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Comedy: The 5th Annual Out of Bounds Improv & Sketch Festival
With Out of Bounds -- Austin's largest improvisation and sketch festival -- kicking off tomorrow night at the Hideout Theatre, Austinist sat down with festival producers (and talented performers in their own right) Jeremy Lamb and Shannon McCormick to discuss what the festival is all about.
So tell us, what is Out of Bounds?
Jeremy Lamb: Out of Bounds is the biggest improv festival in Texas. It started out as a 3-day get together among local groups, and is now a 6-day barrage of the best Austin and other cities have to offer. Now in its fifth year, it has been expanding slowly to include some of the best improv and sketch talent in the country.
Shannon McCormick: It's also a miniature golf tournament for the performers. That's definitely a unique aspect of the festival.
Definitely -- most other improv and sketch festivals don't have anything even remotely like that. How did you guys get started with Out of Bounds?
SM: Jeremy founded the festival back in 2002. I would have been there for that one, but I was vacationing in Mexico at the time. I've been at all the rest. After the 2003 festival, Jeremy moved to Chicago and Mike D'Alonzo and I took it over for two years. This year, Mike moved to LA and Jeremy moved back, and he and I have been handling all the production.
JL: Yeah, back in the day when Well Hung Jury used to go to festivals, we noticed things we liked and things we didn't. We felt the scene in Austin needed to fill the hole left by the dead and legendary Big Stinkin' festival, so we combined the stuff we liked and created a festival. Stuff that we wanted to do in the beginning included: paying the performers, allowing the performers to attend shows for free (other than the one they were performing in), presenting quality groups who we felt were innovators or excelled in improv, chances for social gatherings and networking to happen (hence the mini-golf tournament for performers), presenting a professional and clean theatre, and communicating well with the groups before they arrived.
These have been goals of the festival all along and each year as it continues to grow, they become more difficult to maintain, but we try to hold on to what has made it successful in the past.
Why is it called "Out of Bounds"?
JL: This name fit perfectly with our desire to showcase groups that were innovative and with our golf theme. Don't get me wrong, I hate golf. And while I'm not a huge fan of miniature golf, it seems to be just odd enough to get people's attention without feeling like a sh*tty gimmick.
Jeremy, you mentioned that in the 90s there was another big Austin comedy festival, "Big Stinkin' ". How is Out of Bounds different or similar?
JL: Out of Bounds is similar to BS in that it is in Austin and it strives to present sketch and improv from around the country to the folks of Austin. It is different in almost countless ways. Without speculating too much as to what BS wanted to be, we would simply like to be a well-run festival that garners national attention and brings in who's hot in the scene and teachers who can bring great wisdom to our local performers.
SM: Basically, we don't want to get too big too fast. A goal, which, fortunately, the gods of money have conspired to assist us with.
In a lot of festivals -- of all types -- there seems to be a larger percentage of hometown representation in the early years, moving to a larger percentage of out-of-towners in later years. How does Austin represent in the mix of Out of Bounds for this festival?
SM: We had more out-of-town submissions this year than we've ever had before. I think the biggest thing both Jeremy and I took away from reviewing all the apps is how well Austin improv stacks up to what we're seeing from across the country. That was really exciting.
JL: Specifically, the Austin improv and sketch scene represents about half of all the performing groups this year which I think is similar to year's past. The amount of submissions from out-of-town groups has steadily been growing but this doesn't necessarily mean the quality of those submissions is increasing. Our number one priority for accepting groups is quality, followed by many other elements, somewhere among them being where the group is from. We have to think marketability -- as well quality -- and sometimes that leads to a great local group being left out in the cold, but this is rare and always a tough decision. If you travel around and see lots of improv in lots of other places you'll find that the Austin scene is very high in quality thanks to a good set of role models and instructors who have made improv their life and career here in Austin. For us to not have Austin represent itself at its own festival would be ridiculous and counter-productive.
Who are you most excited about seeing this year?
JL: Without a doubt, I am super pumped to see the Big Headlining Show on Sunday featuring 3 for All and Dasariski. Not just because these two groups are really good but because they are from two separate improv philosophies. To see them both done in one show and on a legendary Austin stage such as Esther's Pool, I think it will be one of the better improv shows Austin has ever seen.
SM: Word.
Double word to that recommendation.
SM: There are so many shows...this is seriously the strongest lineup we've ever had. I think Sketchcore from Chicago is going to be interesting. They had one of the most theatrical approaches to sketch that I've seen, and I think their show is going to be sweet. Plus they're playing with the Latino Comedy Project, who are always tight.
Who are you most intrigued by this year?
JL: The Edmond Bulldogs. They have a real command of the absurd, with a perfect straight man/funny man style. They were actually around for the last few Big Stinkin's as a larger group called One Hit Wonder, that always pleased. They just recently finished a sketch show pilot funded by MTV and they are easily one of my biggest personal inspirations. They are funny in a way that makes old people say "That's not funny." I heart dat.
Uhm, the Becchini show is going to be great -- three Austin stage veterans taking a turn at video-based sketch. Easily the most interesting submission we got this year. Apollo 12's show last year left the audience split whether it was good or not, but I personally like it...they definitely will stretch some people's impressions of what improv can be. And imp. does silent improv, real vaudeville-style physical comedy. That's going to be fun. My only regret is I'm not going to be able to see every single moment of the festival.
Where can folks interested in attending get more information?
JL: The festival site has the show schedule, online ticket sales, info about the groups, parties, mini-golf, all that.
SM: We also have the obligatory MySpace page. We're so busy it's almost entirely devoid on content. You can see which celebrities like us from there, however.
Thanks dudes.
Out of Bounds Improv Festival (and Miniature Golf Tournament)
August 30 - September 4
Hideout Theatre and Esther's Pool
Get yer tickets here. $5-15, depending on which shows ya see.
$65 for an All Shows pass. Cool.
