After reading yet another "omg this improv show changed my entire life" post on a group page, I thought to myself "is improv a religion". As a performing artist, I never took to improv because it was simultaneously easy (like karaoke is easy) and yet had a bunch of byzantine rules. And, as I learned after my third and last student "showcase" your teacher can be very punitive if you break a rule. The audience for improv is a bit of a circle jerk or pyramid scheme, because there are usually very few non-improvisers in the audience. One local theater demands that improvisers stay and watch the other improvisers, because teams were playing to an empty room. There's a certain amount of love-bombing in improv, as opposed to stand-up. Everybody has to gush and invite others "to play." What I never heard from my improv classes was respect for the audience- you are instructed not to be funny- you are expected to wear the most boring clothes you can on stage- you don't wait for laughs. Yes, there are a few things you can take away from improv to help your acting and writing. But in this town, I have to smile and pretend that improv is more like Amway than I would like. Thanks for letting me vent.