The Other Edinburgh Festival

Caffeine and Jet Leg On the Improv Festival Trail 2024

I’m reading the punk rock oral history “Please Kill Me” which is a remarkable book. Spectacular stories of money, drugs, sex and (occasionally) good art told by by hugely entertaining characters. The book works on a micro level (the characters of the people being interviewed, and the stories they tell) and a macro level (all contributing to a story of the evolution of “punk rock.”)

The funny part is I’m reading it while at the 6th annual Edinburgh International Improv Festival. Comparing the improv world I’m in with the punk rock world in the book is so insane.

I just read about the MC5 getting chased out of the Fillmore East because a radical group called “the Motherfuckers” were mad they “sold out.” The group tried to knife the band’s singer before hitting promoter Bill Graham in the head with a chain. This on the heels of the MC5’s guitarist (future husband of Patti Smith) kidnapping Janis Joplin for a six pack of beer and then dating her for a while as they encouraged each others drinking.

Meanwhile, last night Billy Merritt and I did a monoscene about supervillains as an opening act, then I went to a bar where I had two Diet Cokes, which made me stay up all night in my hotel doing crossword puzzles. And reading this book.

There was a short oral history of the UCB theater in a magazine at some point. Just like this punk rock book, it gave a lot of real estate to parties and famous people. It described an early Del Close Marathon as “the one where everyone was on ecstasy.” I remembered that same DCM as the one where I got sleepy and went home before 2am. Not that I was squeaky clean saint (I could audit my own behavior over the last 20 years — maybe another time). But it’s funny to see your own scene romanticized.

Maybe there’s debauched behavior going on behind the scenes here. Could this be a book?

It was 11:30pm yesterday on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh when the Diet Cokes started to take hold.

It’s hard to imagine. The vibe here is very friendly and earnest. Hooray! Other improv nerds!

As I write this, it’s 6:30am, and I’m eating hearty wheat toast in my hotel dining room, where the only other guest is a young Dad and his baby. The baby keeps happily saying “Mama.” I’m jet lagged, and I have not been good about getting my sleep schedule right.

Improv festivals are fun. They’re also expensive to attend! They’re the destination weddings of improv nerds. I’m thinking of my online friends who didn’t/couldn’t make it here.

This is a very UCB/WGIS/”game of the scene” festival. I think most European improv scenes are either Second City-ish or Keith Johnstone-influenced. That’s been my experience. Usually you see lots of narrative stuff. This one has a ton of “pulling premise from an opening” shows.

It’s fun to see improv groups from smaller scenes. They’re tougher than the big city teams. These guys have to build their own audiences from scratch. They tend to do short form and long form. And “medium form” by which I mean long-form that relies heavily on a “gimmick” like “Improvised Law and Order.” I spoke against such shows a few weeks ago, but I do respect when a group has to figure a way to get people to their shows.

I’ve always lived in cities with big improv scenes. I’ve had the privilege of being able to do long-form for audiences that I did not fight for! Hmm, maybe THAT’S my version of “bad boy” behavior? “Will Hines? Oh man, he’d walk on stage and just do a monoscene in a flannel shirt like it was 2004. Never flyered or nothing. What a diva.”

I’m looking forward to lots of shows, including the Scottish group Yer Da, folks from the Free Association in London, seeing my LA friends Holy Shit, and Matt Cutler’s “Singu-hilarity” where he improvises with ChatGPT.

And Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell and I are doing a set! Too much Will Hines! The flannel shirt is not done yet! Jim sat in with a show from the FA last night. Graham Dickson had the audience give Jim a round of applause since he co-founded the theater. It was really nice to see. And the set was so good. The FA is the real deal!

I’m so grateful there’s lots of sober people, or at least — how do I put it — square? people in the scene. Doing an art form that rarely makes any money helps to keep everyone humble. I wonder how improv would be if there were A&R reps handing out $50K contracts after shows. I’m gonna guess bad.

Would anyone had done punk rock music if you had to intern for a club to get stage time, that paid maybe $20 a show? EDITED AFTER PUBLICATION TO ADD: It’s hard for me to think of Iggy Pop doing shows I see everyone here doing.

I apologize or at least acknowledge that today’s column HAD NO POINT!

Everyone come to Liverpool next week.