I’m not often one for snarky comments on this site, but something has pushed me to post this article. That something is 40+ e-mails from various independent improv groups around NYC, all inviting me out to their shows this weekend. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but when every single member of every single improv group e-mails me, it starts to wear my patience.
You have new mail! Ah, sorry looks like yet another invite to that Friday show you can’t make anyway.
You guys have got to get your advertising together into one, “group mind”/group e-mail system. I don’t mind an e-mail, but 12 for the same event is too much. So here is the Improvoker time and tested formula for successful e-mailing your fan base.
Make one person in the group responsible for e-mails - Give them your contacts you wish to e-mail. As a performing group, you should have an e-mail list anyway for people at shows to sign. That gives you one system and one one list to e-mail to.
BCC your addresses - My e-mail address is for you to tell me about the show, not for you to send to every person you have ever met. This is an important step, because addresses that aren’t BCCed have the distinct opportunity of falling into the hands of spammers through malicious spyware. Respect your audience’s privacy. Keep em secret, keep it safe Frodo.
Subject your e-mail something sensible, preferably with the group, date, and time clearly expressed — “I have a show!”,“weekend”, “I WRITEEVERYTHINGINCAPSLOCKANDEXCLAMATIONS!!!” These are three shows I really might want to see, but in my limited time and energy — I may not read further. I am not going to come to your show because of the hilarity of your subject line. Tell me what group you are representing, when your show is, what it is (improv or sketch), and where it is, so I can get a sense of if I’m available or not, before I go rooting through the e-mail for information. “Peppermint Captain — Improv Show Sat 11/3 8PM @ Gotham City”, now I don’t even really need to read the e-mail, I can make my decision based purely on the subject.
Do not send out an e-mail to let your list know you screwed up some non-critical information - “Sorry I didn’t BCC all of you on the last e-mail” is another e-mail that you are sending. Just don’t do it in the future and I’ll forgive you. “Oh Sandy’s name is spelled ‘Sandie’” is not reason to contact your entire fan base. By all means send an e-mail if you really screwed something up, but the less e-mails sent, the happier your recipients.
See if mailing list software is available to handle your mailing list - this allows your fan base to sign up for your shows at performances and allows you to e-mail them all from a central interface. This kind of stuff is available through most service providers, and is extremely valuable as you grow and expand. See the Improv Everywhere site.
Keep it short and sweet - I adore you, I can’t wait to see you on stage again, but let’s get this e-mail over with as quickly as possible — so I can get back to my funny.
I know this all might seem a little harsh, but I assure you if you are more focused with your promotion, you will keep fans happy in the long run. Most of all you keep me happy and keeping me happy is really what’s important isn’t it?
Lastly, I hope you all have great shows this weekend and I can’t wait to get your one e-mail next weekend.
Just last week I had an alarming experience. My improv notebook went missing and I panicked. I started calling all the people I knew, to see if anyone had picked it up while we were out. No one knew where it was. I searched my overflowing backpack, my messy apartment, my paper filled office and still nothing. It turned out, I had written a few notes in it last Wednesday during group practice and had left it by the leg of my chair. Luckily for me, Roy Astorias Studio had it turned in and I retrieved it, but it was a harrowing experience. The history of the last year of my improv education is contained in that little notebook and If I were to loose it, I wouldn’t be able to reconstruct all the lessons, exercises, thoughts, or knowledge contained in it.
This, surprisingly, coincided with an article I have been writing, off and on, for the past 3 weeks about keeping an improv notebook. I considered it a sign that I should finish off the article and post it on the website. And so, without further ado…
Recently a UCB instructor asked me, while I was sitting in the UCB training center’s waiting room, writing in my improv notebook, whether I took class notes.
You now I never see many students taking notes in classes I teach. Back when I was in classes I took lots of notes and I still have all my notebooks. Yeah, I hardy ever see students taking notes in classes and it sees strange to me as well. I would never remember any of this if I didn’t take notes.
Strangely from that time I have taken 2 additional classes and I am consistently the only student who takes regular notes in my classes and the only student I know who keeps an active written journal (besides improvoker web journal). Of course, everyone is different and has different ways of keeping and recording information. Some people may have brains that can retain class information without the need of a notebook, but I am not one of those people and I would wager that the majority of you all are not those types of people.
I’m more than half way through level 301 at UCBNY and it’s been interesting. My instructor Chris Gethard may be one of the most brilliant thinkers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He is insightful, straightforward, and extremely astute in his observations about improvisers and their work. I have been humbled, on several occasions, by his on point notes which have really catapulted my understanding of Improv as an art-form rather than just a means for a cheap laugh.
I have, however, been thinking a lot about improv recently and not enjoying my progress in class or practice group. This has been largly to my thinking too much about what I’m doing wrong and holding onto my mistakes rather than noting them and letting them go. I have been putting undue stress on myself to perform.
In preparation of a practice group I was leading this weekend, focusing on character work, I wanted to be able to define the differences in creating characters. Although I hadn’t thought about it before, improv characters can come in many different flavors. I realized that knowing what character type you typically play, can make a huge difference in your work.
Here are 5 general classifications of characters as interpreted from The Second City Almanac of Improvisation and my own experience. There are many more shades of grey, but this is a good place to start.
I’ve read a lot of books about improv. I find it a subject I can continually read about and almost never get bored. Improv books serve as a excellent foundation of any improv student trying to round-out their improv education. They bring alternate approaches to understanding improv concepts that can help strengthen you as an improviser.
If it weren’t for Truth In Comedy, I wouldn’t be improvising today.
One thing to note, however, is that reading about improv, while you are learning or performing, will undoubtedly screw you up. While thinking, in most situations, is a good thing, in improv it can actually serve as inconvenience. Thinking, or being “in your head,” in improv can be a huge problem. It can screw up your scenework, stop you from listening, create insecurities, confuse your instincts, slow your responses, even give you a false sense of failing in a scene even if it’s going well.
Finally my Improv 201 class, at UCB, is starting to come together. I’ve been having a rough time in class from the first day. I started Improv 201 directly after 101. In fact, I started 201 one day after finishing 101. This lack of time to reflect, sort of threw off my improv game. I jumped into 201 unprepared that the change in teaching styles and curriculum would effect my abilities, but it did.
I’ve always prided myself on having very little inner thought about my improv. I really try not to edit, think, or pre-plan my scene-work. Just jump out and hope for the best. My motto in improv has always been “dare to suck,” meaning that you have to be prepared to fail in order to be able to succeed. This motto had worked until I hit 201, where the sucking really wasn’t the problem, but rather the daring. Read on…
