Show lessons from Improv Mom!
Your show starts before your show starts! Here’s how you can create a more professional experience for your audience by listening to your mom:
Clean your room!
Make sure your venue is clean and tidy before opening the doors. It’s like dating: First impressions matter. And they usually set the tone for the rest of your evening together.
So take care of those coffee cups, that water bottle and not to mention the sweater no-one knows who belong too and get it all out of the way. Mop the dusty stage, arrange the chairs, wipe the tables if you have them. Make sure all the chairs you need for your show is on the stage. Then open the doors.
It takes little to no time to clear the room of debris. The audience notices your attentiveness to details on and off stage, making you appear more professional. And they might start treating you as such.
If you play in a bar there’s only so much you can do, but at least you can keep the stage clean and make sure the toilets have toilet paper. And the ticket booth tidy and organized, etc.
Turn down that awful racket!
The right music before a show can help set or heighten the mood for your show. The wrong music the opposite.
If you’re doing a Valentines show or a raunchy late night drunk-prov, the music should probably reflect that. Using the right music to build expectations benefits everyone. The audience already knows what to expect, so the performers have to work less to set the tone of the show and can put more energy into their improvisation.
Or maybe no music is more suitable for your format. Just be aware and make a conscious choice.
Stand up straight!
Show the audience you’re happy they came to your show and that you want them to be there! Be attentive! Get out of the sofa. Be friendly. To quote Gandhi, be the fucking change in the world. Or instruct your crew to be. Same same.
Say welcome when they enter your theater. Say hi in the ticket booth. Smile when scanning their tickets: This is THEIR night so don’t make them wait. You and your friend can always continue discussing short form vs. long form later (btw, the correct answer is both).
Say thank you!
Thank your audience for coming to your show. Thank them for buying drinks and tipping the servers. Thank them for bringing their glass to the bar to help the staff. Thank them for as much as you can. Without them there is no show. Without them there’s no improv. The show is not about you. Please leave your ego at the door.
If they compliment a scene you did, say thank you. Do not disagree because of some technical improv Mumbo-jumbo. They don’t care.
Two simple words: Thank you! And if you want to, add “..for coming! Welcome back!! “
Brush your teeth!
And put on a clean shirt.
Summary
The audience’s experience of the show is not just when you’re improvising on stage, it’s the part before and after the show as well (disregarding the online ticket buying process).
Their individual experience starts more or less right before they enter the front door and ends when they leave the building. Your show is a small percentage of that time. Every venue has its individual variables, look for to yours.
If you show your audience that you care about their whole experience they will start to care about you. Then hopefully shower you with love, affection and an allowance. Who knows, maybe in time you can have a brother or a sister.
Thank you for reading! Welcome back!
