Austin Improv

You guys voted me as the "Hardest Working Person for the Collective" and when I proposed my plan (as Executive Director) for the future including a Managing and Artistic Director, it took a few forum posts from others to flush it all away.

I'm going to make a living doing comedy and I'm learning that doing 10 things at 10% effort ain't going to get me there. So I'm streamlining my projects and responsibilities.

This is something I wrote about 5 months ago as a personal rant, and never went public about. I just found it last night while digging through old files looking for a list of teacher contacts for Asaf.

"Once, a kid named Phil got really interested in improv comedy. He found a wonderful tight-knit community that accepted him and encouraged him to pursue (with a passion) the artform he so loved.

A while later, Phil went through some somewhat tough shit (let's just say that he attended 3 funerals in the span of a week and a half, and there was more on top of that), and Phil needed a break from everything. Because of this he missed a few shows, and some rehearsals. And he apologized for that, he hated to seem irresponsible or unreliable. He hated to let people down when he didn't show up. And he was aptly punished for it, “firedâ€

I guess I'd like to weigh in. I'm not totally sure what I want the AIC to be, because I haven't been all that clear on what the AIC has been. However, I can tell you that Phil's story seems to resonate with me.

Not that I have volunteered countless hours, because I haven't, nor have I felt un-appreciated for my non-spent time. What I mean, is that it seems to me that folks in general seem to avoid doing thankless work. As burned out and frustrated as those are who have already poured heart and soul into the AIC, its difficult for a newbie to want to step up to what seems like a lot of stress.

I only attended one general body meeting myself. At that meeting people seemed frustrated with each other, people seemed un-open to new exciting ideas. I felt like I probably shouldn't speak up and voice any kind of support or disagree with anything at the meeting too. Still felt like an outsider by the end of it. So, I was pretty sure, I probably shouldn't go back to another meeting.

An opposite example of a leadership crew who had no trouble replacing themselves in every election or should someone need to unexpectedly step down is the youth group I was involved with in High School. What these folks would do was pick out individuals who they viewed as leaders or potential leaders, and start grooming them with compliments. It seems silly, but it worked well. I personally got sucked in after one of the larger events. Someone approached me and said, "we'd really like it if you would facilitate an activity at the next convention." From that day forward I felt so special, I jumped to help at any and every opportunity. Without fail, every time I did so, someone would tell me what a big help and relief it was that I was there. It sounds like Phil would have liked some of that.

I still haven't learned how to operate the sound and the lights, even though I offered to learn...still waiting on an offer to teach. On one or two occasions Andy has called me directly to ask for help. I always want to say yes, simply because being asked directly for help made me feel needed. However, it looks like if I'm ever going to learn how to do those things, it's going to be because I take the initiative to learn them, not because anyone offers to teach.

So, if you've made it to the bottom of these ramblings, let me say that as far as how the structure gets worked out, I'm pretty open to all of the ideas that I've heard. But I encourage everyone involved now to think about who they've seen doing stuff, and who has indicated any kind of willingness to step up to the plate for this or that thing, and start asking directly for what you need. I know it's not as easy as putting out a "does anybody want to ...?" but being asked directly to do something, it's harder to say no then it is to ignore a post asking for help. And if that person accepts your request and jumps up to do work, then make sure they know that you've noticed they did so.

Let me begin by saying that the Austin improv scene is growing and we are doing some fantastic improv. When I started the Foolish Mortals, I was tired of playing (for years) in Micetro, Gorilla Theatre, 6 Degree, and More or Less. That was just about all that was going on in this town with the HUGE exceptions of the Well Hung Jury and Girls, Girls, Girls. Those troupes were way before their time as far as the Austin scene goes and I am glad they were. They gave me the courage to start my own new troupe and try new things. I am truly grateful for that, although I have never told either of them that .

As for what I want from the AIC...

1. I want continued organization for the scheduling of shows (this has been done very well I might add...thx to Dave and Roy and all else who helped). This goes for hosting and performing.

2. I want promotion of those shows. The AIC has an agreement with the Hideout to use the space. I believe that means the AIC has a responsibility to advertise shows in the paper or on the radio or whatever is the best use of the money that needs to be spent. The Hideout needs to start making money, or the Hideout will eventually go away. That is bad for all of us.

3. I want the AIC to produce some large scale events that are fundraisers for the AIC and for other organizations. This will give us a war chest of advertising funds and raise awareness of the Austin improv scene. It will also give us all a common goal. We all want the local scene to grow. Some want it more than others, but we all want it. This would benefit everyone in the AIC! There is still a huge number of people in this town that do not know improv even exists. We also have the largest university in the country that we haven't really tapped.

4. This one should have been first...I want a crystal clear definition of what the AIC is, how being a member helps me and my troupes, what are the benefits of an AIC produced show, and what I have to do to be a member.

In closing, I would like to say that Chris Trew gave some really good advice. Streamline what you are doing. Focus on doing fewer things, but do them well. This will reduce the amount of burnout that many people keep going through. This, more than anything, will ensure your personal success and in turn the success of the AIC. The time for doing more will come after we are more established. Also...be patient. I believe what we are going through is part of the natural progression. It is growing pains. The product of these discussions will be a stronger AIC. We will lose people along the way, but that is part of growth. Only the strong survive right?

Amen, Ted. Amen.

I don't have a problem with the AIC.

