At Fusebox 2010, Austin's fearless theatermakers Rubber Repertory interviewed dozens of people for a new show based on a random person's life. Asking questions and taking "something that smells like you" from each interviewee, they selected Jamie Damon as their subject. After more conversations and sifting through the cache of belongings she offered up, Biography of Physical Sensation opened at Salvage Vanguard last fall. (Austinist's original review is here.) The show is back - this time at the Off Center's secondary space, the Off Shoot for Fusebox, with the final performances running from tonight through Saturday. Choose a small, medium, or large chair (the bigger the seat the more intense the experience) to be exposed to bits and pieces of one woman's life - purely through sensory inputs. There's no narrative, and every chair gets a different experience. more ›

Fusebox, Austin's annual festival of contemporary art and performance, is well underway, and for the next two nights, New York-based playwright and director Young Jean Lee presents The Shipment. A sharp, comic look at cultural stereotypes of black America, this production marks the first time this Korean-American experimental theater rock star (no, really, she's in a band, too) brings her work to Austin. more ›

We don't get many shows as good as Black Watch in Austin. That's not a dig on our local talent. They don't get many shows as good as Black Watch in London or Chicago, either. If the challenge of theater -- or any art form, really, but particularly one whose continued relevance can be called into question the way that theater's can -- is to powerfully assert why it exists, and why the work being done in the medium can only be done on stage, in the form in which it appears, then Black Watch stands among a handful of contemporary performances -- like Nick Stafford's War Horse or the Rude Mechs' Method Gun -- as proof that theater's continued existence is vital, because without it, we couldn't get stories like this. more ›

Just as hipsters all over town are completing their post-SXSW Master Cleanse, yet another festival is about to begin. Reassure your aching liver, Fusebox Festival is a tad less beer soaked and requests a bit more sobriety from its audiences - which is not to say that the twelve day, city-wide, performance and art fest won't be a trip. Each spring, Fusebox brings some of the most innovative contemporary artists and performers to Austin - you may have never heard of them before the fest, but be assured, you'll be talking about them afterward. The eclectic nature of the festival means that some performances are free and accessible to hundreds of viewers while other works are presented intimately to a few dozen ticket holders. more ›

Those lucky enough to be hanging around downtown this weekend might have noticed a bunch of passerbys hurriedly jogging from one street corner to the next. Indeed, they were likely looking for the latest temporary installation of Bodies in Urban Spaces, a choreographed dance piece that was part of Fusebox Festival. Dancers moved from one public space to the next and silently formed temporary sculptures incorporating elements of the man made and natural landscape that makes up our urban city center. The site specific piece was directed by choreographer Willi Dorner. more ›

Fusebox Festival continues with a rundown of today's events. Festival passes and individual event tickets are available online. more ›

We'd also like to give you the chance to win tickets to the Church of the Friendly Ghost sponsored Fusebox event, entitled Modern Aural Sculpture Symposium South, or M.A.S.S.S for short. This two day symposium begins tomorrow, and features two lectures per day. All of the presentations will take place at the Acton business school on Riverside. more ›

This year's Fusebox Festival starts Thursday and fans of theatre, dance, film, visual art, or music should take note. Passes to the ten day event cost only $129 and guarantee advanced access for all the shows. For those who would rather pay for each performance piecemeal, tickets are available for each event on a sliding scale online or at boxoffices before each show. Some Fusebox happenings are free and the public can RSVP to attend at the Fusebox website. We'll be previewing Fusebox Festival events all week in an attempt to help you navigate the confluence of cultural occurrences that will be taking place. Here's a rundown of Thursday's events: more ›

Starting on Thursday evening, The Long Center is offering a Sneak Peak of the facility, with building tours on Thursday and Friday from 6-10p, and all day Saturday and Sunday from 10a-10p. The performance schedule is a tad overwhelming, so we're pointing out the theatre goodies we'd most like to see. more ›

Fuse Box (Fusion) Location: 2025 Guadalupe St (Located on the first floor of the Dobie mall) [map] Phone: (512) 236-0207 Cost: Gourmet Salads ($6-$7.50), Bento Boxes ($8-$10) Atmosphere: Fuse Box is a brilliant discovery. Bright, clean and open. It's a bit tucked away inside the Dobie mall. Do yourself a favor - go find it. Food: What makes this place a taste sensation? Salads are colorful and complex, offering an array of flavors that light... more ›

FRIDAY [27] music • While You Were Out, presented by Bueno Music Bureau, with The Unbearables, She Sir, The Scripts, Friday After Dark at Club de Ville ($5) books • Anita Gonzalez, Ph.D., presents Dancing Between Myth and Reality at CAAAS (UT - Jester A232) (3:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Fetish and Other... more ›

Looking for something interesting to do this weekend? It's Friday, after all, and there has to be something unconventional you can participate in, or at least bear witness to. Yeah, there's a few shows you could attend, or perhaps you could just say "screw it" and while the hours away at a bar. Deep down, though, you want to stretch out and do something different. As part of the Fuse Box Festival, local performance... more ›

In addition to the wrap up of Fuse Box all over town, this weekend marks the first annual Ladies Are Funny Festival (LAFF) at the Hideout. Produced by local comedic powerhouses Girls, Girls, Girls, LAFF will bring together comic talent from Texas and beyond including performers from ensembles such as Massive (Houston), SuperOvum (Tulsa, OK) and Parallelogramophonograph (Austin). Opening night festivities include an afterparty featuring local glam band the Platforms. LAFF Schedule All shows... more ›

WEDNESDAY [25] comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club books • BookPeople's First Annual Spelling Bee at BookPeople (7:00pm, 13 and under) books • Jacqueline Taylor presents Waiting for the Call: From Preacher's Daughter to Lesbian Mom at BookWoman (7:00pm) dance • Fetish and Other Dances, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The Off Center (8pm) film • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" at Alamo... more ›

