ColdTowne Theater and the AIC

York99 · Post by **York99** » July 3rd, 2007, 10:56 am

I mentioned this briefly at the meeting, but it is worth bringing up in (on) this forum.

When we opened The ColdTowne Theater, obviously this spread the AIC out a bit. It largely took the five of us away from the Hideout. However, we want to stress that the AIC and The ColdTowne Theater are not separate entities. The improv community was one of the big reasons that the members of ColdTowne stayed (or moved) to Austin in the first place and we want to make sure to preserve that wonderful community feel.

There are several things to promote this crossover (Cage Match, Stool Pigeon, AIC free admission, being involved in outside projects, etc....), but we'd like a discussion of ideas of how to blur the line even further. In the works are Roy's new show, the ColdTowne jam and as much involvement in OoB as we can. If there is anything you can think of to promote more unity amongst us, throw it out on the table.

mcnichol · Post by **mcnichol** » July 3rd, 2007, 10:58 am

BJs, trust falls

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » July 3rd, 2007, 11:03 am

I am happy to see this post and I'll talk to you dudes about it when I see you.

rharrison · Post by **rharrison** » July 3rd, 2007, 11:06 am

BJs, trust falls

independent of one another?

York99 · Post by **York99** » July 5th, 2007, 9:56 am

Really? No ideas?

Any general thoughts pertaining to this conversation at all?

mcnichol · Post by **mcnichol** » July 5th, 2007, 10:01 am

Hi again. I fear my high-concept bit derailed this thread -- I hope it has not. I think this is a good topic.

Personally, I think CTT does a great job of blurring lines already and that Coldtowne does a great job of representing at the Hideout Theater, even with the amount of time that you (have to) put into your own theater.

My only suggestion would be to reinforce to students and people new to the community that we are all one group and that mingling between the theaters (as a performer and as an audience member) is highly encouraged, even if only for the education aspects of seeing all different styles, formats, players, etc. I'm not sure how many CTT students are aware that they can freely see AIC shows at the Hideout, and how many Heroes students are aware that they can see AIC shows at the CTT.

apiaryist · Post by **apiaryist** » July 5th, 2007, 11:53 am

What constitutes an AIC show at the Hideout?

acrouch · Post by **acrouch** » July 5th, 2007, 11:57 am

apiaryist wrote:What constitutes an AIC show at the Hideout?

Anything and everything. Students at the Hideout are given a free ticket for each level of classes they take (the free AIC tickets that get you into pretty much any show around town). Once you start doing Maestro or join a troupe and are a performing improviser, you get into all the regular Friday/Saturday shows at the Hideout for free.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » July 5th, 2007, 2:49 pm

Here's an idea...

Give the winners of the Cagematch a one month run at ColdTowne Theater. Or, let them open for ColdTowne on a Saturday night or two. Don't they do something similar at IO in Chicago?

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » July 5th, 2007, 2:51 pm

Another idea...

Crossover student shows. Have a level 3 Heroes class and a level 3 ColdTowne class put on a double bill graduation show. You could even do two shows, one at ColdTowne, one at the Hideout. This would also encourage student/school mingling and enhance community warm fuzzies and shit.

Roy Janik · Post by **Roy Janik** » July 5th, 2007, 2:56 pm

vine311 wrote:Another idea...

Crossover student shows. Have a level 3 Heroes class and a level 3 ColdTowne class put on a double bill graduation show. You could even do two shows, one at ColdTowne, one at the Hideout. This would also encourage student/school mingling and enhance community warm fuzzies and shit.

Yep. That's more or less what my student showcase idea will be, if it winds up happening regularly

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » July 5th, 2007, 2:57 pm

Roy Janik wrote:
vine311 wrote:Another idea...

Crossover student shows. Have a level 3 Heroes class and a level 3 ColdTowne class put on a double bill graduation show. You could even do two shows, one at ColdTowne, one at the Hideout. This would also encourage student/school mingling and enhance community warm fuzzies and shit.
Yep. That's more or less what my student showcase idea will be, if it winds up happening regularly

Oh yeah. In that case, I agree. It is a wonderful idea.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » July 5th, 2007, 2:59 pm

Give the winners of the Cagematch a one month run at ColdTowne Theater. Or, let them open for ColdTowne on a Saturday night or two.

Pgraph also proposed this for opening for our own shows, but we never finalized or hammered out details to make it happen. Probably because it proposed at a party and forgotten when everyone sobered up.

I think rewarding winners with a short run or slot or something is great, especially for those teams that are new and don't get a lot of stage time or "side" projects or non-troupe groups that rarely have time to play together.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » July 5th, 2007, 3:17 pm

I have participated in many, many Cagematches and I have plenty more that I plan on playing in. Some of the most fun shows I've ever done have been Cagematches. The primary drawback to them is that they are so fleeting. Here you have this awesome group of folks to play with and you only get to play with them a handful of times. If there were this kind of incentive, I believe more folks would be EXCITED about playing in Cagematches and we would never want for new teams. Also, that excitement will carry over to the audience. If the stakes are higher, everyone will bring their "A"game. "A" game + word of mouth = bigger houses. (in theory)

sara farr · Post by **sara farr** » July 5th, 2007, 3:27 pm

Justin, thanks for your post.

With more than one improv venue, it IS harder for individuals to keep up with what's going on around town.

A) Everyone in the community can be more supportive towards each other by making a committment to go see shows at as many differnt venues as possible. It helps getting booked in a venue bc when you are there, you ususally get to see shows, too.

B) You may be doing all of these things already, but...

In CTT classes...
-Encourage CTT students to go to the Tuesday Jam
-Encourage CTT students to ask to play in the Heroes' Maestro show (give student list to Andy Crouch to facilitate this)

Attend the Tuesday Jam, show off your improv muscles and...
- Encourage State & Heroes students to play in the CTT-AIC Cagematch
- Encourage State & Heroes students to go play in the new CTT All-Play Jam
- Pimp CTT workshops
- Pimp CTT coaching (for newbie troupes)