Austin Improv

At last week's Threefer (McNichol & May, Hoover's Blanket and The Available Cupholders) there was a full house, however, Zack (sp?)--our house manager--said that we only sold thirty-eight tickets and that he had to turn away some paying cutomers. The house seats, I believe, fifty people.

If these figures are accurate, then we need to revisit the policy of AIC members getting on a waiting list for tickets and random other folks slipping into shows. I'm not trying to be sourpuss...just trying to get back to the idea of applying a little more professionalism to our shows.

Don't get me wrong...I loved playing for a full house, but c'mon...

Also (and I am guilty of this at times as are many other people), there were people sitting and standing in the aisle. This makes it tricky for performers within shows and between shows to get in and out of the theater. I don't mind so much a few people in the aisles, but only if courtesy and safety are applied.

We've been over this time and again. the policy as I understood it was as follows:

--EVERYONE in a seat in the theatre needs a ticket. Period. Even if they are comped or an improviser, they need to go get a ticket. It is for reasons of both fire code and so that we know when to stop selling tickets. Even if someone is staying from a previous show they need to go get a new ticket. Period.
--Improvisers PAY for shows like everyone else until the official start time, after which they can get remaining, unsold tickets for free. But NOT UNTIL start time. This was put in place precisely so paying customers got seats first.

I say we empower the house manager and host team to kick out anyone without a ticket. Embarassing as it may be.

I want to turn away paying customers, but only because we've grown so successful that the theatre is already full of paying customers and the next 50 in line just got there too late, not because people are sneaking themselves or friends in.

I agree with everything said. I think that maybe the policy just hasn't been mentioned in awhile, so maybe people are getting lax.

But I will say that something else was going on during that 3-fer. Once I heard there was a problem, I went and looked at the audience. There were 2, or at the very most, 4 improvisers in the seats, nowhere near the 12-13 that would have been accounted for by the tickets. So something else was going on.

hey chris.

i am guilty of aisle sitting. i just needed to get up on some showness. i apologize if i hindered egress.

and, yeh - werd to what wes and roy are saying. when i heard there were a bunch of improvisers in the seats, i went in the theatre. most of the improvisers were in the aisleway - i saw very few in the seats.

if the theatre was full and only 37 were sold, then zack needs to be empowered to make sure everyone in a seat has a ticket. the policy only works if its enforced.

and - i have been kicked out of seats for shows. it stings at first, but the point is not to perform just for people you know.

e

I don't think the ticket taker was strict enough. I heard that some people ran past the ticket taker into the theater.

Also, I think floor seating, one row, in front of the seated row should be allowed.
I hate turning people away. They probably would rather sit in a seat than the floor, so that should get them to come earlier next time.
Other much more reputable/well-known theaters in other cities allow some floor seating, and it hasn't hurt their crowds (I could name names but it's not necessary).
Why not? We don't need to be snobs. Floor seating is also much better than aisle standing, in my opinion.

VOTE FLOOR SEATING IN 2006!

Only if the number floor sitting still remains below the fire code limit.

Wesley wrote:Only if the number floor sitting still remains below the fire code limit.

I will set fire to Arthur Simone's house regardless.

erikamay wrote:hey chris.

i am guilty of aisle sitting. i just needed to get up on some showness. i apologize if i hindered egress.

Erika...

I wasn't upset about it all...since I do it a lot too...and with improvisors, I know they are cautious. I try to be aware if people are coming in and out and whatnot and I'm sure you do too.

I am more concerned about the "sneakers" who get in who are not part of AIC.

I do know that we have a policy. I think things have gotten lax again b/c we haven't been having many sold-out shows. Any show that seems like it may sell out should be a strong cue to all of us...follow the procedure to get on a waiting list for any tickets that remain after the public has paid. You may not get a choice seat...and not everyone may get in...but it's good to get other folks into shows. I agree.

this discussion always leads me back to moving the box office upstairs. it eliminates the ticket taker position which is most of the time not there anyway. it makes it easier for someone to be multitasking while running box. it makes it easier to track who's getting in free and why. it kills any communication problems between the box and the theatre such as opening the house, remaining seat numbers, and knowing when the show has started. and it means anyone who doesn't have a ticket can easily get one at the appropriate time.
the biggest problem is that our host groups and xaq don't have the balls or inclination to bust people. i don't either. i'm too much of a puss. if i owned the place, i might be more inclined to bust people, but none of us own the place and we want it to be a light and friendly atmosphere that people enjoy.

Moving it upstairs also does not make it easy/convenient for people to come in, buy tickets, and lounge around until show time (or leave and go somewhere else if they buy them way in advance.) And it will create a bottle neck, and create noise right outside the theatre where shows could be going on, and won't give us very much opportunity to move back and forth between the green room and the theatre to prepare for shows.

all of these are good reasons to not move the box upstairs.

[confusion emoticon]

I agree with Kareem, it is unsafe to have people lining up on the stairs while performers or people who already bought tickets run up and down them and too loud to sell tickets up there with another show going on.

As for kicking people out, I have NO problem doing it. Just ask me if I'm around. I want a happy fun atmosphere, but I want it for people that respect what we do enough not to try to sneak in and take seats away from paying customers. How many people do you think sneak in to Esther's? Alamo? I'm betting these places, which still provide light fun atmospheres, rarely have the problem of turning away paying customers because half their seats are mysteriously taken.

If we are going to kick people out, we need to start ripping the ticket in half and letting them keep half. Otherwise, how do we distinguish between someone who handed us a ticket and grabbed a seat, and someone who snuck in while I was off doing a pee pee.

i don't know the total situation, but have we invested in a pair of walkie talkies for the box office and door to communicate with one another? This might alleviate a lot of problems in the discrepancies between who's buying tickets and who's getting in.

as for turning paying customers away...it's going to happen sometimes. particularly if they show up late and improvisers have taken the remaining seats since the policy says we can go in and take the seats once the show starts. if you show up late, you're taking your chances. and that's true for even the most professional theatres. something to keep in mind, if it wasn't there already.

i have offered nothing useful or productive. i'll just go now...