CRUMBS has closed the door on yet another Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Number 14 actually. We did 10 shows and not one of them sucked, which statistically is quite rare, usually when it comes to improv there must be at least one show that crashes and burns, if only to prove to the universe that improv is not an exact science. But as it turns out, this Fringe is perhaps the end of this "rule". As people out there might not realize, modern improv is literally riddled with rules, theories and proper protocol.
All improv shows upon their completion must have an Official Show Report filled out and submitted (called OSR, pronounced Oh-Sirs). The report includes information such as the number of people who showed up, the number of laughs per minute, number of mimed objects, number of characters played. Mostly, it has to do with plenty of numbers, numbers are very important with all art forms. The form also involves a special rating scale, that for laymen can be simply be expressed by whether it was a great show or whether is totally sucked. This rating scale is called the Close/Johnstone median.
We have submitted our Official Show Reports to the Central Improvisation Agency (aka Central Improvisation Service International) and are currently waiting to hear back from them. They will crunch the numbers and see if, in fact, we have broken the Close/Johnston median barrier on extended improv show run averages. Exciting times, stay tuned for official results.
