Austin Improv

just coldtowne and the hideout.

Asaf wrote:Is it through AIC membership that improvisers are getting into all the shows free? Does that include shows in other venues outside of ColdTowne and The Hideout?

Goood question. I think it's far more informal than that. The fact that improvisers get in free at the Hideout (after the show's official start time, provided there are seats) was basically Andy's call, institutionalized through the AIC. And Coldtowne just happened to implement the same policy.

So it doesn't really apply to other venues. But the Carousel Lounge show is always free, as is Gigglepants's campus show.

Thank you for correctly apostrophizing the possessive of Gigglepants.

The ever-lovely deroosisonfire wrote: What will keep people interested in building?
What do people want from the AIC?
What are you doing instead of building the AIC?

I honestly am not sure how interested I am in continuing to build the AIC over my own troupes and personal projects.

I have poured myself into this organization for the last two years and have been hyper-commited to making the AIC into something bigger than the sum of its parts. It is not uncommon for me to put as much time into improv and the AIC as I do my paying 9-5 job. But from the beginning there has always been a lack of support, manpower, and desire to do what needs to be done to really push things to the next level. We have grown by leaps and bounds, but it has NOT been due to the collective efforts of the community, but the tireless dedication of a select few. It's the classic 80/20 rule (80% of the work is done by 20% of the people). While at first it wasn't such a big deal, over time the effort has become too much.
Much of my involvement in the AIC at this point is purely selfish. I still represent and talk up the AIC whenever I can, but I also use the advertising committee to make personal contacts in the media and artistic communities. One of the reasons I want to get an Informal Class is so that I can help teach it. One of the reasons I contact radio stations is so that I can send Mike Lee Pgraph releases and announcements as well as AIC ones. I attend Create Austin to rep the AIC in the creative plans of this community, but also so that my name and face is seen.
Much of what I am doing now is increasingly personal. I'm working with the O. Henry pun-off as a member of Pgraph primarily because I do not trust the community to support another project or I'd have gladly done it under the banner of the AIC.

At first, I thought spreading the word of improv in general would help generate butts in the seats for my personal shows. I don't necessarily feel that way any more. Sometimes, spreading the word of improv in general dilutes the message I want to send for driving traffic to my own shows. Improv will continue to grow in this town, but I don't know that it will be through the efforts of the AIC instead of individuals.

As for growing the AIC...
I hand out scores of tickets to social nexus points and the media. I go to city-wide cultural meetings. I step up to help in leadership roles. I try to find new and creative outlets for improv shows (a la O. Henry). I attend meetings for a number of functions. I flyer for my shows and the shows of others when I can. I organize and run the Tuesday Night Jams. I'm running the advertising committee for the second time. I took on the Blank Show because no one else would. I help produce festivals, working on OoB last year and s.h.s.2 this year. I encourage and try to inspire new players. I'll be TA'ing a class starting in two weeks with an eye toward getting one of my own. I contact ACOT and help Jules with Fundraising. I'm trying to organize new player and troupe incubator materials. I'm trying to learn about grant proposals so the AIC can get more than $48 a month to buy ads with.
I could go on for paragraphs, but what's the point?

I think the AIC is too spread out and that it should no longer function in a production capacity. I think the AIC's strength now, as I always have, is not in producing shows or scheduling troupes. I think that the AIC's future should be in support. Helping new troupes come online. Helping find new blood to take classes. Helping find financial support via fundraising and grants to bring in specialty teachers or subsidize travel to member troupes for festivals and training. Advertising shows and maintaining a general web presence for improv in town, etc. Also doing some community outreach and improving the image of what improv is and is capable of.
Leave the scheduling and artistic direction to the theaters. Focus on intracommunity connectedness and infrastructure and good PR for our artform in general in the greater community.

Honestly, I've reached a point of productivity and success that I do not need the AIC for. If it went away tomorrow, Pgraph would not only go on, but continue to grow and push our boundaries. However, I do believe the AIC has a role to play in helping new players come onboard and find the support they need to reach the same place and I am very passionate in seeing that happen and helping out on that front.

Though I guess the AIC also played some part in helping me win the heart of my stellar girlfriend. I guess that makes it all worthwhile.
So there it is. The AIC got me both love and cynicism. Huzzah!

I think part of the frustration comes from this:

We collectively decide to do X.
X has sub-parts that require individual responsibility.
No one wants to do the sub-parts.

Advertising is a perfect example. I think from now on, if we decide to do X, and then we figure out that it will require A,B, and C...and then no one takes on A, B, or C, the AIC no longer does X. Whether that's fund raising, or advertising, or summer camp, or promoting improv in schools or whatever.

You are right Kareem and also no one wants to be the person to make the individuals take on the sub tasks and so as often happens either things don't get done at all or one person shoulders all the subtasks. Both lead to burn out.

I have no problem being the asshole. But then everyone's like "hey, stop being an asshole."

