DaylightSavingsTheater

Goal

Combine practice time, street theatre, troupe promotion, and recruiting into one amorphous, random show

How does this work?

• Get 4-10 players
• Pick a public location with good foot traffic (Zilker park or similar) in daylight hours, preferably after time change
• Put out a little sign in case it's not obvious what we're doing
• Rotate direction (like Gorilla) or self-direct scenes (like Six Degrees)
• Play and entice passers-by to set a spell and enjoy the mayhem

Why do this?

• It's fun
• Less financial and emotional burden than a promoted show

• Upsells the 'crowd' and promotes shows and classes

  • (Peter) The local swing-dancing group has a weekly "Lindy in the Park" event which is this same idea, only applied to dancing. It was what got me into swing dancing in the first place, FWIW
• Practice should be tighter with more work and less discussion
• Preserves the 'f--- the audience - I'm doing this for me!' agenda that keeps improv really fun 1
• More stage time

• Free practice space

  • Birds, trees, sunlight, et cetera
• Almost zero planning. All we need is fair weather, a cell phone, and a phone list. If nobody shows up, we just practice
• Outdoor performances will force us to project
• Recruit students and players
• Impress hotties with our public displays of amusement

Other stuff

• Keep the feel of a pickup game. Anyone who can play well with others is welcome to jump in. If sports are a model for improv, then why can't we use a pickup game of frisbee as our model?

  • I would propose calling it 'The Pickup Game,' to emphasize the informality, etc.
• Remember, it's free. Experiment and fail. Nobody paid anything to see it so they can't be disappointed.
• Will Austin Parks & Recreation try to get us arrested? Will we?

What's in a name?

Peter's right; this "show" needs a new name. So far we have:

• The Pickup Game (still my fave -- {Peter})
• Daylight Savings Theater
• A Sunday In The Park With Keith
• ???

When?

(Peter) Why wait for daylight savings? I say, pick a Sunday afternoon some time.

Last Little Steps

Okay, so we've switched over to Daylight Savings Time. What's left to do before we can get this off the ground?

• Pick time of day, day of week
• Write up an email succinctly describing the project and making it sound appealing

• Pick a park

  • ... and perhaps a specific spot in the park, or a way of quickly finding us.
• Invite Rookies, one and all, to xx location at xx time.

1 Here's a telling quote from Matt Besser, a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, about their show 'Asssscat':

"The spirit of 'Asssscat' from the beginning has been, 'We don't give a f--- what the audience thinks, we're here to have a good time,' " Besser says. "It's like, 'Don't blame us, man. You walked in here. We didn't make you pay anything. If we say blankety-blank-blank, too bad!' "