Silver City Pink is an award-winning, all-female improv troupe from Los Angeles performing tonight at the Hideout (10pm) as part of this year’s Out of Bounds improv festival. The eight women of SCP met while taking classes at The Second City L.A. and have performed at the LA Improv Festival and the Del Close Marathon in New York City. I spoke with SCPer Amanda Tate about the festival experience and their Los-Angeles-colored impression of Austin.

Do you have any perspective on Austin and the improv community in coming to Out of Bounds? Were you drawn to Out of Bounds Austin for any specific reason?

Amanda Tate: Honestly, we were so honored by the opportunity to perform, we just want to get on the plane and do this in person! There is certainly a buzz in LA about Austin.

Would it be rare to find an improviser in LA that performs improv exclusively? Because it seems like, while someone would definitely move to Chicago to study only improv, you’d be far more likely to see people moving to LA to pursue a career in comedy in whatever form they thought would get their name out into the spotlight.

It wouldn’t be rare in the sense that each of us may go through a phase of total focus on one singular discipline for a while, but these things all inform each other - whether you want to exercise your improv chops, or write solid sketch together, what is important to you at any one time doesn’t make you exclusive.

As for moving to these cities for your comedy career, I guess I’d say it ultimately depends on your definition of “career”. It’s fair to say LA offers the feeling of the entertainment business being everywhere—maybe even too much, but it is certainly a compelling reason to plant your work here.

I can’t possibly compare Chicago and LA, but I’m positive in LA its summer all year. There is a magic you can take for granted called sunshine. It’s a cliché about LA, but one that holds true about our sunny city; the people walk with optimism and a hopeful appreciation of what’s around the corner, and that translates to the stage. Just plain sunshine!

Do you think audiences in LA are more entertainment-savvy than they would be in other cities? Are they more discerning and, in a sense, discriminating when it comes to watching live comedy because they’ve been exposed to so much of it?

Funny is funny. I’m sure someone in the audience is watching as a sitcom writer, another analyzing all the physical nuisances of our faces. No doubt, audiences in LA are more entertainment business savvy. But all that simply strays from what we’re here to do—which is to make sure everyone around is having fun with us.

What’s the best part of a comedy festival for you?

We’re all here to have a blast doing what we love. Wow. What more can I say? Really.

How would you describe your form to someone in Austin going out to see an Out of Bounds show that had never seen live comedy before?

First of all, live comedy is way better than what you can experience through the TV. You’ll know once you go. As for us specifically, I can only say we allow a boy to tell us what to do for a split second. That’s all I can divulge.

The Out of Bounds Festival
The Hideout Theatre [map]

Today's Progamming:
8PM Downstairs:
Renob Control (Austin)
Latino Comedy Project (Austin)
[Tickets]

8PM Upstairs
Improv for Evil (Austin)
Curtis Needs a Ride (Ft. Worth)
Knife Fight! (Los Angeles)
[Tickets]

10PM Downstairs:
American Standard (NYC)
Silver City Pink (Los Angeles)
[Tickets]

10PM Upstairs
Junk (Austin)
The Victims (Dallas)
F* squared (Houston)
[Tickets]