Sadly, it is upon us. We'd say they saved the best for last, but the whole darn fest has been great from start to finish. Along those lines, all of the offerings these last several days look to be par excellence. Here're just a few. The Blue Screen International Program, Part I, curated by Lisa Kaselak. (Read Lisa's interview with Refraction Arts' Ron Berry here.) This 1.5 hour program, tonight only, 8pm at the Blue... more ›

TUESDAY [24] party • KLRU, Downtown Austin Alliance and Action Figure host a party for Season 3 of "Downtown" at Seaholm Power Plant (7:30pm, Free, Bring a Canned Good) POSTPONED books • Rob Neyer and Jim Baker present Baseball Prospectus 2007 at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club film • AFS Essential Series: "Funny Games" at Alamo Downtown film • "Shaft" with Free 40! at Alamo... more ›

The following article and interview is by guest contributor Lisa Kaselak, who will be curating a short film series at the Fuse Box Festival tomorrow evening. Check the IST list for details. -- Ed. Note I first met Ron Berry last year, after I finished a short documentary piece and some accompanying prints and was looking for a community space to house the whole exhibit – not necessarily an easy task since this work was... more ›

FRIDAY [20] benefit/music • Ashera-Blare-A IV with All In the Golden Afternoon, The Heirs, The Minderchucks, and The Otters at Club DeVille beer/party • Black Star Co-op's Craft Beer Celebration with Pong, Opposite Day, The Second Line Social, and fine craft beer from around the country at Fiesta Gardens (8pm-Midnight, $10) comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Room, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The... more ›

The Fuse Box Festival, that is. We've already mentioned a play or two we think you'd like, but there's even more happening at this funky little fest that warrants your attention. Among many things, Fuse Box is a multimedia event, and to that end there's music this weekend. Quite a lot of music. Check the following shows...and note that all of 'em are one performance only. San Antonio pop band Buttercup plays the Blue tonight... more ›

THURSDAY [19] benefit/music • Do512 and Direct Events co-host a benefit for Groundwork Music with Tammany Hall, The Boxing Lesson at La Zona Rosa (RSVP for Free Entry, $5 Cover Otherwise) books • "The Art of Travel and Travel Writing" with Lonely Planet writer Alex Hershey and Stephanie Elizondo Griest at Intellectual Property (5:00pm) books • The Texas Monthly Author Series presents Ian Rankin at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Movies in the Park: "Talladega... more ›

You may not know this, but here at the Austinist theatre desk, we work our little fingers to the bone every weekend looking up all the fabulous theatre our fair city has to offer, compiling it into a list, and forwarding it to Austinist's esteemed editor for compilation into the Ist Lists. Sometimes our work is kinda cinchy...say, 15 lines or so. But other times it's a beast. Take this week, for example. This week... more ›

Don't worry. You haven't lost your mind, and Austinist's famously solid and predictable servers haven't gone on the blink. Things are just a little wonky in the Austin theatre scene right now. All these fests -- which are wonderful, mind you -- are wreaking havoc with show schedules. Some productions are playing first at one fest, then at another...first at one location, then somewhere else just down the block.... It's enough to make a... more ›

TUESDAY [17] party • Red Bull Music Academy Info Session, hosted by Prince Klassen, featuring SuperContinent at Beauty Bar (Click to RSVP) books • Mark Regnerus presents Forbidden Fruit at Intellectual Property (5:00pm) books • Mayor's Book Club Author Event with Mayor Will Wynn and Stephanie Elizondo Griest at Mercury Hall (6:00pm) books • Darryl Wimberley presents The King of Colored Town at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Comedians Nathan Timmel, Normal Wilkerson, Robb Loving... more ›

We recently caught the new work Wireless-Less during its run at the Cohen New Works Festival. The play continues its run this weekend—Thursday through Sunday at the Blue Theatre—as a part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival. Wireless-Less is a trippy, fun fantasy about the human consequences of constant access to technology. Watching this thoroughly enjoyable piece, we were reminded somewhat of David Cronenberg’s movies, in which humans are always brushing up against tech... more ›

FRIDAY [13] fashion • RARE Magazine Spring Fling Fashion Show at The Belmont Hi-Lo (Moved due to rain) art/music • Take That!, a show of new images by Lance McMahan, plus music by Amanda Jones, Connie Ball, & Teddy and Marge at The Opera House (7-10pm) art • Hot and Cold: The Best of Canadian Contemporary Art at Art on 5th, 1501 W 5th (10am-6pm) art • Opening Reception for abstract paintings and encaustics... more ›

'Tis the week of the fest here in A-town, and making the biggest bang is Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival, starting this Friday. Fuse Box is a three-week smörgåsbord of performance and other types of arts, featuring artists from around the globe. We've got this one covered, with pointers to a few things that stood out to us this week. Along those lines, this Saturday's Blue 60 — the Fuse Box fundraiser and kick-off party... more ›

What happens when you throw music, dance, poetry, photography, visual art, theatre, film, and -- why not? -- opera into a great big blue box and shake? You get an explosion of proportions that only the creative geniuses at Refraction Arts can contain. This year's Fuse Box Festival, featuring artists from Brooklyn to Portland and places in between, showcases works you've never seen before and aren't likely to see hence. Things start gearing up this... more ›

We've already told you about The Arm's CD release show on Friday, but we think it deserves another mention: they'll be playing with Single Frame, Faceless Werewolves and Lomita over at Emo's. We've also just found out that Super!Alright! has been tapped to provide visuals, which kinda makes sense considering they've already done a bunch of videos for Single Frame. The Arm's promised to bring some "special guests" onstage throughout their set, as well as... more ›