Austin Improv

The Hideout Theatre is back from the brink of oblivion with enthusiastic new owners and a new lease at 617 Congress Ave. And because it's just crazy enough to work, they're producing a 40-hour improv theater and comedy marathon the last weekend in June. The new Hideout Theatre needs your patronage in the form of butts in seats and cash in hand, so come for a little, come for a lot, or come for all 40 hours June 26 through 28.

Hells yes. We need to promote the crap out of this, if for no reason other than seeing what we all look like after being on stage for a full work week!

June 26 through 28 the Hideout is producing a 40-hour improv marathon and fund raiser to generate much-needed capital and public awareness.

At 5:00pm on Friday, June 26, eight marathon improvisers will take the stage and hold it until 9:00am on Sunday, June 28, performing 40 straight hours of improvisational theater and comedy without sleep or respite. Each hour of the marathon will be a separate show showcasing classic Hideout formats, upcoming Hideout shows, random formats never to be seen again, and guest troupes and players from Austin's impossibly big improv community.

In addition to 40 hours of quality improvisation, there will be 40 hours of raising money hand over fist. Audiences and supporters of improv in Austin will be offered a variety of ways to financially demonstrate their patronage throughout the weekend, including ticket sales, a raffle, a giving tree, the Best Seat in the House, a pancake breakfast and more. 10% of all proceeds will be donated to the Austin Improv Collective. A further 10% will go to Theatre Action Project, a team of professionally trained artists and educators that offers creative arts and education programs for social change to over 15,000 people every year (www.theatreactionproject.org).

If you haven't gotten a personal email about this festival, it is only because I don't have your contact info. We need help from everyone in the community to make this gigantic weekend happen. Look for posts this week asking for volunteers for anything and everything.

I'm so sorry to be out of town for this!

Sooooo excited to be a part of this beautiful, terrible idea. Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant!

Bring it on! Soon as I'm out of work on Friday (2 AM), I'm there, ready to do whatever needs being done!

I'll be there...for a while...oh god

The eight marathon players (who will be improvising in every show for 40 hours) are Kaci Beeler, Kareem Badr, Andy Crouch, Troy Miller, Matt Pollock, Curtis Luciani, Jeremy Lamb and Caitlin Sweet.

Fundraising goes to stuff like this, but obviously not this, since we just did it a few minutes ago. Here's the logo getting applied for good:

Is that Joaquin Phoenix putting up the logo?

So sad, I'll be out of town, and especially sad I'll be missing the hour of Shakespeare that week. I'm sure it'll be nothing but awesome.

DollarBill wrote:Is that Joaquin Phoenix putting up the logo?

Yes it is. Crazy bastard shaved off his beard, too.

Why have you done this during TCIF? I would love to come down and underscore until my fingers (or my head) fell off.

I'll be there!!!!!

mpbrockman wrote:Why have you done this during TCIF? I would love to come down and underscore until my fingers (or my head) fell off.

We're super bummed to be missing Brockman and a lot of the Girls Girls Girls that weekend. Stay up late in Minneapolis for us.