The following is the transcription of the beginning of a 10 minute audio podcast with cast members (pictured above) of The Sci-Fi Comedy Double Feature premiering at the Hideout this Saturday at 8pm.

The Sci-Fi Comedy Double Feature runs every Saturday in January and February at 8pm. Buy tickets now.

Since September 2010, Marc has been recording DVDs for The Nightmare Video Project, one of the Hideout’s craziest, most ridiculous shows… and one of the shows that requires the most preparation.

In it Marc plays The Master, or The Gatekeeper… a demon from/in Hell who is tormenting 8 improvisers by directing them in a show. The winner of the show gets to live, and the rest all burn in Hell.

The ridiculous part is that Marc’s role is entirely prerecorded onto a DVD. The Gatekeeper starts scenes, sidecoaches and shouts “SCENE IS OVER” all without actually watching the show… and his giant head hovers over the show on the projection screen like a looming god.

It takes Marc hours and sleepless nights to do this.

He almost never gets to see the show because he’s a busy man and usually is performing simultaneously at another theater.

He doesn’t have the benefit of an audience to gauge the reaction to his jokes.

He has to go on instinct.

He does a wonderful job.

The Gatekeeper is silly, funny, irreverent, stern, absurd, and somehow generates a good shape to the show that builds to a satisfying conclusion.

The Nightmare Video Project has been a monthly staple of The Hideout for well over a year.

But tonight is the last one.

We’re changing up the Friday 8pm lineup in 2012 to include more student/improviser participation.

Marc’s plan for tonight’s show is to do a Holiday Nightmare Video Project.

As always, I have no idea what the show will include. But my money’s on The Gatekeeper wearing a Santa Hat.

Come bid the show a fond farewell.

Get your tickets here.

This week:  Karen Jane DeWitt

By day, Karen Jane DeWitt is a professional chef, but by night, she could be anything – a young mother with a storied past in the Hideout Theatre’s “Austin Secrets,” a time-traveling assistant in “The Professor:  Improv Inspired By Doctor Who” at the Institution, or an over-the-top dating show contestant in “Duck Duck Boom” at the Velveeta Room.  This week she’s playing the Hideout Theatre with her improv troupe Local Genius Society.  Here DeWitt talks about surviving the 42 Hour Improv Marathon and why celebrating the holidays means learning to play a toy accordion.

You’ve been involved in a number of different improv shows that utilize very different styles – The Professor, Austin Secrets, Duck Duck Boom – what’s it like improvising in so many different styles?

Karen Jane DeWitt: There are definitely different things that you want to hold on to in your head when you’re approaching a different type of show. Like with The Professor you really want to work on building a world that’s not necessarily like an everyday world on earth.  But you can do any type of improv no matter what style it is, short-form or long-form or grounded or insane as long as you keep in mind relationship.  Relationship really drives scenes.

You were also involved in the Hideout’s 42 Hour Marathon this year.  How did being in the Marathon affect your view of improv?

KJD: I think it took away a lot of my fear with improv.  When you first start performing you think that you’re not worthy of the show that you’re in.  You don’t know if you’re going to do it right, or if you’re going to treat it with the respect and the kind of skill that it takes to pull the show off.  But with the 42 Hour Marathon, you would get a one-minute explanation of the show right before you went on stage.  So you would just have to trust that your partners were going to take care of you and that yes, you do have the ability of doing any type of show.  You can’t break improv, no matter how hard you try.

What made you first want to try improv?

KJD: I had just quit grad school and so I was starting to re-enter the real world.  I had done some theater in high school, dabbled in it, but hadn’t really ever been in any productions.  I was talking to my friend and she’d done an interview for the Austinist with the owners of the Hideout.  I’d mentioned to her that I wanted to do some theater and she emailed me this 10-minute interview that she had done.  Before the interview was even over I signed up for improv classes.  I didn’t even really fully understand what improv was, but the interview was so good I was like, I need this in my life, whatever it is, I know it’s going to be good for me.

Had you ever even seen an improv show at that point?

