Difference between revisions of "The Comedy Workshop"

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The Comedy Workshop was a comedy venue in the mid eighties that played a role in the early history of improv in Austin.  
{{Infobox Theater
|Name = The Comedy Workshop
|Picture = Comedy Workshop Logo.jpg
|Address = 302 W. 15th St.
|Years = 1982?-1986
}}


According to Robert Faires:
'''The Comedy Workshop''' was a stand-up comedy venue. It was also the first regular improv venue in Austin.
"[[The Hilarions: Gladiators of Comedy | The Hilarions]] was, as far as I know, the first serious improv troupe in Austin. It was launched out of the Comedy Workshop, originally on 15th and then on Lavaca, when the owner of the Comedy Workshop in Houston (which gave Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison and the other so-called Outlaw comics their start) would drive up to Austin on Fridays and teach improv to pretty much anyone who would show up -- which were mostly present and past members of Esther's Follies. As I remember it, we formed an actual group in early '85 and did late-night shows Tuesday through Thursday for about a year and a half."


The Comedy Workshop's original house improv troupe called the Hilarions: Gladiators of Comedy was possibly the first serious improv troupe in Austin. The Hilarions were named after a little-known Greek Orthodox monastery on Mary street called St. Hilarion.
Club owner Paul Menzel drove to Austin on Fridays and conducted free, informal improv workshops, in which he'd explain improv structures and games and run basic exercises for whoever showed up -- usually present and past cast members of [[Esther's Follies]].  The theater's house troupe, [[The Hilarions]], may have been the first serious improv troupe in Austin.
 
The club closed down in May 1986.
 
== More Information ==
* [http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2001-01-26/80278/ A history of the club] by [[Angela Davis]], writing for ''The Austin Chronicle''.

Latest revision as of 17:32, 18 March 2015


The Comedy Workshop

Comedy Workshop Logo.jpg

Address 302 W. 15th St.
Years of Operation 1982?-1986

The Comedy Workshop was a stand-up comedy venue. It was also the first regular improv venue in Austin.

Club owner Paul Menzel drove to Austin on Fridays and conducted free, informal improv workshops, in which he'd explain improv structures and games and run basic exercises for whoever showed up -- usually present and past cast members of Esther's Follies. The theater's house troupe, The Hilarions, may have been the first serious improv troupe in Austin.

The club closed down in May 1986.

More Information

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