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Comment by kyoob | Hacker News Reader

I'm a believer in these findings. I do wish that the model for learning improv in the private sector was different. As it is, adults have to move to cities where theaters are offering classes, then pay out for the classes (which can run up to $300-400 per 8-week class in the bigger schools). It's expensive, is the point, and this creates a barrier for people of a certain class. I'd love to see it offered in more high schools, or as a free-or-cheap activity akin to soccer or community theatre.

Don't even get me started on the level of privilege needed to pay through enough class levels to let one of the theaters audition you for their non-paying staff performer spots.

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It's not as though improv teachers are walking around buying luxury vehicles, though. The classes are as expensive as they need to be for the instructors to eat.

There's nothing stopping people from starting up a community improv troupe without formal training from a teacher, just as you don't need someone with an MFA in Performance to start a community theater group. There are enough books out there on the art form that a dedicated group could learn the necessary techniques on their own.

And high-level youth soccer can be way more expensive than even UCB-level improv classes.

I've looked at acting classes, and even beginning classes are much more expensive (2-5x) than any other type of classes I've taken, like martial arts, music, or dance -- even private lessons.

Do dancers not need to eat? Do musicians not study as long to become competent teachers? Why is acting priced so different from every other art?

Supply, demand, and upside.

Movie stars get paid orders of magnitude more than top martial artists/musicians/dancers, so more people try to be actors, so there's a larger market, meaning instructors can charge more.

Also depends where you're looking. The professional acting scenes in LA/NYC tend to choke out the hobbyist scenes (why see a community theater show in Manhattan when you can get sub-$50 tickets to a Broadway show from TDF?), so if you're looking for acting classes in those areas, they're directed at and priced for professionals.

What aetimmes said. The cost of starting your own group is $0. People form their own hobby groups all the time. Joining your own baseball team, band, acting troupe, choir, carpentry club, etc. are all free; lessons in baseball, music, acting, and carpentry aren't.

> I'd love to see it offered in more high schools, or as a free-or-cheap activity akin to soccer or community theatre.

It is community theatre. Those are the same thing.

Seems like a great opportunity for a improv school graduates to start improv schools.

I doubt there is an improv cartel propping up prices.

There is a whole other subculture around vr games such as rec room that could do this. You could probably create a room in rec room, advertise it on hn, and get enough people to create a community.

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