Austin Improv

This is something I want to try starting this year, inspired by the Crowning Moments Of Awesome (Now just Moments Of Awesome) tropes on TVTropes.

Similar to Best Quotes, the Crowning Moments Of Awesome apply to scenes or moments that are so glorious, so awe-inspiring, and so clever that they must be cataloged. Unlike Best Quotes, these are not single lines, but rather scenes or parts of scenes.

To get the ball rolling and to cite an example, here's one from Austin Secrets, 1/8/11: Jordan Maxwell is given the suggestion, "I lied & said I heard voices because I thought just being sad wasn't enough to get help." Only Jordan knows the suggestion when the scene begins. In the scene itself, Jordan plays a patient and Kareem plays a psychiatrist. As the scene progresses, Stacy (I think) comes out as one of the voices, followed by Bolden. Jordan ignores the voices since they are technically not real, but then Kristin comes out as a cat. Jordan tries to treat her like a real cat, petting her and telling the psychiatrist that he's petting a cat, but then she says, "I'm not really here!" Jordan then proceeds to freak out when it turns out that the voices, who were all once fake, are now real.

Edit: Fixed the misspelling of Jordan. Stupid spellcheck!

Will... videos qualify?

Spots wrote:Will... videos qualify?

Yes. In fact, videos would make this even better!

i'm simultaneously flattered by the acknowledgement and discomforted by the misspelling of my name.

other moments of awesome recognition (among many) from that show:
Karen nailing the dramatic button with "I AM a mom"; Lisa's emotionally note perfect depiction of a homeless friend; Kaci's cilantro induced seizure/freak out; the excellent timing on the one line scene "How did you pass that test?" following the secret "I made out with my high school teacher (and more!)"

also, Kareem's stirring "we're all going to die" speech in the subsequent Maestro. possibly my favorite improvised monologue since Mike D'Alonzo's "I know two things in this world..." speech at a No Shame, eons ago.

Spaz, dude, get rid of the garbage in your post. It's making the page wiiiiiiiiiide.

monkeyangst wrote:Spaz, dude, get rid of the garbage in your post. It's making the page wiiiiiiiiiide.

Done and done.

MonkeyAngst for the win!

Oh man, I wish this thread was around when PGraph had that show about a duck without knowing there was a weird robot duck toy on the wall crossbeam of the ColdTowne stage. I'll never forget the look on Kareem's face when Roy finally noticed it, grabbed it, put it on stage, and activated it causing quacking noises and lights. I think it even laid like a toy egg. Pure magic.

But again... not 2011.

Sunday during Oh, Science!'s show before the jam, 1/9. Shea and Kristin are in a breakup scene and Shea said something like "in the words of Whitesnake..." and sings the chorus of Love Bites. Nathan, Josh, and Ed who were on the sidelines act like they're Kristin's friends listening in with "I don't think that's Whitesnake" and kept discussing who sang that song, derailing the scene hilariously.

Then during a scene which was a continuation of an earlier scene, Ed was acting like a crying baby, Nathan came on as I assume a feral gopher, and Shea thought the gopher was the baby that got turned into some kind of man-gopher. When it was obvious there was a grave confusion, Josh (on the sidelines) says "Actually I think it was Foghat." And Ed, who had been diligently dedicated to crying as a baby the whole scene, and while still in a curled position, points to Josh and goes "wait you think it's Foghat?"

At that point the fourth wall was crumbled to the ground and everyone pulled the show script out of storage to see if they were doing that last scene right. It was a Stanley Cup-level save.

Before I forget, the 2/26 Austin Secrets Show: inspired by a secret involving a disillusioned EMT, Jon Bolden (as the EMT) and Valerie Ward (as an injury victim) start a great dramatic scene, but it truly becomes a Crowning Moment Of Awesome when John Ratliff taps everyone out to play the EMT's higher-up to chew him out for letting a patient die, yelling lines that would normally elicit a laugh in a humorous scene (such as Jon saying he quits and John telling him he's fired retroactively), but become devastating under the present circumstances. The scene ends when Jon tells John he should try spending a year in the field instead of writing up what happened from a distance. After pulling the lights, the audience was completely stunned.

Another scene of note involved Jordan Maxwell as a scarred-up survivor who could no longer live a normal life, intercut between Curtis Luciani as a pastor talking about how some things happen for a reason. It goes down a dark road, but it ends on a heartwarming flash-forward when Jordan's character is married and with a newborn baby. If anyone has a video of the show, I could fill in more details.

Spaztique wrote:Another scene of note involved Jordan Maxwell as a scarred-up survivor who could no longer live a normal life, intercut between Curtis Luciani as a pastor talking about how some things happen for a reason. It goes down a dark road, but it ends on a heartwarming flash-forward when Jordan's character is married and with a newborn baby. If anyone has a video of the show, I could fill in more details.

or as it's come to be known in my house, "the scene where Jordan hijacks Halyn's scene, hams it up, nearly destroys the scenery and then Kristin comes in to save the day."

seriously, though, thanks for the praise...it was a very difficult but ultimately rewarding scene to pull off. i just worry i was chewing up the scenery when i wasn't throwing myself against it.

Coldtowne, 2/23. The boys are owners of a failing soda fountain due to them taking cocaine out of Coca-Cola. (Justin: "It's the only time in my life that someone could call me a 'jerk' and I liked it.") They decide to burn it down for the insurance money. Jastroch wants to commemorate the moment with a prayer. When he's asked what religion he is, he tries to say I'm a Unitarian Universalist". Instead he says "I'm a Universalist Utilitarian." In one of those genius Jastroch moments, without missing a beat, he says "We pray to whatever god is most useful at the time." They pray to 'Burning Man' before striking the match.

That's a church I want to be part of.

Spaztique wrote:. After pulling the lights, the audience was completely stunned.

That's very kind of you to say. Thanks so much, David. Your great timing on tech has proven invaluable for this run.

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:

Spaztique wrote:Another scene of note involved Jordan Maxwell as a scarred-up survivor who could no longer live a normal life, intercut between Curtis Luciani as a pastor talking about how some things happen for a reason. It goes down a dark road, but it ends on a heartwarming flash-forward when Jordan's character is married and with a newborn baby. If anyone has a video of the show, I could fill in more details.

or as it's come to be known in my house, "the scene where Jordan hijacks Halyn's scene, hams it up, nearly destroys the scenery and then Kristin comes in to save the day."

seriously, though, thanks for the praise...it was a very difficult but ultimately rewarding scene to pull off. i just worry i was chewing up the scenery when i wasn't throwing myself against it.

You made my heart ache in that scene, when I was onstage and off. You gave me wonderful inspiration and I don't see that as hijacking a scene.

Halyn wrote:

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:

Spaztique wrote:Another scene of note involved Jordan Maxwell as a scarred-up survivor who could no longer live a normal life, intercut between Curtis Luciani as a pastor talking about how some things happen for a reason. It goes down a dark road, but it ends on a heartwarming flash-forward when Jordan's character is married and with a newborn baby. If anyone has a video of the show, I could fill in more details.

or as it's come to be known in my house, "the scene where Jordan hijacks Halyn's scene, hams it up, nearly destroys the scenery and then Kristin comes in to save the day."

seriously, though, thanks for the praise...it was a very difficult but ultimately rewarding scene to pull off. i just worry i was chewing up the scenery when i wasn't throwing myself against it.

You made my heart ache in that scene, when I was onstage and off. You gave me wonderful inspiration and I don't see that as hijacking a scene.

awww...you just high fived my heart!