For those unfamiliar with Reggie Watts, explaining his performances probably confuses more than clarifies. Watts is a comedian, musician, beat-boxer and improviser; his sets blend his intelligence and technical skill into a series of free-associative digressions. He has performed and toured with multiple bands (from Regina Spektor to LCD Soundsystem) and is active in experimental theater, but his current focus is on performing comedy solo. He's been touring extensively since last year's opening slot on Conan O'Brien's highly acclaimed tour, and his shows this past weekend at The ND Studios (as part of Fusebox Festival) were standard among Watts performances, which is to say they were remarkable. more ›

Fusebox, the annual festival of contemporary art and pereformance, is back for its seventh year. Tonight's free opening performance finds Austin-based orchestral pop band Mother Falcon, normally a 17+ member affair, recruitingn 100 string players to join them at Seaholm Power Plant. more ›

After being delayed by the Icelandic volcano, Bristol performance duo Action Hero made it to the states on Friday ready to perform their A Western in the Great Nation of Texas. Our hero and his lover used various parts of the historic Victory Grill to stage their epic western romance. Playing with formulaic components of westerns, the pair took turns narrating scenes - "So, this is the scene where our hero walks into a crowded, noisy bar, and everyone stops talking". As the audience, we obeyed the pertinent stage directions and took turns various playing the parts of The Bad Guys, A Card Player, A Good Man in a Shoot Out, etc. The playful performance went beyond parody and Action Hero's enthusiasm for the genre was evident. Now, this is the scene where we ride off into the sunset. more ›

Fusebox Festival's first weekend schedule is packed with must see performances, but since the multi-disciplinary contemporary art and performance festival takes place all over town, you might have to do a bit of planning to be able to witness all that is has to offer. Just promise us you'll check out a few things - many of the performances are free and open to the public and ticketed events are pretty darn affordable. All-access passes are available for $125 and since the festival continues through next weekend, they are still a good value for those who can attend many performances. The full schedule of Fusebox Fest events is available online, and here's a rundown of this weekend's performances that we're most excited about: more ›

Fusebox Festival officially starts today with what will surely be an epic display of Texas pride unfolding on the steps of the capitol this evening at 6:30pm. Choreographer Allison Orr and composer Graham Reynolds (whos previous collaboration, The Trash Project, blew us away last year) have teamed up to present T is for: Two Hundred Two-Steppers on the Steps of the Texas Capitol. A fifteen piece Texas swing orchestra featuring vocalists Dale Watson and Christina Marrs will accompany the dancers for their thirty minute performance. For the evening's final "All-Step" piece, audience members will be invited to two step their big Texas hearts out as well. Show up early - Stubb's will be on site serving up free BBQ to nourish ravenous dancers and audience members. more ›

We couldn't be more excited about this year's Fusebox Festival, which kicks off with a bang on Wednesday, with two hundred Texas Two Steppers dancing on the steps of the capitol. Throughout the festival, The United States Art Authority will serve as Fusebox's late night headquarters, with opportunities for festival attendees to meet artists, discuss the amazing performances they've seen, hear about incredible performances to come, and shake their booties. The movers and shakers at Art Seen Alliance, Monofonus Press, Rampant Arts and the Church of the Friendly Ghost have teamed up to schedule nightly entertainment for Wednesday, April 21st through Saturday, May 1st. The stellar and diverse lineup includes performances from the Asylum Street Spankers, Brazos, Bodytronix, and everyone in between. Austinist just received permission to leek the full Fusebox Festival Late Night Lineup - follow this post after the jump see 'em all. more ›

Last week, Ron Berry, the easygoing powerhouse behind the Fusebox Festival, announced the lineup for the multi-disciplinary art festival that will entertain audiences this spring between April 21st and May 1st. With an estimated eighty percent of the lineup finalized, Berry described various headlining events that will be staged in theaters, galleries, and the streets of Austin. The ever ambitious duo of choreographer Allison Orr and composer Graham Reynolds are teaming up again to kick off the festival on the steps of the capitol, where two-hundred Texas two-steppers will perform accompanied by a live western swing orchestra. 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 ›

Slurping up tortilla soup during your lunch break or biking to the video store to return a couple of movies may seem like mundane moments, but a team of artists are depicting everyday moments as art in a new unique exhibit and online audio and video gallery, The 12:19 Project. 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 ›

This weekend and early next week there are several chances to catch new works by local playwrights Robert Sanchez, Erica Saleh, Soo–Jin Lee, and Mike Agresta. more ›

Ron Berry has been having a mighty fine time of things lately. Last year's Fuse Box Festival was critically and commercially successful. Refraction Arts' production of The Assumption was so popular, they resurrected it late last year to sold out houses. The company garnered a whopping 24 Critics Table Awards in '07. To top it all off, in its most ambitious year to date, Fuse Box '08 kicks off in less than two weeks. We recently chatted with Ron about Fuse Box to get the scoop on this year's fest. more ›

Mark our words: Rotozaza's Etiquette, coming in April for Fuse Box, will sell out. // Hyde Park Theatre is holding auditions this Saturday. // Out of Bounds '08 is now taking submissions. // Troades at the Vortex is held over for two more weeks. 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 ›

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 ›