First is worst, second is worsened

It was our second week at Famous Johnny's. There were only 13 people in attendance, but the show was fantastic. Tim hosted, which really helped keep the show going at a quick pace. Nathan, Joe, Scott, Caroline, and I were definitely feeding off of each other, and again, not one person stood out as the best. It was a true team effort. We just need more people to come out on a Wednesday night. The owner had the two comedians that are there this weekend come out and do some stand-up before we went on. I think it really helped get the crowd giggling a little bit. A great idea to warm them up. Week 3 will have to have some marketing to get some more butts in the seats.

Tuesday Rehearsal

Great rehearsal last night. This is our second week where we have had rehearsal on Tuesday followed by a show on Wednesday at Famous Johnny's. We have shortened our rehearsals to 2 hours now instead of 3, and I have to say that it is a blessing. In a way we are perfecting and rehearsing our short form games at Famous Johnny's. We get to perform them every week and find out what works and what doesn't in front of a live audience. We also had auditions last Saturday that I couldn't attend, but I heard that the 3 who auditioned have promise. I will let you know as soon as anyone is accepted or not.


In other news, native KC man Ryan Dolan and his improv team Revolver are up for a Del Close award at the IO in Chicago. Specifically The Del Close award for best Harold team at IO. The Kansas City improv community was graced with their presence last fall. They put on a great show and taught some great workshops. From what I saw, they are a heck of an improv team. I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for them.

High School recap

Sunday Tim, John, Nathan, and I taught some basic improv to 30-35 high school kids. (and a few of the supervising adults)

At first it was much like corralling cattle, but once we got them with us it was fun till the end. Let's set something straight though. They were not high school kids that wanted to learn improv. They were high school kids whose supervisors thought they would enjoy improv, as a way to break the ice for new kids in the group. During the whole hour and a half, a few of the kids just sat and watched, and didn't want to participate. Then you had the few who participated, but not whole-heartedly, then you had the kids that participated 150%. I miss having constant energy, of course, the mountain dew and skittles probably helped them a little.

Overall, I thought it was a lot of fun. John, Tim, Nathan, and I did a very good job of planning what we wanted to do, and we had a great set of back-up things we wanted to do, depending on their experience and what not. If anything, we introduced some of them to improv, and we showed others how to get better at it. We also introduced ourselves as a group, and told some of them about the festival later this year.

For my first improv teaching experience, I am very glad I had Nathan there as my sidekick, and I am very satisfied with the effort of my small group. I have to admit, they even impressed me a bit when we played some scene games. Yay improv!

Improv weekend

I have heard nothing but great things about Hype 7's shows on Friday and Saturday, as well as The Trip Fives rendition of "The Bat." Congrats to both of those groups for great shows. A little birdie told me that Hype 7 tried their first long form...ever, and they have been around well over 10 years now...that is amazing. Congratulations.

The 5pm and 7:30pm shows were sold out at Comedy City. A welcome change to the horrible 2007 that I experienced with Comedy City. The Black Box Theater was filled to the brim, and so was the energy. It was my first time playing with veteran Josh Steinmetz, and I loved every minute of it. He attacks short form like everyone should. If you want to learn how to perform short form better, come and watch him.

Tomorrow I will recap how our high school workshop went. (I miss having constant energy; I don't miss trying to be cool)

Until then, enjoy Tommy trying to grow a mustache:

Famous Johnny's show recap

From now on, Improv-Abilities will be performing improv every Wednesday night at Famous Johnny's. Last night, was our first. To the best of my knowledge there were 2 people in the audience who had seen improv before, and they were affiliated with Improv-Abilities. It took a few games for the audience to get involved. (giving suggestions...laughing out loud) They were very quiet to start. You could tell that they didn't know what was really going on. After about 1/3 of the show, they really started to get into it. The energy level went up in the entire room, and the show definitely got better as the night went on. Afterwards there were many people who told us that they would come back next week, which was great to hear. All in all, there were about 30 people in the audience. Not bad for our first time.

I think we definitely learned a lot from last night's show. Let's be honest, it is a typical stand up crowd, they want to sit, drink, and laugh. We need to come out with higher energy and really get the crowd into it. Maybe we need a permanent host? We'll see. It is definitely a positive joint venture for us and the club though, so let's see how this thing goes for the next couple of months.

Blog recap

Back when I first started this here blog. I was struggling to figure out how to do as much improv as I could. That was a mistake. I have learned since then that just because you are playing a lot doesnt mean you are getting better. I had to make some tough choices between some great groups and some great people. However, I am here today in order to stand by my decisions. Quitting CounterClockwiseComedy was probably the easiest decision. I found myself not having fun while I was rehearsing and playing with this group. That to me, was a bad sign, and I am definitely happy I quit while I did. The decision between Improv-Abilities, Roving Imp, and Comedy City was much more difficult. I helped start IA, so I couldn't quit that, and more importantly, I have seen a great deal of improvement with IA in the past 2 years. Comedy City may have its negatives, but I am still meeting great people (and introducing them to City 3!) and learning a lot about comedy while on that stage. I never wanted to quit Roving Imp, but the timing just isn't right. I had to quit Roving Imp, or I wouldn't be married anymore.

So the point of this is to reassure myself that I have made some good decisions when it has come to improv groups that I have had to quit. I think I have made the best decisions. Between IA and Comedy City, starting this Wednesday, I will be doing at least 2 improv shows a week. On top of all that, Tommy and I are continuing our video adventures as another outlet, and there is another season of Improv Thunderdome planned in May. People say don't spread yourself to thin, and I have learned that is true first hand. It is better that I chose the two groups I did, in order to better myself as an improvisor. Heck, let's do this again in a few months and see how I feel then okay.

Wait...Improv-Abilities is 8 years old now???

The show saturday was great. There were only 30 people in the crowd, but they were a very energetic crowd. They came ready to laugh, and we delivered. The short form blended well with the Sketch, and we didn't lose any energy when we switched to long form. We were focused and worked as a team. It wasn't perfection, but it was pretty close to a perfect show. The best part about the show is that I can't name one individual that did better than anyone else. It truly was a team effort for this show. Everyone had their game face on for sure saturday night.

Not to take anything away from the show, but the coolest thing that happened, happened after the show. My best friend recently told his band mates that he would be quitting. Saturday night was his farewell performance with the band. It was a great crowd, most of his friends and family were in attendance, and it was great to see them all. One lady in particular started asking me about how she could get involved with improv here in Kansas City.

Let me rewind the story here. 8 years ago (To this month) Improv-Abilities started, at the time there was Comedy City to take classes and not much else. I had many friends, 8 years ago, ask me how to get started. I would either say Comedy City, or wait for our auditions.

However, on Saturday night, I handed this lady a card that had at least 8 different groups named on them. I still told her about Comedy City, but I told her about City 3 and all of the different events she should try to come to in order to network. It was a proud moment for me to be able to tell her all of the stuff that was going on. Congrats Kansas City!

Oh yah, and Tommy said that Comedy City had sold out shows on Saturday night. Hooray Improv!