Money vs. Art

I have been performing improv in Kansas City for nearly 13 years. Two of those years I actually cared about getting paid for performances.

The first year was when Lighten Up broke up. Most of the cast regrouped under the name Funny Outfit and started performing crappy bar-prov at McCoy's Public House (I enjoyed it because the bartender thought i was funny and gave me free shots before shows). From there we started doing monthly shows at the Westport Coffeehouse Theater down the street. before, Lighten Up had its own theater, so money that was made went to bills and promotions. At the Coffeehouse, all we had to do was pay a theater fee. The rest of the money went to the performers. Getting paid was a first for a lot of us.

The other year was my first year at ComedyCity. My wages came from performing and working in the office. The only real reason I cared about getting paid was because it was my only source of income. I had no other job. On the other hand, if somebody asked what I did for a living, I could honestly answer, "I'm a Comedian" without following up with "and I work in a coffeehouse."

Other than those two years I have never cared about getting paid for performing improv.

Making money is just a little added bonus for hard work and self promotion. There should be so much more energy to put into a show and so much more time spent figuring out performance aspects of a show, than energy spent worrying about how much money everyone is going to get afterwards.

Here are the two things a think about when preparing for a show:

1. What are we going to do?
   
2. How are we going to get people there?
   

That's about it.  Then the only money aspect I have to think about is what to charge people for this show that has no script, no set, no live music, no costumes, no props, no nothing.  Just people and their words.  

When the show is over and done with and I happen to get a couple of extra bucks to purchase a beer with, that's fantastic!  maybe I'll do it again next month.