As 2011 becomes 2012, everyone's favorite queer cinema event Homoscope has put together an evening of four films with transition as the main theme. Last Lab 11 will take place tonight at 8pm at the Hideout Theatre. Donations will be taken at the door but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. more ›

Every November the Hideout Theatre, Austin's longest running improv theater, hosts WaffleFest, a local improv festival rounding up representatives from Austin's diverse improv scene and serving up as many waffles as you can eat. WaffleFest is in it's Eighth year. There will be long-form improv, short-form improv, improvised narratives, and improvised musicals. Don't know what this means? Been interested in seeing Austin improv but didn't know where to start? WaffleFest may help you sort some of this out and introduce you to a number of great acts that perform regularly around town. more ›

Walking in to the theater to find a seat, one is treated to a live musical presentation. Four of the cast members play small instruments, mostly percussion, and seem to be improvising a song. It’s whimsical, simple and playful. They exit and a video plays. The video is sort of a documentary about T. Henry Baudecliffe. The story goes that in 2009, a man passed away at St. Mark’s Community Home in Austin. The staff discover loads of drawings and scribblings—the beginnings of stories, parts of stories, fragments. Without any known relatives to bequeath these to, they begin to dessiminate to the greater community. The drawings are child-like, and share similar themes: fear of industry, insects, birds. The documentary shows us some of these drawings and features interviews with a variety of individuals who knew Baudecliffe, though none knew him more than cursorily, or have come to know his works. No definitive answer is given, as some think him an idiot savant and others dismiss him as talentless. After the documentary presentation, it is explained that we are to witness an improvised Baudecliffe tale, or at least as one might be imagined since he did not seem to ever complete a story. Some of the interview clips and samples of Baudecliffe's work are online at whoisthenrybaudecliffe.com. more ›

All the world's a stage, but not everybody has a script. more ›

There are a lot of regular improvised comedy shows in Austin; here's a crash course in the Hideout Theatre's Saturday-night institution, Maestro. more ›

Following tonight's performance of Troades, the Vortex is hosting a reception in honor of Sean T.C. O’Malley, composer of the show's original score. // Every Wednesday night in March, all seats for Speeding Motorcycle at Zach are $15! // The Heroes of Comedy's Improvised Shakespeare, Saturdays at 8pm at the Hideout, is so popular that they had to extend the run through the end of March. // Mortified is back! more ›

Here in Austin, we're all about the environment and stuff. Right? Damn right! So this year's AFF Green Cinema Showcase should go over especially well with all you envirothusiasts out there. This year's program will feature three films that explore topical environmental issues like global warming, industrial hemp production and renewable fuel sources. Oh hey--if you're interested in these films, you might also want to check out Gimme Green, a short documentary exploring America's obsession... more ›

Like ladies? Like film? We've got the festival for you! Austin's own Femme Film Texas will be rolling some festival films next weekend at the Hideout Theatre. It's a bit too late to get your own film into the festival, but come check out the offerings and plan your entry for next year. 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 ›

New Visions/Works in Progress: Bringing Texas to the Latino Film Map. Hideout Upstairs Cabaret, 11 AM A new program section at the festival, New Visions/ Works in Progress showcases films that are looking for production or completion funds, as well as case studies that represent examples of Latino or indigenous filmmaking in Texas. These projects are brought to the consideration of investors, producers, distributors, and artists with the goal of fomenting industry participation and... more ›

Ah, the holiday season. That joyful celebration of generosity, kindness, and all that’s good in the human spirit–so often lovingly dramatized by playwrights, filmmakers, and career-minded popstars trying to fund their cocaine habits make a comeback. These simple pleasures are unfortunately absent from the Violet Crown Radio Player’s production of Moneygo on 34th Street–a half-hearted adaptation of the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street. more ›

With Out of Bounds -- Austin's largest improvisation and sketch festival -- kicking off tomorrow night at the Hideout Theatre, Austinist sat down with festival producers (and talented performers in their own right) Jeremy Lamb and Shannon McCormick to discuss what the festival is all about. So tell us, what is Out of Bounds? Jeremy Lamb: Out of Bounds is the biggest improv festival in Texas. It started out as a 3-day get together... more ›

