Halloween at the Roving Imp

Hey, this is David from 92 Monsters From History and formerly from Survivor. Over the course of the past year, I've been doing the graphic design for a few shows at the Roving Imp. This is actually an image I designed for Halloween a year ago before I did any graphic design. I wanted to post it to wish everyone a safe and funny Halloween!

In fact, if you're around Bonner Springs on Halloween night, come by the Roving Imp for some Trick-or-Treats with Arnold at 7pm and the long awaited return of GAME SHOW: Match Game at 9pm! At the Roving Imp, the Tricks are the Treats...and so are the prices. There is no where else in town you can get entertainment like this for under $10!

ImpFest

James here. This is a note from my Facebook page, but it belongs here as well.

The three greatest tragedies of my life (to date):

1) Missing ImpFest '09, which is happening this weekend at the Roving Imp Theater.
2) Missing ImpFest '09, which is happening this weekend at the Roving Imp Theater.
3) Missing ImpFest '09, which is happening this weekend at the Roving Imp Theater.

If you are in Kansas City, have any interest in Improv, and DON'T have already have a ticket in your hand for every single performance during ImpFest, you are CRAZY.

Why?

Because this thing is epic. This thing is huge. This thing WILL be the biggest thing to happen to Kansas City Improv since the first Thunderdome - and I have no doubt that it will contribute just as much to the renovation of Kansas City Improv as Thunderdome has.

Doubter McGrumpypants says "Wait, James... why? The Roving Imp has quality shows and workshops weekly, why is this so special?"

Because it's the first ever ImpFest - that is, a large, exciting, sell-out event that screams the thrill of Improvisational Comedy to all who can hear it in this budding improv scene. And nothing stirs an Improv Community like a festival - just ask this devotee, whose revival of improv career was caused by the amazingly inspirational Kansas City Improv Festival in 2007.

But ImpFest '09 is important for a whole 'nother reason: If you haven't noticed, the Roving Imp Theater is the only professional improv theater in Kansas City. And when it opened its doors in April '07, there was unbelievable excitement - but also lingering worry... would the Imps be able to draw crowds consistently, a feat that is disturbingly hard for improv troupes? Would the theater be able to garner enough interest from local improv diehards to make it a mainstay of Kansas City improvisers, a scattering of whom hold thinly veiled grudges against newer, less experienced troupes? And... dare I even say it... would the theater be able to stay open?

As the miraculous success of the Roving Imp Theater escalated, these worries became things of the past - and ImpFest most certainly doesn't cement the success of RI - that has already become well established, just a couple years after it's opening. No, ImpFest '09 is a celebration of the triumph of the Roving Imp Theater - it's a beautiful, incredible way of saying "We made it. We're here to stay, and we are going to be rocking KC improv for as long as we want."

And Festivals do something pretty amazing - they grow. They get bigger, better, wilder, and more insane every year. And years from now, when the Roving Imp is selling out $35 tickets to dozens of shows over a week of incredible improv acts from all over the country, we'll only be able to wonder how this thing ever started.

Exaggeration? Well, let's look at another festival that occurred less than ten years before the Roving Imp's opening - in March of 1998. This festival had only 10 more troupe performances than ImpFest '09, and they were also performed in one relatively small theater.

That was, of course, the Chicago Improv Festival, which is now the single biggest improv festival in the world, bringing in over a hundred of the most incredible improv shows in the world every year, and entertaining nearly 10,000 audience members annually (not to mention teaching hundreds of improvisers in workshops). That happened in about ten years.

So here's ImpFest, Year One. And however incredible it will be (and trust me, it will be), it also brings future promise, potential, and possibility not just to the Roving Imp Theater, but to the entire KC Improv Community. It begins a saga - a tradition that will amaze us all by how quickly it surpasses itself.

Don't you dare miss this. You'll be regretting it for the rest of your improv life.

Like me, who will be twitching with jealousy from Germany.

Be there.

How to Name Your Improv Troupe

James here. A friend of mine asked on a Facebook status for tips on how to name a troupe.

Those of us who are born and bred Roving Imps know that we must always follow the Roving Imp Code: When somebody asks a question about improv, you must give your opinion! And thus, here was my answer. (Notice: all content is protected property of the Roving Imp Theater)

There are a few routes to go with this:

The "Trish Berrong" method: Pick a one-word name that has some sort of attitude, showing your audience that improv is Kool! (Kansas City examples: Tantrum, Spite)

The "Displacement" method: Pick a term from an activity that's cooler than Improv, such as a sports term or game terms. (Kansas City examples: The Trip Fives, Loaded Dice)

The "Coming to Terms" method: Pick a name that isn't cool at all and just says exactly what you're doing, as a way to show that you're not ashamed of who you are. (Kansas City examples: Comedy City, Improv-Abilities)

The "Improv Kanz be Sexy" method: Pick a name that tries to combine improv with sex appeal. Note: It's a trap. Improv has no sex appeal. (Kansas City examples: Full Frontal Comedy, Scriptease)

The "Vitalogy" method: Pick a name that sounds good, even if it doesn't mean anything. This method is named for a certain Pearl Jam album. (Kansas City examples: Anomaly Orange, Babel Fish)

The "Brainchild" method: Think of a really cool and clever name that the audience can figure out if they spent enough time thinking about it, even though they almost certainly won't do so. [Kansas City examples: Makeshift Militia (get it? It means "improv" "group"), Roving Imp (get it? backwards it's imp-roving)]

If none of these work for you, go to the drawing board with the vision you have for your team: how many people are you? what kind of improv are you doing? What is the first thing you want people to think when they here of you? What are some adjectives that would describe your troupe?

As a free bonus, here are some example names generated out of my own genius:

Scorpions with Crossbows

Sisyphusalis

Zombie Jabberwocky

Captain Caboodle and the Big Wet Noodle

Improvirginity

Ten Thousand Demons

Laughing Grass

Tzar Chasm

More Ray Eel

The Improvtastic Spectaculastic!

@@@ (Pronounced "at at at". If !!! can be a band, this is fair game)