It’s amazing what a little change in responsibility can do in terms of changing the way you enjoy things that you’re a part of, eh? This past Friday my improv troupe put on another show down in Leslieville. We had the venue booked from a few months back. We were originally planning on putting on a Christmas-inspired improv show, but due to scheduling conflicts among the cast the show never really got off the ground. It’s a bit of a pity because that show was starting to take form. In any case, for a while it seemed like we were close to cancelling the show altogether. One of our members spoke up though and made a case for having it. After a bit of brainstorming we ended up deciding to have a show that invited other improv troupes to have a slice of time. I think the big thing was that we didn’t want to be responsible for the whole night. Having other troupes come in was our way to spreading the load. There’s so much stress involved with having to fill in 90 minutes of show time, and bringing an audience in. It’s tough.

So, after we came up with the idea we started posting notices up on Facebook. We ended up picking up three other troupes. We had a show! From the previous shows we had at the venue we knew how music and lighting played a big role. Another person in the troupe and I took it upon ourselves to control both for the show. I also played the role of the announcer on the microphone as a counterpart to the show’s emcee role. I brought out my radio voice. It’s interesting how those things really add a level of polish to a show that would otherwise be absent. It was our hope that the other troupes would really appreciate it. In my head, I would really love it if other improv troupes would go: “You know that group? They really do put on a high quality show.” That way, if we ever ask if anyone wants stage time we have people more than willing to play along, know what I mean?

So yeah, we had a great crowd. The theatre was rather full. All troupes did a great job and diligently played their 20 minute sets really well. We played music cues for everyone and did our best to get the crowd interested. I’m not just saying this because it’s our show, but we do a great job for an amateur group, know what I mean?

Without all of the stress that we’d normally have I think all of us in the troupe had an amazing time. I know I enjoyed myself. It was great being able to sit back and watch other people be awesome. It was great being on the music and lights in a supporting role. I think it was a great way to wrap up the troupe’s shows until the new year. This show relit a fire that was perhaps starting to fade. I’m ready to commit to the troupe for the new year!

Honestly, if there’s one thing we learned from our last gig, it’s that we have to push forward and bring energy to everything we present in front of an audience. If an audience isn’t feeling us project that energy they will not reciprocate. So, prior to our set we all huddled together and picked out things that we wanted to focus on: relationship, positivity, and having fun. And that’s what we did. I cheered loudly for everything. I laughed heartily and everything from the sidelines. It’s infectious! We were certainly feeling love from the audience this time around. There were about 50 people in the crowd. We did our best to affect every last one of them.

By the end, we were wiped out…at least, I know I was wiped out. I was dripping with sweat. We knew we had done a great job. Honestly, it feels like we’ve got a great thing going. We need to keep working hard and making our presence known. It’s the only way, you know?

We had a small gig today at an improv jam. It was a 15 minute set, so we couldn’t do our full-on format. We started out well, but by the end it felt like we were dying a slow death. At least, it kind of felt like that for me. All of the improv bits were there. We just weren’t feeling much reciprocation from the audience. We spoke with some experienced people after the whole thing and they suggested that we do our best to keep our energy up. Even if we weren’t feeling love from the audience it’s important for us to just plow through and keep the energy up. It’s a good lesson. We won’t always have mind blowing shows. Each one though is full of lessons to take away. We have to persevere.