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Alright, you have put together a great improv show and you are really excited about it. Now the important part: How do you get people to come and see it?
If you’re like most improvisers, you will rely on people magically just showing up. Which in most cases doesn’t work. Some people are fortunate enough to be part of a theater that seems to almost automatically get packed houses, but for most of us, we need to put in some good old-fashioned publication relations and marketing to get noticed.
Learning how to market your own shows can seem overwhelming at first, but the steps you have to take to get the word out aren’t rocket science. In fact, they’re pretty simple, once you know what to do.
So here are some easy tips on how to market your improv show.
In her wonderful book, Presence, author Amy Cuddy asks actor Julianne Moore what presence is for an actor. Moore answers: "The key to presence -- and this is one thing they tell you in school -- is relaxation."
When I first starting out taking improv classes, I cannot tell you how frustrated I was that I could be loose and funny when I was hanging out with my friends, but as soon as I got into class or on stage I would become scared and stiff. It took me awhile to figure out what was wrong. The reason was simple: In social situations with my friends I was relaxed. I wasn’t tense or putting pressure on myself. I could just be myself.
Among my friends, I had a built-in trust and support that didn’t translate to the group of strangers in my improv classes. It took me years to act as comfortable on stage as I was in my real life. Today, the more relaxed I can be for a show, for an interview for the podcast, or for an audition, the better I seem to do. When I'm relaxed, I'm able to have more fun, which always leads to a better outcome.
Unfortunately, being relaxed isn’t something most improvisers even consider. They are too busy running around from their day job to a show, to a rehearsal, to class and back to another show. They tell themselves, “I am so busy that I don't have time to relax.” Then they wonder why they are not farther along in their careers.
Being relaxed is not just a state of mind -- it takes work to be relaxed. You cannot show up two minutes before your group is going to go on stage and expect to be relaxed. It doesn’t work that way. We are not machines; we are artists with very sensitive wiring.
To help you be as relaxed as possible for your shows, classes, rehearsals and auditions, I’ve come up with a few tips I’d like to share with you:
If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to add to the list by adding to the comments below!
If you've been in an improv group for a while, you’ve most likely hit a consistency level with your shows. This is a good thing. But it can also be a trap.
When some groups get to the point where they’re consistently doing good shows, they’re usually happy with this and seem to go on auto pilot. The shows slowly became rote because the players would rather do what they know will get a laugh than challenge themselves.
They have forgotten what attracted them to improv in the first place: “the rush.” The rush of taking risks in front of complete strangers, the thrill of knowing that it could succeed or fail miserably at any moment. If you haven’t felt that feeling in a while, it’s time to challenge yourself.
That’s what I love about playing with Jimmy and Johnnie, a three-person show that I do once a month with John Hildreth, who is a wonderful improviser and teacher, and a special guest. Before each show, we talk briefly about one thing we want to do differently in the show to challenge ourselves. It’s simple, but I’ve found it to be really effective.
In out last show, our special guest was Dee Ryan, who I love playing with, and we decided to throw out our usual way that we start each show, which is by doing a three-person scene that we are all matching energies in, and instead do a series of short, two-person scenes until we hit a crescendo and then do a three-person scene. The show was a blast because changing things up forced us to discover new territory as a group, which is exciting. It gave the show a different energy, and we achieved the Holy Grail for improvisers, which is “the rush.”
When we hit complacency, we are dead as improvisers, artists and people. To get the rush back, you have to constantly expand your comfort zone on stage.
Here are three tips for how to keep challenging yourself on stage:
For me, challenging myself and forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone is just a way to keep learning. The best players in improv never stop learning or challenging themselves, and I hope this is you.
There is a saying I’ve heard that goes: "Don't quit before the miracle." But when you’re in the arts and creating shows, how do you know how long you have to wait?
I have been doing the podcast Improv Nerd for over five years. I’ve had some really big name guests. I’ve toured with the show all across the country at improv festivals and theaters. But the audiences have always been unpredictable. Sometimes we’ve had as few as two wayward improv students, and sometimes we’ve had some really nice crowds of about 80 people.
