Micetro Insanity

[HerrHerr]

Thanks to all who played (and did lights/sound) the other night. It was definitely one of the strangest Micetros I've been a part of. I hadn't directed in some time and you all were very playful and supportive.

I'm thinking that maybe we cap the show at twelve players per show. For one thing, the space is just so small for more than twelve folks. For another thing, we need the show to end on time since we have the Jam right afterwards.

[Roy Janik]

Yeah, I definitely agree at the cap at 12. My favorite number is around 10. Having smaller groups allows more scenic games to be played, too, which is always nice.

Oh, and that was the best "clump comically" I've been a part of.

[deroosisonfire]

i also like the idea of a cap. in my mind the question is how to make that happen: do we have people sign up? is it just the first 12 (or whatever) improvisers to show up? lately the policy has been to ask for sign-ups and when too many people show up we entirely ignore the sign-up process and just ask for volunteers to sit out. surely there must be something better.

[arclight]

What worked well for several years was having people submit their availability ahead of time, make sure the show was completely staffed with cast, directors, and staff, and then posting the schedule and/or emailing people before the show so they knew what they were doing. This allowed us to balance the cast experience level which is a real help to new players and let us do some quality control (so it wasn't all new players onstage) and social engineering (those who don't occasionally do show support or consistently show up late don't get scheduled so often...)

Sure, we took drop-ins if there was space on the roster and occasionally we had a no-show for lights or box office that meant someone scheduled to play got bumped to a tech role, but for the most part the show ran very smoothly and everyone seemed pretty happy that surprises were kept to a minimum.

Historically, the Micetro board had space for 15 players but we rarely played with more than 10 for the reasons you noted - the show drags and/or you get a lot of unsatisfying mass-chaos scenes. Either you have to burn off a bunch of players (which sucks as a performer), you have to step up the pace of scenes (which sucks as a performer and director), or the show lasts way too long (which sucks for the audience and the show that follows Micetro.) To address all those problems, we intentionally reduced the maximum number of players from 15 to 12 when we rebuilt the Micetro board. Playing with more than 12 is A Bad Idea.

Players get in the habit of submitting their availability in a timely fashion once they've have been turned away a few times. We're finally back to a cast size that means there's competition for stage time. We really have no excuse for not scheduling shows; those who make it easy to staff and run the shows by signing up early should be rewarded with stage time.

[Evilpandabear]

while i am in support for the cap

i am NOT in support for the first come first serve policy.

i prefer the sign-up policy

however, there would then need to be some policy of first sign-up first serve, and to only make it fair there would need to be a set time every week for sign-ups, and then there would be need to be 15 people signed up just in case no one shows and ugh.... too much heart ache. we've tried to do this before and it never works out. seriously.

as much as i dislike the first come first serve, it is by far the easiest solution. we would only need people to bow out politely.

HOWEVER, since directors are usually scheduled. i would like the directors to also have a call on the players. especially if it's a specialized maestro like singing, all-star, or one of Phil's brilliant theme maestros.

2 more points:
(1) there was discussion at Opal's that at the end of maestro, we annouce that most of the players are in their own troupe, so the audience can check out more of their favorite improviser (and see more improv). we do this by having each improviser give their name & their troupe name.

(2) for the love of god let's change the sign to MAESTRO instead of MICETRO.... yeah yeah Johnstone blah blah... Fuck Him. Fuck him right in the ear.

[Evilpandabear]

(3) you know some of the best improvisers i know are not the most punctual of people. some of the worst improvisers i know are punctual (most of the time.) and what if jo schmo sucky or jo schmo superman decides to register for all the maestros in the next 3 months? that's not too fair is it? am i elitist? regardless of that answr i do want a quality show as these people paid good money to see it.

(4) the problem i found with sign-ups is that people will flake out, forget, or something happens at the last minute. which means that people won't show up. you then take the gamble of "are there extra improvisers at the hideout that want to play?" of course, that isn't much of a gamble now, but if this sign-up policy becomes standard it will become more of a gamble as time goes on

(5) surely we're all mature enough to bow out of one performance every now and then, without having to go through the tedious work of a sign-up.

[arclight]

(3) you know some of the best improvisers i know are not the most punctual of people. some of the worst improvisers i know are punctual (most of the time.) and what if jo schmo sucky or jo schmo superman decides to register for all the maestros in the next 3 months? that's not too fair is it? am i elitist? regardless of that answer i do want a quality show as these people paid good money to see it.

Just because you're available all the time doesn't mean you are scheduled all the time; it's directors' fiat as to who gets scheduled to play. There are far more people who are competent and can show up on time and it's arrogant to assume that since someone is God's Gift to Improvisors that they can flaunt the process that everyone else can seem to live with. I say we stop catering to fuck-ups.

(4) the problem i found with sign-ups is that people will flake out, forget, or something happens at the last minute. which means that people won't show up. you then take the gamble of "are there extra improvisers at the hideout that want to play?" of course, that isn't much of a gamble now, but if this sign-up policy becomes standard it will become more of a gamble as time goes on

Not really; we apparently have no problem finding players so if you overstaff the show by one or two people (scorekeeper & sound tech) you can survive two flakeouts with no damage to the show. For morale purposes, it's much better to be pulled out of the booth and put on stage than the reverse. Once people get in the habit of signing up for shows, there's not a lot of flaking out. And if there is, you don't schedule those people any more (see above: stop catering to fuck-ups)

(5) surely we're all mature enough to bow out of one performance every now and then, without having to go through the tedious work of a sign-up.

