B. Iden Payne awards are here again

[Dave]

Whoa whoa. Hold on a second. All I said I was going to do was contact ACoT about getting us on the ballot next year. I did that. And then I said this

I've already lost interest in this, so it's the last time I'll think about it.

On the other hand, if we need a scapegoat, I'm fine with that.

Sorry about that Kareem, I misread the whole post and had assumed you had taken on the whole B. Iden thing for the AIC. My apologies.

Roy wrote :
Looking here:

http://www.acotonline.org/Pages/Programs.html

It looks like the award is on October 21st. Since our voting process is totally independent, we could still easily have Bob A. set up an online ballot, and I could get the word out via the email list I send schedules to.

I just need someone who's in the know to tell us whether it's too late or not.

Even if we could do this...and we should. They still have to get the actual award and engrave it and some such stuff for whomever wins....before Sunday? It has to be too late for all that, no?

[Roy Janik]

Even if we could do this...and we should. They still have to get the actual award and engrave it and some such stuff for whomever wins....before Sunday? It has to be too late for all that, no?

I just called Andy. He seems to think it could still be done. He's going to call Latifah and find out, and get back to me.

I think this can still happen, if we act quickly. We'll just go with last year's category of "best improv company", since something is better than nothing.

[York99]

we advertise it by screaming "COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY" at the top of our lungs, and then we get upset when people don't think of it as legitimate theater?

to steal a point from Arthur, Comedy is one of the two masks of drama/theatre. comedy is a legitimate form of theatre. It's a genre. There aren't seperate movie theaters for comedies and "dramas."

I think this point also serves somewhat as a rebuttle to Shannon's point to me, as well. In regard to 'theatre: yes or no?', the difference between improv and stand-up is pretty clear. As for sketch comedy, theoretically they are in the running and sketch should be considered. Sketch comedians are in the same boat as we are.

The problem is that most people don't understand comedy... even reviewers. Good or bad, most comedies receive a no-star rating or BOMB or whatever the lowest is in reviews because they don't get it.

[ratliff]

we advertise it by screaming "COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY" at the top of our lungs, and then we get upset when people don't think of it as legitimate theater?

to steal a point from Arthur, Comedy is one of the two masks of drama/theatre. comedy is a legitimate form of theatre. It's a genre. There aren't seperate movie theaters for comedies and "dramas."

j

This is not about legitimacy. This is about marketing. If there's really no difference betweeen the two, and you're so hot to get your props from the local theater poobahs, your course is simple: change every mention of "comedy" in your marketing to "improvised theater." Since they're exactly the same thing, it shouldn't affect your audiences at all, right?

[kbadr]

your course is simple: change every mention of "comedy" in your marketing to "improvised theater." Since they're exactly the same thing, it shouldn't affect your audiences at all, right?

Sounds good to me.

[kaci_beeler]

You know what, this whole thread is really long and confusing.
There is a lot of slightly off-topic argument nonsense and I don't even know what this acot stuff is all about anymore.

Can someone please summarize without BS about what is going to happen and what the community at large needs to do?

[Roy Janik]

Can someone please summarize without BS about what is going to happen and what the community at large needs to do?

Andy is going to check with Latifah to see if it's too late. He doesn't think it is.

As soon as he let's me know, I'll open up voting for the "best improv company". I'll probably use Bob Apthorpe's voting system, so the results can remain anonymous.

It doesn't quite operate like I think I need it to, but I can definitely make it work.

I'll send out emails to everyone I know about in an AIC troupe, and solicit voters to give me the email of anyone they think should vote that I don't have on my list.

Voting will remain open for as long as possible.

[York99]

This is not about legitimacy. This is about marketing. If there's really no difference betweeen the two, and you're so hot to get your props from the local theater poobahs, your course is simple: change every mention of "comedy" in your marketing to "improvised theater." Since they're exactly the same thing, it shouldn't affect your audiences at all, right?

If getting recognition from them was the only goal, then yes, that might work. But the bigger goal is to be recognized on our terms. This isn't a quick-fix thing. It's going to take time.

And I didn't say they were exactly the same thing. In fact, in perception, they are very different.... and that's fine with me. But on the other side of the arguement, to call what we do NOT theatre is just inaccurate. It's very theatrical and if you look up the definition of theatre, you see that improv qualifies (assuming one allows the improviser to assume writer as one of his/her titles).

Therfor, since we ARE doing theatre, we should be considered for a theatrical award.

[shando]

You know what, this whole thread is really long and confusing.
There is a lot of slightly off-topic argument nonsense and I don't even know what this acot stuff is all about anymore.

Can someone please summarize without BS about what is going to happen and what the community at large needs to do?

Yes Kaci, I feel this way too.

Here's what I see going on. ACoT approached us and said, Hey Austin Improvisers, you do good work out there and we're aware of you. We'd like to give you an award as a sign of respect and an acknowledgment that you are part of a larger community. Sorry we don't have enough people who really know the scene to make an informed opinion about who should get this. Can you guys make the call.

And then this thread went all wackadoo with a bunch of other debates about the process of picking the recipient to the point that we really didn't do anything about it until I brought it up again yesterday. I don't think anyone was advocating that unless ACoT voters chose a recipient it was somehow less than worthy. At least I wasn't. I was merely stating that it would be nice someday to be in a position that the wider theater audience was so informed and knowledgeable about our work that they could pick, rather than us running our own little vote shop.

I don't understand any of the other noise either, and frankly don't even understand what some people are advocating.

[mcnichol]

I was asking questions to create a discussion and maybe this wasn't the thread to be doing it in. Sorry if it made it confusing to people.

I'm all for the award and picking a winner for ourselves.

[shando]

I wasn't talking about you. I think we were raising the same question.

[LisaJackson]

I'll send out emails to everyone I know about in an AIC troupe

Is it only people in troupes? Can students vote?

My vote is that I'd like to be able to vote.

[Roy Janik]

Is it only people in troupes? Can students vote?

My vote is that I'd like to be able to vote.

My goal is to have it be open to everyone in the community, with as loose a possible a definition of that, so yes... students, too.

I'll be making a post in a bit.

[Roy Janik]

Is it only people in troupes? Can students vote?

My vote is that I'd like to be able to vote.

Hey Lisa, send me your email address, and I'll add you to the voters.

[York99]

I don't understand any of the other noise either, and frankly don't even understand what some people are advocating.

I personally am not advocating anything specific to the awards this year. I was talking in generalities that we should be considered for an Austin theatre award. If I am advocating anything, it's just that everyone here realizes this and appreciates it.