KJD: I hadn’t ever seen an improv show in a theater.  I’d seen “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and that type of thing on TV when I was a kid, but I was really more interested in that whole “yes, and” and going with the flow.  Whenever you hear people talk about improv it sounds like they’re describing a very spiritual experience.  And I maybe was searching for that.

Your husband, Patrick Herzfeld, is a musician in Graham Wilkinson’s band – do you feel like you all take turns being on stage and being in the audience?

KJD: Oh definitely.  I have more than paid my dues going to his gigs for the past eight years, and he picked up right where I left off.  As soon as I started performing, he was right there.  He’s definitely my biggest fan and my sounding board for all my crazy ideas.  He’s really supportive.

Is there something that you all look forward to each year at this time of year?

KJD: I look forward to Patrick’s mom; she buys us all these gifts that are basically like gifts for little children.  She doesn’t do a stocking, but it’s sort of what you would consider a stocking stuffer.  We have this toy accordion and every year we get it out and try to play “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”  Cause that was the song that came with the instruction booklet.

Did you ever go caroling growing up?

KJD: I did.  I used to go Christmas caroling with my church group.  We would get in the church van and then we’d go to all the widow’s houses.  They knew we were coming and so they’d have the heater on full-blast, and we’d all be sweating while we were singing.  Then they’d have cookies for us and hot chocolate and we’d spend a few minutes there and then get back in the van and go to the next place and do it all over again.  By the end of it we were so sick of cookies we didn’t know what to do.

A couple of the Threefer shows have already taken place – is there anything that you hope might happen in the next couple of Threefer shows?

My wish for the remaining shows is that I’d like to see something sort of magical happen.  Something otherworldly, that would be fun.

Local Genius Society headlines the Thursday Threefer at the Hideout Theater December 15^th at 8PM.

originally posted at http://localgeniussociety.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/ask-local-genius-society-qa-with-karen-jane-dewitt/

This week:  Kayla Lane Freeman

Not too long ago Kayla Lane Freeman hadn’t even seen improv.  Fast-forward a year and a half, and Freeman is building dreamscapes in the Hideout Theatre’s “Spirited,” time-traveling through the Institution Theater’s “The Professor: Improv Inspired By Dr. Who,” and winning the long-running improv competition, Maestro.  Aside from double majoring in RTF (Radio/Television/Film) and American Studies, the UT junior and improv wunderkind is playing the Hideout Theatre Thursday nights in December with her troupe Local Genius Society.  Here Freeman talks about the joy of doing improv and the warm feelings that come with wearing really cozy pajamas.

It wasn’t that long ago that you saw improv for the first time, right?

Kayla Lane Freeman: Yeah, it was the summer of 2010, I think.  I spent a little bit of time in New York interning for Sundance and I was living in Chelsea, so it was walking distance to UCB and I’d go see shows.  I had been a longtime fan of theater and comedy, and sort of knew about improv because I was a big fan of Steve Carrell and Tina Fey.  I didn’t necessarily think about doing improv until I came back to Austin.  I was just doing some acting classes and my roommate was taking an improv class at the Hideout.  She had a free ticket to go see a show and she knew I was into theater and we went and saw PGraph.  I had never seen improv in that capacity, like the improvised play kind of thing.  Seeing that there’s even farther that this kind of art form can reach made me really want to get started.

Was it seeing an improvised narrative in particular that made you interested in trying it yourself?

KLF: When I finally kind of felt inspired by improv was when I realized that it was so diverse and it was really an art form.  Then I felt compelled to try it, and I think I fell in love with it within the first couple weeks of Level One.

What was your first improv class like?  Do you remember it?

KLF: I was completely surprised because I think I expected something different.  I guess I expected it to feel more like a traditional acting class.  The early levels are so much more about creativity training and tapping into the subconscious and becoming okay with yourself.  Precisely because that wasn’t what I expected I would be getting out of it, that’s why I liked it so much.  I realized it wasn’t just learning some kind of party trick.  It wasn’t just learning a skill; it was kind of reprogramming the way that you think.

Is there something that you get out of improv that you feel like you can’t get anywhere else?  Like in other avenues of your life or other creative pursuits?

