chrysilla:
Last nite, wuz chatting with Ben and James about improv scene stuff. A bit about how hard it is to get non-improvisers out to the shows, even when the shows are free.
Finally, they both turned to me and asked, “Wait, how did YOU get here?”
I started going to shows after meeting a member of the improv-cult at a Nanowrimo event. Started seeing his group regularly b/c the shows were fun (and CHEAP) and I had a lot of free time. After finding those events on Facebook, there were links to even more events, and I ended up addicted. Finally people started talking to me after shows, despite my pathological shyness and allergies to social scenes. You’d be surprised at how much more likely I am to attend the shows of people who remember my name.
Thus I suggest a new tactic of attracting audience members:
Go to events that aren’t about improv and talk to people.
I’m assuming that improvisers get other improvisers to attend shows by going to their shows first, much like how it worked for me on the larp scene (get more players by attending other games than your own).
So what about literary events? Indie theater? Art shows? Nerd events? IAF type interdisciplinary mixed media weird things? These are also largely cheap or free in NYC, like the ones I post about. I’ve tried getting my friends from these scenes to come with me to improv shows, but I’m not IN any, so I have less pull. Even tho they are also poor and bored most weeknights. I don’t know how to pitch this improv scene that I’m not really part of.
Have people on the scene actually, seriously, doggedly tried this tactic?
I think non-improvisers do go to improv shows, but to “mainstream” ones, i.e. at the established theaters. The last several times I’ve been at the UCB on a Fri./Sat. night, I’ve seen a packed house full of people I don’t know.
I think getting non-improvisers to indie shows is harder, because why wouldn’t they go to a free Asssscat with celebrities in it instead? That’s just the nature of being “indie”. Getting your own friends to come is easier, of course, but they’re probably not gonna come every single time.
I think about this a lot, because my indie team* is constantly trying to get bigger audiences. We pay for the space and NEED big audiences so we can afford to keep going. We’ve mostly relied on our opening groups to bring their friends. There are promotional tools like postcards, Time Out New York listings, etc., but I don’t know how much good those do.
So I’d answer your question with a trickier question: what can an indie improv show offer a non-improv audience that they can’t get from a “mainstream” show? That one’s a riddle.
*Sherpa, performing at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks between 1st/A) on Saturday, November 14th, at 10:30 p.m., with guest performers Banana Hands and Out Of The Woods. The first three audience members to mention this post receive one (1) Japanese yen.
