Improve Improv
An Open Letter to the Coaches Council:
I am very excited about the New Year and what we are doing this year with the Coaches Council. I want to get us all on the same page for the new year. In the last couple of years Denver has seen an explosion of different venues for improv. It is wonderful. As the number of improv spaces increases we need to make sure that the quality of our shows increases at the same time. Our job on the Coaches Council this year is to Improve Improv.
We need to improve the experience for the audience.
We do this by making sure that the audience is getting what it came in to see. On ‘Hoot’ nights and ‘Throwdown’ nights, they are coming in to see their friends and family perform improv in a fun, professional environment. They need to see their team get supported and set up for success. The house teams need to be warming up the crowd, setting the professional timbre and getting them excited about the evening to come. For “Improv Royale” the show needs to be a funny, slick, professional, and an amazing high wire act. Organized and professional with no nets and no failure. “Improv Royale” is and needs to remain the best night of long form improv in the region.
I think that we do this by not only giving them lots of playing time, but by having our teams use a form to play around and through. A form gives the audience a point of reference to hold on to and understand. Form is what sets improv theater apart from improv comedy. We are not stand ups doing improvised jokes. We are players doing improvised theater. A beginning, middle and end is something that every theatrical production has and is the bare minimum of which a form affords us. It is what separates house teams from a collection of people trying to make funny. It lends credence, function, professionalism and a level of theatricality to our sets.
Improve the experience for the players:
We have graduated over 500 improvisers and counting, we want to nurture new talent and people coming up, move players who are on fire to Thursday night where they can play more, and encourage plateauing players to brush up and develop skills. Our Coaches Council is our vehicle for all of this.
- New players coming up; we have auditions every 3 months to get new players and players moving to the area who are serious about long form improv a place to play, exhibit and develop their skills. We need to set a standard for them to emulate and strive to achieve.
- Reward great play; players should all try to get better on stage and some will skyrocket and shoot off the stage. It is our job to ensure that the players who are rocking get moved to Thursday nights where they can play 3 times a month with the best players in Denver. Getting players who are having fun and entertaining audiences more stage and letting hot players move to nights where they can shine with players of a similar caliber is the best reward we can provide.
- Objective feedback and challenging plateauing players; Many players have no idea how they are doing on stage. They think they are great and all we see is them thinking on stage, or they think they suck and they are doing great, or they are just having fun and they are lighting up the stage. Our job is to give honest, objective feedback to all players, but especially the ones who need more classes and to let go. We need to try to coach these folks to “success”. If our coaching fails we need to get advice from other coaches and if that fails we need to match the player to a team that reflects their level of play. Sometimes being the best player on a struggling team can build the confidence that coaching can not. Sometimes players just need more time in the classroom. It is our job to improve everyone’s experience, the players, and the teams, and the audiences through honest, objective review and feedback.
Improv the Level of Coaching
Over the last 10 years one of my focuses has been on creating a culture of mentoring and coaching. You are part of that culture now. We need to improve our skills as coaches, we need to bring in more coaches and generate a culture of helping players (without getting to a place where players give each other notes). I want us to read, take classes and give each other coaching tips, so that we can provide our players a fun, supportive place where they can get better at their craft. Our job is to bring in great coaches, develop great coaches and become great coaches. We need to be inclusive and encouraging while still being honest and giving constructive criticism that builds great players.
We need to get past getting everyone to “do the form”. We need to get the players to transcend form. We need to give individual feedback that will grow people as players. We need to put the teams needs above our own. We need to put the needs of the player above the needs of our teams. We need to put the needs of the audience and the show above that of the players.
We need to Improve Improv. The time is now. We are in the right time and place and need the intention of creating a place where everyone wants to play, because the level of player is off the charts, the teams are smart, funny and talented. We will take improv to the next level this year. We need to make this a place where no one wants to miss a show because it will be great and it will be gone. The thing to remember and you had to be there, every show, every night. That is our charge.
Let’s Improve Improv!
Eric Farone
Artistic Director
Bovine Metropolis