I am interested in the perception of the words we use to promote the performance [marketing].

Years ago I heard that the stand up comedy club The IMPROV (in NYC) wanted to Trademark the word ‘improv’. Whew…I”m glad that didn’t happen….it’s a stand up comedy club. I’d guess we’d have to find another word.

But..hey…if you have audience and are happy –then no worries. But if you’re interested in marketing then…it might be worth it to do some testing.

no need to apologize – in an artistic community everyone has passion for their work and how it is described. Thanks for the discussion – you’ll see lots of our posts that are asking questions so we can hear it all.

I think you hit on key idea that interested me in the post – “what does the general public expect” when we use any of the terms that as artists we might debate.

I know there are lots of people waiting to express how right their views are. As for me, more improv is more improv. The more and varied, the better.

I did see your Bravo post. I guess my point is that it’s a false choice. Comedy IS theater. I apologize that I’m a little sensitive to this issue. I’ve been improvising long enough to remember new batches of longform improvisers who would call games “artless”.

Of course it’s important to adapt one’s show to the venue & perceived audience, and there are some instances where you know your audience better than others..But since there’s a thousand valid approaches to improv, and a thousand ways for it to be appreciated (that often contradict one another), it’s almost impossible to anticipate what a general “outside your mailing list” audience wants. Except for the general expectation that they want to be entertained and that it be worth their $$$.

I can do a beautiful Harold and call it longform; an audience member accustomed to the story-driven longform of Un-Scripted or TFM might not enjoy it as much for its lack of story. However, an audience familiar with the IO/UCB approach might appreciate it more for that very same lack.

So the only thing I can hope my troupe strives for is to perform joyful, in-the-moment improv.Regardless of the formats we do, or what we call ourselves, if that is our goal and we hit it, I’m certain we will meet – and the surpass – the expectations of our audience.
Sam

Perhaps we (who perform and produce) do not get to choose whether it’s comedy or theatre…or whether it’s improv or improvisation.

The audience has expectations from the moment they hear about a performance until the performance itself.

If the expectations match the experience then it’s win-win.

William
(did you see my post here: Bravo or Tip your waiter?)

Thank you for this blog!

I use improv, improvised, and improvisation interchangeably, just as I use comedy and theater interchangeably. However, my goal, when improvising on stage, is almost always comedy. I think it’s a great thing to be able to market comedic and dramatic improv differently to different audiences. However, what I’m sensitive to – to a fault sometimes – is the notion that I often find in the Bay Area that theater and comedy are different, i.e. theater = high art and comedy = low art, which I resist wholeheartedly.

sam