A classic improv debate recently resurfaced on one of the many Chicago improv message boards. "What is appropriate show attire? Dressy? Casual?"

We wear suits for Whirled News (the first act anyway), but for myself, I lean casual. Nice casual, certainly, no shorts, no word t-shirts, but casual. Jeans, sneakers.

Some emulate the Second City model, dress pants and ties, saying it gives the show an air of professionalism. This may be true, and I'd never tell someone to not dress up, but sometimes it seems like artifice to me, like a little girl playing dress up in her mother's closet.

One thing that draws me to improv is that on stage you are sometimes characters but you are also, always, yourself. This is me. These are my jeans. These are my sneakers. Like the hippie-dippy roots of improv, a team rises up out of the audience and disappears back into it. Of course, in those days, everyone dressed up. Audience, performers... everyone.

The most commonly quoted rule of thumb is, "Always look better than the audience."

I think I prefer what Ben wrote. "My rule of thumb for dressing up for improv shows is... always be better at improv than the audience."