December 18th Show

I was pretty happy with how the show went. It was exciting to host again as this is one of my favorite spots to be in for an improv show. The crowd was particularly awesome and thanks to all of our friends who came out and supported us. I think the players fed off the crowd's energy and stepped up as well. Something I am very proud of is that I was harping on hosting for the last six months to both troupe members / friends and I felt I demonstrated the point in this show.

My comments have to come with a disclaimer, because I was distracted by games list, lights, navigating pathways and thinking of things to say for the next intro. All things considered, though, I still think there were a few items worth mentioning. I won't seriously rate the show because I did not perform or watch closely. If you asked me to blindly guess, I would say 7/10.

On the logistical side there needs to be dedicated box office and lights that are internal to the troupe. Eric's sister is awesome for helping us out, but if we want to continue starting on time, the box office has to miss 10-15 minutes of the show and I don't think it is fair to her and we won't be able to count on her every time. My vision would be for someone in the troupe to sit out a show on rotation and do box office and then come in for lights (assuming we stay in the same type of venues). Also on logistics, there needs to be something better for the introduction between lights down and host up. Something needs to drive people to want someone on stage, which is usually music, but our technical capabilities are limiting. Finally, the packed house made staging off stage difficult. Pop-Up story book shouldn't have been told facing away from the audience.

As for the improv itself, I think better energy and better audience participation improved the quality. However, I still think we suffer in our scene games (limited for this show, moving bodies and freudian slips being an example) from lack of clear direction. Favorites of the night were 3 Headed Santa, Family Dinner and Stand Ins. I also might be breaking down on my singing comments because both songs went well this show too. Worst was by far Improv Mash Up. I had too much stuff to do to set it up and when I was going to take time to explain the 3 games (1-3-5, switch to the right and super heroes) while the troupe was working it, I looked back to find three people ready to go. Also, it was a miracle I remembered to call switch to the right half way through the game. But, it is a dangerous game and sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don't. I just think the three games meshed well with Super Heroes being the foundation game.

Mad props to Erik having a great show for a crowd full of people that knew him. I know I struggle in this regard and he whooped some ass. A stronger performer by the day.

Comments, thoughts?