Austin Improv

KathyRose wrote:Oh! and the dance-off totally rocked.

Agreed.

The track was Summerboy by Lady Gaga. It's the perfect song for any dance-off/dance diamond/striptease.

kaci_beeler wrote: Jordan also rocked that Shakespeare scene so. damn. hard. It was amazing and part of the time I thought, "We need to do Improvised Shakespeare again and Jordan needs to be in that! He needs to move back to Austin, dammit!"

I only caught the last half of that and it was pretty amazing.

And then he announced he was moving back at the end of the show!

Dammit! I mean, sweet!

Two of my favorite things in the festival so far happened in the two sketch shows I caught at SVT last night:

1. a delightful synchronized ribbon dance topping off the Jean Louis set

2. a poetic sketch in the style of lewis carroll by Audience of Two

Mmm.

And yay for Jordan coming back to town!
AND YAY FOR ASAF GETTING A SCOOTER!!!

Kind Strangers @ The Hideout totally NAILED IT. Great iconic Tennessee Williams characters and lots of hysterically funny lines.

Confidence Men also did a great job working the Border Patrol. And I didn't just add that to be polite.

Aphasia was marvelous
the absurd energy grabbed you early and never. let. go! what a fun ride!

Pangaea 3000 and FrankenMatt. So amazing.

shando wrote:Pangaea 3000 and FrankenMatt. So amazing.

Yes, Pangea 3000 in particular were incredible. They got a standing ovation and they weren't even the headliners.

Drum Machine. Drum Machine. Jill Bernard. Drum Machine. Michael Brockman. Drum Machine. all of it, the whole thing, all of it, every last awesome bit of it. that was the kind of improv show i would want to go back and watch over and over again. particularly the plaintive plea for freedom of the slave girl, "Where is My Bird Head?", and the dying pharaoh's mythology laden death scene/confrontation with Horus/hieroglyphic signature/oddly moving posthumous ballad about the harsh realities of the afterlife (It's not what i read! In the book of the dead!"). and of course the final song about the six simple machines, with Jill getting stuck on two and asking the audience to "sing along" with her...and still only managing to get five right (wedge, not hammer...i looked it up this morning. :p). hilarious, touching, absurd, intelligent and the songs were gorgeous. no mere Jillbot could create such awesomeness! it must have been the real thing!!!

oh, and from Computer's show...any moment where Bill dived and the other members manipulated his body. and Gargantua's hunt for a sea foam dress that fits.

After seeing 14 or so shows, I would say Drum Machine, Aphasia, Improvised Tennessee Williams, and Start Trekin were probably some of my favorites. I'm so glad I saw Drum Machine and Aphasia, and especially when I invited some non improv friends. They were blown away and so was I. Magic, I tell you!! Magic!!!

Aphasia's Brett Lyon's insistence on getting Jeff Griggs to concede that Alcatras may now be being used to store old malfunctioning equipment from National Parks around the country, kind of like a warehouse. And Jeff recognizing the game that was developing and playing it perfectly.

also voice recognizing self learning Iphone from same show.

I thought Orpheus Roy and King Ten were fantastic, fast hitting comedy. Very favorite worthy.

oh good Lord, Three Falling was absolutely incredible. playful, hilarious, mischievous with amazing connection and commitment. i especially loved the random musical number a few scenes in that both went at whole hog, without turning the show itself into a musical; the vacation that morphed into a marital dispute that morphed into a kung fu battle; all the cut away asides where Muli would explain some word or idiom to Inbal and then reincorporate it into the scene. Israeli improv is a force to be reckoned with.

oh, and Kevin McDonald, Kevin McDonald and before i forget to mention, Kevin McDonald!

the_reverend wrote:...all the cut away asides where Muli would explain some word or idiom to Inbal...

Man, I don't know if anybody noticed - but I was having complete conniptions on the other side of the stage when that happened. Especially since I could hear them probably a little better than y'all. I had a monitor with them in it right next to me. They'd go off to the side of the stage and then I'd get this rapid-fire stream of Heblish/Engrew through the monitor. I was just trying to hold my teeth in - what a treat for me!

I agree with Zach --the National Parks equipment bit was a true testament to the power of not dropping your shit. It was so entertaining to watch.