Improv by the Numbers 2015
Hey there! ITS MY YEARLY IMPROV BY THE NUMBERS POST!!! I bet you were afraid i wouldn’t do it!!!! This one felt like more of a struggle for some reason.
For interested parties you can see my 2014 post here, my 2013 post here and my 2012 post here.
This was a weird year for performing! Since i started tracking my shows in 2012 the number of shows i’ve done has gone up every year. Every year has felt like there was this push towards more shows and an increased competency/consistency/confidence in performing. This year it felt like maybe the momentum slowed a bit as I had to focus on other aspects of improv less related to performance. I performed 122 times this year - which is the least since 120 in 2012.
This is for a number of reasons - The biggest obviously the Creative Director position at iO that i started part time in February 2015 and then full time in May 2015. My day job used to be during the day, i could leave at 5pm and go do a show or whatever. Now my day job occupies that space. I don’t have as many nights free as I once did. In addition, Pizza Party stopped being a regular entity when Brian and Walt moved to LA, had another harold team cut around my birthday, i’ve been coaching two harold teams (only one does weekly rehearsals,) left CIC after Mad Contender was dissolved (very amicably and i hope someday to play there again,) i stopped producing upstairs @ annoyance after a year long run, i produce 2-4 shows a week at iO. So the percentage of the pie i have to actually DO improv has decreased considerably.
As of right now the only ongoing improv group i’m a part of is my Harold team at iO Trash Daddiez (which is a total blast,) along with some shows that i help produce and play with from time to time.
Here are the numbers:
By entity
Teams - 72
Mashups - 38
Podcasts - 6
Sit in - 6
By team
Mash up - 38
Trash Daddiez - 28
Mad Contender - 10
YFUR Cast - 9
11/22 - 6
The Experts - 6
Not Pizza Party - 5
Pizza Party - 5
American Standard - 2
Podcast Recording - 2
Power Hour Cast - 2
Late 90's - 1
Meridian - 1
Nancy - 1
Pizza Pelican - 1
Reading - 1
Sight Unseen - 1
Smoking Hot Dads - 1
Talking Games With Tim and Clayton - 1
Yellow Belly - 1
By Theater
iO Kingsbury - 66
Annoyance Theatre - 15
CIC - 13
The Mission Theater - 6
CAH Space - 3
PURE Theatre - 2
The Den Theatre - 3
Flat Iron Comedy - 2
MCL - 2
crawl space theatre - 1
BOHO Theatre - 1
Brown University - 1
City Winery - 1
Coalition Theater - 1
House - 1
iO West - 1
Jackalope Frontier - 1
Raffa's Lounge - 1
The Clubhouse - 1
Theatre Momentum - 1
Some scattered thoughts:
Mashups I played with Mashups more than any one team this year - which sucks. I think it was tied to much to all these productions i’ve been working on. A lot of the time i’ve been just putting together random teams of people to do shows that don’t always feel great. This is the gallery ideal on steroids where any group of improvisers would be thrown together to create a good show on any given night. What i’ve learned though is so much of that ideal was tied to that room, community, and vibe. Can honestly say that in the wider world this is not as productive an exercise in of itself. Mash ups are a good tool for creation of community and a great thing as long as they feel protected in some way, either by the conceit of the show or the framing of them. But when it’s just a random one off team for scheduling purposes I think there is a hard ceiling on how good the improv will be.
UG This year felt like the time when Upstairs Gallery really stopped being an active project. Cait and I worked together on Jangleheart, on Upstairs at Annoyance, and on the extra projects like Goofballs and Sick Adventure for a while but there is so much awesome opportunity in chicago right now. It was to hard to get the remaining UG performers to reinvest in the idea of the place without the physical space and we didn’t have our eyes set towards building a new community outside of the room until a little too far down the line. The UG core is sort of gone at this point and without a new generation to take up the mantle it didn’t make sense to continue. I hope we can revisit again at some time!
Did i accomplish my goals from 2015?
King of a mixed bag this year.....
Would like to focus on producing/direction more this year in addition to regular performance commitments.
If you consider my job then YES i deff did this. If you look at specific projects then no. I did not direct a show this year. I did produce a ton. This next year i’d like to do less broad production and get more specific on certain projects. Less about placeholders and more about specific things that really excite me.
Was very inspired by the mission theatre’s new sketch revue “Trap.” They basically showed me that second city doesn’t own the revue model. Cait and I are talking about creating some sort of rotating revue idea where we create a new cast every two months and produce a mid length sketch revue. Just to see what it looks like and if it would work. Am very excited to start working on that.
Did not do this at all. Still would love to.
With the Gallery closing we’ve taken to producing SA at a different location every month. I want that to keep on going and EXPAND! Am going to keep on looking for ways to keep that idea vibrant. More productions at different spots around the city. We are performing the Charleston Comedy Festival in a few weeks, would like to book Upstairs Gallery All Stars spots at other festivals as well.
UG All Stars is still and idea i love that we’ve brought to festivals. The reality is though that the playing style associated with the gallery feels a little less prevalent with all the folks who moved. Sick Adventure very sadly died off. I don’t know if i miss it, i feel pretty busy.
Am at 458 performances since i started keeping track in August of 2011. So i’ll hit 500 performances this year. Which is nuts and i’m excited about!
I hit 500 performances this year for sure. It was a wild milestone!
Would like to continue to seek out younger teams with lots of potential and help get them stage time, a la the UG house team program. Am going to think on ways to do this.
This is something i’ve absolutely done and will continue to do. It’s possibly the most important work i’ve been doing at iO.
Am curious to see if not running a space will mean i perform less or more. On one hand i can’t create opportunities for myself to play as often, but on the other i’m free to go perform more nights.
Man! I don’t even know! It sort of was, and then when iO started it sort of wasn’t.
Goals for 2015 - Keep em simple!
Improvise less with mashup teams that i put together last minute. OR maybe perform in mashups with more intention behind them.
Join/Create an indie team to perform around town with.
direct a show
go to more festivals - participate more in the national conversation about improv
Unload some production projects at iO
Perform at least once a week - always
Play more places - indie scene is BOOMING, i wanna get in on it.
