Funny, strange, toxic… with experience, we go through many teams, shows, practices, venues, festivals… and we all have stories. Since I was kind of rambling on about how great the SDI Nancy Improv Festival was last week, I thought I’d share some of my less dignified moments.

Because of me

The very first improv show I’ve ever done was in Shanghai, probably late 2009. There were way too many performers, the evening went on for way too long, and my listening skill was close to zero. I was part of a short form game in which I had to repeat someone else’s last line to carry on the scene (that was the only gimmick at that point), and I completely ignored it. I felt awful and swore to myself I’d be the best listener ever in the future.

A few years later, I was hosting a daily improv show in which we’d invite another performer from theatre, someone who didn’t necessarily do improv a lot or at all. I was ill-prepared, which angered one particular stage partner (she wanted to have a fight mid-show and quit), attendance was two people… then one person… who in the end only praised our non-improv guest without knowing he wasn’t part of our team.

Because of the performers I’m watching

I watched two terrible improv shows. To be specific, one game gone wild, and a whole show gone weird. Two separate events.

At a festival, they put a bunch of performers of all level into teams so they could perform one or two games at the jam. One team picked the game “Onion.” I think only one guy in the team knew the game, and didn’t quite managed to explain it to the rest. He started the first scene, then this crazy performer came onstage as a mad bus driver and ‘drove off’, leaving our first guy dumbfounded and exploding the only mechanism of the game. Another performer had tried to be the third scene initiator before the bus completely disappeared in the wings, but was too slow and got caught mid-air with one foot onstage, the other still in the wings, he froze and retreated slowly as if not to be seen (everyone saw him). The first guy was sweating profusely trying to save the game. In character, he cried, ‘We’ll make it to the end!’ I was in tears. Nothing worked. Complete chaos. First guy gasping for air. Then, in the back row, an audience member wondered aloud, “This is a complicated game, isn’t it?” I rolled on the floor.

The second time, I was in Paris, at the now defunct Improvi’bar. An amateur group was trying a subtle long form based on the discovery of a special item after the passing of an old relative. It started well, very touching. However, one team member kept making bigger and bigger blunders, falling into a weird comedic act on his own, destroying any iota of sincerity which the rest was trying to convey. At some point he entered an on-going scene, convinced it was his turn and exclaimed loudly, “Oh this is not the scene by the tree, sorry!” and left. His teammates did their best to ignore that. Later on, he came on third in the scene, hiding (as a nosy neighbour or something). The other two actors, front stage, hadn’t seen him. He came closer to them. On of the other actors, finally understanding, played the game and said, “What’s this noise? Must be a cat” and the crazy performer ‘turned into a cat’ and a strange scene followed, where everyone was thrown into a science fiction story (which was news to all, 40 minutes into the show!) with speaking cats and colliding universes. Towards the end, in a group scene, after so many weird offers and non-sequiturs by the same crazy performer, one other guy just gave up — he said so, dropped his character and sat on the side, arms crossed, waiting for the story to be over. I’ve hardly laughed harder at any other show in my life.

Because of the venue

I’ve performed at weird venues. I guess performing at the opening of a night club, during the afternoon, on a central tiny spot usually reserved for pole dancing, with people wandering in and out, completely unaware an improv show was going on, wasn’t the most gratifying experience.

Because of my stage partner(s)

I had once an inebriated partner who spilled her drink onto electrical instruments left there by the band due to play after us. A spark flew across the stage. People gasped. Needless to say, tension was high.

Because they didn’t know how to handle a hot topic

I once saw a festival show that tackled the theme of “toxic people at work”. I was very curious. So was the entire audience. The intro was confusing and complicated, we had to scan a giant QR code and answer questions on our phone, the whole set-up took a while. The performers appeared and it felt like this part went on forever. Then they interacted with us, which took more time, and finally started. We had high expectations by then. But it didn’t take. They had obviously researched a lot about toxic personalities. But they were just showing what we knew already. They didn’t know what to make of it. There was no clear direction. They could have used improv to make social commentary, but I thought, ‘why didn’t they just write this show?’ Why did we need this to be improv? Awkwardness ran across the audience. At the end, we clapped politely — only it wasn’t the end we thought it was, and the performance carried on more awkwardly for another 10 to 15 minutes. Yikes. We left quietly.

Conclusion

With time, we laugh at these stories, and wonder, ‘but why?’ It’s all part of the journey, as corny as it sounds. We learn to deal with these ‘mistakes’, to go along, or to change teams! Do you have stories of really bad show moments? Cringeworthy tidbits? Feel free to share!