Most of the improvisers in Chicago are not paid. Many of the various artistic disciplines are unpaid in Chicago and elsewhere until you reach a certain echelon of success, the goal for many practitioners is simply to make a living from their creative work. This is all to say as a Chicago improviser, or artist in general, there comes a point between study and success where you must place value on your own time and work even though you are not receiving monetary compensation.
A couple years back I found myself, by my own design, on a number of improv teams with shows or rehearsals every night of the week. At a certain point I found myself creatively unfulfilled, as gratifying as improv can be there is no end result, no actual product, it is ephemeral and evaporates shortly after it is performed. So I started to scale back on my improv commitments, wrote more, focused on projects that were more clearly defined. Weighed the personal and artistic merit of the various things I became involved in. As I became more appraising I was increasingly more satisfied with the work that I was doing.
It can be difficult to say no. In general and more specifically what I'm talking about here, people directly or indirectly soliciting your involvement in various artistic ventures. But it behooves you not to over commit, not to blindly say yes to something without gauging in some way the artistic challenge and the potential for satisfaction(i.e. FUN) that can be derived. Boundaries are important and applying value to yourself and your abilities is important. It is not selfish, it is a way to continue to progress, grow, and move forward both as an artist and a person.
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