Available Cupholders , Tuesday, March 06, 2007
We had a little sit-down with Jeremy Lamb, director of and performer in The Available Cupholders, one of Austin's most popular and experienced improv troupes. He had much to say about flexibility, Chicago, the evolution of improv, and 'making it' financially as an improviser.DB: The Cupholders migrated en masse from Chicago not too long ago. How would you describe your experience as a troupe in Chicago versus your experience in Austin?
Lamb: It's hard for a group to get serious play in front of audiences in Chicago. Despite our credentials, I submitted repeatedly to be a guest team on the Playground schedule and was rejected. We played shows to very small audiences at the Cornservatory and to mostly improviser-heavy crowds at what amounts to open mic spots at local bars. These improviser crowds either didn't understand our style, or were not willing to give up the laughs. Our shows and morale suffered because of this.
Troupes, or teams as they are called in Chicago, are usually formed by a training center that is geared to perform on their stages. They can control content and quality this way. This also makes it impossible to perform in front of a decent audience without going through a training center.
We even did a week in weird places series where we did 5 shows in one week in odd locations all over Chicago. This was poorly attended save our Saturday show downtown which did very well. It was maybe our most triumphant show in Chicago.
Austin is what Chicago is not and that's what makes it a better and cheaper place to live and train in my opinion. The scene is more open and the talent per capita far surpasses that of Chicago.
DB: You guys tour a lot compared to other troupes. How do you tailor your shows to fit the places/events you'll be playing?
Lamb: We are a very heavy audience mindset group. Some groups don't care about what's going on with the audience, whether they're having a good time, what have you. We've played a lot of weird circumstances and playing on the road in various situations teaches you a lot about not knowing what to expect, and adjusting on the fly. We've played conservative Christian colleges repeatedly. We played a hippie resort town, we played what amounted to an RV park in North Texas for old folks and their grandkids. It's gotten pretty weird. We played a show to an audience of 7 in a lecture hall in Massachusetts and then played to a gym full of 600 college students in Wisconsin the next week for the same paycheck. We've played shows for 5th graders. There's really no end to what we'll do and it's all about getting in the audience's head and taking a best stab at what we think they'll like as a collected unit. We've failed many times, of course. Our first college show in 2004 was in rural rural rural Oklahoma and we had people clearing out of there just bored silly by what we were doing. That sucked. But, we actually learned a lot from that experience. Improv is all about immediate adaptation and that's what we've been able to do with each show since then.
DB: What does the next year hold for the Cupholders?
Lamb: Sweeping, awkward feeling change. Two of us are moving out of state, and a third is threatening to move as well. This is what keeps me up at night. I don't want to break it down and start all over, get a new stupid web domain and cast a whole new bunch of people. So, I don't know exactly what's going to happen. I have a couple people I'd like to invite into the group but I don't want it to get out of control as well. If everyone moves back in a year, I don't want to have a 7-person troupe bickering with itself about stage and touring time. I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do.
DB: The Cupholders seem to perform new formats of improv shows all the time. What's the process and motivation for coming up with new formats?
Lamb: We have found this is the best way to retain and introduce new audience members to improv. Old people who like us want to see us try new things all the time and new people are maybe hooked by whatever recent idea we've come up with. You can tell someone you're doing a show a thousand times but until you hook them with something that sticks in their brain as something they want to see, you're wasting your breath, and your flyer.
Plus, format innovation is the essence of evolving the artform. A stagnant artform dies away as it is unable to adapt. The evolution of the form ensures that it's zeitgeisty and that's what people want I've found. And stuff that works, we revisit. We like to mix it up but we're certainly not afraid to do an oldie but a goodie that still seems relevant.
DB: What's been your proudest moment for the Cupholders so far?
Lamb: I'd say being able to make this into a viable business that turned a profit in 2005 as a touring company was a huge accomplishment. Keeping it together would have been another feat altogether but to know it's possible to do improv and get paid for it, in most cases quite well, is a beacon of hope for the artform and for me personally. Working in improv theatre as my sole career is Goal One for my life.
The Available Cupholders perform in the Double Barrel on 3/9/2007, along with Girls Girls Girls.
Labels: cupholders, interview
2 Comments:
This is awesome!
Fuck yeah.
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