The Hideout Theater

This past June the Hideout Theatre held a 40-Hour Improv marathon from 5pm Friday June 26th to 9am on Sunday June 28th. Eight brave improvisers pledged to improvise onstage for the entire 40 hours. There were 40 1-hour long shows, and the range of the shows covered many genres, types, and styles of improvisation (as you can imagine when you have 40 spots to fill with a new kind of show for each slot).

There was improvised 1960s Batman, short-form games, improv for children, Comedy Sportz, Improvised Shakespeare, Dubbed Film Clips, A Bat (improv in the dark), Chicago-style shows, San Francisco-style shows, and so much more.

The Marathon, besides being a test of skill and an act of stupidity, was also a fundraiser for the Hideout, which (as of May 2009) is under new management! This means there are being some big changes made at the Hideout (including this here fancy website).

The 8 Marathon Improvisers at Hour 40

At the marathon there was a raffle, giving tree, and general donations. Thanks to the help of our generous patrons and fans, the Hideout raised $4,000 (after expenses) to help fund theater improvements and future programming.We had solid audiences at night from 6pm-2am, and fairly full audiences at all other times (except maybe 4am, but there were still a good handful of dedicated audience members!).

Austin Chronicle Arts writer Robert Faires wrote an article about the 40-Hour Marathon before the event: http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:799086

Robert Faires then saw the last two hours of the marathon on Sunday morning, and wrote a glowing review of the experience: http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid:803083

We here at the Hideout were so excited to see the amount of support from the local Austin improvisers. We could not have managed such a crazy event without the help of others, and we are so greatful. Austin is such a great place to do and learn improv, and successful events like the 40-Hour Marathon only help to support that theory. Long long improv in Austin!