"World Poet" Thom Moon Bird will host a reading tonight at the Hideout, featuring the poets Michael Aaron Casares, who will read from his newly published book The Reality of Man, and Bill Shute, a writer and one of the principles behind Kendra Steiner Editions. The press, described on their website, is a "a very small D.I.Y. publisher of contemporary poetry, based in San Antonio, Texas, with two associates in Glasgow, Scotland." New works planned for release this year on the imprint include a poetry chapbook by Ronald Baatz, CD-R from local musician Nick Hennies called Objects, as well as a "3-inch CD-R" of poetry and music by Derek Rogers and Shute himself entitled Four Texas Streams. 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 ›

Austin’s improv community has been expanding over the past several years to the point where there’s now at least five venues offering regular improv programming every week. Austin’s improv scene provides not just quantity, but quality and variety. This weekend is another big moment for Austin improv, particularly short-form improv, for two different reasons. This weekend The Hideout Theatre presents The Battle of The Sexes at The Long Center and CompedySportz Austin travels to Philadelphia for the ComedySportz World Championship. 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 ›

[New Austinist contributor Eric Seufert will be covering the Out of Bounds festival all week! -Ed.] Today marks the start of the sixth Out of Bounds festival—a nationally-acclaimed improv festival taking place right here in Austin. One of the acts performing in the inaugural show at The Hideout tonight is veteran sketch-troupe Hoover’s Blanket. We were able to catch up with Chris Allen, Andy Pereira, and Bryan Roberts after a rehearsal to discuss their show.... more ›

The poets have arrived! For the second year in a row, the National Poetry Slam will be held in our highly literate, most-educated city. This five-day competition showcases slam poets from around the U.S. and comes to a head in a fierce battle for team and individual top nods, held at the Paramount Theatre on August 10 and 11. Last year's finals sold out, so consider getting your tickets early! more ›

Last week, we told you a little bit about the 2007 Femme Film Texas Festival, featuring short films from female filmmakers around the globe. Centered on the themes of identity, perception, and reality, the festival is designed to demonstrate how we can all experience the same events differently, and what the variations in our experience mean. The festival takes place this Saturday, July 28, at The Hideout downtown. After the jump, we've included the full... 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 ›

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 ›

The Austin Film Festival announced its jury award winners on Sunday. Check out the list below, including when you can catch them for a second time. more ›

FRIDAY [1] music • Tacks, The Boy Disaster w. The Channel, Golden Bear at The Parish Room ® books • Jacqueline Winspear presents Messenger of Truth at BookPeople (7pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Sidekicks at Alamo Downtown (6pm, $10) film • Lawrence of Arabia at Paramount Theatre (7:30pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Code of Silence at... more ›

THURSDAY [31] happyhour • BlogBurst and Austinist present the Blogger Meetup Happy Hour -- first folks to show up get free beer, courtesy BlogBurst -- at Club de Ville (6-8pm) ® food • Austin Farmers Market at Plaza Saltillo (5th and Comal) (4-7pm) books • William Manchee presents Cactus Island at Barnes & Noble Westlake (7pm) books • Texas Monthly Author Series presents Ben Fountain to discuss Brief Encounters with Che Guevera: Stories at... more ›

WEDNESDAY [30] music • Odyssey: The Journey Cover Band with special arena rock/hair metal DJ sets by Car Stereo (Wars) at Whisky Bar (10:30pm-2am, Free, Odyssey at 11:30pm) ® music • Thor, Zolar X, The Ends at Emo's music • X, Rollins Band at Stubb's music • Giant Squid, Lions of Tsavo, Slo-Bula, High Cost of Living at Beerland music • Wax Wednesdays (BYO vinyl) at Ruta Maya (8pm) music • Summer Wardrobe, Vacation... 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 ›

Continuing our weekly series on sketch and improvisation happening within Austin (in the lead up to the 5th year of the annual Out of Bounds Festival), Austinist continues to profile some of the sketch comedy and improvisation groups around town. 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 ›

MONDAY [8] [music] Art Brut, Birdmonster, The Robocop Kraus at Emo's (link) [music] She Wants Revenge and OKGO at Stubb's (link) [music] The Lashes at Waterloo (Free, 5pm) (link) [film] Amelie (with FREE crème brulee) at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] L.A. Confidential at Austin Java (8pm, FREE) (link) [film] Anime Monday at Ventana del Sol (7:30pm, FREE) (link) [film] Wet Hot American Summer at Rounders Pizzeria (6pm, FREE) (link) [film] School of Rock at... more ›

Happen to be working on the Next Great American Comedy? Want to share it with the public, and pull in a little dough to boot? Our esteemed colleagues at the , for which you can win $500 for writing the funniest "600-word scenario or dialogue script — on political, musical or evergreen subjects." 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 ›

FRIDAY [3] [music] Ariel Pink, Belong, Weird Weeds and Ralph White at Emo's (Inside) (link) [music] What Made Milwaukee Famous, Deathray Davis, AUX at Emo's (Outside) (link) [music] Slightly Stoopid, The Expendables and Bedouin Soundclash at Stubb's (link) [music] Bucketheard and Kid Beyond at La Zona Rosa (link) [music] Dirty Hearts at End of an Ear (Free, 6pm) (link) [DJ] Whee!Explode! By Learning Secrets and DJ Ian Orth at The Peacock (10pm-2am) (link) [fashion] ATX... more ›

There is a movement afoot in Austin. They call it…improv. It seems like you can’t spit these days without hitting some group of youngsters creating extemporaneous comedy. How can you, the everyday performance-enthusiast, protect your funny-bone from unwanted advances as you strive to get your laugh on hard core? 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 ›

We spent last Sunday afternoon the way we usually spend Sundays, at the movies…alone. But last Sunday offered a variation on the theme, as we watched a documentary at The Hideout as part of the Austin Film Festival. more ›

* new! and improved! * : : FRIDAY : : [music] Book of Shadows & Devil Bat, 6pm @ End of an Ear - Free! [charity/music] Benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina with Attic Ted, The Vivian Girls, 8pm @ Monkeywrench Books [music] Zykos, Phosphorescent, Canoe, 9pm @ Emo's OUTSIDE - Free! [music] Voxtrot, Loxsly, Belaire, 9pm @ Emo's INSIDE - Free [charity/music] Crescent City Soul and R&B 45's by Waxploitation! DJs, 6-8pm... more ›