competition in improv

[beardedlamb]

why is it so popular?

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

why is it so popular?

i think for the same reason competition is popular in any arena. it automatically creates stakes, which is highly engaging for an audience. whether those stakes are real (the X-Ecution in L.A. and its cash prize, meetings with agents, etc.) or manufactured as a box for the show (Maestro and its comparisons to pro-wrestling)...it gives the audience someone to root for. they have an automatic "in" for investing in the show and the performers. same as any football game, American Idol or Survivor. instant stakes=instant drama.

and yes, instant drama's gonna get you. :p

[Marc Majcher]

Because the improvised events that draw the largest audiences and make the most money are competitions. Soccer, football, basketball, baseball, the olympics, professional wrestling, and so on. It's a cheap way to bring some of that drama to the stage. Not "cheap" in a bad way; maybe "efficient" is a better word. It's a crack line to draw an audience, possibly at the expense of creating something deeper or more meaningful, but damned if it doesn't work like a shot.

[kbadr]

Competition on stage, a la Maestro, can also unite the audience and turn the experience into ritual, which our brains crave.

[Matt]

It also contains a built-in element of audience involvement and ownership of a show if their feedback clearly and obviously affects the course of the performance.

It's more impressive for me as an improvisor to see a troupe create an hour of show from a single suggestion, but there is a large audience out there that doesn't see that as 'improv.' How many times have we had people not believe us that we didn't plan out a longform in advance? I've never heard the same from a Maestro or other shortform show, since its patently obvious that we are reacting to the audience.

[jillybee72]

It's something to grab on to. Competition makes your heart pump, and an audience can easily become wrapped up in it.

[beardedlamb]

so how do we best balance the tenets of improv with the trappings of competition? they seem to be at odds, yes?

[Jeff]

so how do we best balance the tenets of improv with the trappings of competition?

i do that by losing.

[Jastroch]

so how do we best balance the tenets of improv with the trappings of competition? they seem to be at odds, yes?

The competition is part of the improv. It's a game. You're pretending to compete.

[LuBu McJohnson]

so how do we best balance the tenets of improv with the trappings of competition? they seem to be at odds, yes?

The competition is part of the improv. It's a game. You're pretending to compete.

Indeed. And you should wanna win a little. That way you can make it look like you wanna win a LOT. But you shouldn't really wanna win a lot, it makes the effect of a loss last a lot longer.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

so how do we best balance the tenets of improv with the trappings of competition? they seem to be at odds, yes?

not necessarily. i think there seems to be a difference in team competitions and solo competitions. when it's two teams facing off, you want to have some kind of rivalry, a certain amount of trash talk...tribalism at its finest. when you have a group of soloists playing against each other, it seems far more popular to at least seem supportive of each other and gracious. a college football game versus something like the Olympics or American Idol. in those latter contexts, it's far more about doing your best than beating the other person (and in improv, most of the time, doing your best means making the other guy look good too). as opposed to a format like a Cage Match or the Battle of the Sexes show where there's a level of faux competitive rivalry injected into the show.

it would be interesting to see how the concept of the heel or villain would manifest in a show like Maestro. would the audience respond to it (either in support because people love a good villain, or as a common figure of derision)? or would it just come off like some dude being an asshole who'd get voted out early on? lol!

[arthursimone]

Competition on stage, a la Maestro, can also unite the audience and turn the experience into ritual, which our brains crave.

I can dig this

[jillybee72]

There's a ComedySportz slogan: "We play to win but we don't care if we lose." It's a line from one of our songs. Yes, we have songs. We are not a cult.

[sara farr]

Hormones.

also.. autonomy mastery purpose (drive)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuF ... r_embedded[/youtube]

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

There's a ComedySportz slogan: "We play to win but we don't care if we lose." It's a line from one of our songs. Yes, we have songs. We are not a cult.

the songs don't make you a cult...the robes and chanting do.