Where are all the new troupes?

nadine · Post by **nadine** » November 3rd, 2006, 10:13 am

Improv for evil has been performing since April, and we had been rehearsing (and making shirts) months before that. We want a new baby sibling.

I'm not including ad-hoc cagematch teams, or new troupes that consists of different combinations of folks already in AIC troupes.

But fresh faces. (and fresh labor to support new shows like GSOT). We seem to be exponentially growing in new shows, but this doesn't seem to correlate with new troupes....

I'm hoping to see new ones from the recent level 3 and also the coldtowne classes. Is there rumors of any?

Stagnation is uncool.

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » November 3rd, 2006, 10:14 am

Having existing troupes continue to perform and get better is hardly stagnation.

"There are too many troupes! We need more show slots!"

*new theatre opens*

"Crap, we play too much! We need more troupes!"

nadine · Post by **nadine** » November 3rd, 2006, 10:20 am

kbadr wrote:Having existing troupes continue to perform and get better is hardly stagnation.

Tsk. I'm talking more about the population of improvisers. But if we don't get new people at all (which is very unlikely), the culture will eventually suffer to.

For most communities to thrive, there should be a constant inflow of new folks. This benefits older folks as they get to refine their art by having to teach. The share of work doesn't fall to a select few who eventually burns out. Doing new shows mean needing people to support the tech, or just be an audience.

I'm glad we're having a gazillion classes, but hopefully some of them gets infected with the urge to continue.

Besides, fresh faces are nice.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » November 3rd, 2006, 10:28 am

nadine wrote:Besides, fresh faces are nice.

And it means we won't be the "baby" troupe anymore.

deroosisonfire · Post by **deroosisonfire** » November 3rd, 2006, 11:31 am

The executive board discussed this last night, and I was going to add it to the agenda for the meeting on Sunday.

Please keep discussing here and I'll bring these comments to the meeting.

What can we do to get new people involved?

mcnichol · Post by **mcnichol** » November 3rd, 2006, 11:37 am

deroosisonfire wrote:What can we do to get new people involved?

This might already happen, but teachers (in the Heroes School or Coldtowne) can:

-tell students about this board
-encourage students to see different types of shows
-encourage students to get involved with the Jam or the Maestro
-encourage students to come to AIC meetings/parties/functions

I think the key to people forming new teams is knowing that they can. And that they are encouraged to

Beyond that, I'm not sure you can do much else to make teams form.

York99 · Post by **York99** » November 3rd, 2006, 11:56 am

When I first started, I was pretty intimidated by the more advanced improvisers. I didn't hang out with them and at Second City, we didn't have student teams -- you formed a team after graduation. That is in a school that is two years long. Other than a show at the end of each level and a show run to graduate, there was no stage time other than a jam. iO was better with regards to stage time for me and, I believe, for Arthur.

But look at Tami, Jastroch and Chris. They started in an environment where all of the students hung out -- regardless of level -- and they were put on teams in level one or two and had shows once or twice a month doing only long-form.

Look how good they are and how involved they are and I have about 4 years of experience on them.

My point is to illustrate that encouraging people to get on stage early and often is a great approach. The ColdTowne Conservatory will be getting students up on stage in the next couple of months. We need to support student shows.

mcnichol · Post by **mcnichol** » November 3rd, 2006, 12:07 pm

York99 wrote:My point is to illustrate that encouraging people to get on stage early and often is a great approach.

Totally. I think that the Cagematch (which so far has pretty much been the same 15 or 20 people in different forms) is a great first step. When I was in level 2, a bunch of us formed a team ostensibly to do a Cagematch, but we also ended up doing other shows and whatnot. And it broke that fear of getting on stage in front of an audience, and made us want to do more (and definitely do it better). Also hanging out outside of classes (getting lunch after class, getting together to go see shows, throwing/going to parties) was another huge factor of feeling a part of a community. Coldtowne is already doing this with Student Appreciation Nights, which has been good for us non-students too.

