Austin Improv

Who died and made you King Of Cheese, Justin?

Things get kinda hairy with me an cheese and taking a hardline on a single cheese type is not something I can roll with.

jillybee72 wrote:I don't even understand why this is a question

Not all of us were brought up under the thumb of the bovine-avine-caprine-agri-complex; there are options beyond what you're suggest that we should be considering

Guys,

I can only eat dairy products that are not cow/sheep/goat based; just this discussion is bringing me out in hives.

I vote for horse-milk curds and whey

Jordan,

I think you're right that the Austin audience thrives on artistic experimentation.

I went to see a new play in Chicago last week and it threw a heck of a lot of the theatre that I'd seen in Austin into stark relief... not that either was better than the other, but that the Austin theatre ...

To be fair, I can't speak to Todd's intentions as I wasn't at the workshop. Looking at his history, he's certainly been involved in both mainstream and fringe enterprises in the big improv cities.

I guess the question I'm left with is whether becoming a major centre of improv necessitates the ...

While it's true that some people will move to NY/Chicago/LA in order to pursue a career in improv, I think it's incorrect to conclude that that results in a dilution of experimentation. This just doesn't stand up to even a glancing analysis of the work that's being done in these cities.

Sure ...

what i mean is, you can consider yourself an artist, defend that moniker, and defend the fact that your artform is a legitimate artform to be taken seriously by people who enjoy art, and not have it effect the quality of your work.

Totally agree and, if I implied otherwise, that was not my ...

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:Are you now or have you ever been a member of the artist party?

No, but I can name names

but why would you know you are something and deny that you are that thing when asked? you don't have to be vocal about being feminist, but if someone asks you, why would you lie or pile on qualifiers? sounds like you should maybe be something else.


I think her point was this: there is a moniker ...

I've watched this thread with interest and discussed it with some close friends who work in theatre professionally. This point is not intended to somehow heighten the value of their perspective, beyond the fact that they are interested parties.

In particular, one friend, when asked if she was an ...

Thanks so much for all of this.

I'm moving to Chicago in about a month's time for other reasons than improv, but this reinstilled my excitement at the prospect of performing and learning there after, what feels like, and extremely blessed and spoiled few years learning and performing in Austin.

I'll start by saying that I fully recognise that this is a forum for improvisors, so the improvisor's viewpoint is understandable favoured here.

That said, it's interesting in this discussion (and previous ones) that the viewpoint of the audience it little addressed.

I think many (most? (all?)) of ...

I wonder if Who's Line (and other short form structures) is particularly prone to this.

Short form games seem to encourage frenetic chatter with very little listening going on... it's all about rapid fire punchlines, gunning for the short gag, rather than building something together. Sure, there's ...

While I think that personal honesty and integrity on stage is vital to good improv, the "Be yourself" mantra can lead to something of a fallacy.

You are not yourself when you're on stage. When you're on stage, you're in front of a group of people who have paid money because you (directly or ...

I feel like this thread took a nasty detour into the land of mental masturbation... but we're a community and the fact that I don't relish where it went doesn't really matter.

What I will say is that a question of real practical merit should not get overthrown by theoretical discussion about ...