Knowing that we all approach improv a little differently, I am interested in hearing what people value when considering for themselves if their show was "successful" or not...
If you feel open to sharing, please discuss what some of your goals are in shows. Or, even what kinds of qualities do some scenes have that you would consider successes. Does your personal style or troupe's personal style lead to consistency in one area? How often do you think about Bill Stern during scenes?
I digress...What does success = in improv 4 u?
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- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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- Marc Majcher Offline
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Success = completely surprising myself. Totally letting go, and watching awesome stuff happen that's not even remotely under my control.
100% Success = everyone on stage doing that, and everything not going completely crazytown and it all working together perfectly and coming out totally sweet in the end.
Bonus points for scenes that get no laughs, but get enthusiastic applause at the end, or other nice audience reactions like an "awww!" or whatever. Love the yuks, but super love the broader range of experience we're capable of.
100% Success = everyone on stage doing that, and everything not going completely crazytown and it all working together perfectly and coming out totally sweet in the end.
Bonus points for scenes that get no laughs, but get enthusiastic applause at the end, or other nice audience reactions like an "awww!" or whatever. Love the yuks, but super love the broader range of experience we're capable of.
- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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Yeah, there you go!
I'm with you Marc. I personally enjoy when everyone is having fun. If everyone is having fun and committing, then it doesn't matter nearly as much to me if the audience likes it or not. The show is for them, I suppose, but it also isn't. You know what I mean? I agree with you 10 million X's about liking those moments where the shows receive a response that is engaged but isn't laughter.
success = partying your dick off
success ≠ doing everything right
Personal bonus points for me if I meet my personal goal for the night.
I'm with you Marc. I personally enjoy when everyone is having fun. If everyone is having fun and committing, then it doesn't matter nearly as much to me if the audience likes it or not. The show is for them, I suppose, but it also isn't. You know what I mean? I agree with you 10 million X's about liking those moments where the shows receive a response that is engaged but isn't laughter.
success = partying your dick off
success ≠ doing everything right
Personal bonus points for me if I meet my personal goal for the night.
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- Marc Majcher Offline
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I totally agree with you one hundred percent, except for the percents where I don't. I'd add the caveat that if you're having a ton of fun and super committing, then even if you're not doing the best work technically, the audience is going to have a great time, too. IFE's recent run of Girls of Evil had some awesome shows, because we were all having balls fun, even if we didn't stick the best scenework and whatnot all the time. (And honestly, it's difficult to do realistic, patient, grounded improv with a mouth crammed full of tamales.) But dicks were partied off, and every show, everyone in that theater went home with a smile.
Seriously, nobody's getting rich doing this, so if you're not having a blast, something's wrong. It's the first KRS-One secret to improv* longevity: if it ain't fun, you're done. So yeah, that's definitely rule number one - if you're having a good time, you're going to look great and confident and relaxed to the audience, which will eventually lead to killer improv. The foundation skills will take time to learn (wax on, wax off, run through the tires, etc), but until those are burned into your meat body and brain - and that is a process that never ends - partytown will carry the day.
Confession: I have been known to use "fun" as a backhanded self-critique; someone asks how a show went, and I'll be like, "well, we had fun." Meaning, usually, that it wasn't satisfying to me on a "stuff working" level, but we had a good time regardless. It's still a struggle for me, balancing my desire for a "perfect" show with the absolute need to have a ball regardless, but I think that those paths ultimately lead to the same place, so chilling back and enjoying the ride is the way to go, I reckon.
* or possibly MC. I'm a little fuzzy on that part.
Seriously, nobody's getting rich doing this, so if you're not having a blast, something's wrong. It's the first KRS-One secret to improv* longevity: if it ain't fun, you're done. So yeah, that's definitely rule number one - if you're having a good time, you're going to look great and confident and relaxed to the audience, which will eventually lead to killer improv. The foundation skills will take time to learn (wax on, wax off, run through the tires, etc), but until those are burned into your meat body and brain - and that is a process that never ends - partytown will carry the day.
Confession: I have been known to use "fun" as a backhanded self-critique; someone asks how a show went, and I'll be like, "well, we had fun." Meaning, usually, that it wasn't satisfying to me on a "stuff working" level, but we had a good time regardless. It's still a struggle for me, balancing my desire for a "perfect" show with the absolute need to have a ball regardless, but I think that those paths ultimately lead to the same place, so chilling back and enjoying the ride is the way to go, I reckon.
* or possibly MC. I'm a little fuzzy on that part.
- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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It seems obvious to say that having fun is pretty tantamount. However, I have seen and done shows where the fact that it is supposed to be fun seems forgotten. Trying to do things right can be such a burden. Up here there's weird pressure because people get cut and have less control over their own future. Still, if you get too wrapped up in what you want the end result to be you.
I used to get horribly nervous before shows, and sometimes I'd throw up. Roy is the only other person I know of who had/has this problem. On some days giving up control of the situation and being willing to improvise isn't as easy as it seems it should be. It took some time for me to be able to stop worrying, but when I did my work improved.
I'm still prone to assessing a show by how much the audience reacted to it. Lately though having fun has become really important to me because ultimately I can't control if someone liked it or not...and things aren't always going to work out with connections, or stuff coming full circle. As long as I enjoyed myself though I consider the show a success.
I used to get horribly nervous before shows, and sometimes I'd throw up. Roy is the only other person I know of who had/has this problem. On some days giving up control of the situation and being willing to improvise isn't as easy as it seems it should be. It took some time for me to be able to stop worrying, but when I did my work improved.
