Austin Improv

Hi everyone, I'm Katherine or Kat.

What I like about improv:
Meeting new people and having great excuses to talk with them
Learning to take more risks, be present in the moment and get out of my head
Being creative and having fun
Learning to follow my feet (This is what I find translates best into "regular life" for me.)

Other things:
I like gardening!
I like traveling!
I like teaching eager kids!

Hi Everyone I am Paul - I am not Kat or Katherine

What I like about Improv:
Trusting and Loving my friends on stage (and off)
Pushing myself (and being pushed by my friends)
Telling communal stories from nothing, a suggestion or something I see in you
Smiling (laughing) in the wings, in the audience or on stage

Other things:
I like throwing discs!
I like watching people interact!
I like looking for characters in the wilds of Austin and beyond!
I like (love) Kat for starting this thread!

Hello peeps! I'm Nicole Oliver, I don't like to be called Nicki! But I like Nic and once tried to call myself "Colie" but it never caught on...

What I Like About Improv:
*I met my amazing husband doing improv.
*It's so exhilarating and rewarding.
*It is truly a passion that keeps me sane in my day to day living.
*That moment when another performers says or does something based on what another improviser has said and that thought or action was EXACTLY what you were going to do. AGH, I love that.

Other Things:
*I am afraid of birds. If i'm driving and they come near my car, I duck in my car or swerve very unlawfully.
*I laugh a bit too much when people fall or trip. No matter their age or if they injure themselves.
*I love books. I'm a big nerd for reading anything from biographies on Harry Houdini to British chick lit like "Jemima J".
*I like to daydream that i'm a CIA agent. Sydney Bristow style.

YAY!

Hey all. I'm Caeriel. I don't have a nickname, but when I have to give my name at a restaurant because there's a wait, I use the name of my deloved old dead dog, Eli. Otherwise 15 minutes later the restaurant host will be hollering, "Cereal? Is there a Cereal here somewhere? Your table's ready!"

What I like about improv:

-the amazing community
-challenging myself to be spontaneous and playful
-the harder you try the less you succeed, it's very zen
-how much it makes me laugh
-how much happier in my everyday life it's made me

Other things:
-I'm vegetarian and hippyish (20 years++)
-I love traveling, adventure, and food
-I'm a dog person
-I'm addicted to books
-I like any kind of game--board, card, video, etc--and love losing just as much as winning, but am incapable of throwing a game.

Hi, you all! I'm Dave Alley, and I don't like when folks misspell my last name. Because really, why not just go for the obvious spelling?

What I like about improv:

Even if you think you suck, you're a hella better than you were (1, 3, 12) months ago.

Supportive community, yep.

That required skills of improv include being supportive, playful, and delighted. That's just amazing.

That wonderful moment when you and your scene partner gel, and you both know exactly who your character's are, and how they feel about eachother, together. Then the conversation becomes real, and inspired.

other things:
*I'm a proud parent
*I gauge how well my work day went by how much I sing along with my car radio
*I'm delighted by silly talents. Solving a rubik's cube, juggling, card shuffling. I love useless skills
*Although I'd love to have read more, I am grateful to have spent so much time watching television growing up

Hi!

I am Ryan Michael Edward Hill. "Ryan" is my mother's maiden name. (So when you see "Linda Ryan Hill" post on Facebook, don't be confused.) Michael is my father's first name. Edward is my Catholic confirmation name and my Grandfather's name. (I am no longer Catholic.) I also have a dharma (Buddhist) name: Joyful Heart. (Those of you who know me a bit know it's not joyful all the time.) My family often shortens my name to "Rye." My little sister, Rachel, calls me "Rye-bee" sometimes. My Dad started calling me "Rye Bread" when I was very young. He subsequently has shortened that to "Bread," "The Bread," or "Breadley." Jessica Arjet's teen improv class calls me "Mr. Bread" to distinguish me from the other Ryan in class.

One time, in After School Improv, Nicole endowed me as "Crazy Uncle" somebody. That was an important learning moment.

I love improv so much, but I have to admit I'm going through a slight rough spot with it at the moment. This too shall pass.

Other stuff:
I work in online education for a grant funded portion of UT Austin. I have an awesome job that allows me extra time and energy to do improv.

I have an awesome girlfriend (Jen Kaplan, also an improviser) who is one of the kindest and most understanding people I have ever met. A friend once told me after a breakup that the right person would be willing to work with me on difficulties in a relationship. Jen and I work together on everything.

I have three sisters, three brothers-in-law, five nephews and a niece. The youngest two nephews are twins and I take them to Flying Theater Machine on occasion. One of them really likes improv, the other, not so much.

I have a 21-year-old son who is in Level 2 at the Hideout.

I'm just going to say hi, because my hands hurt too badly to type up something extensive.

Hi. I'm Ellen. I was once called Smelly Elly, mostly by my babysitter when I was less than six years old, and later by my college roommate and close friend (who used it as a term of endearment, not to indicate my stench). This is no more. I like being named Ellen very much; it's easily understood (unless in a noisy bar), easily forgotten (sometimes it's better if people DON'T remember), and rare enough that I might be the only Ellen you know.

What I like about improv:

The forum. There, I said it.
Danger. Taking risks. There's nothing that gets my blood pumping quite the same way.
Support and love. So many jobs and hobbies are competitive, it's a nice break from that.
Being happy, healthy, and sexy. It can be applied to much more than just the stage.

Other things:
I'm getting married next June to a non-improvisor (yay!!! and eeep...).
The scars on my arm and leg are not because I've ever harbored self-destructive tendencies, but from running my bike into a barbed wire fence in eighth grade.
I am a nerd but not a geek. Take that as you will.

Hi everyone! I'm Todd - no nickname (at least none that people call me to my face).

What I like about improv:
The great people and huge amount of support that exists in this community.
Getting myself (slowly, admittedly) to take risks. This doesn't come easy to me at all, but I think it's been really good for me.
Learning to apply improv concepts to everyday life.

Other things:
I like board games!
I like ultimate frisbee!
I like logic puzzles!
I like getting in just under the wire at 11:58!