taken classes.

So after making the drawing, I started looking closely at it.

I don't know of people who've formed permanent troupes recently based on playing pickup shows. All the arrows out are also the arrows in which implies the pickup shows only move people between workshops, jams, and classes. It implies that the pickup shows exist for their own sake because they don't directly help form troupes.

I'm not sure the arrows coming out of Attend workshop are right; it would seem easier to form a Cagematch team from being in a workshop.

Are there more boxes and arrows that need to be added (both as things exist today and as we would like them to be)? Are there arrows that shouldn't be on the chart? How do we make it easier for people to get into troupes?

Does visualizing things this way help us find new answers?

[the_orf]

That looks mostly good to me, Bob.

For my personal flow, it went like this: (local/new-to-town)performer >>> attend jam >>> play in pickup show >>> READ FORUMS TO LEARN ABOUT CASTING OF SHOW >>> join cast of show (my attachment to a troupe ended when the show's run ended)

Just saying, the forums were a pretty key element. Without them I wouldn't have heard about many of the things going on that helped me integrate into the Austin scene. I bet Asaf would probably agree with this notion.

[Mike]

I'm impressed with the huge flow chart mapping almost every possibility on how to join a troupe.
Personally, my flow chart went like this:
Take Classes - Hear about Tues Jam - Attend Tues Jam a lot - Meet Jason, Nadine, Matt - Get asked to join a troupe

I would think the Tues night jam is a great recruitment pool for people wanting to start up a troupe. You can see if you're compatable with a wide range of players, and you can also see the performance style of any people you are hoping to ask to join. I have been asked if we were ever going to start up the late night jam again. Would it be possible to start up the late night jam as a once a month event ( If the Blank Show slot is not already claimed or such). The late night jam got me onstage a lot when I was taking Level 1 and it felt good to be taken care of by the pro's onstage during the various games.

[Asaf]

Just saying, the forums were a pretty key element. Without them I wouldn't have heard about many of the things going on that helped me integrate into the Austin scene. I bet Asaf would probably agree with this notion.

Verily. I would not have.

[arclight]

Ok, I updated the chart:


Let's try to use this as a market research tool. Think of how you got involved with improv in Austin all the way to how you got into a troupe (assuming you are/were in an Austin troupe) and let's put that path on the chart. Then we'll at least know all the ways the current crowd got to where they are and we can use that to set the emphasis of our marketing.

For me, it was meeting someone at an unrelated party who mentioned that the host was taking classes at the Hideout. Word-of-mouth.

[sara farr]

Bob, this is very helpful!

A) I would also add that it is important to continue to see LOTS and LOTS of shows while taking classes and attending the Jam. Therefore, your arrows between "SEE AIC SHOW" & "ATTEND JAM" as well as the one between "SEE AIC SHOW" & "TAKE CLASS" should be double headed (like the arrow between "TAKE CLASS" & "ATTEND JAM"). My experience with Wooden Nickle was: Shows>Classes & Shows> Jam & Shows> WN Casting Call on Forums> Trial Rehearsal.

B) I would also add a "SOCIALIZE WITH IMPS" bubble. Socializing with (& sketching!) your imp classmates & the performing imp community is important, too. You can find out if you CONNECT with a group by hanging out with & talking to them. That face-time lets the AIC get to know you, and you them. The Jam helps with this, but you won't see all the imps at the jam. THIS -- rather than the WN Casting Call (which I missed bc I was out of town), was the main reasion I got into WN (I think). So "SOCIALIZE WITH IMPS" is very important, too.

C) I would also add a "GET A COACH" bubble. My experience with "The Leading Brands" was: Classes & Shows> Jam & Shows> More Classes>GET A COACH. Without the coaching support of Shana Merlin, Bob McNichol, Arthur Simone, Chris Trew, Jen Cargill, & Erin Plischke, "The Leading Brands" would not be a performing troupe. We would have quit after our first show. Which was in Frank's barn and was incredibly and horribly AWEFUL. Or after any number of our subsequent drunken shows we have dished out over the past year - for some of which we should have refunded the audience. But now, after 1 year with plenty of coaching expertise (and everybody on caffine instead of beer before our shows), we are starting to show some promise. Whoop!