Introducing a Harold

F

faceman

New Member
#1
#1
So my improv troupe have 2 improv shows this week and we are debuting the Harold for the first time. Its very exciting and scary at the same time but Im looking forward to it.

However, we will be play to an audience that contains 2 type of people. People who have never seen an improv show before and people who have only seen short form shows.

So Im not sure how to open the show. What level of introduction to the show is necessary? Do you guys "warm up" the audience similar to what happens during a short form show?
 
Holmes

Holmes

of the Rare Bird Show
#3
#3
Have the publicity for the show be all about debuting (for you) this kind of improv, and stress that it'll take one word from the audience as the inspiration for the whole show.

I've done posters that say some weird word like "Booger" or "Panties" or "Artichoke" or "Clavichord" in big letters with "now how do you make a half-hour comedy show from that off the top of your head with no planning, no script, and no safety net" or something along those lines.

Other ideas could be ...dissecting a word... or maybe making a big deal out of any word, like it's the title of a big opening show. You could have posters in the lobby or on the street in front of the theater with a big blank spot that people could write in.
"See the first and last performance of _____________" on a few dry-erase boards.

These are more marketing ideas, but the more your audience can know what they're going to see, know that they won't need to yell out suggestions all through the show, know what the point of a longform is, the more successful it'll be.

Get them excited about it beforehand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top