There's a CIF?

[EdO]

I didn't even realize CIF started today. I'd forgotten they were even going to have one this year.

The CIF site says it all:

http://www.cif.com

Anyway, I might try and see Dassariskski or Dassaricksee or whatever they call it. There's nothing else lookin' like it'd float my boat. Same shows, different year.

[Justin]

Hey EdO,

Not to go all blatant plug (it's not - so don't move it), but Schad felt the same way til we came up on this idea.

For the Sunday night closing party, Schadenfreude is hosting a "Cover Set". We are going to cover sketches from SNL, KITH, Mr. Show, Python, etc. It's a bunch of improv/sketch comedians from Bassprov to Gay Co. to Pimprov to Gillian Vigman and Jill Benjamin (back in town!). Some really great Chicago peeps.

The bonus is the band Tributosaurus is playing afterwards. They are worth the $10 admission. They are a super group from Chicago (Liquid Soul, Poi Dog, Brother Brother) and rumor has it they are going to play the Stones and the Replacements.

Any requests? For Tributosaurus or the cover set?

Consider this show to be this year's pudding party. Let's bring back the fireworks for the 10th, shall we?

Schadenfreude
4/29 at Martyrs, 8pm.
10 bucks
www.schadenfreude.net

[EdO]

Shattered.

[Schoolyj]

Answering Machine

[Daddy]

Unsatisfied.

[Monahan]

FYI, the CIF website is http://www.chicagoimprovfestival.org

And, I don't know, I think this year's lineup looks pretty varied, with the caveat that it is the 10th anniversary show so there's gonna be some shows that are coming back. All four UCB members? I wish I could be there to see that.

I guess I just never understand the seeming indifference that some improvisers have for CIF. It has some of the greatest improv shows on the planet perform and people are all "whatever, seen it." Just seems like a great chance for improv to take over the entire city for a week, but without the support of the community that's a pretty difficult task.

As improvisers, we should be plugging the hell out of this festival, because the bigger it gets the better it is for all of us.

[Hendo]

You say "we" should be plugging it, but honestly? It's been WAY under the radar this year. I just had this conversation with some folks after rehearsal at Gill Park Wednesday... I haven't seen any posters, I haven't seen anything on tv or heard anything on the radio, I haven't seen many posts by CIF...

So, why should "we" be plugging the hell out of it if "they" aren't plugging the hell out of it?

[Edison]

Tributosaurus is a really fun and talented band. I caught their tribute to Yes at Martyr's in February and they pulled it off, note for note, and brought some real energy to the music.

They're scheduled to play another Pink Floyd tribute at the Park West sometime in May. The first one was very well recieved.

[proxy]

You say "we" should be plugging it, but honestly? It's been WAY under the radar this year. I just had this conversation with some folks after rehearsal at Gill Park Wednesday... I haven't seen any posters, I haven't seen anything on tv or heard anything on the radio, I haven't seen many posts by CIF...

So, why should "we" be plugging the hell out of it if "they" aren't plugging the hell out of it?


Um, why not?

CIF brought me to Chicago for the first time, gave me two awesome jobs, and this year I'm performing with my peeps from Utah!

(10pm Saturday, The Hook, Skybox, go see it, btw)

I love the festival, and it's a great place to meet other improvisors from all over, then see them perform, then get long-distance crushes on them.

[Telfer]

While I agree that this year was a little lighter on publicity from where I stand, I don't think it's worth throwing it in CIF's face. The CIF staff often changes (Who are we to publicly criticize their job compared to previous years?), and I'm not a fan of treating festivals like political situations. There will be a ton of new blood in town, and a ton to learn. Get on it.

[Justin]

Great point Telfer. And remember, the CIF is mostly this upcoming weekend. Which means the major publicity will come when the big shows start. Watch Fox Thing in the Morning on Thursday, or check out Zwecker on Friday or Critics Choice in Reader, or big lead article in Timeout, or a 3 page spread in Relcon Apartment Guide. Trust me, it's coming.

When we did the CIF back in 2000, we did all the promotions ourselves. We made up a bunch of posters, hung them around the city and went after getting our name in print. Shit, I didn't even know CIF put posters out there.

[Hendo]

Hey, I got nothing against CIF or the folks that run it. I just don't understand that odd order that "we" need to get out there and hype it.

Why?

CIF is no more or less important than any improv theater in Chicago. So, if I'm not a player at IO, should I hype their shows?

I'm all about supporting the community... but I think CIF should hype CIF.

Just my two cents.

[Telfer]

I don't necessarily agree with Monahan, but I think he already answered that question in his first post. Just agree to disagree.

[bill binkley]

New ... blood ... must ... not ... get ... jaded on improv before ... festival ... even begins ....

*GASP*

[Hicks]

CIF is no more or less important than any improv theater in Chicago. So, if I'm not a player at IO, should I hype their shows?



Well it is the ostensibly the most visible time for improv theater in the city. You have pretty recognizable performers coming here to show the craft. It would seem like having a slew of big names is a perfect way to introduce people who have very little if any exposure to improvisation. Basically having the CIF here is like having the all star game in your city. It's a special event that brings in the best at that game. It makes people stand up and notice and then down the road has them come to other performances because they noticed the really big show.