I'm still prone to assessing a show by how much the audience reacted to it. Lately though having fun has become really important to me because ultimately I can't control if someone liked it or not...and things aren't always going to work out with connections, or stuff coming full circle. As long as I enjoyed myself though I consider the show a success.
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- DollarBill Offline
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I think a good show for me is hard to quantify. After the show, if any of my fellow players thanks me for something that I did that helped them while we were on stage... I feel great. I love it if I can break a fellow player without breaking myself.
When I have a bad show I wanna go back out and try again to get it right. When I have a good show I wanna go back out and do more because it felt so good.
Other than that it's just a feeling that I'm after. It's like this feeling that you're just messing around, but yet everything you say is the exactly perfect thing to say. I suppose that's my ultimate good show...
When I have a bad show I wanna go back out and try again to get it right. When I have a good show I wanna go back out and do more because it felt so good.
Other than that it's just a feeling that I'm after. It's like this feeling that you're just messing around, but yet everything you say is the exactly perfect thing to say. I suppose that's my ultimate good show...
They call me Dollar Bill 'cause I always make sense.
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- kaci_beeler Offline
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I agree with Bill, every show I do usually just makes me want to do more, no matter what.
I'm lucky in that I usually perform in many diverse shows on any given weekend so I get to experiment back-to-back with all of my goals, desires, joys, etc.
I feel like I am often in a lot of "good shows". By "good" I mean the audience was a good size and warm, left pleased, the other performers with me enjoyed the show, and I felt okay about it all.
What I am always chasing are those magic shows. Those amazing shows that happen very rarely - where we were so connected not only to ourselves, each other, but the story and the characters and relationships as well. Everything just told itself and all I had to do was be a willing vessel. The audience leans forward in their seats, watching, and the time flies by. People afterward don't believe it was improvised and you almost want to believe them because it seemed to come from somewhere else. Somewhere spiritual. You were locked into character and you felt like that person. Every discovery was through that character in the moment. You gave your partners fun and inspiring gifts that they took gladly from you and ran with. Your partners gave you amazing endowments and you used them effortlessly. You can barely remember what happened afterward, it is like a fuzzy dream from someone else's life now.
Those shows don't happen every week, or every month even. I'm always after this elusive show.
I'm lucky in that I usually perform in many diverse shows on any given weekend so I get to experiment back-to-back with all of my goals, desires, joys, etc.
I feel like I am often in a lot of "good shows". By "good" I mean the audience was a good size and warm, left pleased, the other performers with me enjoyed the show, and I felt okay about it all.
What I am always chasing are those magic shows. Those amazing shows that happen very rarely - where we were so connected not only to ourselves, each other, but the story and the characters and relationships as well. Everything just told itself and all I had to do was be a willing vessel. The audience leans forward in their seats, watching, and the time flies by. People afterward don't believe it was improvised and you almost want to believe them because it seemed to come from somewhere else. Somewhere spiritual. You were locked into character and you felt like that person. Every discovery was through that character in the moment. You gave your partners fun and inspiring gifts that they took gladly from you and ran with. Your partners gave you amazing endowments and you used them effortlessly. You can barely remember what happened afterward, it is like a fuzzy dream from someone else's life now.
Those shows don't happen every week, or every month even. I'm always after this elusive show.
- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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na-na-nice!
I as well like a show where it went really well but I have a hard time remembering what happened because I was so focused and in the moment.
Oh, and Beeler i forgot about the audience factor...It is nice when a show is totally packed. It is also nice when there are only 3 people in the audience but the show is super awesome. The best LookCookie show, in my opinion, was done for a house less than half full. The show actually went so well that we named it the "let's see that" show .because people kept saying Let's See that when someone would mention something fun. We would go on to refer to that show often often. After the show we all talked about it, and the consensus became "wow, that was great...but we can't do that again because that bit would get old.". I was super opposed to this though. I agreed with the sentiment that we shouldn't use the gimmick of actually saying let's see that. However, the devotion of energy, focus, listening, support, and everything else that was there was what made it really great, and I think that was overlooked by some people who attributed the success to the silly bit.
back to what beeler said, its amazing when everyone is on the same page and working in unison as hard as they can. Still, everyone has their own shit going on and you can't always expect everyone to be all the way there every show. I would certainly like it that way, but it isn't always the case. Some nights it is though.
I as well like a show where it went really well but I have a hard time remembering what happened because I was so focused and in the moment.
Oh, and Beeler i forgot about the audience factor...It is nice when a show is totally packed. It is also nice when there are only 3 people in the audience but the show is super awesome. The best LookCookie show, in my opinion, was done for a house less than half full. The show actually went so well that we named it the "let's see that" show .because people kept saying Let's See that when someone would mention something fun. We would go on to refer to that show often often. After the show we all talked about it, and the consensus became "wow, that was great...but we can't do that again because that bit would get old.". I was super opposed to this though. I agreed with the sentiment that we shouldn't use the gimmick of actually saying let's see that. However, the devotion of energy, focus, listening, support, and everything else that was there was what made it really great, and I think that was overlooked by some people who attributed the success to the silly bit.
back to what beeler said, its amazing when everyone is on the same page and working in unison as hard as they can. Still, everyone has their own shit going on and you can't always expect everyone to be all the way there every show. I would certainly like it that way, but it isn't always the case. Some nights it is though.