This Week in Sketch and Improv: August 18th & 19th

Locally, the lead up to Out of Bounds is getting so tense that Austin's finest were called out last Friday night to investigate a suspicious package next to one of the city's busiest improv and sketch theatres - the Hideout. After APD cordoned off the entire block (and evacuated all of the surrounding buildings) for a rather sad looking duffle bag, shows had to be canceled. Much like our above-reproach presidenté, we can only conclude the fake bomb was left "because they hate our freedom comedy". Or, it could be that people who have to live on the street need to keep their stuff somewhere, Officer Krupke.

In any event, the arrival of Out of Bounds will not be deterred by the heightened anxieties of nation on alert, and - in keeping with our weekly write-up on what is to come in this year's festival - we also give you a heads up on what is happening around town, as well as our Out of Bounds Tip of the Week.

Out of Bounds Tip of the Week
The Plurals Adam Hilton, Braden Walker and Joel Osborne blew up the skirts of quite a few of the "comedy? meh." crowd at last year's Out of Bounds fest. Unfortunately, we didn't catch that show, but we did catch their show at Coldtowne's Test Pattern this past June and were treated to some hot sketches (between the two Plurals that were in attendance). On top of all that, the Plurals were rocking the video sketch way before YouTube was even part of the technocrati vernacular.

Wednesday, August 30th
8pm @ the Hideout
Headlining the night and playing with Austin-based ensembles the Becchini and Scott & Stacy.
For a full listing of Out of Bounds shows, go here.

A complete line up of this weekend's improv and sketch shows around Austin courtesy of the expand-o-tron.

**Before you dive in, you can read up on the finer points of difference between sketch and improv, with a click on their respective hyperlinks. (As an aside, can we hear it for the egalitarian sweetness that is Wikipedia?)