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 was put 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. Soon after, Theatersports began a run at the Hyde Park Theater, where they played Micetro and Gorilla Theater. 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. These times were the beginning of the heyday of Austin Improv. There were many venues: The Hideout, The Velveeta Room, The Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, The ComedySportz Playhouse, and even Capital 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 even more I don't remember or didn't even know about. The 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 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 Theatre.

After 2000, well, the festival producers Ed Carter and Marc Pruter, along with a lot of other Austinites, lost their shirts in the coming years. Big Stinkin' shut down, along with all of the other improv venues and troupes -- except The Hideout.

Austin Improv Renaissance

In the past few years, several factors has led to a renaissance in Austin Improv. Most of the previously mentioned troupes have died and like a phoenix from the ashes have been able to be reborn at The Hideout because of new leadership by Andy Crouch and collaborative projects like The Austin Improv Collective, The Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament, and Waffle Fest.

There has been an influx of experienced improvisers from out of town coming to Austin to perform and study. And because of the collapse of other venues, Austin now has a central home for improvisation where troupes from different background and styles perform. Thankfully, the Austin economy has picked up so people have more money for improv classes and shows.

Proliferation of Theaters

Beginning in the mid-2000s, more improv venues began to crop up in Austin.

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans-based improv troupe ColdTowne relocated to Austin. In 2006, they opened ColdTowne Theater on Airport Blvd.

Shannon McCormick founded Gnap! Theater Projects in 2008, sharing use of Salvage Vanguard Theater with Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation and producing weekly improv shows.

The New Movement Theater was founded in 2009 by former ColdTowne members Chris Trew and Tami Nelson.

Tom Booker, formerly of Chicago and Los Angeles, relocated to Austin in 2007 and soon founded The Institution Theater. At first, the Institution taught classes out of a photography studio on East 7th St, but moved into its own facility in 2011.