Some of us don't want to dress up, mentally prepare to play, and haul our ass all the way to the theater just to find out the show is overstaffed or we've been bumped to a tech role, especially if God's Gift to Improvisors shows up 5 minutes to show time and takes our performance slot. Not everyone plans to spend their weekend hanging out at The Hideout (I did that for a couple years and now, not so much) It's not a huge amount of work to schedule shows especially if your players cooperate (I did this single-handedly for 9 months, thanks...), it's a huge burden lifted from the directors' & show manager's shoulders, it shows committment by the players, and it shows respect for players, especially the busy ones. I'd rather the organization was mature enough to treat its staff and players and audiences well, rather than expect everyone to work around ad hoc show management.

Scheduling is doable, it's not rocket science or an extreme burden, and it's got a proven track record of success.

[deroosisonfire]

if you are grown-up enough to bow out politely, you are old enough to stick to a committment once you have made it. would you blow off a threefer slot? nope. why should maestro be any different?

[Evilpandabear]

maestro shouldnt be any different, but the individual would feel more compelled to ditch out as one player of the many maestro players as opposed to one of his troupe (which we assume doesnt have 12 people in it, unless it's a time warp and they're called ed32... hmm i think gigglepants has that many members too...)

that's not my philosophy, but that's how one might be inclined to think.



(6) ultimately, it seems that this lies in the director's shoes. as they are handling the shows. the person who is in charge of maestro is mr. couch so ultimately we'll have to leave this decision to him. i feel uncomfortable with forcing this issue upon him as it seems to be a little fascist in my eyes.

(7) it's very important (although it may seem trivial) to remember that Maestro, as of yet, is apart of the Hideout or Heroes of Comedy (if that exists) and is NOT repeat NOT apart of AIC.

and before we get our panties in a knot over this, it is a very crucial question that, as of yet, still remains to be answered. what does AIC mean to the Hideout, vice-versa, and what exactly is the relationship between the two? the money from this show goes elsewhere, and credit cards are taken for this show, which makes matters a little complicated and tricky. but before more is spoken on that matter, i think we should all remember this and be sure to keep it in mind.

[Roy Janik]

Having spent several months on both the online scheduling system and the "free-for-all night of" system, I must say I prefer the online system. It was good to know I had a slot reserved, and to mentally prepare for that.

[Evilpandabear]

and who says just because you cant make it at 9:00pm that youre a fuck up. some people get of work later than others and can only get to the hideout at 9:15 or 9:30pm. does that mean they's a fuck up?

...

i do understand though that not everyone lives as close to downtown as others and it can be frustrating to go downtown to only realize you cant perform in maestro. or that if you get off work late you should still be able to play if you get there in time.

...

i too enjoyed the online sign up.
does anyone remember the website?
and what if i forgot my password?

[Roy Janik]

It's http://www.austinimprov.com/schedule

[Wesley]

I much preferred the sign-up system. I don't think it has to be first come first serve online, but I think it should be "if you don't sign up, you are only in if there aren't enough people for a show." As for signing up, you could just have a deadline, like Thursday at noon. It isn't first come first serve, it is "out of all the people signed up by noon on Thursday." Then the director(s) slot who they want, taking into account experience, showmenship (like providing support), ability (if it is a special show like a musical), and how often the person plays. Also, they can take into account players who aren't in the system if they are told in advance (someone from out of town, a returning player, etc).
Like you said, not everyone lives near downtown, and I'd much rather make the drive and effort knowing I'll be playing than under the possibility of being cut because some player who hasn't shown up in 36 months pops in out of the blue.

I'm also for never breaking 12 unless you really do cut 3 or 4 people after the very first round.


(3) you know some of the best improvisers i know are not the most punctual of people. some of the worst improvisers i know are punctual (most of the time.)

That's a fine point except for one thing. Even the best can fail without warming up with the group. If it was only them affected, I might say so what, but it isn't. It is unfair to everyone else if someone isn't on time because warm-ups often get disrupted when they do enter and the lack of warming up as a group prevents achieving a true group mind. Warm-ups aren't just to get the brain and body working, but to get them working in sync with your fellow players.
I don't care if you are too cocky to think you need warm-ups, as part of a team, you weaken the whole when you show up late and I don't care if you are Alan Arkin, John Belushi, or Matt Besser. I'd say if you show up more than 5 mins late, you're out. With the possible exceptions of the person calling in advance to let people know that they are in a unique situation and will be late or someone performing in a previous overlapping show.

[sara farr]

I'VE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why don't we do the staffing for Maestro ahead of time (directors, techs, and players), just like the other AIC shows -- BUT ONLY FOR THE FIRST EIGHT PLAYER SLOTS!!

That way you can leave FOUR player slots open for drop-by improvisers. The first four extra imps who are there at 9pm to warm up with the others get to play with the ones who signed up. AND with eight "signed up" players, there should be enough for a show if no one drops by. AND by encouraging people to drop by, if for some reason one of the eight can't play (they get sick, family or business obligations pop up, etc), there would likely be stand-by players to fill that slot.

PERFECT! (right?)

[sara farr]

Also, I want to add that one of the GREAT things that has happened with the "Heroes" opening up Maestro to the whole community is that it has become a show where the audience not only gets to see experienced and "rising tallent" improvisers playing together, but they get to see a mix of improvisers from different troupes, as well as free-agent imps (or "RONIN improvisers" as Dave Wallace calls them) playing together. I think the show is ESPECIALLY great when that mix is very diverse.

We should let the audience know that they're getting to see something special, as well as do what we can to premote our little improv melting pot.