Coldtowne Conservatory's Tami Nelson and Chris Trew are Hurricane Katrina transplants who also happen to be pretty damn funny improv artists with a sold out FronteraFest 2007 show - one a.m. Austinist got up close and personal with these two cut-ups, and this is what we found out:
Tell me about the background and history of Coldtowne Conservatory.
Tami Nelson: So, Tami Nelson and Chris Trew are in Coldtowne and one a.m. is the most awesomest side project that's come out of Coldtowne to date. one a.m. was Chris' idea originally. He and I had been improvising together in New Orleans for a while on Coldtowne and in classes at the Comedy Conservatory - and I had totally fallen in love with how he played. He ran off to chicago to do an intensive at improv olympic and see tons of amazing shows and when he got back he had stars in his eyes and light bulbs above his head and told me he wanted to do a two person show with me. In New Orleans, we had all of our stage time devoted to Coldtowne and rarely had opportunities to explore side projects - but then nasty Katrina came to town and we moved to Austin and discovered the hideout theater. We asked hideout's manager Andy Crouch if we could put up our show and he said totally - and we totally did. So we've had one a.m. up and running for a little over a year now. Some people say it's their favorite show. Those people are correct. Those people are also not my mom.
Chris Trew: ColdTowne was a hobby for most in New Orleans - when we got to Austin we decided to see if we could make it work full time. We started applying to comedy festivals across the country, got into most, and then we got the opportunity to open a theater in Austin, so we did that, and now we are waiting on our $5 million advances so we can over order sushi.
What are your acting and creative backgrounds?
TN: I have been playing around with improvisational theater since 2004. Improv was a pretty natural route for me to take creatively, I have been writing and diddling in theatrical projects for most of my adulthood, but improv taught me that I can hone all of my bullshitting down to one strict form. We still do tons of writing and make dumb films but these days most of my energy is put into the study of improv and comedy … which is really just a study of yourself...which is great for me because so far I am my favorite subject.
CT: I did a lot of sketch comedy in college, but nothing live. I didn't step onto a stage to do comedy until my first improv show in 2004. Now it's stand-up, sketch, variety show hosting, improv, whatever I can dip my mittens into.
Tell me about your FronteraFest piece.
TN: Chris and I know how to make people uncomfortable. We like to get real awkward on and off stage and love the magic that happens out of awkward situations. To me, it is the most powerful response you can evoke from an audience - awkward tension and then tidbits of relief. So our show is one long scene, two people in some splendidly uncomfortable relationship. We've been captive and kidnapper, first dates, strangers in an airport, bus passengers, we can really take one a.m. in any direction. Often we play multiple characters in the scene and try to let ourselves build on the natural uncomfortable tension that somehow exists between us on stage.
CT: There aren't a lot of duo improv shows in town and none others that do one long scene. As an improviser, one a.m. is one of the most rewarding shows I've ever been a part of. It's done in real time, so we don't have the luxury of cutting to an event or flashing back. It's two people (sometimes more) doing something that's real, something that's right now. There have been one a.m. shows where Tami and I talk for an hour afterwards about what would happen next if the lights never came down and there have been one a.m. shows where the end was most definitely the end. Both of those are very satisfying.
Is it new at FronteraFest?
TN: Last year we did FronteraFest with Coldtowne. We had just gotten off the road from being on tour and blew into town and were a little wonky and jumped up on stage. It was not one of our best shows, but that's just how improv goes sometimes. We are festival crazy, though. Last year we attended every improv and comedy festival we could, eight total, I think, and are trying to do the same this year. This year we are trying to include one a.m. in our festival submissions because ... why not? Taking improv shows around the festival circuit is easy...all you have to do is show up and not suck.
Why FronteraFest?
TN: we really love frontera and to be included in the juggernaut that is improv and theater in Austin is very important to us. We want to do everything all the time.
CT: We get the opportunity to perform improv for people who normally stick to "legitimate" theater. If we turn some heads, then they will start coming out to the improv theaters (ColdTowne Theater, Hideout Theater) and treat us like the rock stars that a lot of the improvisers in town deserve to be treated. Like one of my favorite improvisers of all time said recently, "We are directing, writing, editing, acting, and producing all at the same time, all live on stage in front of your face." Dave Buckman (another Austinite - performs in The Frank Mills, directs Thursday Night Awesome) Good improv is extremely inspiring, extremely impressive.
How is FronteraFest different than other theatre festivals in town?
TN: When we evacuated New Orleans and landed in Austin we serendipitously discovered the Out of Bounds Improv Festival was happening that weekend. Shannon McCormick, one of the directors of the fest, invited us to play with his troupe Get Up and it was the most therapeutic and relieving escape for us having just watched our poor city go under water. We immediately fell in love with out of bounds and the budding comedy scene in Austin and stayed in town. So most of the festivals we have done have been similar to OOB. Frontera for us is status quo. Frontera has a reputation that we'd love to associate with improvisational theater in Austin.
CT: The only festivals we've been a part of have been comedy festivals. It's different being before and after theater pieces that aren't intentionally funny. It's almost like an audition. We have a responsibility to our fellow improvisers to make sure we perform our best tonight so that everyone in that audience considers watching an improv show next time they go out.
What is the most unique thing about Austin's theatre community?
TN: It's all consuming. Austin is lucky enough to have an arsenal of immensely creative and ambitious people who are constantly creating new projects and the fun part is they WANT to work with each other. We have met and collaborated with so many incredible people in Austin and it's seemed almost effortless finding them. I don't know why there is this deluge of talent in Austin but it has been the thing that has kept us here.
CT: Open arms. Creamy, cookie tasting, open arms.
What is the worst thing about Austin's theatre community?
CT: What the?!?!
TN: I'm going to answer this like i was just asked "what's your worst quality" in a job interview. Theater in Austin is overwhelming, I guess. There are too many projects that will go untouched or unfinished just due to time. We want to have our magic hands in a million projects all at once and clearly we would be dead if that was possible.
What am I forgetting to ask?
TN: Both Chris and I are instructors at Coldtowne Conservatory. We teach long form, Chicago style improv and sketch writing and it's the most fun ever.
CT: one a.m. is gearing up for a run at the ColdTowne Theater in March. Next show is Friday February 23rd, 8pm @ The Hideout Theater.
Austinist is an Official Media Sponsor of FronteraFest 2007
For more information regarding showtimes, locations, and to purchase tickets online, visit www.hydeparktheatre.org.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
It doesn't seem fair that Austin's funniest woman is also its most beautiful. Oh well. So it goes.
Oh, you!