Austin Improv

New Electives through the end of July! Electives are $15 for the general population and free for students currently taking a Level One through Six class at the Hideout -- a steal either way!

Tuesday, July 19, 7-9pm
Andy is Mean To You with Andy Crouch
Andy is probably wasting his time even trying to tell you what this workshop is about. You’ve spent how many hours in improv classes, and Andy Crouch (Hideout education director and honestly just tired) still has to watch you flail around the stage sucking air like a fish? Jesus Christ. Well the molly coddling is over and if you want Andy’s unvarnished and possibly drunk instruction, then show up. Because in your heart of hearts you are dirty and broken and you crave this.

Tuesday, July 26, 7-10pm
Physicality in Improv with Asaf Ronen
Learn what blocks you from throwing yourself more into your body and your environment when you improvise. By freeing up the body, students will discover new characters, different approaches to creating a relationship onstage, and tools to add variety to their scene work. Asaf Ronen (education director of the Institution Theater and Hideout director/performer) will push you to minimize the reliance on dialogue and communicate solely through physical nuance using techniques that incorporate elements of clowning, mime, and environmental work into your improvisation.

acrouch wrote: Andy is Mean To You with Andy Crouch
Andy is probably wasting his time even trying to tell you what this workshop is about. You’ve spent how many hours in improv classes, and Andy Crouch (Hideout education director and honestly just tired) still has to watch you flail around the stage sucking air like a fish? Jesus Christ. Well the molly coddling is over and if you want Andy’s unvarnished and possibly drunk instruction, then show up. Because in your heart of hearts you are dirty and broken and you crave this.

In my hearts of hearts I wish I could be there to witness this.

Upcoming Electives:

Tuesday, August 16, 7-9pm
Download From The Annoyance with Kristin Firth
There’s more than one way to improvise skinning a cat. Kristin Firth (Hideout performer and Institution instructor) just attended a week-long intensive at the Annoyance Theater in Chicago. In this workshop she’ll distill 30 hours of instruction by some of the legends there — Mick Napier, Mark Sutton, Susan Messing, Rebecca Sohn and Rich Sohn — into a two-hour sample platter of her favorite exercises and bits of wisdom from the Chicagoans.

Tuesday, August 23, 7-9pm
Jump Into the Fire with Chris Allen
Improv has never killed anyone, so why do you hesitate at the top of scenes? Why do you flap and flounder as if drowning? How do you start a scene?! A GOOD scene?! And then continue it?! C.J. Allen (Confidence Men, Two Man Polanski and Hideout performer) has picked up some cool improv tips and tools over the years and he wants to share them with you so that you play with more confidence and commitment. Follow him out of the improv escape hatch to more scintillating scene work!

Don't miss Chris "Ceej" Allen's elective tonight!

New Electives in September and October! Heads up that as of mid-September Essential Electives are switching to Wednesdays and will be every week.

Tuesday, September 13, 7-9pm
The Real World of Absurd-Absurd Scenes with Josh Gill and Lisa Jackson
How often have you had to drop your drunken ogre because your scene partner initiated a filthy-minded wizard? Josh Gill and Lisa Jackson (Coldtowne instructors and Hideout performers) will help you plant your feet in a scene where there is no “straight” man. You will learn the essential tricks of making your absurd-absurd scene workable and sustainable. We’ll teach you how to BECOME that drunken ogre and how to react when the filthy wizard makes a pass at you.

Wednesday, September 28, 7-9pm
Emphasis on the AND! with Josh Gill
Does it look like your scene partner is bored? Do they leave every scene with you sweating and huffing? That’s what happens when you have to build a house all by yourself. So give them a hAnd. Joshua Gill (Coldtowne instructor and Hideout performer) will help you bring your focus back around to the most essential half of this most essential of improv “rules”.

Wednesday, October 5, 7-9pm
Telling the Story with Troy Miller
At the heart of all comedy is drama. And drama is the story. Whether you’re playing a single short scene or a longer improvised narrative, Troy Miller (Hideout instructor and director of Start Trekkin’) will explore easy, powerful techniques for creating vibrant stories. If you’re a writer or other creative artist, it will super charge your work by giving you tools for brainstorming, developing a story world, heightening the drama and powering through road blocks.

Oooooo!