They've never been huge. Until last Sunday.
Our guest was Rachel Dratch and it was part of the Chicago Improv Festival. We originally had the show booked in Judy’s Beat Lounge at the Second City. It sold out in a matter of hours, so we moved it to a larger venue at Second City’s e.t.c. Theater. Then that show sold out, too, and finally they moved it to the Second City Main Stage. And for the first time in more than five years, I was actually performing the show in front of more than 300 people.
Plus, not only did it sell out, the show itself was incredible. Rachel was as honest and open in the interview as you could hope for. But the best part for me was getting to improvising with her again. We had been in a couple groups together back in the '90s in Chicago, and performing with her again was so easy, just like improv should be.
I joked at the top of show that my goal when I started out in improv in my 20s was to be on Main Stage. I just didn’t think it would take 30 years to get there and only last an hour.
But you know what? I did it. Who would have thought when I started doing this silly little podcast that I would end up on Main Stage doing it for one night? I certainly didn't. And the thing that is so cool is I did it with something I created.
I cannot tell you how many times I have wanted to quit doing this podcast. And to be perfectly honest here, I am not certain of its future. I have put a lot of time into it, so much so that my wife Lauren is getting annoyed at me and wants me to move on to other things. I have sunk of a lot of my own money into it. I have bitched and moaned that I think I should be farther along with it at this point. It should be more popular and I should be living off it. That has not come true, yet. But what is true is that I have not quit on myself.
The thing that sucks is you never know when something is going to catch on. We’re trained to think that if something doesn’t catch on in a couple of weeks we should abandon it immediately and assume we are doing something wrong.
I’ve often been a quitter in my life – whether it was in little league, in school, or in my improv career. But finally with this show, I’ve stuck with it. I just kept trudging down the road, even when I didn’t want to, so when a big opportunity finally arose, I was prepared. I had done the live show close to 200 times by the time this one came along. I have a staff of six people who make the show run like a Swiss watch. All of us were ready for our big moment and it showed.
When I first started doing the podcast I felt entitled. I thought, “I am Jimmy Carrane and I am getting these great guests. Why isn’t this an instant hit?” I was not ready. I look back and I am glad that this big show came when it did.
The hardest part of not giving up is you never know when the miracle is going to come. I think they call that faith. So whatever you do, if you believe in yourself or your own project, keep going. Don't give up before the miracle happens.
As you know, jealousy and self-defeating attitudes are something that has plagued me for my entire improv career. For years, whenever someone else got something I wanted, I judged them for it, and whenever a new opportunity presented itself to me, I would immediately assume that I wasn't good enough to get it. Oy.
Courtney Rioux, a life coach in Chicago who works exclusively with performers who want to become unstuck, is someone who truly understands the kind of negative self-talk that we improvisers and actors have that holds us back. So this week, I asked if she would be willing to write a guest blog about this, with some tips on how to start thinking more positively. Enjoy!
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Okay, I admit it. I used to be insanely jealous of other actors and improvisers who were having more success than I was. I was unhappy with my career and I thought I should be further along than I was.
The funny thing is, the more I focused on what I didn’t have and comparing myself to others, the harder it became to allow new opportunities and growth to come into my life.
Ever been there? Are you there now? It sucks, doesn’t it?
When it comes to money or opportunities, a “lack” mindset can really keep you feeling like crap. Energetically, there’s no room for growth or success in that space.
Nowadays when I catch myself in a “lack” mindset, I stop and examine the thoughts that are running through my head. You wouldn’t believe the creative (and majorly unhelpful!) ideas that I would cling to — although you might be able to relate to some of them.
Check out some of the beliefs I caught myself thinking that kept me in a mindset of lack:
Yikes! It’s amazing how powerful those phrases become when left unchecked. We actually start to believe them, and behave accordingly. The good news is, even the simple fact that you’re reading this article speaks to your desire to move beyond those limiting thoughts (and you certainly can).