Continuing our weekly series on all things sketch and improv in Atown, the Austinist previews some of the shows that have tickled our fancy playing in next week's Out of Bounds festival. Additionally, we list shows around the city, for those looking to support your home team comedy this weekend. more ›

Home Movie Day is an international event that has finally arrived in Austin. The purpose of the day is to celebrate amateur filmmaking (read: home videos) and instruct people as to how to preserve their cherished celluloid memories. Don’t believe us? Well, we bet you wouldn’t doubt John Waters, would ya? “There’s no such thing as a bad home movie…Home Movie Day is an orgy of self-discovery, a chance for family memories to suddenly become... more ›

Austin's teams finished second and tenth (out of 73 total teams) in last night's first prelim rounds for the National Poetry Slam. To put it in perspective, a perfect score is 90; TeamAustin/NeoSoul (which we've erroneously been calling South Flavas, mea culpa) scored 87.2, and TeamAustin/Ego's scored 80.9. We'd like to point out that NeoSoul is competing in their first nationals ever. Way to kick some ass! We're mighty proud of our local poet... more ›

Kazillionaire* is psycho-pseudosketch duo Madeline Malka and Jeremy Lamb. In this sketch show, they create the Kazillionaire* world - an Earth-like planet created by Mother Earth (Malka) and Father Time (Lamb) - created as a sort of side project to entertain the deities during their courtship. The history of Kazillionaire* and its other-worldly customs is humorously described by a creative use of video clips (ala Discovery channel), voiceover and Eastern hip hop rituals. Portraying most... more ›

Wanna check out "the finest improv comedians in Austin" (Austin Chronicle) who "kick some serious ass" (Austinist...hey, that's us!) as they dish out this week's news with an improv slant? God knows, with the riptide of outrageous news this week -- from yet another drunken Bush to stories of idiot mamas (oh wait, was that redundant?) -- there's so much spoofable news, you're sure to catch a big, fat, snarky wave. more ›

MONDAY [1] [music] Islands, Why?, Cadence Weapon, Wilderneess, Year Future, Parts & Labor at Emo's (info) [art] Opening reception for hovel jumbles, with works by Paul Gigliotti at End of an Ear (Free, 6pm) (info) [music] Richard Buckner with Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices) at Cactus Café ($12, 8pm) (info) [film] The Boys of Baraka at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (info) [film] The Wild Angels at Alamo Downtown (9:45pm , $1) (info) [film] Anime Movie Monday... more ›

Back in the 30s – you know when everyone was broke – some group of bleeding hearts decided that all those starving artists needed something to do, and came up with the Federal Theatre Project. (Smells a lot like socialism – but don’t worry, they’d all pay for it later) Then, just to add insult to injury, this group of lazy, welfare-induced pricks started writing about current affairs (all the naughty stuff) – almost... more ›

Lookin' for something fun & cheap to do tonight? Or next Saturday night? Or the one after that?? As we've mentioned before, some of the fabulously talented improv folks here in Austin have cooked up a little weekly satirical news special that runs every Saturday night, 10:30, at the Hideout Theatre. This being Income Tax Day, we suspect tonight's Whirled News will be the funniest yet! We sat down recently (and virtually) with the... more ›

The ninth annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival kicks off next Wednesday, offering a wide assortment of programming from countries in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. The full film schedule, listed after the jump, includes music documentaries ("Si Sos Brujo," "Mestre Humberto"), classic Cuban Revolution films ("Soy Cuba," "I Am Cuba: The Siberian Mammoth"), first endeavors by Latin American directors ("El Norte: Entre el Infinito y la Nada," "Cama Adentro"), and... more ›

We are big fans of improv when it's done well. When it's bad it's one of the worst beatings imaginable. Watching people who think they are funny awkwardly fumble through trite lines, using contrived standard-use accents, etc kill us. Dead. We have not seen much good Improv in Austin in recent years. Maybe we have been too spoiled by strong Improv in bigger cities, but from the smattering of shows we've seen in the past couple of years, Austin's improv seemed to have missed more often than it hit. But we are always happy to know that people are doing what they love to do, but that doesn't mean we're gonna pay to see them do it. For all of these reasons, we were a bit apprehensive when we heard about The Great Mundane, an improv show running at The Hideout Theatre for the next five weeks. We were pleasantly surprised. more ›