And yes if there is a really good show at IO and you don't perform there you SHOULD tell people about it. We as a community have a responsibility to hype and push any good stuff going on wherever. That doesn't mean that we are inundating people with every show out there but if there is something really good you let people know about it. It widens the scope of the entire craft and helps things grow. Sorry to get on the soapbox for a second but after being out on the road this weekend you really get reminded how little people know about what we do and even worse on a level they really don't care that much.

[proxy]

Not to mention the simple fact that ALL the lasting shows in our community survived because of word of mouth.

Unless, you know, TJ and Dave have a secret underground marketing campaign that flies under my radar.

[MSutton]

No publicity...right

There have been stories in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and several suburban papers. There will be stories in this week's Reader and TimeOut Chicago. I have personally appeared on Channel 2 news and Chicago Tonight on Channel 11. Seth Myers, Jonathan, Tim Kazurinsky and others have all done radio interviews. There have been ads in The Onion, and Timeout Chicago and will be this week in RedEye.

Same shows different year.

UCB is back after an absense. Boom Chicago is making an appearance. Of the 12 shows on the showcase stages...11 have never been to CIF before. Of the 6 shows in the Chicago Showcase...4, I believe have never been in CIF before.

So...I can see how it would be boring.

[EdO]

When I went to the site, and there was a blank, black screen with no redirect to the new site, my first thought was actually that there was no more CIF. What added to that is that there's really been no heavy discussion about it on the boards, either.

I don't know about the publicity. Maybe it was out there, maybe it wasn't. I just know it got by me somehow until I read something today on a bulletin board. Not that I'm CIF's target audience. A banner ad on CIN leading to a detailed, updated website might have been a low-cost way to spark up a large group of locals. This is where we losers live.

Mark, I realize you and your crew do a shitload of work on this event every year. I think it's a HUGE exciting week for a lot of people, from all over the country. As for the show lineup, the people you've got will draw a crowd. But for me personally, it seems like MadTV, the SNL people who used to play IO, Bassprov...it reads like last year's program. Not bad shows, just shows I've seen.

I think having seen it grow from its birth to the present in the past decade, I'd gotten used to it taking huge leaps and bounds. Now, it seems a bit stagnant. It feels like there's less buzz. Nothing personal. Just my impression.

[pHJason]

I know pH is doing a news thing tomorrow with Ike Barinholtz and Nicole Parker. Maybe you just aren't watching or reading the right things. My co-workers know all about it and I hadn't even flyered them yet.

I'm going and I'm going to have fun. pH is hosting the Chicago stage, that alone is a great lineup of groups all in one place.

This is a post disguised as a plug.

[MSutton]

Ed...

I understand where you're coming from. Yes, you have seen many of the Mainstage performers before. But, I have to say from a festival standpoint, I look at CIF as 2 festivals. The Mainstage is for the public. It's to expose the public to and get them interested in improv. The best way to do that is with stars. CIF has often been criticized for not having enough Chicago acts on the Mainstage. But, let's be realistic...most Chicago improv shows play to audiences that are at least 1/2 other improvisors. It's also worth noting how many of these "stars" ask to come...look forward to coming and give tremedous support to the festival.

The Mainstage at CIF is a huge catch 22. If we put local and smaller acts on the stage....the general public will not come see them. If we put stars on the stage...the improv community will not come see them. In that case...I have go with the general public. I have tried over the last 2 years to use the middle and opening acts as way to expose other worthy and talented groups. Groups like Whirled News Tonight, Chairs, The Josh and Tamra show (this year) , IMP, Screwbuki. Pairing these shows with "Star Shows" gives them exposure and helps educate the audience to what improv can be.



As far as the alternate stages go... my mission has always been to attempt to highlight people doing interesting things with the art form. For many years, for whatever reason, most of that was not coming from Chicago. There are some amazing acts this year, inspired by, among other things, beat poetry, rock music, country music, American history, sports....that's a pretty wide range to me.

My big issue with the " community support" notion has always been this. Local improvisors complain about...

The cost - because we are so used to getting into everything free. Well....I'd venture to say that people spend $15 - $25 in more foolish ways every week than seeing something cool being done in an art form they profess to love and (to many) pursue as a career. Plus.. it's a tax write off.

Not enough local involvement - that's not my choice. Everyone knows where the shows are. Everyone knows where the parties are. Nothing is stopping anyone from meeting NEW improvisors, talking about NEW ideas, getting NEW perspectives on improv. We don't own the patent on Knowledge or passion just because we live in Chicago. And...as I have said many times...the out of town improvisor you meet this week may be on your Harold team 6 months from now.

This is not a "community festival" - that's right. It's an audience festival. We have to think about shows and programs the audience wants to see. If we didn't think that way....there wouldn't be a CIF 10....there would not have been a CIF 3.

Anyway....I'm rambling. Come....don't come....dare to leave IO for a night and see what else is out there. OR NOT....One thing is for sure.

There are hundreds of talented and dedicated performers coming to town this week to do dozens of inspired and quality shows. If you miss them...it's your loss.