Tapping into Awareness and Truth
In Brene Brown’s new book, Rising Strong, she shares five little words that are the secret to awareness and truth. These five words will help your brain realize that even though you’re thinking destructive thoughts, they’re not Truth with a capital “T.” They’re simply thoughts that are running through your head.
Ready to learn those five little, amazing words?
“The story I’m telling is…”
If you just add the words, “The story I’m telling is…” before you say the beliefs that are keeping you unhappy and stuck, you can shift them later.
Here’s what it might look like in practice:
When you add those five little magical words before your thoughts, you leave room for the truth. Those five magical words help remind you that there is a more empowering way to reframe your thoughts to help you succeed. Here are some ways to reframe your negative thoughts:
As humans we are awesome at making up meaning for everything that happens in life. What we could do better is making up more empowering meanings.
I dare you to try this today. As you move through your day, just notice when those limiting beliefs come up. Warning: Sometimes those buggers are hard to catch! When you do catch one, identify it as a story and turn it around.
I promise you’ll feel much better once you do.
What story are you telling right now? How can you transform it and find a more empowering truth in that story? Please share in the comments below!
Courtney Rioux, The Whole Artist, coaches performers who feel stuck in their career and want more out of life. She's here to help you shift your mindset from stuck and unhappy to empowered and joyful — all while making it feel fun and easy. It’s like therapy without the therapy. Join her for a free call every month by signing up here.
When Betsy was born, people said stupid things to me like, "You are going to learn a lot from her." I was so annoyed by that, why, I can't tell you, but they were right. So far she has taught me about patience and unconditional love and how to survive on a minimal amount of sleep.
But the other day, Betsy was sitting in her high chair and trying to learn how to feed herself. My little determined daughter would grab tiny handfuls of cold oatmeal mixed with little specs of prunes off the high chair tray and attempt to put them in her mouth. About 85 percent of her food landed elsewhere — the floor, her clothes, her face — so much so that she looked like she was face painting. She was having fun.
Her mother was far more annoyed than I was, but what I realized as I was watching her was if you are going to learn a new skill it’s going to be messy. At this stage in her development, she was going to miss much more than she was going to succeed. What was so fascinating to me was she didn’t seem to have any judgement about how much food landed in her mouth versus how much food landed in her hair. She was having fun with the process.
I’ve talked, and probably even written in this blog, about how messy it is to learn improv and how most people starting out, me include, want to skip this step and go right to genius-level. It does not work like that, thank God, because if it did, it would just produce more dicks, myself included. By accepting that learning and growing is going to be messy without judging ourselves for making mistakes, we become humble and infinitely more teachable.
What I learned from her is she does not beat herself up or put unrealistic expectations on herself when she can’t reach her goals; she leaves that up to her parents. Instead, she just trudges along doing the best she can. The progress I see with her feeding herself is gradual. Some days more food lands in her mouth than on her face, and sometimes it's like we are starting over. But slowly, she is getting better.
One of the problems many improv students have is they want to get better fast, and they can’t see the incremental progress they are making along the way. All they see are the bad shows or bad moves they make in a scene — the places they messed up. But here’s the thing: If you’re out there taking classes and continuing to do shows, your most likely getting better each time and not even realizing it.
My wish for you, and myself included, is to accept that you’re going to make mistakes, to embrace your messiness, and to have as much fun no matter how much food you’re getting in your mouth or in your hair.
The other day I was on Facebook and read a post by one of my favorite improvisers: Stacey Smith. If you don't know her, she is a gifted performer, super positive and a hard worker. She lives in Chicago -- a city that has more opportunities than most for improvisers.
Her post was brutally honest about her disappointment and struggles in improv. And when I read it, I could relate. To the rejection. To the sacrifices. To the frustrations that come with a life in this art form.
There are no formulas to how to succeed in improv, no logic to any of this. That’s what makes this career path so exciting and so dreadful at the same time. Life is not fair, and in improv multiple that by ten.
But I thought her post was also incredibly hopeful, too. And knowing how talented and strong she is, I know she will persevere. And if I think she can persevere when times are hard, it only increases the chances that I can, too.
Here is her post. Please enjoy.
