Indigo Shift
| Indigo Shift | |
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| Years Active | 2011-Present |
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Indigo Shift was a musical improv troupe set in a cabaret at the end of the world.
Format
Indigo Shift followed a troupe of performers (Solomon Strange, Anita Deva, and Colin) as they performed one final show for the last night on Earth. Suggestions were drawn out through discussion of apocalyptic themes with the audience, which were then spun into a series of scenes, stories, and songs loosely threaded together by the banter between the three characters.
History
Shortly after Jordan T. Maxwell announced he was moving back to Austin from Los Angeles, Michael Brockman approached him about developing a musical format. Maxwell was inspired at a concert for the Brechtian punk duo The Dresden Dolls to create an improvised dystopian cabaret that would take place at the end of the world.
Here is Jordan T. Maxwell's explanation of the name's origin:
Stolen pretty much directly from the fourth issue of Neil Gaiman's "Books of Magic." One character's description of the end of the universe from the perspective of the Big Crunch. If the universe expands in red shift and contracts in blue shift, then the very end must be indigo shift on the spectrum. It sounded like the late shift at a cabaret to me as well, so kind of the perfect pun. ;)
Maxwell and Brockman recruited Kacey Samiee and Sarah Marie Curry to round out the troupe and they began rehearsing and hashing out the mechanics of the format. Curry soon had to drop out of the project and the remaining trio debuted on 10/8/11, opening for Get Up in The Saturday Night Special.
The troupe took a brief hiatus while Maxwell and Brockman fulfilled other professional obligations, but returned in 2012. Brockman left the group shortly before their show in The 2012 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, but Maxwell and Samiee's long time friend and collaborator Jeffrey Amos filled in for the performance and officially joined as the troupe's new third member and musical accompanist. Because Amos currently resides in Seattle, Washington, Indigo Shift has occasionally invited guest improviser/musicians to play, including Jeremy Sweetlamb, Cindy Page, Craig Kotfas, and Ryan Hill.
They have also performed at The 2013 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, Improvaganza in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Alaska State Improv Festival in Juneau, Alaska. They are also frequently featured guests at the Hell & Back Cabaret.
Dramatis Personae
Rev. Solomon Strange (Jordan T. Maxwell)
Anita Deva (Kacey Samiee)
Colin (Jeffrey Amos)
Former/Guest Artists
Brother Monkirk (Michael Brockman)
Doc Jenkins (Craig Kotfas)
Nigel (Ryan Hill)
Kitty Draco (Cindy Page)
Baby Doll (Sarah Marie Curry)
Lili (Lindsey McGowen)
Tommy 'Two-Hands' Tutucci (Tosin Awofeso)
Jeremy Sweetlamb played without an "in universe" character.
Media
Videos
- Video of 3/29/2012.
- Video of 12/20/2012 performance.
- Video of 4/26/2014 at Alaska State Improv Festival.
- Video of encore performance at Alaska State Improv Festival.
Photos
- Photoset from 10/8/2011 by Steve Rogers.
- Photoset by Roy Moore of their 3/29/2012 performance in The Threefer.
- Photoset by Steve Rogers that includes their 8/28/12 performance in The 2012 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival.
- Photoset by Michael Yew that includes their performance in the 9/20/13 Hell and Back Cabaret.
- Photoset by Steve Rogers that includes their 9/27/13 performance at The Hell & Back Cabaret.
- Photoset by Michael Yew of their 12/20/13 performance in PGraph Presents.
- Photoset by Chad Wellington of their 4/18/14 show.
- Photoset by Michael Yew that includes their show at The 2014 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival.
- Photoset by Peter Rogers of their 10/10/14 performance in Mister Morbid, featuring Lindsey McGowen as their guest musician.
- Photoset by Roy Moore of their 9/11/2015 Indigo Shift Cabaret.
More Information
- Indigo Shift's Facebook page
- Interview with the troupe on The Theft Forum.
