Drag Me To Hejl!

Oh boy, here comes a long ass rant.

I’ve been wondering this myself. I think the way I’ve viewed it is that if you’re on a team more than a year old and you’re all friends and know how each other play and almost every member is in another practicing group or enrolled in a class, it COULD work if you don’t have practice since essentially you’re still getting proper training individually and already have a group mind set with that group. HOWEVER, I find that indie teams (including the ones I’m a part of) fall in the trap of doing sloppy fuck-around Creek-prov.

Think about it. We’re performing on a weekly basis, but at places like The Creek where there’s no real stakes. We’re performing in front of friends who improvise and are supportive and laughing at the things we do. Most of the time it’s funny, but is it good improv? Most of the time, no. I think it’s starting to become a problem. Especially with younger groups who see these older groups and think, this is what we can do.

It’s great to have fun and be able to fuck around. But if you want to get any better, discipline IS needed. That’s why I think it’s important to try and be a part of at least one practice group or a class where you work on doing the proper training for improv. Sure, doing these weekend indie show are a nice break from the things that are drilled inside our head from our respective training centers, but in my opinion, I don’t want to be JUST funny. I want to be impressive too.

Harold teams (for the most part) have that discipline because they have higher stakes. They’re being viewed and judged weekly by the people in charge, coaches, peers and hundreds of students. At any time could they lose their spot. The difference in performance is almost night and day.

Take for example Robber Barron at The Creek last Sunday. One of my groups was performing with them. They (RB) think they had an OK show, but even with their “OK” show there was a discipline and a form that was respectable to what they were doing on stage that the rest of the groups didn’t have. On top of that, they were the funniest.

You need that balance of being able to be funny but have that impressive discipline. People should be constantly trying to challenge themselves. We’re still so young to this and learning the tricks of the trade. Why be satisfied and complacent with how you’re doing in front of your friends at The Creek? Just coasting because you know you’ll at least get a few laughs. NO! If you want to be anywhere near the level of a group like Death By Roo Roo, Stepfathers, Reuben, etc. you have to keep pushing yourself and wanting to get better, rather than just comfortable making your friends laugh.

I know that sounds like a lot and like I’m saying “don’t have fun”, but I’m not saying that. You should love this and have fun, but at the same time, have that desire to grow and get better. The newer generation is looking at US. We want to be responsible for great improv, not laziness.

digsyfinallyhasa:

This has been on my mind a lot lately, and with the hiatus (?) of my only still practicing improv group currently in full inactive swing, I want to get other people’s opinion on this.

How necessary are weekly practices for an improv group?

Two years ago when the teams of “my generation” were all in their formative states, we all practiced weekly. Actually, we all practiced on Sundays at noon. It was always humorous to me to see the Penguins, Robots, S&CCers and us Datans out on Saturday night partying and simultaneously moaning about having to get up early. Then there we’d all be, nine hours later, hungover at the UCB training center. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Of those groups, I think only Fat Penguin practices weekly still (please correct me if I’m wrong).

Fast forward to 2009 and there are now one bajillion teams, almost none of which practice. A lot of them are two-to-three person teams, but it seems like there are now a ton of side projects. Every improviser is on at least three teams. And as all of our careers take off, be they real world or UCB world related, there’s no time for practice with your indie team anymore. Is this a bad thing?

Coming from the mindset I had back in early 2007 and still have to this day (for right now at least), I think so. I think practicing instills a sense of importance and commitment to your team. You are paying money, you are spending time together. So many bits and rituals and team-building things come out of the hang out time before and after practice (and not to mention those e-mail threads). I think this is crucial.

Also, is this just because the scene that I started with back in October 2006 is now almost three years old? Do the people of the “generation” after me (let’s say, people who took 101 after April 2007) still practice regularly with a group?

What say everyone? Do improv groups need to practice to be good? Is the dissolution of the weekly practice inevitable after a group has been together for too long? Is this happening to the teams that are now hitting their 1 year anniversary marks?