Personalities of Improv, By City 2

Give 'em what they want

Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash

Last week’s essay Personalities of Improv By City was the most popular piece I’ve yet published. As a person who is weak for validation and clicks, I present to you another edition of the same thing.

Also, last week’s piece had a comment on how each city viewed clowning. Clowning, I’ve learned, is much more of an LA thing (where I live) than other cities. So non-LA people were surprised to see so much clowning commentary. So less clowning commentary this week, but please be warned that clowning will be the subject of a future essay!

Requisite disclaimer as you read these: I know I’m dumb and I do like these places!

San Francisco

• Audience distracted as they all try to think of how to monetize the show

• Number of phones in theater on airplane mode: zero

• Goal-oriented teams able to finish scenes in 90 seconds

• Teams must schedule practice around the one member who is on the board of trustees at Stanford

• Competing improv schools mean many shows feature both Harolds and puppets

• Highest percentage of teams coached via zoom

Austin

• Not into labels like “auditions” or “teams” or “formats” or “profit” or “tickets” or “schedules” or “theaters.”

• Double bill features most nuanced and ambitious narrative show in the country followed by SpongeBob prov.

• Are so naturally laid-back it’s hard to know who is actually just emotionally uncommitted, on or offstage

• Quietly look down on Chicago, NY and LA as “not real,” also has plans to move to all three simultaneously.

• Shows feature second highest density of mentioning the city you live in, after New York

• Absolutely refused to admit they were mad to be left off of last version of this essay

Okay, from here out I’m really venturing beyond my actual knowledge and into a time-honored technique known as “guessing.”

Toronto

• 10 improv companies politely competing to be the place that says how you’re doing it wrong. All founders were on a team together in the last five years.

• Subtle, personal and truthful work being done at The Laff Shack

• Who needs Second City? What’s going on with Second City? Who needs Second City? What’s going on with Second City?

• We can mix game of the scene with Chicago style Deconstruction in a sketch show

• Skeptical audiences who consider themselves comedy experts means hosts must do a lot of apologetic shrugging about show that’s about to happen

• Biggest mix of PhDs and home-schooled flat-earthers arguing about what makes a good second beat

Atlanta

• First 20 minutes of every show is hosts doing “I say improv, you say comedy.”

• 200 seat short-form show on Friday enables the 10 seat Harold show on Thursday.

• All characters in shows speak in confident declarative sentences. It’s as if all sentences end with exclamation points.

• 25% of all scenes are people stuck in traffic

• Instead of Harolds, shows do scenes inspired by stories from audiences about law suits they are currently in

• Two members of improv show obviously came here straight from a work meeting

Denver

• Better lighting system since show got sponsored by weed gummies

• Rehearsal delayed as one member is doing a stand-up show down the street

• Theater debates if a better location is dead center downtown or in someone’s house

• Audience takes so much enticing to leave their homes that tickets come with free parking, baseball tickets and an electric car

• Show intro asks you to turn off phones and to remember that all political opinions are someone’s feelings so let’s be chill

Brooklyn

• Theater policy: Improv shows are better when all members covered in fake blood

• 10 people = full house

• Next week’s show features a level two grad show and also the biggest comedian in Great Britain doing 40 minutes of story telling

• Unparalleled barista object work

• Shows interrupted by people having breakup arguments just outside theater

• Show venues: back rooms of bars that serve “small plates”

Please offer corrections and suggestion in the comments. Thanks!

Plugs, Fresh

• The Sober Show - Tomorrow, 7pm at the UCB Theater. Sober improvisers including myself do scenes off of stories from the audience about their drunken nights.

Plugs, Ongoing

• Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics - Comic book podcast, hosted by my brother Kevin and I. We are continuing our examination of writer/artist Keith Giffen.

• Clubhouse Fridays - WGIS’ weekly improv show. Fridays 7pm at The Clubhouse. Free!

• The World’s Greatest Improv School: The improv school I run with Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell. We’ve got classes online, in LA and even a few in NYC!

• How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print. It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re broke and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.