Kaci Beeler

Kaci Beeler
Primary Theater	The Hideout Theatre
Years Active	2002-Present

Kaci Beeler (AKA Kaci Danger) is an improv performer, director, scenic painter, teacher, and the Director of Design for The Hideout Theatre. Kaci is a represented actor with TAG Talent Agency[1] who represent actors in film, television, commercial, voice-over, and print media.

History

Kaci Beeler began learning and studying improv in 2002 at Westwood High School[2] in North Austin, Texas, which is a Fine Arts Academy[3] within the Round Rock Independent School District. In addition to taking a Comedy/Improv course she auditioned and was cast in The PITS (Premier Improvisational Theater Society) in 2003, an all-student improv troupe led by organizer Philip Aulie. The PITS went on to become Comedic Amoeba and performed three shows at The Hideout Theatre in 2004 and 2005. Comedic Amoeba was coached by Jeremy Sweetlamb before dissembling in July of 2005.

Kaci began performing in Maestro at The Hideout Theatre in June of 2005 and met fellow improvisers Roy Janik, Kareem Badr, Valerie Ward, Andy Crouch, Michael Ferstenfeld, among many others through the Tuesday Night Jam. Kaci moved to Fullerton, CA[4] in August of 2005 to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Acting at California State University at Fullerton[5].

In December of 2005 Kaci moved back to Austin, Texas after withdrawing from Cal State Fullerton at the end of the Fall Semester. She was asked to join the Austin improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph upon her return and had her first performance with them on December 23rd, 2005, 42 days after the troupe's debut at Wafflefest in November.

Kaci went on to perform in shows like The Twofer, The Blank Show, The Cagematch and The Style Show with a variety of groups in 2006 at The Hideout Theatre. She was also a part of the original Bridgeport Women's Correctional Facility Short Form Impromptu Skit Players cast that won the Out Of Bounds cagematch tournament in August of 2006. Parallelogramophonograph got their first weekly show at the newly opened ColdTowne Theater in October of 2006, where they originally performed After School Improv, their first original longform narrative show concept, opening for Get Up.

Kaci was invited to join the Available Cupholders in the Spring of 2007, debuting at a Battle of the Sexes show versus the all-female musical troupe Girls Girls Girls. The conceit of the show was that Kaci had been brought out as a "secret weapon" to help the formerly all-male team win the match. Kaci formed the duo Adventure Squad! with Valerie Ward in 2008 in order to perform at LAFF (Ladies Are Funny Festival). She also was cast in Start Trekkin and Improvised Shakespeare in 2007, and went on to perform in several seasons of both productions. She directed her first show After School Improv in 2009 at The Hideout Theatre, using PGraph's original format, now with an expanded cast, specialized technical improvisation, and a new scenic design.

In 2009, Kaci took on the role of Director of Design at The Hideout Theatre when the new owners Kareem Badr, Roy Janik, and Jessica Arjet bought the business from Sean Hill. Kaci was involved with the original restructuring and talks with the landlords of the buildings, taking on her new position as a staff member of The Hideout Theatre when she graduated from St. Edward's University in May of 2009 at the age of 22. Kaci co-directed the Hideout Mainstage production Charles Dickens Unleashed with Jessica Arjet in November/December of 2009 and Who Is T. Henry Baudecliffe with Curtis Luciani in July/August of 2010. In the Fall of 2009, Kaci formed a duo troupe, The Amazon and The Milksop with fellow Improvised Shakespeare cast member Curtis Luciani. They originally set out to explore gender roles through improvisation but have since gone on to create several original shows like Fitzgeralds For Hire and Catchin' Frogs.

Kaci performed in both the 2009 40-Hour Improv Marathon and the 2010 41-Hour Improv Marathon. In 2011 PGraph lived and performed in Edinburgh, Scotland for 28 days while they performed 22 improv shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2012 Kaci toured Asia with the Boston, Massachusetts based group Improv Boston. They performed and taught improv in Seoul, South Korea, Beijing, China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, Osaka, Japan, and Tokyo, Japan. Through her personal improv work and her work with Parallelogramophonograph and the Available Cupholders, Kaci has toured to teach and perform improv throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Scotland, England, France, China, Japan, and South Korea.