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Art is hard.
My name is Stacey Smith and I am exhausted. I've been working professionally in comedy for the past few years, and from an outside perspective “I am living my dreams.” Coincidentally I can also never pay rent, I have crippling student loan debt, I am incredibly anxious, and I have sacrificed so many things to make this work, “living my dreams.”
Yesterday I went into an office and was told that I would likely no longer get work as an actress in a building that I've been working for in multiple capacities for the past few years.
I've performed literally hundreds of shows for this building and I've never had a show that I wasn't proud of. I've memorized hundreds of lines in mere hours to prove myself. I received a shout out from a notorious reviewer. I've skipped weddings, births, celebrations and other big moments in my life to make sure that they knew I was committed. I've shown up to every scripted audition over prepared. Most importantly, I've been professional and kind to everyone I've ever worked with. BE PROFESSIONAL AND KIND.
I've also noticed that a lot of people who have gotten work over me are people that have done the opposite of all the things I've mentioned above. People who have been tardy. People who didn't know their lines. BE PREPARED. BE ON TIME.
Now, I am not here to throw anyone under the bus or speak ill of the company I've so fondly worked for and still do in other departments. But this is just to say that there's usually no rhyme or reason for things. You can't control it. As difficult as it may seem, we have to put our blinders on and walk our own paths. DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. OUR PATHS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME.
I am exhausted. It's hard to make time to take care of yourself when you're always on the clock for your career. I hate to call out of things and make schedule changes, but sometimes it's entirely necessary. However, I've been very aware of listening to my body after having multiple health issues last year. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
I am severely underpaid. I know my worth, but also know that to live in my apartment it costs money. I work 100 hour weeks and get paid for 20 of them. I bounce back and forth between dozens of appointments, rehearsals and shows daily to be able to provide for myself. KNOW YOUR WORTH.
I am sensitive. I cry because I am proud of my friends. I cry because I am happy to see my boyfriend after a long day. I cry because I see a corgi. CRY.
On the other hand, I am proud of the work that I do on and offstage. I am changing my students' lives. I am making audiences think and feel. I am sharing my voice. I am traveling the world.
My life is hectic, but it is cool. I have met celebrities that told me they were a huge fan of mine. I have created a curriculum to empower young girls. I have created a festival where performers from all over the world showcase their musical and improvisational talent. I run a training center. I am in love with someone I met doing comedy.
You have to let the good outweigh the bad. For every rejection, there's a stranger recognizing you on the CTA. For every missed opportunity, there's opportunities that you can create yourself. So when you're feeling down, just remember that there's people that you look up to that have the same struggles as you. We all feel this. Not just you. I will continue to do good work and I hope that you do too.
I've got your back.
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Bob Kulhan is the author of the new book "Getting to Yes And: The Art of Business Improv." He is an incredible improviser and teacher who was a core faculty member at The Second City Training Center in Chicago and co-founder of the uber musical group Baby Wants Candy. Jimmy talks to him about how he was influenced by improv teacher Martin DeMaat, the early years of musical improv, and how he fell into teaching improv for business.
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Bill Arnett is one of Chicago's most respected improvisers, teachers and directors. He has played with such groups as People of Earth, 3033 and Armando. He is the founder of The Chicago Improv Studio and the author of the new book, The Complete Improviser. He is back on the podcast to discus his new book, how to play more real, and his take on the traditional improv rules. This is a master class in improv, so listen and learn.
Actors are often skeptical of taking an improv class. I can’t tell you how many actors tell me “I am a serious actor. Why do I need to take an improv class?” Or they say, “I’m not funny,” “It scares me,” or “I wouldn’t be any good at it.”
Actors avoid taking improv classes for lots of different reasons, but the truth is, improv classes make people better actors. I don’t care if you don’t do comedy or you don’t think you are funny. Improv is not necessarily about being funny at all, but instead it is a methodology that can make you a better actor by making you more real, more able to react honestly in the moment and more.
So before you come up with any more excuses I haven’t even thought of, here are six things that improv classes can help you with as an actor.