Make me believe that you believe...

I keep running into this poster around my hometown.

It's promotion for a 4 part stand-up comedy series held by the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. I absolutely admire the fact that they are trying to make this event happen. It's great for the community to have events like this going on, but something is really wrong with this poster (and the other printed materials promoting this event). This poster is not good. It really just looks thrown together. A huge part of promoting an event (from a design standpoint) is making people believe you actually care about your own event! This poster does NOTHING to convince me that the designer (and the venue) care about making this event successful. If you are having a Garage Sale or you are looking for a lost pet, just about any flyer/poster design is fine. But if you expect the public in general to take you seriously, you need to seriously consider hiring an artist or designer to give your promotional pieces a good look! Just for laughs, I threw together another poster using many of the same elements and info, to give you an idea of what it could look like...

The Elderly and Dessert

Occaissionally the Unexpected Guests Improv Comedy Troupe does weekday evening shows at the Tropicana Room in the beautiful Desilu Playhouse. Tonight was just such an event. A lot of tiimes the Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz Center brings in tour groups, shows them the Lucy Museum, feeds them, and then needs someone to entertain them. That's when they call us to perform. Sometimes it's 60 people, sometimes it's 10. You never know going in to one of these shows. Sometimes these folks are ready for bed. Sometimes they exhibit more energy than we do. Like I said... you just never know.

Tonight's group was 60 to 75ish. They looked happy and fed as we strode out to meet them. They were really quite cool after warming up a little. We had a good string of scenes. They laughed, it was cool.

Then we went into one of our step up games. "Back In My Day..." is a game in which each of the players takes on the voice of an elderly person and descibes why things were better "Back In My Day..."

We take an audience suggestion like "Computer" and then the players take turns stepping up to deliver a short explanation. I'm never afraid to do this game in front of old people... but, I will say that there have been times when it has not been received well by older adults. (clears throat).

This group liked the game. We riffed on "Computer" for few minutes and then Tim Smeal, one of our players, delivered the most brilliant "Back In My Day..." line I think I have ever heard. (Don't tell him I said that... I don't want it to go to his head).

Tim steps up proudly, looks out into the crowd and says, "Back in my day, we didn't have computers because. " indignance rises in his voice," we didn't need them, because we could all write legibly and could do our own arithmetic."

The crowd exploded. I thought they were going to stand up at one point. Tim Smeal played that crowd like a cheap harmonica, and they ate it all... just like their desserts.

Also... I am turning over a big new leaf... tune in next time for details.