Starting an improv group is hard.
Little-known fact: when The High-Fivers, the first indie group I joined and helped create, was starting up, I thought about quitting before we even got going. I wanted to do improv because it was fun. And sitting in my friend’s living room arguing over things like how many practices was too many practices to miss wasn’t fun at all.
Luckily, The High-Fivers made it through their difficult infancy, and now we’re beautiful swans!
Not really. But we’re coordinated enough to perform several times a month. We’ve kept the group together after a few members moved away or moved on, and we’ve added people to our ranks. We’ve put our squabbling days behind us and often hang out outside of practices and shows for drinks or dinner or, once, a Spice World watch party.
I don’t think the frustration we felt when getting started was unique to The High-Fivers. Some of the most difficult discussions we had revolved around topics that are essential to starting an improv group outside of a professional theater. When no one is coordinating your group for you, you have to figure out things like scheduling practices, finding a coach, and booking and promoting shows for yourselves.
It was a lot to work through, and, I won’t lie, we had a lot of arguments that we now consider silly about questions that we now think of us as pointless or unhelpful.
But for most of us, it was the first formal team that we were part of, let alone the first team we needed to manage ourselves. For that reason, I feel like I learned the most from my experience helping to create that group and working with all my team members to make it what it is today: a really fun ensemble that I’m proud to be part of.
I hope everyone can have as much fun as I do with The High-Fivers, both onstage and off. For that reason, I reached out to my teammates to ask for the lessons they learned from starting their first indie team, as well as contributing some of my own wisdom.
Please learn from our mistakes and start your indie group with much fewer headaches than we did.
4 things you shouldn’t do when starting an improv group
Every group is different and will function better under different rules and with different processes. However, there are a few basic things that every group should avoid doing, if possible. These aren’t hard and fast rules, and you might find that your group can do all of these things and still have a great time improvising.
These are just some thoughts that The High-Fivers came up with that could help you start your improv group off on the right foot.
1. Don’t play with people you don’t want to hang out with offstage
One of the things we took to heart when starting our group was something we heard at a Washington Improv Theater (WIT) Indie 101 workshop: life’s too short to play with people you don’t like.
But before we dive any deeper into this tip, repeat after me: you should not limit your indie group to just your friends.
I’ll say it again: Limiting your teammates to your friends and people you already know is not inclusive, and you’ll miss out on talented players.
Especially if you’re newer improvisers, finding people who want to play with you can be difficult. I won’t dwell too much on adding people to your group, as that’s a separate blog post in the works. However, there are two ways to discover new players that fledgling indie groups could easily follow:
- Reach out to current and past instructors to ask if they can think of any students or players who would be a good fit for your team.
- If you have access to Facebook groups, such as DC Indie Improv here in DC, post about forming your group there and ask if anyone is interested in joining.
But on to our initial topic: let’s talk about why you don’t want to hate your teammates.
Putting a group together necessarily involves spending a lot of time with each other. Not only do you have to see each other for practices and shows, but you can and should be talking regularly about show bookings, who’s doing what, Instagram account management, the list goes on and on.
Just considering logistics, that’s a lot of hours you’re going to spend with your team. And ideally, you should spend time with them outside of improv-related activities. As High-Fiver Laura Mandeville puts it, “Dinners, hangouts, and unstructured play together are great for bonding and building trust. Getting to know each other outside of improv can make the improv so much better.”
Not only will you perform at a higher level when you like and respect the players in your group, but you’ll also function much more smoothly. Although The High-Fivers had a rough time getting started, there’s no way we would have kept playing together after having any of the hard discussions we had to have if we didn’t like each other.
2. Don’t get hung up on the details
As I mentioned, there are so many details to discuss when forming an indie team, and it’s entirely possible that none of your troupe members will be on the same page about any of them.
As important as it is to go over details like “How much can we afford to pay for a coach?” or “What day should we practice?” it’s equally if not more important to avoid getting burnt out on discussing them.
The High-Fivers know this from experience, as David Shadburn can attest:
We spent a ton of time trying to come up with a charter that would define rules we were overly concerned about because of inexperience, especially for rules involving money, even small amounts. Life is too short to worry about that, especially on an improv troupe.
After our experience juggling too many rules, David suggests “setting a few norms” when it comes to group goals, attendance, and money while avoiding overly-specific policies. He adds that, “Just like in improv, don’t be afraid to name a problem when you see it.”
3. Don’t leave all the tasks to one person
As a new group, you’ll be figuring out all the things that go into making a team function. Make sure that the job of maintaining the team is spread out evenly among your members.
From my experience, there are a handful of tasks that are essential to managing an indie improv group:
- Scheduling shows
- Booking and scheduling practice space
- Coordinating with and paying your coach
- Social media management
When The High-Fivers started, we listed out all these tasks and divvied them up between the six of us. Since we already had a fairly large group, it was easy to give each person at least one thing to do. We also made it clear that if someone felt uncomfortable doing something or felt they didn’t have enough time, they should speak up so they didn’t feel overwhelmed.
However you decide to divide group chores, make sure that everyone is pitching in, and check in regularly with your teammates to make sure they don’t have too many tasks on their plates.
4. Don’t forget about improv
This might seem like a no-brainer, but after all the admittedly boring—and possibly tense—conversations you’re going to have surrounding group dynamics and logistics, it’s an important reminder.
If you’ve gotten together to discuss how your group is going to function, make it a point to play some games or run a few exercises, just to help everyone remember why they’re all there.
Unsurprisingly, a good improv group is one that actually plays together. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your color scheme is or who’s in charge of managing your Facebook page. No matter the reason your group is getting together, be sure to make time for some actual improv during your meeting.
Go start your improv group!
The High-Fivers have shared what we learned from our somewhat painful conception. If there’s one takeaway we can give you, it would be to keep calm and focus on the ‘prov.
Now that you’re super wise, go out there and form your own group! After all, there’s nothing the world needs more than another independent improv team.
Take it from me: as difficult as starting The High-Fivers was at times, it didn’t deter me from joining more teams. I started a small group, CAKE, with two other improv friends, and joined more existing teams. I’m now part of all-female indie ensemble Rancy Neagan and used to be a Pizza Party player before my day job got in the way.
Long story short: improv is really fun. If you’re like me, you’ll want to do as much of it as you can. And even though I’ve just told you how hard it can be sometimes, the easiest way to do more improv is to start your own group.
I’m sure I’m not the only one with this opinion, though. Are there any other indie groups out there who have some wisdom to share? What’s one lesson you’d like to impart to aspiring indie improvisers? Let us all know in the comments!
Other resources you might find helpful
- Jimmy Carrane has a few suggestions for improv teams just starting out
- Find places and organizations where your new team can schedule shows in DC in this nifty “DC Improvisers’ Resource Document“
- Take a look at this Doc focused on increasing diversity in improv groups through the audition process
