When Do You Open Again?

improv theaters amidst a tragedy

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Fires are raging in Los Angeles. One enormous one on the west side, which destroyed the Pacific Palisades. Another huge one in Alta Dena, which has destroyed much of that neighborhood, including dozens of friends’ homes as well as the beloved PDA Theater space. This past Tuesday morning, all those buildings stood. And today, they don’t.

And the fires are still going. We hope the worst is behind us but the scary things we really don’t know.

Lots and lots of friends from across the globe have been checking in. Though I haven’t had time to answer properly, it’s nice to hear.

Lots of people want to help. I’m not confident enough to recommend a charity. There are many good ways to help. I’ll say the best ones I know are the GoFundMe’s that people have set up for families that lost their homes. Giving money directly to the people who need it at least assures that your generosity will get to people who need it.

Of the many many great ones, I will pick two: Elena Crevello who performs at my theater and Jackie Clarke, a UCB NY friend/performer from way back. Both have families and children and are starting over this week. Sadly these are just two of many, and any way you might give to anyone is appreciated.

When Do You Open?

I will tell you that hitting my weekly deadline for this improv column has never felt less important! Selfishly, I almost wanted to write about some small improv mechanic or maybe describe some exercise just to distract myself.

But I’ll speak very briefly about the strange problem of running an improv theater during a tragedy. The problem is: when do you open?

Our theater, WGIS, is happily spared from the fires. We didn’t even lose power. But running classes or shows this past week felt disrespectful and pointless. So we closed.

At some point, you open. An improv theater is more than a business, it’s a community. You want to be of service to your community in whatever small way you can. One way to be of service is to shut down while everyone focuses on the emergencies at hand. Then you slowly open, letting everyone know that missing shows/classes is okay.

And at some point you’re back.

Covid was a tough example of this. Covid never went away. Society just accepted it slowly and in different ways as time went on. It was unfathomable to be open in the fall of 2020, then in early 2022 you could do shows with a masked audience, and by the spring of 2023 there were shows without masks.

We’re open today, though we emailed all students and teachers and said not to come in if they can’t/don’t want to. We’ve got a jam today at 6pm and I actually think there’s gonna be a fair number of folks at it. People who just want a break.

I’m typing this in the lobby of WGIS. I can hear the drop-in going on in the room behind me. A small group, having a good time. Feels right.

Opening after 9/11

Here’s a dramatic example: when did improv theaters open in NYC after 9/11? I was living in Manhattan at that time, and a member of a house team at UCB NY.

Two days after the attacks, on Thursday, was when Harold Night was scheduled. My memory is the shows were cancelled but the theater open, and whoever showed up just did jams. The theater was a small community then. This was the original small space on 22nd street. So it wasn’t like Harold Night was drawing many people outside of the teams themselves anyway.

By the next week, shows were happening again. It helped that the theater was small. It did not feel like anyone was looking to the UCB to set an example. Remember how SNL was gone for a month, until they came back with Tina Fey asking Mayor Guiliani (remember when people liked him, at least a little?) if it was okay to be funny again, and he said “why start now?” UCB did not have the pressure of anyone paying attention. When it opened, it was for the community.

My team — the insanely named “Monkeydick” (sorry) — was scheduled for Cagematch on September 20, 2001. Our scheduled opponent was Neutrino. Being competitive felt odd in such a delicate time. Neutrino proposed that the teams throw their names in a hat and make two mashup teams. We did. “Menukey” faced off with “Dicktrino.” The show felt silly and tentative and somehow very nice. Dicktrino won and as I recall stayed in Cagematch for a month or so.

Slowly the shows came back.

I have no grand point, other than saying it’s a tough balance, and that the community will find a way to come back when it’s ready.