KLF: The way you say that, it makes it sound like it’s wrong, like, I have to go to my dealer, he’s the only one. And it kind of is that way, I guess.  [Improv is] cathartic, it’s playful; it just brings a lot of joy.  It’s collaborative.  You can’t be competitive if you want things to go well.  It’s something that needs to be a part of my life because it brings me peace and joy and a certain amount of stability and mental health.

What’s it usually like during the holidays at your house?

KLF: It’s pretty laid back, especially in the last couple of years.  My sister and I are adults now so we come home for a couple of days instead of the weeks upon weeks that used to be.  There’s just a lot of food and watching bad reality television on my dad’s giant TV.  It’s really low-key.

Are there any particular holidays that stick out in your memory?

KLF: The first couple of Christmases that I remember, from when I was five until I was about eight or so, in my house in Florida, I think those were the best.  That was still a time that I was incredibly captivated by Christmas.  I still very much felt that extreme sense of wonder and anticipation, and everything always seemed to be larger than life and a really big deal.

Is there something you look forward to each year at this time of year?

KLF: I have these amazing pajamas from Old Navy and they’re huge and flannel-y and warm and beautiful.  I look forward to cold weather so I can just cuddle up in those pajamas in a big blanket and read and think and write and not have any commitments to be anywhere or do anything.  That’s probably my favorite part of the holidays.

There’s the idea that “anything can happen” in improv – are there some things that you’re hoping might happen in these holiday Threefer shows?

KLF: I just hope that when people see our shows they think that they’re really funny, but they also think that they have a lot of heart and they can kind of recognize themselves and their experiences in our shows.  I think that’s what I want every time I do improv.

Local Genius Society headlines the Thursday Threefer at the Hideout Theatre December 8^th at 8PM.

[originally posted at http://localgeniussociety.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/ask-local-genius-society-qa-with-kayla-lane-freeman/ ]

One of my on-going jobs here at The Hideout is to paint the stage backdrop at the theater every 2 months. Perhaps it would be better to phrase that “re-paint”, because that’s what I do. I paint over the current backdrop over and over again.

I got started painting the back walls when we did our first season of Improvised Shakespeare in 2008. Andy Crouch (our Director of Education) was directing the production and he wanted to do a faux rock look. I was an undergrad at St. Edward’s University studying scenic design and art at the time, and he asked for my assistance in creating the look. I ended up enjoying the work and especially enjoyed the final product. I was a cast member in the production and it was so nice to have a specific new look on the stage for the show.

2008 Improvised Shakespeare set during tear-down

It was soon after that when other directors and producers began contacting me about painting backdrops for their sets. I did work for the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, Asaf Ronen’s KABAAM!, and Improv For Evil’s Cochise. In early 2009, The Hideout decided that I would be in charge of painting the sets for the theater and have final say on what the stage backdrop would look like. When we finalized a rotating schedule of what we now call Mainstage Shows (the Saturday 8pm shows), we decided each production would get its own unique set painting, designed to fit that show. It was also important that the design not be too disruptive for the shows during the rest of the week – hence the reason why our sets rarely utilize extra furniture or 3D elements.

Because we don’t have a lot of storage or building/construction space at the theater, it made economical sense to just paint over each design when the show run was over. So that’s what I do. People often ask me, “Does it make you sad to have to paint over the sets?” At first, it did feel somewhat strange. I always spend several hours (anywhere between 10-30 hours) working on the sets, and some of them are for shows we might bring back (Like Charles Dickens Unleashed). But it doesn’t really make sense to keep them, and just like the improv we present, the sets have become temporary. A huge bonus of this is that it keeps me from being lazy in my designs. We don’t leave any backdrop up for longer than just a few months. I get to re-imagine the same space a hundred different ways. Making a very complicated and detailed set makes me want to turn around and try a more minimalist set. Or painting a colorful set makes me want to try out a monochromatic approach. Each piece feeds the next. So these days, I mostly enjoy creating each new design, and painting over the old is bitter-sweet.

Painting over the bright Spirited set for the darker Dickens set.

I always work with the director of the current Mainstage production to come up with the design. Sometimes they already have something in mind, sometimes we come up with the design together, and sometimes they give me completely free reign. I’ve also approached painting them in many different ways. Sometimes I’ve improvised the entire design while I was painting it, sometimes I work off a sketch or plan I’ve made, and sometimes I change what I’ve planned after I’ve started working.

