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Live from Austin…it’s Saturday Night!
Written by Dante Dominick   

 Not even they know what's about to happen.

ColdTowne Theater takes Austin improv to new heights.

Another Saturday night in Austin, and you know what that means: live improv and sketch comedy at ColdTowne Theater. If you weren’t aware that’s what it means, you’re not exactly alone, but you are among a dwindling number of non-converts to Austin’s blossoming live comedy scene.

 For a scant $7 you are the lucky recipient of splitting sides, bellyaches and the signature red forehead associated with ColdTowne audience members—the redness apparently derived from repeatedly smacking one’s self in shock and surprise and the insanity unfolding before you.

In arguably the most extreme example of lemons-to-lemonade in the history of the world (Part 1), the ColdTowne troupe solidified in Austin as the members fled Hurricane Katrina from their hometown New Orleans. The frantic escape so happened to coincide with Austin’s venerable Out of Bounds improv/comedy festival, so the NOLA troupe squeezed their way in and performed “Hurricanes Are Funny,” as much to heal themselves as anything.

Far less menacing when performing.
ColdTowne Theater (the troupe)
The rest, as they say, is the present. The ColdTowne Theater is a hotbed of comedy theater and improve, and not just locally. ColdTowne is among the growing scene putting Austin on the map nationally, having been invited to nearly every major comedy festival in North America (Chicago, Toronto, D.C., Phoenix, L.A., Oberlin, and more).

Located on Airport Blvd. at 48½ St., the small theater fills up quickly; arrive early enough and you might score a couch seat. The Saturday night show is classic Chicago-style improv in the vein of Del Close, an unfamiliar name outside the biz, but easily regarded as the Elvis of Improv. (If Elvis hadn’t become a bloated, sideshow freak at the end of his career, that is.) John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Upright Citizens Brigade—they all trained under Close. 

Spotlight's on you, buddy
ColdTowne Conservatory improv class
The seat-of-the-pants improv typically plays out at a NASCAR pace. It’s an art that seems impossibly difficult to grasp. But ColdTowne doesn’t believe so. In addition to the weekly performances (the theater also hosts stand-up comics Thursday and Friday), ColdTowne has established the ColdTowne Conservatory, a training center offering five levels of classes in improv performance and sketch-comedy writing. Students range from starry-eyed funny folk wanting to be comedians to corporate cubicle jockeys who enjoy the arena to stretch out. Shy folks take note: the classes are a bonanza for overcoming public-speaking fears.

The ColdTowne Theater improv comedy troupe (Justin York, Tami Nelson, Arthur Simone, Chris Trew, and Michael Jastroch) performs every Saturday at the ColdTowne Theater, 4803B Airport Blvd. An opening act takes the stage at 8:00. Tickets are $7 at the door. Sellouts are a possibility; arrive early.

 
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