Practice Groups FAQ
v.1 Brian Berrebbi
1. Why are you writing a practice group FAQ?
Short answer: because i get asked these questions a lot, and because i love improv.
So you wanna start a practice group, or learn how to go about starting one, or have questions about being in one. That's what i'm here for. A lot of groups i coach have these questions, things like: where can i find good cheap spaces? what's the average price a coach charges? who should i take class with? who do we do if we want to perform? what do we do about money? what do we do if we want to close off the group? and so on.
I've been involved in every angle of practice group: starting a practice group, organizing it, re-organizing it, performing with the group, and coaching a number of them, and my intent here is to give you some of the benefit of my experience.
2. Why should I start or join a practice group?
Four of the original six members of Monkeydick started practicing together in Level 1, with the other two with us by Level 3. We practiced every week and still do.
As i say when coaching: We are trying to write, direct, and act all at once. People go to college just to learn how to do one of these, and you expect to learn it by doing a three-hour a week class? Plus in most classes you only get to do around two scenes. How are you going to get great doing that little improv.
Being in a practice group means you get to work more, get more experience, work with a smaller group, get the perspective from other teachers, do more scenes, and overall get better sooner. There is no reason NOT to be in a practice group. All the students i know who i consider good and who got on teams are ones who took improv seriously and threw themselves into it, sometimes practicing three times week.
In my opinion being in a practice group is not only neccessary to hasten your progress as an improviser, but something you should want to do. It's more time to improvise! If you enjoy doing this then this is a great opportunity and fun.
3. How do i start or join a practice group?
The easiest way to start early, when you're in Level 1. This isn't to say you can't start one later, but most of the people by Level 3 will probably be in committed practice groups by then.
If you're in class its pretty easy. At the end of class, simply say "Hey everyone, I'm going to start a practice group. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. If you're interested come over here and talk to me." Once you see who's interested, i suggest step picking a night. This will be immensely difficult. Everyone will have different commitments. I suggest using a simply "raise your hands" approach. Say "Alright, whoevers available Monday night raise your hands." Count how many hands are raised. Now do Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and the rest of the week nights, then the weekend. Some people might complain or say they'll try. Don't worry about them. Whatever night or weekend day you can get the most people, do it.
4. But i don't like everyone in my class. Shouldn't i just invite who i like?
If you're starting out (Level 1, 2, 3a, 3b) and this is your first practice group i reccomend strongly against this. Though its an appealing idea, more often than not you'll have a lot of scheduling problems or sit around waiting to get the right people and never actually start the practice group. I see this happen all the time. In the meantime, they have created some bad blood with the people they didn't invite who have found out. What a mess.
My philosopy is this: get as many people as you can. If ten people say they're going to come, most likely five will show up. This can be really depressing and financially draining. You're biggest problem right at the outset is getting people there. Invite everyone, even people from other classes. Try to get twelve people to confirm they'll be there in advance.
After a few weeks (six to eight), a lot of people will have fallen away, but because you've kept inviting people you'll also gotten some fresh blood from other classes. It's usually around this point a core group emerges: five to seven people who are committed to the group, who come almost every week, maybe go out for drinks together, like each other. At that point you may want to consider closing it off, but we'll get into that later.
5. Alright, i got a number of people to say they'll come. Now what?
There are three things you'll need for a practice group: People to improvise with, a place to improvise, and someone there to coach/teach/guide you. The latter two usually cost some money, which so long as you are in a practice goup will be an issue.
6. How much should we expect to pay? How should we handle the money?
Most rehearsal spaces charge about $15 an hour, but there are a number of others that charge more. Most coaches charge around $45-50 for a three hour session, but there are those who charge more or less. For a two hour session, usually its between $30 - $40. More on coaches later.
Someone's going to have to be in charge of getting it together, someone is going to be responsible for booking the space and coach and making sure they get paid. This job sucks.
Your expenses for your first practice come to $95 for the night. Ten people promised to come but only five showed up. People expected to pay $9.50, but instead only five showed so now everyone owes $19.00. Whoa! You have to tell them that, and they are not happy, doubt your abilities as a leader and are wary of coming next week. It's going to happen.
There are some ways around this. One way is try and collect the money upfront a few days before the practice. This way even if people don't show you're not screwed, and with their money on the line they've got a little more motivation to show. Make it clear that if they pay and don't show they don't get a refund.