We have shows here pretty much every single weekend, all year long. We also teach classes on all the nights when we don’t have shows. Because of this, I can only re-paint the set during the day (when we don’t have kids classes or renters) and more often, at night after 10pm. We only have one week in-between the closing of one show and the opening of the next, so the time-frame for re-painting is tiny. Believe it or not, my improv training has helped me immensely in the way that I work.

I have to trust myself and keep pushing forward toward the end. I often feel pressure and fear when I’m working (is this going to look right? are people going to like it?), but I know that the only way to get out of those feelings is to push through them and keep working.

Now that we’ve premiered our 2012 Season, I’m starting to get pretty excited about all the upcoming opportunities for new designs! But enough of this boring chit-chat…Do you want to actually see what I’ve been talking about? Watch this video!

And for reference, this is the current set that is up:

Charles Dickens Unleashed Set, 2011 (Photo by Michael Yew)

And here is the Charles Dickens Unleashed set from season 1 in 2009:

Charles Dickens Unleashed Set, 2009 (Photo by Christa Gary)

Only a couple weeks left to see the current set before it is gone forever. But stay tuned for what should be a very interesting and challenging Start Trekkin’ and Twilight Zoned set for the Sci-Fi Comedy Double Feature, premiering in January!

Cheers,

Kaci Beeler, Director of Design

Like the sets? Want something like them for yourself? Kaci is a freelance artist that also takes commissions for murals and artwork for businesses and homes! Just visit her at KaciBeeler.com to find out more.

This week:  Andrew Pish

Andrew Pish has been everywhere lately – playing the titular role in “The Professor:  Improv Inspired By Dr. Who” at the Institution Theater, creating other-worldly creatures in the Hideout Theatre’s improvised “Spirited,” and embodying Angel in the staged version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” at the Highball.  Now the senior UT engineering student is prepping for a run at the Hideout Theatre with his improv troupe Local Genius Society.  Here Pish talks about discovering improv and believing in Santa Claus for far too long.

You’re just coming off doing scripted “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” shows, and before that you were doing “The Country Wife” at UT – what’s it like being a performer in a scripted show vs. being a performer in an improvised show?

Andrew Pish: It’s a lot less intimidating to do an improv show, just because everything you’re doing is off the cuff.  When you’re in a scripted show, there’s almost an infinite amount of work to do, learning about your character and taking on that character and figuring out your actions for your scenes, and that’s all beyond just learning the lines.  With an improv show you can just sort of jump in and be whatever, so it’s kind of liberating and freeing.

Improv’s not more nerve-wracking because you have to create everything all at once?

AP: No, it’s completely liberating to be able to do that all at once and to be able to create something that’s sometimes pretty profound.

What first got you interested in doing improv?

AP: I initially got into it because I was in an engineering internship that I hated during the summer and I needed something to kind of breakup the monotony.  I started doing it and I loved it way more than I thought that I would.  And what made me continue the improv classes was realizing that this wasn’t some small little hippie movement, this wasn’t something really inconsequential, it was something a lot more profound that would help me kind of pursue the entertainment lifestyle that I want to now.

What influences your comedy?  Where do you think your humor comes from?

AP: Oh shoot, I don’t know.  I feel like my humor comes from the little quirks of human life.  I feel like I don’t even try to make anything funny on stage.  I kind of just try to do what Iwould do and just pretend like it’s someone else, and then people laugh at that, which I guess is a good thing.

What’s it usually like during the holidays at your house?

AP: The holidays have always been a hectic time just because I have such a big family.  All included, like all the nephews and nieces… there’s 20 of us.  So packing 20 people into a house is kind of ridiculous, with people hanging off the ceiling and over banisters and stuff to sleep.

Is there a particular Christmas that sticks out in your memory?

AP: It was a couple days before Christmas and I was sleeping in my room with my oldest brother, we were in a bunk bed in my room and my mom had been staying up late wrapping gifts and all of a sudden we both wake up in the middle of the night and hear her, like, tumble down the stairs, and she started screaming, and she swears this isn’t true, but I remember very vividly her screaming, “Christmas is ruined!” over and over again.  She said, “Christmas is ruined!” because she broke her ankle when she fell down the stairs.

