It was just this past November that I was doubled over in my chair in a dark room at Coldtowne Theater, tears of laughter running down my face, trying to catch my breath while watching Stag Comedy's show: The Jerk Parade. A combination of live sketches and videos, the members of Stag filled the theater to the brim with as many people as the small space could fit. This coming February they will have a bit more room to run wild with their antics, with shows at The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz this February 12th and 19th. This will mark Stag's 4th full length show performed at the Alamo, and if past shows are any indication, tickets will be going fast. Despite being busy preparing for their show, Austinist was able to chat with the members of Stag (Joe Parsons, Mac Blake, David Jara, Dave Youmans, Andrew Rosas, and Ximena Estrada) to learn a bit about their writing process, what they think is funny, and the sketch comedy scene in Austin. more ›

ColdTowne Theater's most recently formed house troupe just announced their name: Journey to the Big Water. They are the ninth official improv house troupe to be formed out of ColdTowne Theater's Conservatory. One of the more successful and hardest working troupes that preceded them is Midnight Society, the second troupe to emerge from ColdTowne. Midnight Society's hard work has been rewarded with a nomination for a B. Iden Payne Award in 2009, appearances in festivals all around the country, a weekly improv slot and a regular slot for sketch comedy at ColdTowne Theater. One of the yearly highlights for Midnight Society has become their annual Halloween sketch show, dubbed the Halloween Spooktacular. more ›

Always wanted to write a sketch comedy show but need some motivation? Good news: This October, ColdTowne Theater is giving you a chance to create a 30-minute show from scratch. The catch? You’ve got 24 hours to do it. more ›

Over the past several years, ColdTowne Theater has been steadily expanding its weekly comedy offerings to the point now that there are improv, sketch and stand-up shows every night Thursday through Monday, with most nights having three or four different shows. ColdTowne Theater has been located snugly next to and below I Luv Video at 4803 Airport Boulevard. more ›

As 2010 begins its second half (already! Can you believe it?), there've been a number of spectacular performances, productions, and scripts to grace the Austin stage this year. And, as we start to look ahead to what the next six months have in store, we first want to take one last look back. Austinist polled its theater and comedy writers and asked each of them to offer two moments that stood out in the first half of 2010. more ›

For the second year in a row, the Out Of Bounds Improv Festival has doubled in size—from a little over a hundred performers in 2008 to 500 this year, including The Kids In The Hall's Kevin McDonald and NPR's Will Durst. And if you've been wondering where and when you were going to be able to see all of them, we've got the full schedule available now. Venues include improv mainstay theaters The Hideout, The Salvage Vanguard Theater, and Coldtowne Theater, as well as The Velveeta Room and ND at 501 Studios. The festival runs the week of August 31st, through September 6th. The full schedule is available on the festival's website. more ›

On any given weekend, Austin has a wealth of dramatic theater and comedy offerings for people seeking a live show. The comedy scene, however, appears to be dominated by improv and stand-up. It seems to require a little more effort to track down sketch comedy offerings outside of Esther's Follies. ColdTowne Theater has been working hard to change that by putting an emphasis on sketch productions. Their primary focus in this arena is the current mainstage show Shanty Town Lake, follow up to their first show Eye for an iPhone. Shanty Town Lake stars some of ColdTowne's finest talent tackling the funny. The show started it's run on Friday April 2 and is running every Friday until the end of June. more ›

This Friday night ColdTowne Theater's newest main stage sketch revue, Shanty Town Lake debuts. Shanty Town Lake, the successor to ColdTowne Theater's first main stage sketch revue, Eye for an iPhone, is described as "a mix of social and political satire, music and straight up nihilistic comedy." The writer/performers have been developing the show's material through improv in front of audiences in addition to writing sessions. The show consists of two acts for a total run time of 90 minutes. Count on well thought out sketches and an improv set, which may wind up featuring scenes that are mined for future sketches. more ›

In Stool Pigeon, a guest monologist takes the spotlight, regales the audience with a brief tale about a meaningful moment in their life, then steps aside to watch while the good people of ColdTowne twist their stories into improv hilarity. This Saturday, our own Joshua Huck stands up! Next week, 10/25, none other than Miles Zuniga, lead singer of Fastball, graces the stage. On 11/1, the theater welcomes Austin Chronicle editor Louis Black. more ›

Befitting a theater that's home to a troupe named The Midnight Society, every Friday this month will find Coldtowne Theater asking its patrons "Are you afraid of the dark?" more ›

ColdTowne Theater's Improv CageMatch is none other than "an escalation local comic-on-comic violence." For the uninitiated, two improv troupes—some in-good-standing and others that're ad hoc groups created specifically for the competition—go head-to-head in a sudden-death tournament. Starting this week the CageMatch will be a weekly event, held every Saturday at 9pm. The Calzone War Zone Tournament kicks off this weekend, with Unfurled going head-to-head with Prom Committee. The winner competes in semi-finals on November 8th. more ›