Not only is there no incentive (i.e. what does the AIC do for me?), there is no opposite of incentive either. For example, if I didn't do subpart A at work, the boss would fire me. We can't and don't fire improvisers. So not only is there no reason to take it on to begin with, there's no reason to follow through if you do. There is no Sword of Damocles hanging over any of our heads. The rewards are limited, intangible, or even non-existant and the punishments don't exist.

So we're fucked?
Really, what's next then? I'd say clarifying goals and mission. Limiting projects. "hiring" the volunteers/leaders who will agree to rewards and sanctions and finding a way to mutually enforce tasks.

Wesley wrote:I have no problem being the asshole. But then everyone's like "hey, stop being an asshole."

Not only is there no incentive (i.e. what does the AIC do for me?), there is no opposite of incentive either. For example, if I didn't do subpart A at work, the boss would fire me. We can't and don't fire improvisers. .

There are a lot of ways we can 'fire' improvisors. Slots/shows are the AIC's main product, right? So there are ways to enforce some of the guidelines. Your troupe fails to host, and doesn't find a replacement for the night : You lose your slot and you're down one slot next scheduling.

You promise to do a specific task and just blow it off 'because I'm too busy with my outside projects' : well then apparently you can't get a slot for that new sketch/improv project you just formed until you pull your weight.

Want to form a new troupe/project but you're already doing 3 others? : You need to participate in at least 3 AIC events/projects to get stage time.

I'm sure that if the AIC decides to lay the smack down on people who don't pull their weight by cutting them off from shows, we'll either drop the dead weight, or get more support. Sometimes we need to be assholes to get things done.

We definitely need to scale back and take on fewer projects.
We also need to do projects that will have great support. Most projects cannot actually be done by one person. One individual can do the brunt of the work, but it will require cooperation from others. Joost is a great example of this. Brian worked very hard to get this project running, but the fact was that he did not receive cooperation from the community and was unable to move forward.

I ran for MD because I wanted to scale back the AIC and focus on our most important functions. I withdrew because I got sick of reading everyone's ideas for things that the AIC should be doing (speed dating, charity events, etc.) and seeing little support for the things the AIC is already doing (updating the AIC calendar, hosting at the Hideout, performing in and promoting the CageMatch). I don't want to fight for functions that nobody wants to support and read messages about what I *should* be doing.

I want to leave the secretary position as well. I don't want to sit in meetings and hear more projects be pitched that I will follow-up on only to find they've been forgotten before the next meeting. I'm over it.

There are a lot of ways we can 'fire' improvisors. Slots/shows are the AIC's main product, right? So there are ways to enforce some of the guidelines. Your troupe fails to host, and doesn't find a replacement for the night : You lose your slot and you're down one slot next scheduling.

A version of this was discussed in the meeting. Basically getting "points" for doing things like flyering that become your credit to getting on schedules, etc. I'll let that discussion take place in a different thread.

Without going into the details of how it would work and my logistical concerns there, my personal problem with this is that I still don't think the AIC should even be doing show production to begin with, so it would have no say in who is scheduled where or when. It could say you can't apply for funding subsidies or whatever, but until we get money in the bank in a way we can offer scholarships and subsidies it is a moot point.

DollarBill wrote:Anyway, people who are new to improv should be very very very grateful to the AIC.

Actually, I'm very very grateful to the hideout for regularly allowing us to play there every month, even though the bathrooms keep breaking down. I'm also grateful there's a new coldtowne theatre that provides even more slots for improv.

Anyways, what I notice about non-profit stuff is there's generally 1 or 2 leaders who keep the vision bright, and inspire (rather than hassle) other volunteers into joining and helping. We need those leaders, otherwise we're just a bunch of chickens in a pen pecking at each others' tails.

Wesley wrote:I still don't think the AIC should even be doing show production to begin with, so it would have no say in who is scheduled where or when.

It's academic. The people who make up the AIC aren't some group external to the theaters. If the AIC turned over scheduling/production of the Threefer and Double Barrel to the Hideout, they would still have to be scheduled. They would still have to be hosted. The only thing that would change would be that they would be more likely to just go away when things get bleak.

The AIC produced shows provide troupes with the opportunity to play. Especially for new troupes without other outlets, this is crucial. If the AIC exists to support the troupes (TM), what better way could there be than by giving them a place to perform?

I think the longer the AIC is in place, the more we take for granted/forget the things it does provide.

And for what it's worth, there are repurcusions currently in place and approved of. If you don't do your hosting and don't get it covered, you:

1) won't be a priority in the next scheduling session
2) won't get as many performance slots (read 0 to 1, as opposed to 2-3).

This is in place, and it will be followed through on.

I guess for me its a boundary issues. You are right. All the people in the troupes are in the AIC which is made up of troupes and people and everyone is doing everything. So why need the actual AIC? Why not just troupes doing what they do?
All the roles get blurred. When is it GGG (or Pgraph or IFE) doing something, vs AIC but all the GGG members are involved (see LAFF) GGG is an AIC troupe, but the fest as it stands is half on an AIC night and half not, we had to schedule everything separately because of that. (not that it was a particularly difficult thing to do).