Does your family have any holiday traditions?

AP: We stay at my home in San Antonio, my parent’s house, every year.  I remember specifically, I don’t know how, but I believed in Santa Claus for a really, really, really long time.  Probably like the seventh or eighth grade.  I was a staunch believer in Santa.  And for whatever reason, I never doubted it, and no one at school ever seemed to talk about it.  I totally believed in Santa, but there was one Christmas, my dad was still playing as Santa and I heard him downstairs go “Ho! Ho! Ho!” and I was like, wait a second – that was dad’s voice. It was just a complete 180.  It tore the roof off of my world.

You were 12 years old.

AP: [Laughs] I know, it made me start doubting everything.  I just believed in everything at that point, but I was like maybe ghosts aren’t real now.  Maybe magicians are faking it.

There’s the idea that “anything can happen” in improv – are there some things that you’re hoping might happen in these holiday Threefer shows?

AP: I hope that we have a really, really dark Christmas show, like there’s a big conspiracy with Santa and there’s like reindeer getting killed… I don’t know, I just want something dark and twisted.

That sounds really cheery.

AP: Without really thinking about it, that’s the first thing that popped into my head, and so what that says about me, I don’t know, but I think it would be really interesting.

Local Genius Society headlines the Thursday Threefer beginning December 1^st at 8PM.  Every Thursday through the end of December.

[originally posted at http://localgeniussociety.wordpress.com ]

There are several options available for sharing our award-winning shows and classes.  We’ve got gift certificates for shows (in $20 and $50 increments), full season passes to our 2012 Mainstage shows, or the ultimate gift for any improv fan: a 6-week Level One improv class.

Click, click. Laugh, laugh. Shopping has never been easier.

Buy Now

Buy Now

Buy Now

Buy Now

These are the compiled quotes.

And because no one is actually going to read all 169 of them in one sitting, let’s break it down with a word cloud (where word size is tied to frequency):

It’s safe to say people think our Level One is a “fun class.” And fun is the priority that we come back to again and again in the curriculum. No matter how hard you’re working to develop technique, challenge yourself and learn to improvise, if you lose track of having fun you’re missing the essence of improv.

“This class is awesome. You will do at least one thing that scares you. You will try something and fail. You will HAVE A TON OF FUN.”

Ignoring the commonplace and practical words (Hideout, improv, just, make, get) we start to see a pattern emerge of superlatives (really, great, awesome, lot, much, liked, loved, amazing) and priorities that are as varied as the students who come through our classes every month.

There are the people just looking for a good time (enjoyable, laughed, funny)

“This class was super funtastic. Getting an adult play date every week has definitely been a great stress reliever to long work weeks. The instructors are fun and the games are crazy good times.”

People challenging themselves (skills, learned, exercise philosophy, risks, fail, change)

“All the social exercises help you develop confidence in public speaking and confidence in approaching people in general. I was pretty wired after the very first class because I was made to speak, act and do things I would otherwise never have done. Highly recommend it!”

Trying to be more social (friends, interact, play)

“This class has helped me get back in touch with my playful and outgoing side. And meeting a new group of amazing people was a bonus!”

Aspiring to comedy and performance (stage, comedy, performing)

“It is very structured. I’ve been in improv classes that are looser and more free-form, and these tend to lead to a lot of wasted time. The Hideout’s class structure utilizes the time better than most, and gives everyone an opportunity to perform instead of creating an environment of fighting for stage time.”

Or just trying to put themselves out there a little bit (public, therapy, loose, confidence)

“I started to feel that the older I got, the more timid and boring I became and I wanted to find something to help me overcome that. This class did just that by reminding me how to take risks and have fun just like the good old days.”

Ultimately it’s all about one of the most frequent words in our student testimonials: people. We’re all looking for something to knock down the walls between us and the rest of the world, to find groups and individuals open to connecting and engaging in a more meaningful, playful way.

