What Makes A Good Troupe?

Okay, this is my second installment of the Kansas City improviser's monthly blogging experiment.  The topic is the title:  "What makes a good troupe?" Having voted on this blog subject, now I wish I hadn't. There are so many aspects of what makes a good troupe that it would kill my fingers to sit here and type them all out.  Not to mention my brain, it would explode.  Literally. Boom. 

I'll try anyway.

I think a good troupe is a collaboration of people who are all comfortable with themselves as performers.  By being comfortable, I mean hitting the stage with no worries of your own performance as well as no worries of the others you are sharing the stage with.  Even though this doesn't in anyway factor into shows being bad or good, it can factor into a group dynamic.  

In Mick Napier's Improvise he talks a lot about taking care of yourself first in a scene.  Doing this will allow yourself to react and respond naturally to whatever comes your way.  It's as simple as telling yourself, "I'm going to be angry in this next scene no matter what" and then just doing it.  The more you take this approach, the more comfortable you will start feeling in scenes, and more importantly, on stage.  Get a whole group of people that attack the stage with such ease, and you've got the makings of a good troupe.

Being comfortable does not only fall into the verbal performance category. How many shows have you scene where one or two people are the only ones setting up games?  Or editing scenes?  Or even starting scenes?   You'd be surprised if you didn't think the audience doesn't pick up on this sort of thing. They see it better than you do. They actually respond more to the ones that are jumping out there. It oozes confidence, and the audience will eat that shit up. If someone generally sits in the backup line and waits for others to start scenes before they join, the audience notices that as well.  So, when everyone in a troupe equally contributes to all aspects of the performance, the dynamic will grow.

Okay, one more thing.  Back when I performed with Lighten Up/Funny Outfit we had two separate troupes:  A young one and an old one.  Even though both groups rehearsed together, they did not perform together.  Why?  A lot of the oldies were thrown off by a lot of the youngins during scenes.  Or the youngins were too weird and the oldies were too wordy.  I performed with both groups so I heard it from both ends.  This problem eventually lead the to troupe's death. People were only comfortable with performing with certain types, their own. They steered away from the challenge of performing with someone not like them.  The greatest thing about improv is that it should allow you the ability to perform with anyone at anytime, no matter their age, gender, or even experience.  

In summary, I guess, when a troupe as a whole is individually comfortable with themselves, comfortable with the performers surrounding them, and comfortable with every aspect that goes into a show, then that the makings of  a good troupe.