Chapter 16
In the hierarchy of jobs at Improv Asylum the position of usher is lowest on the totem pole. It is the most entry‐level position at the theater, requiring the least amount of experience and technical proficiency. People tend to start their career at Improv Asylum as an usher and eventually go into other jobs such as box office, manager, bartender, technician, and sometimes even performer. It is often a thankless job that requires a person to keep up a happy and professional demeanor in the face of oftentimes drunk blowhards who can be rude, demeaning in potentially violent.
When not dealing with these lovely people, they have to stop patrons from eating cannolis during the performance, make sure anyone who is under 21 is not sneaking booze, wake up that drunk dude in section 2, ask the bachelorette party to stop randomly screaming out the bachelorette's name during every scene, ask the couple in the back of section 4 to stop making out, immediately mop up the beer that was kicked over by the guy sitting in the front row, and stop a confused lady who is trying to go backstage because she thinks that is where the bathroom is.
Ushers are regularly accosted, demeaned, insulted, threatened, and generally treated poorly by a populace that often acts entitled and boorish. When they are not interacting with the worst of what humanity has to offer, they are mopping up piss in the bathrooms, and fishing all means of foreign objects out of the toilets, including but not limited to:
· Nips of vodka
· Baseball hats
· Flip‐flops
· Gloves
· Hypodermic needles
· Full rolls of toilet paper
· Eyeglasses
· Phones
· Full‐sized winter jacket
On a Saturday night at Improv Asylum, they repeat these interactions and tasks over the course of four shows and 800+ guests. They do it all with smiles on their face and a great sense of humor while answering the many different questions they get from our patrons. They need to know how to talk about our training center, our private performances and corporate training programs, and all the various shows that happen at the theater.
And they have to clean up vomit. Tons and tons of vomit. Vomit in the aisles of the theater. Vomit in the bathrooms. Vomit by the bar and vomit on the stage. Vomit on the shoulder of the guy that just got vomited on, and off the lap of the woman who just vomited because her date was just vomited on. You would think these theaters were Roman vomitoriums with the amount of throwing up that is happening. Throwing up because people are drunk or sick or ate too much or are having nervous reaction to the loud noises and flashing lights. They have to clean it up fast without complaining so as to cause as little impact to the performance as possible. And they do all of this for not much more than minimum wage.
So the question is, why did they do it? It certainly ain't the money. Every usher can make minimum wage or more at some other job where they are not regularly insulted or have to clean up bodily fluids. It is not for the glory. The actors get all the applause and cheers and are constantly told how funny and talented they are. The ushers? They are mostly asked where the bathrooms are and if it is okay to change seats. So why do these smart, talented, engaging people who often have impressive day jobs submit themselves to this kind of work?
In a word, culture. These amazing people perform some of the most unpleasant tasks and deal with some of the shittiest people because they are part of a culture that values them for the people they are, not the position they hold. The ushers are part of a larger team whose ultimate goal is the exact same: to put on the best and funniest show possible. They are not motivated to greet our audiences with a smile or mop up the latest round of puke by net sales numbers, corporate quarterly goals, audience engagement surveys, or gross profits. They sure as shit aren't motivated by corporate sales goals and executive bonuses. They do these things because they care about each other and feel cared for by the staff and management.
The ushers show up night after night because they love the environment, the other team members, and the chance to be around comedy. Even though they have to perform some of the most menial tasks in the company, the ushers do these things because they are part of a greater ensemble. No matter what the role that someone is playing, they are valued as people. Culture is the only reason someone would stay for any length of time in a position like this.
When our culture at Improv Asylum is strong, we constantly see ushers go above and beyond what their basic duties are. When our culture is weak we see bad attitudes and high turnover in these positions. Culture is a living, breathing thing that is constantly changing. Over the course of 20 years at Improv Asylum, we have had strong cultures and weak ones. Healthy working environments and toxic ones. Teams that have worked almost magically together and others that have actively undermined each other. The commonality to a good or bad culture is leadership. Whether you like it or not, it is the leader's job to establish, maintain, and uphold a healthy culture.
As someone who has built teams and run companies for over 20 years, I can speak with authority because I have made every mistake in the book. I helped start this company because I wanted to make some funny shit up on stage and have a bar in downtown Boston. There was no plan to be in business for 20 years and grow from a regional comedy theater to a multimillion‐dollar international entertainment and training company.
Just like any good improv scene, there was no real end goal – we were just following the thread and seeing where it led. Each decision we made built upon the last and, before we knew it, we had a real company. With that company came the very real challenges of managing not just a group of actors but a larger collection of people whose well‐being became my responsibility.
In the early days I more or less thought that culture was a thing that just happened. My attitude was if we all just did our jobs and treated each other like reasonable human beings then the culture thing would take care of itself. If morale was low or the teams were not working as effectively as they could be, then it was the individual's fault and not the company's. I often assumed that my values and desires were the same as others, and my communication style was always understood by the recipients. In 20 years of leadership I have at times been too hard, too soft, too angry, overreactive, insensitive, indecisive, unclear, stubborn, close minded, tone deaf … the list can go on and on, but honestly I'm starting to make myself feel bad. The point is that I speak not as an expert who has constantly done everything right and has done nothing but win, but as someone who has made almost every mistake a leader can make at one point or another.
What I have come to understand is that the responsibility of a healthy culture is ultimately the responsibility of leadership. Those ushers are doing a fantastic job because their managers are creating an environment that they want to be a part of. Those managers are being empowered by the general managers and executives above them. The actors and members of the creative ensemble are at their best when the directors and producers are focused on building a culture where they can create in a safe and positive environment.
You may be the type of person that hears all this talk about culture and rolls their eyes. I get it. I was once that person as well. You may think that all of this is warm and fuzzy kumbaya bullshit. Maybe you consider yourself old‐school, someone who leads by command‐and‐control, is hard as nails, takes no guff, and has ice water in their veins.
Good for you. You will never hear me say that teams and companies can't be led in that way. There are many ways to lead and I understand that. What I can tell you is that whether you are leading a team with a strict org chart or one with a completely decentralized decision‐making process, the people on the ground actually getting the shit done on a daily basis are not doing it for any higher theory or grander cause. They are doing it for each other. They are doing it because they believe that the people right next to them care about the same things they care about. If you keep widening that circle, if the ushers believe the managers care about the same thing that the ushers do and the managers believe that the GM's and corporate office care about the same things that the managers do, you now have an extended team that feels like they are all working for each other.
While all this unabashed good feeling is great for mental health and universal karma, I am also an unrepentant capitalist. I'm in this gig for profit. As the saying goes, it's called “show business” not “show fun.” A strong and healthy culture is fantastic for the bottom line.
Our ushers are the frontline for all of our different services at Improv Asylum. When our culture is strong, they are enthusiastically and authentically talking about our shows and promoting our classes. They are making our guests feel welcomed. They are making sure that the theater is not awash in vomit or being submerged in an epic fecal flood.
When I want to know how our culture is doing, I just take a look the performance of the ushers. If they are happy and having fun and not quitting in droves, then I know that the culture is strong and that managers above them are setting the right tone and leading by example.
So the next time you are at a theater or bar or restaurant or really any business that has what is often considered a lower‐status position, treat those people with the utmost respect. You have no idea how hard they are working and the crazy, gross, demoralizing, humiliating things they have to deal with just to make sure that your experience is good.
And if you vomit all over the place, for the love of God, at least throw them a $20.
It will be greatly appreciated. If you want your team to reach new heights, take a good look at your culture. Because it is your culture that will propel you to the next level, no matter what level you are currently at.