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.
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.
Posts
John and company,
ReplyDeleteMan did we have a great time at ImpFest! The shows were both thought-provoking and funny and the workshops were full of game-changing information.
But I think for aspiring improvisers like us, the most impressive thing was the people we met. Everyone was so warm and welcoming and treated us like we were one of them.
The trip up from Arkansas was well worth the time, effort and money it took to make the whole weekend work. We will no doubt be back for more.
A special thanks to John for his warmth and hospitality, to Jill and Trish for world class workshops and to Nifer for letting a rank amateur play scenes with her and continuing to encourage without exception.
Much love to all y'all (it's an Arkansas thing),
Tim and Laura Keck