M O N D A Y [20] [art] Sex Workers' Art Show comes to UT-Austin at Texas Union Showroom (RM. 2.208) at UT-Austin (Free, 7pm) (link) [music] Tammany Hall Machine, Impossible Shapes, and Red Hunter at Stubb's (link) [film] "The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat and Beers" at Alamo South (Monday-Thursday, 10:05pm) (link) [film] "Penitentiary" at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] "930 F" (a documentary about DC's 9:30 Club) at Alamo Downtown ($1, 9:45pm) (link) [film] "The... more ›

Last summer, Salvage Vanguard (the bacchanalistas behind the Dionysium) produced a live performance of "The Intergalactic Nemesis: Twin Infinity," the last in a trilogy of science-fiction radio serials. The run enjoyed considerable success, and as such they've decided to put on the entire trilogy this June. But tonight - and tonight only - they're doing a special performance of the first part at The Hideout Theatre. From their press release: Follow Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter... more ›

M O N D A Y [5] music · MF Doom, Count Bass D, John Robinson at La Zona Rosa music · Saves the Day, Senses Fall, Emmanuel, Early November at Emo's film · "Shaun Of The Dead" spinoffs at The Drafthouse Downtown (7pm) [link] T U E S D A Y [6] music · Red Leaves at CRL Art Gallery film · AFS screens "The Singing Blacksmith" at The Drafthouse Downtown (7pm) [link]... more ›

Thursday night we took in the preview of Violet Crown Radio Players' lost and restored Lux Radio Theater adaptation of KING KONG, at the Hideout Theatre. First, a little full disclosure: we won a book during intermission called Mouth Sounds, authored by none other than Fred Newman! He's the guy who does all the cool sounds on Prairie Home Companion. Yes, we're excited. Yes, we're geeks. But do you know how to do a... more ›

M O N D A Y [ 2 8 ] film · End of an Ear hosts a free screening of Lee Ranaldo and Leah Singer's "Drift" at the Alamo South Lamar (Free, 10pm) [link] music · The Kingsbury Manx, The Standard and The Heavenly States at Emo's film · KOOP Radio's Monthly Film Benefit at MonkeyWrench Books - Gillo Pontecorvo's “The Battle of Algiers”, about the French occupation of 1950s Algeria. (Inc. Beer and... more ›

: : FRIDAY : : [music] Moretempo, 10pm-2am @ Copa - $5 [theatre] "Inside a Broken Clock: A Tom Waits Peepshow" @ Arts on Real (Through Saturday) [film] New Movies! @ your local theater [music] The Sad Accordions with Jim Yoshii Pileup, 10pm @ the Ritz [lecture] Gallery Tour of the Ansel Adams exhibit @ The Harry Ransom Center, 6pm - FREE! [art] Jerry Uelsmann and wife Maggie Taylor present their latest works, 6-9pm@... more ›

It started yesterday, but you still have three chances to catch the 4th Annual Out of Bounds Improv Comedy Festival. And Miniature Golf Tournament What, you say? Out of Bounds brings together some of the nation's best sketch/improv comedy groups at the Hideout Theatre on Congress Avenue, and even features a tournament of mini-golf, wherein performers compete against one another for the highly coveted, uhh, "Ridiculous Jacket". We have no idea what that entails,... more ›

: : FRIDAY : : [music] Nic Armstrong and the Thieves & Ian Moore @ The Parish, 9:30pm [in-store] Happy Families @ End of an Ear, 6pm [comedy] The Sinus Show's "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" @ Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 7pm & 9:45 also Saturday [theatre] The Vortex Repertory presents "La Femme: The BareBones New Works Festival," 8pm [comedy] The Austin Improv Co-op presents "The Womb of the Pagan" and "Hoover's Blanket"... more ›