______________________________________________
More to come. Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome and can be e-mailed or PM'd to me.
v.1 Brian Berrebbi
1. Why are you writing a practice group FAQ?
Short answer: because i get asked these questions a lot, and because i love improv.
So you wanna start a practice group, or learn how to go about starting one, or have questions about being in one. That's what i'm here for. A lot of groups i coach have these questions, things like: where can i find good cheap spaces? what's the average price a coach charges? who should i take class with? who do we do if we want to perform? what do we do about money? what do we do if we want to close off the group? and so on.
I've been involved in every angle of practice group: starting a practice group, organizing it, re-organizing it, performing with the group, and coaching a number of them, and my intent here is to give you some of the benefit of my experience.
2. Why should I start or join a practice group?
Four of the original six members of Monkeydick started practicing together in Level 1, with the other two with us by Level 3. We practiced every week and still do.
As i say when coaching: We are trying to write, direct, and act all at once. People go to college just to learn how to do one of these, and you expect to learn it by doing a three-hour a week class? Plus in most classes you only get to do around two scenes. How are you going to get great doing that little improv.
Being in a practice group means you get to work more, get more experience, work with a smaller group, get the perspective from other teachers, do more scenes, and overall get better sooner. There is no reason NOT to be in a practice group. All the students i know who i consider good and who got on teams are ones who took improv seriously and threw themselves into it, sometimes practicing three times week.
In my opinion being in a practice group is not only neccessary to hasten your progress as an improviser, but something you should want to do. It's more time to improvise! If you enjoy doing this then this is a great opportunity and fun.
3. How do i start or join a practice group?
The easiest way to start early, when you're in Level 1. This isn't to say you can't start one later, but most of the people by Level 3 will probably be in committed practice groups by then.
If you're in class its pretty easy. At the end of class, simply say "Hey everyone, I'm going to start a practice group. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. If you're interested come over here and talk to me." Once you see who's interested, i suggest step picking a night. This will be immensely difficult. Everyone will have different commitments. I suggest using a simply "raise your hands" approach. Say "Alright, whoevers available Monday night raise your hands." Count how many hands are raised. Now do Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and the rest of the week nights, then the weekend. Some people might complain or say they'll try. Don't worry about them. Whatever night or weekend day you can get the most people, do it.
4. But i don't like everyone in my class. Shouldn't i just invite who i like?
If you're starting out (Level 1, 2, 3a, 3b) and this is your first practice group i reccomend strongly against this. Though its an appealing idea, more often than not you'll have a lot of scheduling problems or sit around waiting to get the right people and never actually start the practice group. I see this happen all the time. In the meantime, they have created some bad blood with the people they didn't invite who have found out. What a mess.
My philosopy is this: get as many people as you can. If ten people say they're going to come, most likely five will show up. This can be really depressing and financially draining. You're biggest problem right at the outset is getting people there. Invite everyone, even people from other classes. Try to get twelve people to confirm they'll be there in advance.
After a few weeks (six to eight), a lot of people will have fallen away, but because you've kept inviting people you'll also gotten some fresh blood from other classes. It's usually around this point a core group emerges: five to seven people who are committed to the group, who come almost every week, maybe go out for drinks together, like each other. At that point you may want to consider closing it off, but we'll get into that later.
5. Alright, i got a number of people to say they'll come. Now what?
There are three things you'll need for a practice group: People to improvise with, a place to improvise, and someone there to coach/teach/guide you. The latter two usually cost some money, which so long as you are in a practice goup will be an issue.
6. How much should we expect to pay? How should we handle the money?
Most rehearsal spaces charge about $15 an hour, but there are a number of others that charge more. Most coaches charge around $45-50 for a three hour session, but there are those who charge more or less. For a two hour session, usually its between $30 - $40. More on coaches later.
Someone's going to have to be in charge of getting it together, someone is going to be responsible for booking the space and coach and making sure they get paid. This job sucks.
Your expenses for your first practice come to $95 for the night. Ten people promised to come but only five showed up. People expected to pay $9.50, but instead only five showed so now everyone owes $19.00. Whoa! You have to tell them that, and they are not happy, doubt your abilities as a leader and are wary of coming next week. It's going to happen.
There are some ways around this. One way is try and collect the money upfront a few days before the practice. This way even if people don't show you're not screwed, and with their money on the line they've got a little more motivation to show. Make it clear that if they pay and don't show they don't get a refund.
______________________________________________
More to come. Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome and can be e-mailed or PM'd to me.