**** This is a FREE show! ****
Come in. Take a seat. Let’s talk.
Improv Anonymous explores the hidden world of shame and how we mere mortals deal with it. Using Interview and Improv as both windows in to and methods for illumination of the dark recesses of our guests’ past humiliation, mortification, and embarrassment, our host, Paul Normandin, together with our live audience, Improv Anonymous will shine some tender light on our guests past discomfort and offer support and hope while finding understanding and unexpected humor.
Director, Kenny Madison, is an Improv actor with over six years of performance and two years of therapy. Kenny knows shame and seeks to challenge our understanding of it pulling from his personal experience in a twelve-step program related to relationships and addiction as well as the influences of comedians like Jimmy Carrane, Paul Gilmartin, and Tig Notaro, who demonstrate the power of melding a comedic tone to serious discussions.
Host, Paul Normandin is the founder of the Improv troupe In Our Prime, a troupe that focuses on real human relationships without fear of the dark places our hearts and minds. Paul has lived a life supporting a close family member with a severe mental illness and is no stranger to the feelings of failure, shame, and stigma associated with a life well examined. Paul is a frequent performer at Austin No Shame Theater where he tells true stories without fear. (Okay, maybe a little fear.)
This month's guest, Ryan Hill, has a happy marriage, a good relationship with his grown son, a career in high tech and performs regularly on improv stages in Austin. Yet throughout his life he has struggled with dpression, anxiety, and addiction.
Tickets are free, but you can guarantee a seat reservation with a $1 charge at http://www.theinstitutiontheater.com/sh ... -anonymous
FREE ($1 to reserve a ticket in advance) • Jan 23, 2015 @10:00pm • The Institution Theater, 3708 Woodbury Drive