About three weeks ago, I saw a really, really bad improv show. I went because they were giving their tickets away for free and I had an open night. I wish I had my life back.
I often wonder though if I’m just being an improv snob. I’ve been performing at the National Comedy Theater in San Diego for over 8 years. I’m very proud of my show and yet, I have seen better improv shows in my life.
I feel that I need to qualify my review of the bad show by saying that it was different than my show, so I didn’t like it. But then, dammit, it was a bad show.
Why was it bad?
- It was Blue. How many scenes about lace with obscenities and references to sex can you watch?
- It was silly games. Yes, I admit, I play games in my show, but two hours of these gimmick games can be wearing on you. Personal, I like gimmick games if they’re done right, but I also like to tell a story.
- It run by hot shots. There’s not a lot of teamwork going on stage. What I see often are class clowns all fighting for attention.
I believe anyone can do improv. But not every one should put on an improv show. Early in my youth, I always thought I was funny. Class clown. Laugh riot at parties. Then I realized that I was just being a smart ass.
When I started learning improv, I soon realized that I was not that good. Which is the first thing you need when you first start improv, humility.
I studied, I learned. I learned what worked. I learned what I had to do on stage to do a good show. I would not accept anything less than the best.
Some of the groups that I was a part of early in my career made me really unhappy. We would perform shows, 60% of it was funny and 40% was pure crap. I couldn’t stand the fact that we were happy with 40% crap and would do nothing to make it better.
Finally found the National Comedy Theater in San Diego (known then as ComedySportz). I’ve never been happier. I’m still excited to get up on stage every weekend. I’m glad that I can be proud of a show that I’m in and be able to tell my friends that it’s worth the trip to San Diego to see it. I also like the fact that it’s a family show. I also like to believe that ticket sales tell me how good the show is.
I used to perform in front of crowds of 15 and less. Today, I’m performing for sold out shows of 100 guests. Maybe that’s the best measure of whether my style of improv is the right style.
Enough of my snobbery. Now let me crawl back under my rock.
