"We've been so successful here, now we have a chance to do it where we're from," Trew explains. "And that's a dream come true!" adds Nelson. As the New Movement expands, the Austin theater will continue to offer comedy classes and an expanding weekly calendar of shows; in fact, expect to see some exciting new touring troupes. In the wake of today's announcement, the pair are already busy planning a groundbreaking comedy festival, to take place in New Orleans in November of 2011, along with next year's installment of the Megaphone Marathons, a three weekend, three city improv comedy explosion that'll be back in Austin, Dallas and New Orleans next fall. more ›

Election season's over, holiday vacations are fast approaching and our post-FFFFest burnout gives us a chance to catch up on the latest episode of The Walking Dead -- life's pretty great, huh? Making sure we don't get too comfortable in our mid-Fall laziness, our friends the Coldtowne Theater Main Stage players present Rapture the Flag, a satirical account of those Left Behind (...like, by the rapture. Get it?) The full-length comedy revue, directed by theater co-founder Michael Jastroch, combines sketch, improv, song and dance, and gives us a primer on what to do -- and who to avoid -- in this futuristic landscape. We sat down with My Backyard News, Rapture the Flag's official news team, to learn more about the situation. 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 ›

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 ›

Tonight the Ladies Are Funny Festival (LAFF), which is in its fourth year of production, takes over Salvage Vanguard Theater. LAFF, running through Saturday night, has expanded over the last few years to include more nights of shows featuring a bigger line up of female comedians and performers from all over the map, including Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. Over the next four nights sketch comedy, improv, stand-up and one-woman-shows will be tickling audience's funny bones. 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 ›

Parallelogramophonograph presents a fresh, never-before-seen screwball comedy tomorrow night at 8pm—and every Thursday through Oct. 16—at Coldtowne Theater. // Also on Thursday, Midnight Society debuts a monthly sketch showcase at Coldtowne, aptly titled “Pizza Party!” You can figure that one out, right? // College campus regulars Mission Improvable also hit Coldtowne (the theater), sharing the stage with Coldtowne (the troupe) and Look Cookie, Saturday at 10 p.m. more ›

Seven days, six mountain-climbing fingers, five eligible bachelors, four pairs of cop sunglasses, three sets of tucked-in male genitalia, two dead Parisian crimelords and one coveted rug later, the seventh annual Out of Bounds Comedy Festival has come to an end. more ›