Part of this can come from we who are already performing too -- if you see someone new hanging around, make sure to meet them and make them feel welcome. Some of us can be pretty intimidating (Nadine, Val, I'm looking in your direction) so just knowing that we've always got room for more can make a big difference to someone who doesn't know otherwise.

Roy Janik · Post by **Roy Janik** » November 3rd, 2006, 12:15 pm

I was talking with Kaci about this last night.

I was thinking specifically in terms of classes, and what their focus is:

Maybe if level 3 (or the equivalent) could be more promoted as a "hands on" type of class- like that's when you get your feet wet... part of the class is helping with lights, joining a Cagematch team, sitting in on a troupe's rehearsal, etc... like it's not just that these things are available, but that they're an integral part of the class... so that students leave class knowing what it's like to be a part of the community.

Or we could always adopt the Knighthood of BUH approach and say that anyone new to the community should host a party at their place as soon as possible.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » November 3rd, 2006, 12:18 pm

I'm also bothered by the lack of "new blood" entering the AIC.

New people bring new ideas and I love playing with new people because they keep me on my toes a lot more. The lack of new blood may also be why so many workshops and shows haven't made as of late.

I do think there is a definite disconnect between the performing community and the student population. I've noticed a lack of new troupes, but I don't even know how many students there have been in the past year, or how many made it to level 3, or even if there were any level 3 classes taught to turn out new troupes. And while I hear more than I used to about other shows being performed, we woefully underpush classes (and when we do it's often rushed and at the end "come see more shows, we teach classes, get out and have a good night").

Quick ideas for generating new people AND retaining them:

--Get new class promo materials: tri-fold brochures, signs, announcements at shows, higher visability on the websites, newspaper announcements, etc. Just walking throught the Hideout I'd never know they even offered classes.
--Have weekly guest TAs. I'd love to TA, but I can't always make a run of classes. So, instead of one or no TA, have a weekly guest. Maybe if students saw a variety of actively involved experienced players it would encourage them to stay on, and it would get more experienced players involved in teaching and engaging the new people. Being new to anything is scary, but immediately feeling accepted by people you've seen on stage and respected is priceless in retaining people.
--Give students an earlier introduction into the larger community by encouraging them to check out the boards, stay around and talk after shows, or attend parties. The community feel is one of the biggest draws. I love doing shows, but more than that I love hanging out and talking with all you guys and gals. This community is like family.
--Actively introduce (and make time for) students. If the instructors are at a show and one or more of their students come, make it a point to take the student around and introduce them to other players.
--Praise new players. When you see new players in Maestro, make sure they know that you respect their work.
--Revitalize the jam and advertise it.

ChrisTrew.Com · Post by **ChrisTrew.Com** » November 3rd, 2006, 12:38 pm

I'm confident that there will be many new improv faces in 2007. We are going to talk more about this Sunday. Be there!

AustinsIrishPirate · November 3rd, 2006, 2:27 pm

The rest of the students in Level 3 and I are all talking about forming a troupe after the graduation show. We're just not sure how to go about it.

Roy Janik · Post by **Roy Janik** » November 3rd, 2006, 2:29 pm

montysmith wrote:The rest of the students in Level 3 and I are all talking about forming a troupe after the graduation show. We're just not sure how to go about it.

Awesome. I'll be glad to offer any advice/assistance I can.

kaci_beeler · Post by **kaci_beeler** » November 3rd, 2006, 2:35 pm

Roy Janik wrote:
montysmith wrote:The rest of the students in Level 3 and I are all talking about forming a troupe after the graduation show. We're just not sure how to go about it.
Awesome. I'll be glad to offer any advice/assistance I can.

Same here.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » November 3rd, 2006, 2:43 pm

and here.

We went through the EXACT same thing coming out of level 3. I think it went about like this:

"So what do we do after Level 3?"
"Form a troupe and start performing."
"...how?"