Saturday, May 12, 2007
The iO theater has a show called the Cagematch. Two improv teams perform and the audience votes one of the two back to compete the next week (or in some sort of tournament set-up). It's a fun gimmick as long as you don't take it too seriously.
They've recently decided to do The Cagematch of the Fallen Teams, a Cagematch only open to teams that have been cut from the iO schedule. A funny idea. My old team, James Jackson, decided to enter, mostly as an excuse to get us all together again to do a couple shows. We've even been seeded number one in the tournament, which is somewhat flattering, I guess, and in theory we should win our first match, since we compete against the lowest seeded team.
It doesn't really work that way, though. It's no secret that the key to winning the Cagematch is packing the house with people that are going to vote for you (it's a clever marketing tool for the theater). Teams and performers who've been around for a long time may or may not put on better shows than newer teams, but they'll almost certainly be less compelled to pester everyone they know to come see their shows. For instance, the number 2 seeded team has already lost to the number 15 seeded team.
To make matters worse, James Jackson's first match is on a holiday weekend. About 50% of us will be out of town due to various adult obligations.
Carrie: You guys have to win so we can all get together and perform in the second show!
I was in the bathroom at iO tonight and saw that the team we'll be competing against has made slick posters encouraging people to come and vote for them.
