From: Tucson Improv Movement <justin@tucsonimprov.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 7:29 AM
Subject: The Yes And News 6/11/20
We are living through a difficult time in our country. We have been struggling through a pandemic these past few months where most of our day to day has been shut down, many people have lost their lives due to the disease, and it doesn't look to be getting better as the case numbers rise in Arizona. Then we saw the horrific murders of Black people highlight the racial inequalities in our society. This has spurred multiple day protests across Tucson and our country. We took a pause from promoting and performing the past week and put out a statement on our Facebook page last Friday affirming our beliefs and support for the Black community, and fighting for equality in our country.
As TIM has mainly been on pause these past four months I have been thinking a lot about our organization and how we make it successful. In the past two weeks I have been thinking a lot about the make up of our organization and how we are structured in ways that reinforces structures in our society to create a mostly white organization.
Over the years TIM has worked hard in some areas of inclusion and diversity. From the beginning we had a large contingent of women in our organization, something not as prevalent across the comedy world. We very quickly started all female shows, making sure our teaching, coaching, and premier cast shows were as balanced as possible. We have worked to create all Spanish shows, and lean into our location here in the Southwest. All of these things are great, but it hasn't been enough to really diversify our performing company.
We believe that improv brings joy to the world, and can be used to strengthen the mental health and vitality of our performers and audience. We believe in truth in comedy and our best work comes when we are taking what is happening in the real world and manifesting it on stage in interesting ways to start conversation and helpfully make people think and talk about what they saw after they leave the theater. Our comedy is made stronger by bringing more diverse viewpoints to the stage.
As a gay man running a theater, I lean on that a lot as a way to prove we are a diverse and accepting organization. In some ways I am not as vocal about my identity and using that to forward the mission of our theater. Everything we have done to bring diverse voices to the stage has not been enough. To be honest my 100% focus right now is to make sure we have enough capital in our organization to survive this shut down. We currently have no time table for returning to the theater, and the loss in revenue is dramatic. We are doing everything we can to make it through, and I pledge that to you our supporters and performing company.
Once we can get back to any semblance of a working organization, my pledge is to put more energy into making our theater a more accepting and diverse space. I plan to develop a diversity and inclusion statement to more broadly define and publicize our mission in that area. I pledge to make a diversity and inclusion plan meant to increase the diversity you see on our stage. I know this plan will include more scholarships and opportunities to bring more people into our comedy school. Trainings for our current company, teachers and coaches to make sure they understand the imperative of diversity and inclusion. More outreach and connection to our Black and POC community to work together to see how TIM can be of support and connection to their community. I don't have all of the answers right now, and I wish I could just 100% dive into those initiatives immediately, but I know that I don't have all of the knowledge and answers I need today to start making this transformation. I promise as we continue to move forward these questions will be on the forefront of our actions!
Upcoming Shows
Friday Night
6/12 @ 7:00pm - Stand Up 101 Student Showcase
6/13 @ 7:00pm - Home Alone Comedy Show
6/19 @ 7:00pm - Improv Throwdown
6/26 @ 7:00pm - The Soap Box
Sunday Morning
11:00 am - Discussing Improv: An Afternoon Constitutional
6/14 with Tina Jaxling from Bexar Stage San Antonio discussing Deep Relationships and Slow Comedy
6/21 with the cast of Gringos Improv form LA discussing Latinx Representation in Comedy
Support TIM: Digital Edition Show Tickets
Upcoming Classes
Improv Comedy
Coming Soon
Stand Up Comedy
101 - Sunday, June 14th with Mo Urban(Digital Edition)
Sketch Comedy
101 - Sunday, June 21st with Amanda Tennyson (Digital Edition)
201 - Sunday, June 14th with Daniel Kirby (Digital Edition)
Stand Up 101 (Digital Edition)
Saturday, June 14th with Mo Urban
Learn the art of standup comedy utilizing the TIM philosophy to finding the funny fast. Discover how to nurture true stories into a routine that both engages and entertains your audience. Our experienced instructors will teach you to construct a stage persona, performance mechanics, develop a joke, and create sets this will hit with an audience.
This will be a Digital Correspondence version of the class. Students will get one content module per week including a writing exercise to complete. There will be a weekly class session 1-3pm where students will join a video conference call to chat with their instructor and classmates about the course material and run stand up sets.
Tucson Improv Movement
414 E 9th Street
Tucson, AZ 85705
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