Austin Improv

I think it's time for us to kill the Late Nite Lab Slot, or at the very least reformat it. We were able to build the Cage Match & build the Thursdays, but the Late Nite Lab has fallen short every time. I feel it is a dead horse, and needs to be put down.

This was brought up a the AIC meeting as well.

While some may argue that we need a slot for audience members to be able to interact with us, I feel we aren't big or tight enough yet to fully sell this on a regular basis.

I feel what could work would be an Avant Garde show, where experimental improv would take place. Avant Garde After Hours, if you will. A huge slice of theatre in Austin is Avant Garde (or at least claims to be) which could potentialy help sell the show. It would be a great venue for improvisers to try new formats, as well as draw them into seats. Think of this as the Alamo Drafthouse's Wacky Wednesday, where every Wed you see another weird and obscure movie. I honestly feel this to be the best solution for this slot, and the summer is a great time to get it together for the fall.

I also want to add that the name "Late Night Lab" isn't descriptive enough to average people, or should i say, not as iconic as a "Cage Match" or "Maestro." It's cheap and cheesy to call it Avant Garde After Hours, but that's just the name I came up with when I started typing.

Andy mentioned wanting to do a Rookie Gorilla slot. Dav wants to do a blue maestro night. These are all great ideas, anf the summer is the perfect canvas to get started on.

what are everyone else's thoughts on the Late Nite Lab/Jam slot?

As decided during the meeting, I will be taking over the ownership of this slot, at least for the short term.

There are already some ideas being bandied about for this slot (such as the ones mentioned), so--in addition to posting ideas here--you can also private message me with any show requests and ideas you have.

We also need a name, so suggestions are welcome. It was suggested we keep "Jam" because of our current marketing. While I don't think that a stranger would necessarily think of a jam as their chance to get on stage, I think it would be best to change the name so as not to create confusion with the Tuesday Night Jam. Again, this goes back to the notion discussed today of 'branding' each show and time slot.
The name we want is something that is open to interpretation so that a Blue Maestro or a Gorilla or anything else naturally fit in under the name without having to rebrand the time slot. Something that indicates a changing show format.