The First Improv Show She Saw

A post from her about the first improv show she ever saw:

The first improv I had really been introduced to was doing Freeze Tag in my middle school theatre class. I knew improv only then as an acting tool or a distraction tool so the teacher can bid on ebay while the kids play around onstage.

In my freshman year of high school everyone was talking about the Well Hung Jury, an improv group of "cool people" who had graduated several years before I got there.

So in the summer of 2002 I started going to see their shows with some friends (Phil of You, Me, and Greg and Xaq who used to be a Hideout house manager). I saw so many of their shows over the next few years that I can't exactly remember what happened at the first one. I do remember seeing a really hilarious improvised Shakespeare show they did and a disgusting no rules show they did. I also remember a Real/Surreal in which the phrase, "I am not Batman." was uttered over and over again.

I always sat as far as I could in the front at every show. If they ever needed a volunteer I was more than ready to participate. I would laugh so hard at their shows I would almost fall out of my chair. I never thought, "I can do this." I figured they were just really funny and talented guys, I never thought at the time that what they were doing was a learned art.

Awards

• Austin Chronicle Best Of Austin Awards 2016, Readers Poll: Best Actor/Actress[6]
• Houston Fringe Fest: F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Save The World - Best Original Comedy 2014[7]
• Austin Chronicle Best Of Austin Awards 2012, Readers Poll: Best Actor/Actress[8]
• Austin Chronicle Best Of Austin Awards 2012, Critics Pick: Most Continuously Innovative Improv Troupe[9] (Parallelogramophonograph)
• FronteraFest Best Of Fest 2011: Fitzgeralds For Hire[10]
• B. Iden Payne Award 2009: Outstanding Work in Improvisational Theater[11] (Parallelogramophonograph)
• FronteraFest Best Of Fest 2008: Parallelogramophonograph's Improvised French Farce[12]

Troupes

• Adventure Squad!
• The Amazon and the Milksop
• Available Cupholders
• Comedic Amoeba
• Girl Embassy World Team
• Mr. and Mrs. Danger
• Parallelogramophonograph
• Perfect Season
• The PITS

Shows

• The 40-Hour Improv Marathon
• The 41-Hour Improv Marathon
• After School Improv (Performed and Directed)
• The Andersons
• Austin Secrets (2010-2013)
• Blood, Sweat, and Cheers (June Davis, writer, producer)
• A Bedtime Gorey
• The Big Bash (company member)
• Bridgeport Women's Correctional Facility Short Form Impromptu Skit Players (2006, 2014)
• Boy, Howdy! (Performed and Directed)
• The Cagematch
• Charles Dickens Unleashed (Performed and Directed)
• The Derby
• Dubbed Indemnity (2010-2012)
• The Fancy-Pants Mashup
• F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Save The World! (Performed and Produced)
• Fandom (Performed and Directed)
• Flying Theater Machine (Touring Performer)
• Gorilla Theater
• Heavens, Mr. Darcy! Improvised Erotic Jane Austen
• Hitchcocked!
• Holy 1960s Batman, Batman! (Performed and Directed)
• Improvised Shakespeare
• Ka-Baam!!
• The Kindness of Strangers: Improvised Tennesee Williams (Performed and Co-Directed)
• Lord Wensleydale's Last High Tea
• Manhattan Stories
• Maestro (2005-)
• Nothing and Everything
• The Nightmare Video Project (2010-2012)
• Peter Pan and the Great Unknown (Performed and Directed)
• Pick Your Own Path
• Process
• Orphans! The Improvised Orphan Musical (Performed and Co-Directed)
• Reform School for Wayward Girls
• Start Trekkin'
• Stool Pigeon
• This Week Tonight
• Victrola
• The Violet Underbelly
• Whirled News Tonight
• Who Is T. Henry Baudecliffe? (Performed and Directed)

Media

• A photo album of Kaci Beeler's set designs.

More Information

• Interviews by Andrew Buck: 1, 2.
• A post of audition tips from the Hideout blog.
• Posts by Kaci about her design work for the Hideout:
  • An 11/13/09 post about design work.
  • A post recapping her 2010 mainstage set designs.
  • A 2011 post abou set-design work.