CIN in Time Out

[Shotts]

A CIN thread has actually been mentioned in Time Out magazine. Yeah, you read that right.

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/article/23079/taking-a-stand

Improvisers are douchebags.

[Gilley]

They really should mention in the article that CIN is a heavily moderated forum, and therefore does not necessarily reflect the "community's" opinions, but rather, the opinions of the few admins and moderators who decide which comments or viewpoints are allowed to stay on the board.

In the thread he cites, there could possibly have been posts by members of the community with valid pro-or-anti improv standpoints, but if the admins did not agree with them, they may have been deleted.

It does seem to me to be a valid conflict of interest that even one of the people quoted in the article at one point had the power to moderate what was posted on CIN, and to dictate the flow of the dialogue. If that moderator has a stance that is pro-stand-up and anti "shitty improv," naturally that would be reflected in their moderation of the message board.

It's an interesting article, though. I've recently taken to noting what the lead story in the Time Out section is, and when it's not a "national" story like Jeff Garlin's movie coming out, it's very frequently a stand up. You can ask yourself if that's a relfection of what audiences are craving, or if Time Out is helping to create the trend by zeroing in on stand up and covering it extensively.

I think we'll just have to wait and see if this is another 80's style boom or just a pendulum swing. I think the problem in the 80's was that stand-up quickly attracted a lot of lame hangers-on and self-styled open mic heroes who diluted the talent pool rapidly. Perhaps Dane Cook will be this generation's Andrew Dice Clay, the megapopular comedian who draws all the wrong people to stand up for all the wrong reasons, and turns a boom into a bust.

[nhoj]

I don't think Time Out does a very good job of covering improv in general. TJ and Dave went on hiatus for two months, and every week they were out Time Out listed them as playing that Wednesday. I just don't think they have their finger too much on the pulse of what's going on, beyond the press releases that are sent to them and new show openings and big events like Sketchfest and CIF. Have you ever found a great new improv show based on a positive review or feature in TO? Granted, they are what they are: 95% listings for tourists who don't know they can get the Reader for free, 5% features. (Also, I love when they run restaurant features, then a couple months later they do the Student Guide feature and it has the exact same photos and most of the same text from the burger issue/outdoor dining issue/cheap eats feature. Also my subscription expired like two months ago and they are still coming in the mail along with cards reminding me that it's not too late to renew. I wonder how long I'll continue to receive it.)

I will say that they've been key in promoting Improvised Shakespeare, which is a great show and well worth the amount of type TO has spent on them, and their Susan Messing feature 5-6 weeks ago was nice to read.

[DennisOT]

Did you just delete my Gilley-needs-to-get-laid bit? Comedy, comedy, toujours comedy. I think there is too much starch is this CIN collar. But that's just me. Do what you want, I guess. I'll keep chugging beers and debating proper brat grilling techniques.

Anyhoo, I think that thread mentioned in the article has the same connection to a wikipedia page about, say, the GOP. It was full of opinions by people who hang out on the internet- especially loaded and biased opinions at that- and not that indicative of the real mood on the ground. Most improvaters prefer improv and leave it at that. Few are the ones who feel the need to chase the money lenders from the temple.

[JRC]

Please stay on topic everyone!

Thank you.

J

[rdolan]

"Earning" and "demanding" respect. I never even knew. Wow.

Tastes great. Less filling. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Someone who does lazy, half assed barprov all the time is the equivalent to the stand up who does the same freaking five minutes all the time. There's as much crap in both disciplines as there is good stuff.

Go see some theatre or see some music or see an art exhibit or read a book.

Any of that is more worthwhile than arguing about this crap.

[Telfer]

I believe the original post said "Improvisers are douchebags".

So, nobody has strayed off topic yet. Granted, that's not the theme of the article, but defensiveness sure took over here fast didn't it?

[BlackDog]

meh.

move along

[Gass]

Gallen Wins!!!!

[Biddle]

If anyone wants one of these, I designed them and am getting them printed up on Cafe Press. I figured that since there's this whole under-represented majority of people who have been moderated and censored on CIN, that they will want merchandise to appropriately display their outrage.

Somebody has got to make a buck off of all of this oppression. Might as well be me.



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/1499067328_33be179de2_o.jpg

[Rich]

My god, if you have the ability to make a T-shirt, why aren't you more often wearing one?

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z291/rudystone/biddle.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

[Hendo]

Local pornography laws.

[Gilley]

Please stay on topic, everyone!

Thank you.

D

[Biddle]

The fact that Rich Prouty has a nearly nude picture of me on his computer makes me laugh and laugh. It's like I snuck into his bedroom, after he left the bedroom door unlocked, and gently placed my balls on his face while he was sleeping.

And then he went onto a public message board and said, "Hey yal, my face smells like balls."

That couldn't be funnier to me.

COB

[Gilley]

That's Rich Sohn, not Rich Prouty.

Please stay on topic!

Thanks.

D

[Biddle]

That's Rich Sohn, not Rich Prouty.

Please stay on topic!

Thanks.

D

Whoops! My apologies to the fine Mr. Rich Prouty.

Also, no dits in the bojo!

Thanks,

C

[schaefe]

This thread made me giggle.

[Shallow Hal]

Why is everybody talking about stand-up all of a sudden?