Austin Improv

I thought that the show was great. Funny, witty and I was impressed that they get to tour the country doing improv.

I also thought that I've seen shows in Austin that are on par with the quality of that show. To me that was good news, not a disappointment.

Heroes of Comedy tour company? I'd like to audition for that!

so long as groups keep building up their brand and not using the initial talent that earned them the recognition the brand carries, there will forever be mediocre shows put on by the progeny of people who used to be relevant.

it's a shitty thing to say but it is true.

beardedlamb wrote:so long as groups keep building up their brand and not using the initial talent that earned them the recognition the brand carries, there will forever be mediocre shows put on by the progeny of people who used to be relevant.

it's a shitty thing to say but it is true.

So I should cancel my plans to start the Well-Hung Jury Road Team. Cycling. Improv. Life.

I didn't see the shows, but I have a little insight that I think might bring some of this into perspective.

"Game" is the signature style of UCB. It's really difficult to get good at game. Chris and I took a week-long intensive with UCB and there was no delusions that we were going to be good at game at the end of one week. Some say it takes a year just to start getting the hang of game.

The format that UCB TourCo does is basically raw game. They do that because it fun and funny and very pleasing, especially to non-improviser crowds. Plus, they've been working at game so long that it's a lot easier form to do for them. It's tough touring around and doing two shows a night. By doing that form, they're basically guaranteed to have a slam dunk show from the (non-improviser) audience's point of view. Think of doing Maestro or ComedySportz. Even a bad show is entertaining to non-improvisers. When big money and reputations are on the line, it's not a bad decision to simply entertain the crowd, as opposed to being experimental and "daring." [note: daring here is improviser-centric; simply getting on a stage is daring from the non-improviser pov]

But go to UCB Theatre and you're not going to see 1000 shows like that. You're going to see some experimental stuff. You're going to see some more daring stuff. You're going to see game applied to different forms, which is really the point.

When someone's paying you to do a show, it doesn't make you less artistic, etc. to do tested material (or formats, in this case). Every major musician plays at least some of their hits in big shows.

Aden wrote:I also thought that I've seen shows in Austin that are on par with the quality of that show. To me that was good news, not a disappointment.

Exactly. I didn't feel disappointed in the show, but thought it was cool I was part of community that has put on shows just as good as that.

York99 wrote:I didn't see the shows, but I have a little insight that I think might bring some of this into perspective.

. . .

The format that UCB TourCo does is basically raw game. They do that because it fun and funny and very pleasing, especially to non-improviser crowds.

This is the part I agree with the most in what you say. I try (although hard at times) to forget I'm an improviser when I'm watching most shows. It doesn't mean dumbing myself down to be an audience member, but I try not to worry about the technical aspects of the show unless they scream out at me.

Hmmm....

I talked about to some of the UCB Tourco peeps about Austin and mentioned I knew they were going there because there was a thread about it on the forums. One of them said he would check out our forums, who knows if he will.

I don't want us to seem like we think we're better than our out-of-town guests, which is what a lot of this thread reads like to me. I know it's nice to have discussions about improv, but it feels like everyone who was posting on this thread assumed no one from Tourco would ever see it. We don't publicly give criticisms of Austin shows on here because it's the Austin improv forums, but it's not like only people from Austin can read this.

I miss you all and will see you after Christmas at the Same Year's Eve show. Hope this post doesn't piss anyone off.

Hmm, good point. Can we make this thread go away some how? I'd hate to give offense.

They seemed like nice, well-adjusted people. I don't think a balanced discussion on a regional message board will hurt their feelings.

"They said what!? Fuel up the UCB Scramjet! Justice will be done!"



Great, now we're doomed...good looking out.

I think Jill's right: this thread is coming off as note-giving, which in my experience is really not cool unless it's coming from a coach that's been hired to do so.

What would lighten this tension right now would be if John Ratliff pretended he was at a party hitting on Justin.

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Just as in normal etiquette, if you wouldn't say something at a party that someone might overhear that you don't want to hear it, then don't post it here. Right? Easy.

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ratliff wrote:

York99 wrote:Just as in normal etiquette, if you wouldn't say something at a party that someone might overhear that you don't want to hear it, then don't post it here. Right? Easy.

Assuming that the party guests are everyone in the world who's online.

exactly. because that's the way it works.