u/Beginning_Main2965

So, the town I live in really doesn't have a lot of opportunity to get stage time as an improviser. There is a little community class that runs every week, but no actual venue where we can gig.

This town does have a comedy club, and they get pretty sizeable crowds for their open mic. I'll be real, though, it's kind of a tough crowd. A lot of people who just view it as a free night out. They talk over the comedians, they can be a little hard to reach.

All the same, having no other obvious options, I was thinking about taking a friend and doing a twoprov scene there for like 4 or 5 minutes. I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried anything like that?

I can already predict the advice, "you won't know until you try" and there is obvious wisdom in that. But, if anyone had any thoughts on how to approach something like that, I'd appreciate it! Thanks

Hello, I'm a long time fan of the dropout service but my absolute FAVOURITE thing on the whole platform is "From Zacky to Ally". A live improv gig featuring a wide cast of our favourite dropout killers doing some good old fashioned live improv. I'm guessing at UCB.

Dropout has no shortage of improv content, VIP, Make Some Noise and Crowd Control are all built around that same premise. Though as an improviser myself, I LOVE seeing the actual live shows. The true long form stuff in front of a real audience.

There are other improv specials on Dropout, Brennan and Izzy have one, Ify's team Big Team has one which are both great. But the Zacky to Ally one is my favourite.

First of all, theyre kind of hard to navigate to on the dropout platform if you dont already know they exist. Second, despite having a network of active improvisers, they dont seem to have big plans to continue to make more. At least not what I can see.

As an improv nerd, I absolutely loved Middleditch and Schwartz on Netflix, it was so incredible to see my favourite art form done so well, there was so much to learn from it. I'm pretty sure Middleditch is cancelled now, so we won't be seeing any more of those. Yet, I have this itch, for improv specials that are shot as beautifully and thoughtfully as a stand up special.

I feel like dropout is uniquely primed to corner this market if they want to. To be drivers of what the form looks like when produced for the screen.

I heard this great argument recently about how because AI slop is now everywhere, people are going to start searching for more authentic mediums of communication/entertainment to enjoy. What is more authentic than improv? It's something that AI could never do, because improv is all about taking the imperfection, the mistake, the miscommunication and making it work anyways. It's so uniquely human in a way that I don't think AI could replicate.

This is all to say, I'd love to see more of what was given to us in From Zacky to Ally. At a minimum, I offer my thanks.

Kia Ora, Wellington!

I wrote to you from Australia, I'm a long term admirer of your city.

From my Australian vantage point, I keep hearing conflicting information about the vibe/morale in Wellington right now. It's at a point where I have to ask.

So, I've been hearing about this "brain drain", this seemingly mass exodus of New Zealanders to head to Australia and overseas for greener pastures. As far as I can tell, this is due to a conservative government having slashed public sector jobs and the run on effect being that employment in pretty much every sector is a little tight. Naturally, Wellington would be feeling this the most acutely.

That said, an article also came across my facebook the other day saying that Wellington is amongst the top 10 most attractive places in the world for Gen Z to want to live. This implies that the youth culture must be at least kind of healthy, which in some ways counteracts this brain drain narrative.

I also had a friend who recently did a big several month trip in New Zealand, having spent a little over a week in Wellington. I asked what she noticed, and she said that "economically things seem pretty tight, but as a result the arts scene seems to be really flourishing".

God. What an utterly beautiful sentiment. Great art is often borne of struggle, and that's weirdly inspiring to hear that in some ways maybe you could argue that things are better for this whole mess.

I understand you guys are sort of in the throes of still recovering from a hurricane, perhaps the energy in town is still a little dreary. But I can't help but be curious - what do you feel is the vibe and energy in Wellington right now?

TL;DR From overseas, this whole "brain drain" narrative sounds pretty intense, especially for Wellington. From the horses mouth I'd love to know, how intense does it feel?