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by bikeshaving·5y ago·view on hn ↗
> I wouldn't really know though unless UCB is really only sourcing its main-stage talent from their classes, which I highly doubt. because if they were, that'd sound like a pay-to-play type of thing

This is exactly what was happening. You have to understand, this is not a one-off $450 dollar class but a “curriculum” (101, 201, 301, 401). There were requirements after graduation from 201 and 401, where to pass 201 you pretty much had to prove that you didn’t shout racist profanities on stage, and after 401 you had to prove that you were able to carry a bit, and there was a weird tiered culture where improvisers would only associate with people who had attained specific levels.

Once you went through these four classes, you had the opportunity to audition for improv house teams which performed every Tuesday night in a marathon 4ish hour block. I remember there being like 6-8 house teams with 8 members each, but even then competition was incredibly fierce. Sometimes, at the highest levels, comedians who were established elsewhere would be brought in, but talent was mostly internally sourced. I remember being somewhat shocked to learn that the house team members were not only unpaid but also had to pay monthly dues.

It was an incredible opportunity to get on these house teams and there are a lot of wonderful comedians on the national stage who cut their teeth at UCB. I took classes on and off from like 2007-2017ish and remember them being around 200-ish dollars at the start, and I don’t regret any of it. Nothing will ever beat the experience of being in a groove with your fellow improvisers and bringing down a house. I’m also incredibly thankful that I got to meet all the instructors, who are all hilarious comedians in their own right.

I apologize to the OPs; I don’t really know how funny they are or what their classes were like. I just had the sudden image of being a kid who moved to NY for comedy, trying to climb the UCB ladder and saving for classes, only to be in a room where most people literally made five times what you made, sitting and watching two “senior software engineers“ do two person scenes in tinnitus inducing silence, listening to them try to get rise from the room with references to things like Amazon EKS as they pantomimed scrubbing dishes next to each other, and then having to listen to as many minutes of notes on this scene from the instructor. Truly bleak.

1 comments
I accept your apology, but I did take offense to your gatekeeping and suggestion that the composition of my class is somehow the cause of UCB's decline. I got a lot of benefit out of my 101 and 201 classes, and then stopped because I got what I was looking for and was not interested in continuing that track.

In the past, I said the experience was the social equivalent of joining a pickup soccer game thinking you were in shape, and wheezing while out of breath in the first ten minutes. The classes taught me the importance of active listening, the magic of groupthink, and the difference between sincere expression and artificial performance. My own experience leads me to believe learning improv can help the average person practice empathy and understand themselves better. I think the world would be better if improv were approachable to everyone (even those outside of LA and NYC who do not have $450 to blow).

Because I understand the scene better, I consider UCB, especially its "professional track", to be an exploitative clique that mortgaged its reputation for quick growth. Regardless of mission statements or guidance, it has always been obvious that a specific mold of performers are granted any opportunity. Still, there is no way the "old UCB" would have survived the past 20 years, and it is reassuring to hear startup theaters can spread the good word.