There, I said it.

The only thing I don't like are the meetings, but hell, it's once a month. And negative attitudes.

When I take on a project, it's because I'm interested in it and enjoy doing it. If people don't help out, they aren't interested in it. Then I either have to do it myself, or give up.

I think it's also important to seperate your feelings about the AIC as an organization from your feelings about the informal community of improvisers.

Roy Janik wrote:I don't have a problem with the AIC.

There, I said it.

The only thing I don't like are the meetings, but hell, it's once a month. And negative attitudes.

When I take on a project, it's because I'm interested in it and enjoy doing it. If people don't help out, they aren't interested in it. Then I either have to do it myself, or give up.

I think it's also important to seperate your feelings about the AIC as an organization from your feelings about the informal community of improvisers.

Oh man, my feelings exactly!
Only I'm not quite as eloquent as you.

i like the AIC.

i like being a part of it. this is a coolass community we have, and i dont take it for granted.

i would prefer that we operate under a more formal structure, with elected posts. i think that would feel better to the people that want a high level of involvement on an organizational level and those that are content showing up for their hosting slot and putting on solid shows.

also. i vaguely recall that membership structure to be correct.

on a related note, i hope everyone feels loved and appreciated.

Is Phil kidding?

Phil wrote:...when I was going through an "emo" phase and it really no longer applies, because I'm way past the point of caring about most of that shit.

I dunno how to break this to you, but it sounds like you've ascended to a new level of Emo.

I think its always a challenge to sufficiently love and appreciate folks cause everyone needs it differently.
Some folks are satisfied with knowing their job has been done, some need a mission, some need physical pats on the back.
I think we are all really damn busy and its hard to give enough attention and praise out.
I don't know how many times I read stuff and think praise but don't do it.
Everyone seems tense at the moment, or maybe that is just the cloudy lens of the internets and me not being able to see people as they write things.
I'm visual so I have a hard time interpreting things here at the forums.
I'm also pretty realistic about knowing I'm just not going to get gobs of praise for grunt work/production work. I like some of course especially after a job is finished and I certainly get tired of hearing complaints without seeing people involved (when that happens), but for the most part I figure I have to base my happiness/satisfaction on how the job makes me feel not by what others are saying.
I fail at that a lot.
I'm glad people want to see the community grow and continue and evolve. I feel a little something....sad? something like that when I see how many people seem to feel under appreciated.
We have a creative community, we are smart as well as sensitive, we all need support and appreciation and we also all need to figure out what can be done here realistically so we can continue to make good shit happen.

Wow. Take a two day break from the boards to deal with the fact that I'm having the foundation of my house repaired (that's one of the things I do rather than attend AIC meetings) and a major coflagration breaks out. Awesome.

As someone only marginally committed to the AIC as an entity (I think I share many of Ratliff's feelings although we've never talked about them in depth), I do hope we can remind ourselves in these discussions that our community will still be a nice and pleasant one even if the AIC ceases to be what it is currently. Which is to say, while the AIC's structure has allowed for a certain sense of community to blossom it's not the only thing that has done so. Organizations don't please people, people do. I will continue to love all of you, even you Phil.

improvstitute wrote:I want a crystal clear definition of what the AIC is, how being a member helps me and my troupes, what are the benefits of an AIC produced show, and what I have to do to be a member.

I've been asking for this for a year now. I have yet to get a straight answer, particularly to the part about how being a member helps me.

I'm noticing that in these discussions the general assumption is that everyone knows that the AIC is Good For The Improvisers and everyone knows that they should be volunteering to help but nobody does because everyone is too busy or hypocritical or hypercritical or whatever. And I'm sure that's true of lots of people.

I personally like or love pretty much everyone in the AIC, and I have volunteered my services at plenty of AIC shows. But I'm not a member, and I don't plan to become one until I'm convinced that there's a harmony of interest between my goals and the organization's . . . AND that the organization is structured in a way that makes achieving those goals likely. That's just common sense. It doesn't mean that I have to agree with every semicolon of every AIC initiative to join. It just means that I have limited time and energy and I'm not going to invest them in an organization that is doing things I don't think need to be done, or worse, that I think shouldn't be done at all.

Maybe my problem is that I don't automatically assume the continued existence of the AIC. I'm not convinced that if it disappeared Austin improv would go with it. I am completely open to this argument and will pay close attention to anyone who wants to make it, but until then I feel like everyone else in this discussion is working on an unproven premise, namely, that the AIC should continue to function and is the best mechanism to fix whatever happens to be ailing Austin improv.

To be rude: What if the AIC is not the best way to fix the problem?

Ruder: What if the AIC is part of the problem?

Rudest: What if the AIC is the problem?

This is not a clever way of saying that the AIC is the problem. It's a straightforward way of asking questions that seem relevant to the discussion. I don't know the answers.

This presumes a problem.

arclight wrote:This presumes a problem.

Excellent point. The first question should be, "Is there a problem?"

If the answer is "yes," move on to my first question above.

If the answer is "no," how can we turn the hundreds of person-hours required to create the last four pages of posts to a more useful purpose? If there's no problem, we could have spent all that time writing letters for Amnesty International and gotten some Nigerian dude out of jail.

Actually, that started out as a joke, but would anybody be interested in starting an Amnesty International group or going to the monthly meetings with me? I actually want to do that.