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1. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   April 3, 2005 at 1:43 am

   <>Matt Komen, Improv Comedy Clubs, Talent Coordinator, wrote:<>I was just sent the link from the article in USA Today and thought that not including any one of the 18 Improvs around the country might have been an April Fool’s joke. I respect your opinion and agree with you on some of your choices (including Bears place as a former IU alum), but at the same time, the Improvs have some of the nicest staff and faciliites in the country, in addition to booking the best talent, including: Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Brian Regan, Cedric the Entertainer, Bill Maher, Damon Wayans, Jay Mohr, Carlos Mencia & Darrell Hammond. As comedy aficionados immersed in the culture, it’s pretty amazing that you failed to recognize one of the biggest comedy institutions and best places to see standup comedy in the world, let alone the U.S. I hope your opinions weren’t biased though and any negative feelings against the Improv had nothing to do with our exclusion from the list. Please note that this is not coming from a bitter place but from a consumer standpoint where I know the comedy experience at any one of the Improvs should have been listed in the top 10. As journalists, it’s a shame you didn’t do your homework.Any feedback would be appreciated. Matt Komen Improv Comedy Clubs Talent Coordinator<>To which we replied:<>Firstly, it’s “10 Great Places…” not “The Top Ten Greatest Places…” Secondly, some clubs are going to be left off off any list. Lots of clubs made it onto an intermediate list that didn’t make it onto the final list. They were left off for a lot of reasons. But the list must necessarily be limited, as any list with greater than ten elements would, obviously, be unruly. (Their call, not ours.) Thirdly, while we solicited the opinions of some of our friends and writers, we also used a lot of our personal experience and we used a lot of what we’ve heard in the past.Fourthly, we were on a deadline…rather, the reporter from USAToday was on a deadline and we had little time to assemble our list. Which is not to say that any of the Improvs might have made it on the list had we had more time, but it is to say that the collection of the info was less than perfect.Fifthly, we often refer to ourselves as “pseudo-journalists,” meaning that, while we run a publication and while it has a certain level of credibility within and without the business, we are less a publication of record than a journal with attitude– the product of two professional standup comics who’ve performed for a combined 40+ years. We frequently admit that what we create is less than perfect, but far more accurate in a lot of ways than other, more “legitimate” publications. Also, note that the article was not “written by us,” rather we were interviewed for the article and it was written for USAToday by Anne Goodfriend. The reason we were interviewed was because we are “authorities.” Six years of writing about standup comedy…and occasionally making sense… confers authority status, I guess.That your email is not “coming from a bitter place” has been duly noted. Pleasenote that our list did not come from a bitter place, either. We tried to give thereaders of USAToday a broad range of clubs– broad geographically, broad in the sizeof the markets and the feel of the rooms and range of talents and we tried to incorporate what we hear on the street from working comics as well.Our opinions weren’t biased. We have no feelings toward the Improv, one way or the other. (In fact, we admire the Improv chain and we often cite it–both in private and in the publication– as one of the entities that is fueling the comeback of live standup comedy in the current era.) We gave up on bitter or negative feelings long ago– and that letting go has enabled us to continue to prosper in this business and has enabled us to have a much better, healthier attitude toward the business. (If you can detect any bitterness in our writing, we’d like to hear about it.) If you need further reassurance that biases or bitterness weren’t part of the equation, consider this: Of the ten clubs listed, we’ve only worked in five of the clubs that we named. And, of the other five listed, Traci has never worked in two of them and I have only done a total of 1-1/2 weeks in two of them. We also left out the entire Funny Bone chain, as well. But we bear them no ill will. If we bore any grudges against clubs that don’t book us, merely because we haven’t “cracked th ecode” or obtained the type or caliber of management that might enable us to do so, we’d be very unhappy– and out of the business. (If we assembled this list to suck up, we would have surely named ten Improvs and, who knows, maybe we might have been able to book up the third and fourth quarters of 2005. But the list would have been unpublishable. Suspicious to say the least.) Ultimately, our hope was to drive people to comedy clubs– comedy clubs everywhere, no matter the name over the door. The article is an indication of the health of the business. It says to us that every club has reason to be optimistic, not just the fraction of the industry that was specifically mentioned in this article. Please acknowledge receipt of this email and we’d be more than happy to hear any feedback from you. And, please let us know if we can run all or a portion of your letter, with your name, of course. PS: We seriously suggest that you hop onto the site, scroll down to the posting about comedy clubs and submit your own list. No one would fault you for blowing your own horn and we’re sure that our readers would recognize only that you are justifiably proud of your organization. Thanks for writing!

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2. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   April 3, 2005 at 1:56 am

   <>To which Mr. Komen replied:<>Thanks for the reply and again, we weren’t coming from a bitter place but reallyfelt slighted as we pride ourselves on delivering the best product out there. Iunderstand the variables that went into this article and really appreciate yourfeedback. I also appreciate the hard work both you and Tracy do to promote comedythrough Shecky and will start frequenting the site more often. I look forward tomeeting you both soon.Feel free to run my letter if you really think it warrants attention. Take care andgood luck with everything.

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