There’s a lot to hold your attention this weekend, but if you’re not of the Hook ‘Em Horns or sweltering music festival persuasions, Austin’s presenters of improv and sketch would like to welcome you with open, air conditioned arms. more ›

Starting this Saturday, Start Trekkin’ brings fully-improvised “Start Trek” episodes back to Congress Avenue for an eight-week run. Meanwhile, Coldtowne Theater speaks to an issue more contemporary than intergalactic exploration: our tanking economy. With free shows and free beer. Yes, you read that right. more ›

Villainy is a showcase for stories revolving around despicable characters, and in its premier show (which marked Pgraph’s 150th performance), Pgraph found one hell of a heel in King Harold, a pauper who juggled and stabbed his way to the English throne. more ›

Being incredibly popular is really very fun but can also, you know, wear a girl out. Which is why, as you’re reading this, my ass is planted firmly and deeply upon a beach chair in Hawai’i for a week as I rest up and prepare for my next round of popular posts. But just because I’m away doesn’t mean I can neglect my duties. And so this week, I present an interview with Kareem Badr, one of the four masterminds in the improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph, aka Pgraph [www.pgraph.com]. (And yes, you might have noticed, I am running a lot of interviews lately. I love other people’s stories. If there’s someone you want interviewed, drop me a note and I’ll see what I can do.) I first saw Pgraph perform at the 2008 Frontera Fest. They did a French Farce and, as I detailed here, I just about drenched my pantalones I was laughing so hard. more ›

Tonight’s portion of the see.hear.speak 3 festival is a collection of monologues and one-person performances. Gentleman Brock—or, as he’s formally known, Sir Gentleman Brock LaBorde, Esquire—recently authored a book called The Semi-Complete Guide to Sort of Being a Gentleman, and he’s rather opinionated on the subject of chivalry. more ›

Tonight is the “Hear” portion of see.hear.speak, the comedy festival that has been taking place at the Coldtowne Theater since last night. One of the performers in Hear—indeed, a headliner of the festival—is Jill Bernard, a Minnesotan (resident of Minnesota) who has toured the continent performing and teaching improv. She even acted as the coach of an aspiring improviser in an episode of MTV’s Made. more ›

The 3rd annualSee.Hear.Speak comedy festival begins tonight at the Coldtowne Theater. See.Hear.Speak began as a celebration of alternative comedy formats; each night represents a different comedic medium. Tonight’s show features local video sketch troupe the P! Company, who are currently gearing up for their next show, Hanging with Mr. The P! Company. We recently spoke with P!'s Andy Petruzzo and Kyle Sweeney about video sketch and their participation in See.Hear.Speak 3. more ›

The third annual see.hear.speak fest opens on Thursday and closes on Saturday, with shows nightly at 8 & 10 at Coldtowne Theater. Bringing a few big-name comedy groups to town, this year's fest has quite the lineup. more ›

Image from Coldtowne Official Site 3-2-1 Kill!Tuesday, November 6Alamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th St)9:45pm, $9 / $7 Student, AFS[info] | [tickets]3-2-1 Kill! was one of the last live shows to play at the Alamo Drafthouse before it shut its doors in June. The format-bending improvised movie extravaganza, starring members of the improv troupes Coldtowne, The Frank Mills, and Parallelogramophonograph and produced by the Coldtowne Theater, debuts at the new Alamo Ritz tonight at 9:45pm.... more ›

Consider Tuesday night another notch in Austin’s bedpost of filmmaking opportunity as the Austin Film Festival debuts its new year-round Conversations in Film series. This first installment “Script to Screen: Making the Short Film” will target the writers among us, but will also be useful to directors and filmmakers who need distribution tips for their shorts. Three Austin area award-winning filmmakers will lead the discussion, as well as screen their most recent/notable shorts:Steve Collins is... more ›

Trust your instincts, faithful readers. That is a disturbance you've sensed in the force. For the second year in a row, the nation's finest and funniest poets plan to pummel Austin with their poesy, prose, puns...and all sorts of other p-words we can't mention here. Starting August 7, National Poetry Slam 2007 will transform Austin into the epicenter of all things slammarific, with five days of knock-down, drag-out, no-holds-barred competition to find out who can best the rest on both an individual and a team basis. more ›

FRIDAY [2] theatre • Improv rap group Aww Shit (Chris Trew, Cody Dearing, Eric Seufert) compose freestyle rap songs and improvise scenes based off of them at this week's Cage Match at Coldtowne Theater (11:30pm) art • Opening Reception for The Llamerret Show at Darkroom Gallery (7pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Okay Mountain & Site 1808 (7-10pm, 301 Chicon Unit E at Third and Chicon) art • B Scene: A Night... more ›

If tragedy + time = comedy gold, then satirization of what is arguably this country's darkest decade was far overdue. Enter Parallelogramophonograph, some of Austin's finest purveyors of genre improvisation. Previously, Austinist has highlighted Pgraph's unusual (and beguiling) combination of lit nerd, geekiness and comedic chops. Their new show, Parallelogramophonograph Presents: The 1930's, draws on this, poking fun at the Great Depression via a completely improvised story set in that era. more ›