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What defines the "Austin Style" of improv

Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.

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Post by LuBu McJohnson »

Curtis + computer wrote:I think one distinct characteristic of Austin improv is our superficial insistence that all improvisers must be physically attractive to an almost superhuman degree.
On this note, I'd like to say that Curtis and Lance are both exceptionally sexy lumberjacks.

And I? I am a sexy...uh...15-year old boy?

Also, I'd like to say that my own experience with Austin improv is that I can do whatever the frig I want. I just did a show where I was a house for 25 minutes. I'd like to say that this comes from a combination of both open-minded performers and open-minded audiences.

OPEN-MINDED.
-Bryan Roberts a.k.a. LuBu McJohnson a.k.a. Ghetto Sketch Warlock
"This is for those that don't know the half"
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"Any mistakes can be rectified without loss of life, unless they involve Lubu."
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  • smerlin Offline
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Post by smerlin »

Austin also tends to use a lot of tv, film, theater, and pop culture to influence their show. For example, Lubu's improvised version of the hit TV show "House."
LuBu McJohnson wrote: I just did a show where I was a house for 25 minutes.
Shana Merlin
http://www.merlin-works.com
You improvise every day.
Why not get good at it?

Post by LuBu McJohnson »

smerlin wrote:Austin also tends to use a lot of tv, film, theater, and pop culture to influence their show. For example, Lubu's improvised version of the hit TV show "House."
LuBu McJohnson wrote: I just did a show where I was a house for 25 minutes.
Fun Fact: The show is officially called "House M.D."

P.S. - DIE!!!!1!1!!1!!!!11!
-Bryan Roberts a.k.a. LuBu McJohnson a.k.a. Ghetto Sketch Warlock
"This is for those that don't know the half"
-http://www.ghettosketchwarlock.com
"Any mistakes can be rectified without loss of life, unless they involve Lubu."
-Ratliff
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  • valetoile Offline
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Post by valetoile »

Lants wrote:
mpbrockman wrote: I'd strongly agree with Val's first bullet. When I think about what makes Austin troupes stand out at many festivals it's the seeming ease with which they do longform narrative. Not a series of loosely related scenes but a real story with character arcs and a satisfying ending.
Considering there are so many students of Coldtowne, I wouldn't put this in the "definition" of Austin Style Improv.
Yeah, I almost added a qualifier to that, but I try to get through life with as few qualifiers as possible. But the qualifier that I would have added would have been:
While narrative and genre do not apply across the board, and are completely absent in a large portion of Austin troupes, I think it is something you see a lot of in Austin that you do not see as much of in other cities, and it therefore makes Austin unique.

In light of other comments, I would like to further add that I think the acceptance and openmindedness of Austin allows some really great things to happen- people who are doing a genre narrative are also finding the games in their scenes. People who are doing Harolds are picking up status and platform/tilt stuff. We're realizing that the schools are more arbitrary than exclusive, and we're all making better stronger improv with hybrid vigor because of it.

Hybrid Vigor- that's Austin improv.
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Post by Asaf »

Actually, I do see that in a lot of other cities: Seattle and Boston come to mind first. Austin is not necessarily unique for it genre narrative work.

I do believe that we get more experimental here than in other cities and I think that is a product of Austin. The theater scene is also very experimental here. The music scene, I suppose. There is a lot of fringe here and that carries over into the improv.

I think Brian playing a house for 25 minutes is a case for that. A lot of the stuff that IFE does or Look Cookie. A lot of the Cagematch teams that I see being formed.

Post by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell »

i was so excited when i saw this thread because i've been thinking about it a lot lately, especially out in Los Angeles and in the aftermath of Out of Bounds seeing a lot of the Ultimate/Improv Space people discussing "Austin style." so it's been germinating in my head, all the things i think about it both as insider and outsider, all the glorious points i wanted to make with grand hyperbolic declarations, a sweeping manifesto of style with lyrical rhetoric to forevemore state in letters of fire 50 feet tall exactly what Austin style is!

...then i read Val's first post and thought "yeah, that's pretty much it."

8)
Sweetness Prevails.

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Post by Jastroch »

The last time this topic came up, it erupted into a flame war. The fact that this conversation is friendly says a lot about something.
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Post by jillybee72 »

valetoile wrote:I'd be curious to know what you think Jill.
I dunno. I just like the question.
valetoile wrote:And while we're at it, what's Minneapolis-style?
joyfulness + low-self-esteem = charm!

Post by Curtis + computer »

Jastroch wrote:The last time this topic came up, it erupted into a flame war. The fact that this conversation is friendly says a lot about something.
Everything you say is always wrong. Eat all the shit in the world, you creep.
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