[CIF]

Ed,
On 4/20 I sent out this email to all of CIF's ensembles. After reading your posts, I thought I would go ahead and share CIF's marketing and publicity details with everyone at CIN. Here's the email. - Jonathan

************************************************** ******************************
Hello CIF 2007 Talent!

I just wanted to reach out to all of you and let you know what we've been doing with marketing and publicity to promote the festival and your shows. You and your shows matter to us, and so we have done everything we can to let the public know about CIF 10.

Marketing:
*Post-cards. We printed up 10,000 postcards. From that 5,000 postcards have been distributed around Chicago by a company called Direction Tour Marketing. 2,000 post-cards were sent in bundles of 20 to 100 downtown hotel concierges by a company called Key Magazine. 1,250 post-cards were stuffed into programs at The Second City. The remaining 1,750 post-cards we distributed to CIF's venues (theatres, bars, and sponsors). The Chicago Cultural Center has also made thousands of brochures which include promotion of CIF.

*Posters. We printed up 350 11x17 posters. 300 posters were posted around Chicago by Direction Tour Marketing. The other posters were given to CIF venues.

*Print Ads. We have a two-page ad in The Onion. Our sponsor Heineken has also paid for a full page ad to run in The Onion. And The Onion, as our sponsor, is giving us a half page ad too. We have a 3x7 ad running two days in a row in the Chicago Tribune. We have a quarter page ad running 3 days in a row in Red Eye. We have a quarter page ad in Time Out Chicago.

*On-line. Because so much of the comedy-going audience has switched to getting their information on-line, I switched half of our marketing budget to on-line ads and e-blasts. We have on-line display ads in Metromix (Tribune), Time Out Chicago, Centerstage.com (Sun-Times), The Chicagoist, and The Bastion (Chicago comedy).

*E-Blasts. We have e-blasts from Metromix, The Chicago Reader, New City, Centerstage.com, American Express, Crains Business, pinknews.com, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Schadenfreude's newsletter.

*Photos. We have photos of your shows that will be running on the League of Chicago Theatre's website: chicagoplays.com

*Co-Presenting Partners. We are co-presenting shows with all of Chicago's major Chicago comedy theatres (Second City, iO Theatre, Annoyance, ComedySportz, pH Productions, CIC, Schadenfreude, and the Chicago Sketchfest). Each theatre is helping promote CIF through their websites and e-blasts.

*MySpace. We also have a myspace account with 459 friends. We are putting up the calendar on the page, and we are sending out a mass note to all of our friends. We have three myspace pages, so we are cross-referencing them and their friends.


Publicity:
*TV. We have or will have televised reports on all of Chicago's major tv stations (WBBM-2, WMAQ-5, WLS-7, WGN-9, WTTW-11, FOX-32, and CLTV).

*Radio. We have or will have radio interviews on WLS-am (4 different interviews), WCKG-fm, and WMAQ-am. We may still get something with WBEZ-fm.

*Podcast. We did a podcast for a company here in Chicago and the podcast got good listenership.

*Magazines. We have a big article in Time Out Chicago, a possible blurb in Time Out New York, and side bars in Chicago magazine and UR Chicago magazine.

*Newspapers. We have articles in all of Chicago's major papers. These include articles in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Onion, Daily Herald, Daily Southtown, Pioneer Press, and a sidebar in the Chicago Reader. We also have drops and additional articles in the Tribune and the Sun-Times.


Please help us promote your shows too. If you have a myspace page, if you haven't already done so, please add your CIF show on your calendar, and also please send out a note to all of your myspace friends and let them know about your upcoming shows at CIF.

Thanks, and see you soon!
Jonathan Pitts
Executive Director
Chicago Improv Festival

[Justin]

That is a great way to look at it. Who said it earlier - this is the All Star game weekend of the improv community. I like that analogy. Now who wants to have a run and jump competition?

[schaefe]

I am sad that I will not be able to attend this year...but I hope it is a great Festival!

[pHJason]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I was just at the Anthaneum and talked to Jonathan, while CLTV was filming spots for CIF mind you, and I've never seen him so excited about this festival. He's going out of his way to make it very inclusive and fun, and I really think he and Mark have done a really great job of giving us a little slice of everything...people in the past have complained that Chicago is not represented enough, they created a Chicago night...etc.

I for one am very pumped about it.

[asroyer]

I think its really easy to forget that at one point in time Chicago didn't have anything like CIF. We didn't have a comedy festival that the general public would come to see and we certainly didn't have an improv festival of all things. Last night, I was at The Chicago Cultural Center for the kick off night of CIF and they showed slides from the last 10 years of the festival. I was watching those slides and I saw people like Del Close and Martin de Maat and all the guys from UCB and all the guys from The Annoyance and some of those performers are still here after a decade and some of them are not. Seeing UCB still coming back 10 years later to me seems like an achievement, not a redundancy. I'm grateful to the festival and I'm proud to be a part of it.

[aimeng99]

I hate to throw gasoline on the fire, but shouldn't more improv shows take CIF's lead and market themselves to people outside the improv community?

[Monahan]

Amen, Aimen...g99.