What we believe.
SchedgeHog exists because running an improv theater is a unique challenge that isn't solved by generic scheduling tools. Here's what we're building toward, and what we won't compromise on.
You want to run your theater, not learn software.
Theater owners, artistic directors, and ensemble leaders are already juggling rent, rehearsals, casting politics, emails, and changing lineups. The software that holds it all together should make things easier. You didn't open a theater because you love learning and configuring software.
No accounts. No passwords. Just play.
Performers want to show up and do improv. They don't want to reset a password at 11pm the night before tech. Every link in SchedgeHog just works — tap an email, you're in. We treat the friction of "create an account" as a bug, not a feature.
Quick, easy, intuitive — every single day.
Marking availability, leaving a note for the scheduler, asking for a sub — these are things performers do every week. They should take seconds, on a phone, between sets. If a routine task takes more than a few taps, we keep working until it doesn't.
You decide how loud the system gets.
Some performers want every reminder, every sub call, every nudge. Others want the bare minimum and trust themselves to check in. Both are right. Notification preferences are first-class — every member controls their own reminders, sub broadcasts, and digest cadence. Nobody should be annoyed by too many or too few notifications.
YOUR schedule is the most important thing.
You shouldn't have to scroll through six weeks of other people's shows to find out when YOU are playing. When a performer signs in, the answer to "what am I doing this week?" is right there — at the top, in plain language. And the same goes for email: their next show and any pending sub requests are at the top of every message we send, so they don't have to log in to know what's coming. Everything else is secondary.
Email is a first-class surface, not an afterthought.
Most performers will see SchedgeHog through their inbox more than through the app. So our emails do real work — your upcoming shows, the sub that needs a yes-or-no, the availability nudge for next week — readable on a phone in three seconds, with action buttons that authenticate you in one tap. No "click here to log in to view this message." That's not a notification, that's a chore.
No side conversations needed.
You shouldn't have to send a separate email to let your manager know why you want to pick up that sub. A manager shouldn't need to distribute lineups through their personal email app. Everything you need to say and do happens in SchedgeHog.
Mobile-first, because that's where performers actually are.
Nobody is opening a laptop in the green room. Availability gets marked between sets. Sub requests get answered on the train. Lineups get checked five minutes before places. (Thank you five.) Every flow a performer touches is designed for a phone first — big tap targets, no tiny dropdowns, no horizontal scrolling, no surprises.
Fair pricing — for the long haul.
Improv theaters don't have money. We know. Pricing is built to be affordable for the startup team with one ensemble, and to scale gently for theaters with a dozen. But we also charge enough to keep the lights on, pay for support, and still be here in five years. A scheduling tool that disappears next year isn't a tool — it's a problem you're going to have to solve again.
Built with the people using it.
Every feature in SchedgeHog exists because a real theater asked for it, or because we watched a real manager struggle without it. We onboard theaters personally, we read every piece of feedback, and we ship the things that move the needle for the people doing the work. If you're using it, you're shaping it.
Respect the form.
Building schedules for improv theaters is a unique challenge. Lineups change every week. Players sub in. Ensembles overlap. Guests drop in. SchedgeHog is built around how improv theaters actually work, not how generic shift scheduling software wishes it worked.
If any of this sounds like the tool you wish you had, request early access. We're onboarding theaters one or two at a time, and we'd love to talk.