I teach a lot of improv classes and over the years I’ve seen improv change hundreds of lives in big ways and small — people have quit their jobs to follow their passion, found love, become kick-ass improvisers performing multiple shows a week, and generally become more fun to hang out with at parties. Improv’s transformative power is what immediately intrigued me when I took my first class at the Hideout in 2001 and it’s what inspires me ten years later to share it with anyone willing to listen.

We’re starting new classes every month. More info on upcoming sessions…

You can also test drive our curriculum twice a month in our Free Classes.

-Andy Crouch
Education Director for the Hideout Theatre

LOTS to announce, so here we go!

First off, here is the Mainstage Schedule:

I’m so excited about each of these. It’s been YEARS since we’ve done Start Trekkin’, and to combine with the Twilight Zone should be pretty overpowering.

Process marks the return of Jeremy Lamb to the loving embrace of Austin improv, bringing with him a show concept first pioneered by The Well Hung Jury.

We’ve been wanting to do a musical show for awhile now, and a friggin’ ROCK OPERA directed by Brockman and Samiee sounds like the best thing ever.

The Woody Allen based show is something Jon Bolden’s been talking about for years, and I know a lot of folks have been clamoring for him to do it (so they can be in it). ANY SHOW that has Bolden doing a Woody Allen impersonation is going to get my support. But I’m even more excited that both Valerie and Jon are finally making their directing debuts.

I’ve been a fan of H.P. Lovecraft for a very long time, and a fan of Marc Majcher’s since I’ve known him. I know he has enough of a dark/nihilistic streak in him to do this show justice. Not that there is any justice in this cold, uncaring universe.

And of course, words can’t describe how happy I am to return to Austin Secrets.

So that’s the mainstage.

Also, we’ll be bringing back our favorite big events for 2012:

April 12-15: The 2nd Annual Improvised Play Festival
a full weekend of improvised one-act plays both from Austin and all over the world (hopefully!)

May 31-June 2nd: The 43 Hour Improv Marathonn
8 improvisers perform for 43 hours straight with the help of local troupes and shows.

November 15-17: The 11th Annual WaffleFest
All You Can Eat improv comedy and waffles.

December 30th: Same Years Eve
Every improviser in Austin is invited to perform in a crazy show and crazier after-party to help ring in the same year.

PLUS, We’re changing up the Friday 8pm shows in 2012.
When we settled on the current lineup of Friday 8pm shows, it was our goal to give students and newer improvisers a chance to perform more in low pressure environments. To that end, we started the monthly tradition of The Fancy Pants Mashup, and on other weeks gave folks a chance to play in The Lottery. Now we’re opening it up even more.

Every 1st Friday:
The Fancy Pants Mashup. 20+ improvisers put their names in a hat and are called up onstage in pairs to do whatever they want with whoever has been called up with them. PLUS, they dress real fancy-like.

Every 2nd Friday:
Pick Your Own Path. A show heavy on audience participation, based on the old Choose Your Own Adventure books. This will be much like it has been the past year, except we’ll be doing multiple adventures and including more improvisers in the mix.

Every 3rd Friday:
The Narrative Improv Jam. We held the world’s first narrative improv jam at the Improvised Play Festival, and it was a blast. The entire audience is invited to participate, as the host guides us all through an improvised story once scene at a time. My favorite (and most unanticipated) part of this show is that if a scene calls for a dance party, we can get 30 people up on stage to make it happen.

Every 4th Friday:
STUDENT. MAESTRO. (better name pending)

Every 5th Friday:
we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

And the not quite figured out yet…

We got the green light from the coffeeshop to add a new Thursday night show. So starting at 10pm on Thursdays in the New Year, we’ll have an additional show! I don’t know quite what it is yet, but I do know I’m excited to expand the schedule.

Also not listed here… our plan for 2012 is to add a number of limited run (2-3 weekend) shows that play in the downstairs theater. This weekend’s Halloween Batman shows are our first stab at something like that. Some possibilities include: a cheerleading show created by Kaci Beeler and Halyn Lee Erickson, a TheatreSports tournament, a brief descent back into the Violet Underbelly, and who knows what. But I’ll leave it at that until we have more details.

Oh, and you can pick up season passes for the 2012 Mainstage shows for $55 until December 1st, here: