I was a house team performer at UCB NY for 4 years. Truly some of the very best years of my life and I have nothing but love for the community I found there. Something that always bothered me about the UCB 4 is how they branded themselves and the theatre as "punk rock." /1

In 2007, I was heavily involved in the DIY/punk/underground music scene in NYC. I was an intern for a concert promoter who put on shows for bands that were doing some wild, experimental shit. Some of those bands are now very popular, but most of them you've never heard of. /2

While a couple of the shows were in regular venues, most were in weird, non-traditional spaces like houses, above an auto parts store, and Roberta's pizza restaurant while it was still a literal building site. The audiences could be as few as 6 people, or as many as 1,000. /3

Tickets ranged from $5-10 and beers were $3. These shows were ultimately for a small, niche audience. But the folks who came to the shows were passionate and enthusiastic. It made for some amazing nights. If you're a UCB person, this is probably starting to sound familiar. /4

But here is the crucial difference between my experience in the NYC punk rock scene and the so-called punk rock UCB scene. Everyone got paid. Bands, promoter, venue, bartenders, interns. Nobody worked for free. On a quiet night you made less, on a busy night you made more. /5

My boss never used the excuse of low ticket prices or the fact that it was an experimental art form with limited commercial appeal as a reason not to pay. He was charging people money to watch bands, so he paid those bands. As an INTERN, I was often paid $30-40 per show. /6

When the UCB 4 has faced criticism for not paying performers, they have often referred to the fact that the theatre is "punk rock" to excuse this. But punk rock ≠ artists performing their art for free. In fact, I would argue that the punk ethos very much runs counter to this. /7

When a small theatre like UCB decides that what its performers do is not worthy of money, it makes it very easy for larger institutions like Funny or Die, CollegeHumor, Above Average, etc. to make the same calculation and pay us little to nothing. It reverberates upwards. /8

Personally, I don't believe that the UCB institution is worth saving at this point. However, I strongly believe that the UCB community is worth saving. To those members of the community who start the next thing, whatever it is, please make paying performers a policy. /9

For so many reasons, it’s the right thing to do. Not only does it empower artists and literally give them a way to make money from their art form, it also makes the art form accessible to the many people who can’t afford to “pay to play.” That would be very punk rock indeed. /10

Btw I know that being punk rock is not the only reason the UCB 4 have given for not paying performers, but none of their other excuses hold water with me. They are just excuses. @sasimons has many good pieces about this. /end