History of Austin Improv

Early Days

In 1996 the main improv venues were The Velveeta Room, featuring Marc Pruter's Monk's Night Out and The ComedySportz Playhouse, featuring Les McGehee's ComedySportz Players.

There was also a University of Texas troupe called Only 90% Effective directed by Brently Heilbron. The Velveeta Room was also producing other troupes like Code Blue and Los Paranoias, directed by Pam Ribon and David Lampe. David Lampe was a member of Monk's Night Out and a founding member of The Oxymorons in San Antonio.

Austin Improv Goes National

In 1997 Austin landed on the national improv and sketch map with the first annual Big Stinkin’ Improv and Sketch Comedy Festival, which brought troupes, teachers and talent scouts from around the nation to Austin for a fantabulous long weekend of comedy. Improv played some of the biggest venues in town from the Paramount to Palmer Auditorium. It was awesome.

In 1998 Sean Hill and David Lampe hosted auditions for Austin Theatresports [a.k.a. Austin Theatresports a.k.a. We Could Be Heroes a.k.a. The Heroes of Comedy]. The first rehearsals were in a cozy classroom on 5th Street, in what was functionally nicknamed “The Batcave.”

Austin Theatersports did its first show, a Micetro, at the Public Domain Theater on Congress Ave in February of 1999 (Edi Patterson won the first ever Austin Micetro). Soon after Austin Theatersports began a run at the Hyde Park Theater where they played Micetro and Gorilla Theatre. Then in late 1998, Sean started work on a new improv theater and coffee house called the Hideout.

The Boom and the Bust

In 1999 the improv scene was booming. There were many venues: the Velveeta Room, the Bad Dog Comedy Theater, the ComedySportz Playhouse and even Cap City Comedy Club and Esther’s Follies would host improv from time to time. There were lots of troupes: Austin Theatresports, ComedySportz, Monk's Night Out, Well Hung Jury, Code Blue, the Cheese Pistols, Ray Prewitt's 4th Grade Class, Fatbuckle, the Skinnies, the Inflatable Egos, Only 90% Effective and many more troupes lost to the mists of time. Big Stinkin’ Improv and Sketch Comedy Festival was getting bigger and stinkier by the year, bringing in top talent from stage, television and film. But everything was booming back then — remember the economy in Austin before 2001?

In 2000 the Hideout Theatre and Coffeehouse officially opened as a venue. Sean Hill and Shana Merlin ran the house troupe We Could Be Heroes and opened the We Could Be Heroes School of Improvisational Theater in a historic building at 617 Congress in downtown.

After 2000 the festival producers Ed Carter and Marc Pruter, along with a lot of other Austinites, lost their shirts. Big Stinkin’ shut down along with all of the other improv venues and troupes… except the Hideout.

The Ongoing Austin Improv Renaissance

In 2004 and 2005 a variety of factors led to a second renaissance in Austin improv. Andy Crouch was hired to run the day to day operations at the Hideout and made a concerted effort to grow the community of active Austin improvisers through weekly shows and social events, and eventually a nonprofit organization called the Austin Improv Collective. A handful of improvisers moved to Austin from Chicago and Cleveland eventually coming together as the troupe Tight (now the Frank Mills) bringing with them the performance styles of famous Chicago theaters like Improv Olympic and the Second City. The New Orleans troupe ColdTowne rolled into Austin in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And the Out of Bounds Improv and Minigolf Festival, started in 2002 by Jeremy Lamb as a local, experimental improv festival, had been slowly but surely gaining momentum and national attention.

Things began to bubble up at the Hideout and by October of 2006, ColdTowne struck out and opened a self-titled theater and conservatory on Airport Blvd, offering improv, sketch and stand up comedy.

In March of 2008 the Merlin-Works Institute for Improvisation and Gnap! Theater Projects began teaching classes and performing shows at the Salvage Vanguard Theater on Manor Rd.

ComedySportz resumed weekly shows at Cafe Caffeine in south Austin in the fall of 2008.

In 2009 former ColdTowne members Chris Trew and Tami Nelson opened The New Movement in east Austin as a home for all forms of comedy. And in 2012 they opened a branch of the New Movement in New Orleans.

In 2010 LA transplant Tom Booker and New York transplant Asaf Ronen opened the Institution Theatre in south Austin.

In recent years there has been a remarkable stability in the various Austin theaters, with only minor adjustments: The local ComedySportz franchise is currently inactive, the New Movement relocated to a new downtown location on Lavaca, Gnap! shifted focus from the production of improv to scripted work (though improv is still independently produced at Salvage Vanguard) and the Merlin-Works training center found a new home at the longtime Austin venue Zach Theatre.

As of early 2013 the number of improvisers in Austin is estimated at between 300 and 500. Austin has gained national attention for the vibrant community of improvisers and quality work in a variety of styles. A Johnstone-inspired, short form and storytelling focus can be found at the Hideout Theatre and Merlin-Works. Various Chicago and New York influences are prevalent at ColdTowne, the New Movement and the Institution. But Austin is ultimately a melting pot. The intentional building of the community has resulted in an environment of collaborative competition, and many improvisers study and perform at multiple theaters, coming together throughout the year for events like Out of Bounds, Wafflefest, the Austin Improv Potluck, Same Year’s Eve and more.