Local Genius Society

Local Genius Society
Years Active	2010-Present
Cast	Karen Jane DeWitt Nicole Beckley Ryan Austin Zac Grantham

Local Genius Society custom club jacket crest. Designed by Ryan Austin. Each object on the crest represents a member of the cast at the time of design.

Official poster promoting Local Genius Society in the 2012 Honolulu Improvaganza festival performing "Beach Cops".

Local Genius Society is an improv troupe of raconteurs, savants, and bon vivants.

Together, their knowledge includes the rules of curling, the intricacies of motion graphics, the proper way to handle a dangling participle, and how to bake a Baked Alaska.

They have an original prep-school blazer crest designed by troupe member Ryan Austin that they all wear on their navy blazers when they perform.

Formats

Local Genius Society has presented a number of different improv formats, including...

Beach Cops

Beach Cops was a series of narratives done in the style of Baywatch. It came about as a one one-off joke in a show where Andrew and Zac played Beach Cops patrolling and protecting a beach. Tickled by the idea, LGS developed the format by drawing not only from Baywatch but also from Pacific Blue. Beach Cops debuted at the The 2012 Improvised Play Festival (Video) and was met with surprising success.

It was performed several more times, including once at ColdTowne Theater with Kaci Danger as a guest Beach Cop. The final show was performed in Honolulu's Improvaganza festival in 2012. Beach Cops has since been retired.

Color

Local Genius Society takes a suggestion of a color or brings a crayon box for an audience to select from and discuss what that color makes them think of. After each member has shared, a narrative based on the discussion is performed.

Narrative Game

Bringing a stack of cards with thematic (e.g. the confession) or specific (e.g. one player's dialogue must be all song lyrics) instructions, Local Genius Society plays a narrative and selects a card at will and/or at the top of a scene. They brought this format to The 44-Hour Improv Marathon to give the sleep-deprived players some fun chaos.

History

Local Genius Society formed in late 2010 by a group of improv students from The Hideout Theatre. After building their early career performing shortform, including a run of successful “Groundhog Day” shows, the geniuses embarked on longform narrative in the summer of 2011. Since then, Local Genius Society has opened for notable Austin improv troupes such as: Parallelogramophonograph, Girls Girls Girls, The Glamping Trip, and Confidence Men. In 2012 they hosted a weekly show, “Underground Improv” at Dive Bar. They have performed in WaffleFest (2011, 2012), the Improvised Play Festival (2011, 2012, 2013), the 42 and 43-Hour Improv Marathons (2011, 2012), and the Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival (2012) in Austin, TX, and the Improvaganza Festival in Honolulu, HI (2012).

Here is Zac Grantham's explanation of the name's origin:

We put a ton of different words on a whiteboard and drew lines between them to make phrases. Then we voted for which phrases we liked the most. Local Genius Society came in second behind "Global Improv Corporation". We went with Local Genius Society anyways...

Former Members

• Andrew Pish
• Kayla Lane Freeman

Media

Videos

• Video of their performance from 5/28/11.
• Video of their performance from the 2011 Wafflefest.
• Video of their performance at The 2012 Improvised Play Festival.
• Video of their "Full Moon Rises" show at The Free Fringe from 5/10/12.
• Video of their performance from the 2012 Wafflefest.
• Video of their performance from their 2/1/13 performance headlining The Spectacle.
• Video of their performance on 2/17/13 at ColdTowne Theater.
• Video of their performance at The 2013 Improvised Play Festival.
• Video of another performance (date unknown) at The Spectacle.
• Video of their 5/17/13 performance in The Spectacle.
• Video of their 9/19/13 performance in The Threefer.
• Video of their 9/26/13 performance in The Threefer.

Photos

• Photoset by Michael Yew that includes their 1/6/11 performance in The Threefer.
• Photoset by Michael Yew that includes their 5/12/11 performance in The Threefer.
• Their 12/1/11 show at The Threefer (photoset by Steve Rogers).
• Photoset by Michael Yew that includes their 1/6/12 performance at The Hideout Theatre.
• Photoset by Claudio Fox of their 3/11/12 show.
• Photoset by Roy Moore that includes their 8/28/12 performance in The 2012 Improvised Play Festival.
  • Another photoset by Michael Yew of the same show.
• Photoset by Steve Rogers that includes their 11/8/12 performance at WaffleFest.
• [http://www.facebook.com/claudio.fox.5/media_set?set=a.354216507933184.82495.100000345135257&type=3

Photoset] that includes their 12/8/12 show.

• Photoset by Michael Yew which includes their 2/1/13 performance in The Spectacle.
• Photoset by Steve Rogers that includes their 11/22/13 show at WaffleFest 2013.
• Photoset by Steve Rogers that includes their 8/21/14 show at The Threefer.

Publicity

• As part of their fundraiser for their trip to Improvaganza in 2012, the troupe recorded a series of mock PSAs from the "Beach Cops"
  • "Trash and Dumping"
  • "Lady Cops"
  • "Dangers of the Tide"
  • "Proper Eyewear"
  • "The Sun"
  • "Respect the Ocean"

More Information

• The troupe's facebook page.
• The troupe's home page.
• Posts about their Feb/Mar 2012 "Underground Improv" run at The Dive Bar.
  • A 2/12/12 interview with the cast.
  • A 3/8/12 post by Kayla Lane Freeman
• "Ask Local Genius Society": interviews with cast members from December 2011:
  • Interview with Andrew Pish.
  • Interview with Kayla Lane Freeman.
  • Interview with Karen Jane DeWitt.