Ryan Austin
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| Primary Theater | The Hideout Theatre |
| Years Active | 2011-Present |
Ryan Austin is a well-dressed improviser who works mostly with The Hideout Theatre.
History
Ryan began improv classes at The Hideout Theatre in May 2011. He was completely unaware of long form narrative improv before seeing his first show at the Hideout and fell in love instantly. He graduated with a BFA in screenwriting and that love of story has kept him fully engaged in improv storytelling. He has been a member of both Local Genius Society and Past Lives. Currently he performs with The Starborn and Austin/Austin.
He began directing improv in August of 2012 when Ruby Willmann handed down the host/director role of The Fancy-Pants Mashup to him. He has since become a director for Maestro and co-directed several MainStage shows.
First Improv Show He Saw
A post from him about the first improv show he ever saw:
The first live show I saw was when I was in level one. I went to see PGraph (I think maybe Improv For Evil opened for them?) because Roy was my teacher and I thought I'd go and support him. Until that night I had never seen -nor was I aware- that people improvised long-form narratives.
It blew me away.
I studied screenwriting in college and had been working/pursuing writing so the idea of an improvised story that still maintained structure and character arcs was incredible.
They did a Sci Fi story that involved death chambers and a planet of rednecks. (I could probably reenact the whole thing, it was so vivid) I was convinced that they had at least worked out ahead of time who would be the protagonist. Roy assured me it was all spontaneous and though I walked in that night with only a mild interest in improv, I came out knowing that I wanted to do what they were doing.
Troupes
- Austin/Austin
- The Starborn
- Local Genius Society (2012 - 2014)
- Past Lives (2013 - 2014)
Shows
- The Professor: Improv Inspired by Doctor Who (second run at Salvage Vanguard Theater)
- Pocketful of Posies
- Strange Worlds
- I Love You So Much
- The International Improv Experience
- Wanderlust
- Boy, Howdy!
Directing
- "Happily Ever After" (2015, co-director)
- TheatreSports (2014, co director)
- TheatreSports (2013, assistant director)
- The Fancy-Pants Mashup (director 2012-2013)
