Starting this Saturday, Start Trekkin’ brings fully-improvised “Start Trek” episodes back to Congress Avenue for an eight-week run. Meanwhile, Coldtowne Theater speaks to an issue more contemporary than intergalactic exploration: our tanking economy. With free shows and free beer. Yes, you read that right....

Seven days, six mountain-climbing fingers, five eligible bachelors, four pairs of cop sunglasses, three sets of tucked-in male genitalia, two dead Parisian crimelords and one coveted rug later, the seventh annual Out of Bounds Comedy Festival has come to an end. ...

Photos from Friday's "Battle of the Sexes" and Saturday's PGraph and VAROOM performances at Salvage Vanguard Theatre during the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival. Faith Clark/We The Clarks If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

Like a comedic Russian nesting doll, but diamond-encrusted and joyfully un-PC, the members of Pimprov are champions of persona-based improv, crafting shows where the interactions between the pimp characters are as crucial as the interaction between the characters played by the pimps. ...

It’s understandable if the names David Razowsky, Dan O'Connor and Floyd Van Buskirk don’t mean anything to you. But know this: these guys are improv. Their resumes are long, and include time spent in Chicago, Amsterdam, Seattle and Los Angeles, the latter of which is their current base of operations....

While Omaha, Neb.’s 88improv flies under the flag of “Smart. Clean. Comedy!,” the group proves that clean comedy doesn’t have to equal lame comedy....

Come to the Midnight Special variety show at Coldtowne Theatre for Austin comedy savant Fred Bothwell, but stay for the show. Over the course of the hour, there is much to enjoy, from a gong show (which you, too, can win!), to improv, to musical goodness. ...

Villainy is a showcase for stories revolving around despicable characters, and in its premier show (which marked Pgraph’s 150th performance), Pgraph found one hell of a heel in King Harold, a pauper who juggled and stabbed his way to the English throne. ...

Switchboard, the all-female improv super-troupe comprised of Second City alumnae Debra Downing-Grosz (UCB theater, Second City Chicago), Rebecca Sohn (The Annoyance Theater, Second City Chicago), and Jean Villepique (iO Chicago, Sceond City, The Office, 30 Rock), performs at the Coldtowne Theater tonight and tomorrow night....

Being incredibly popular is really very fun but can also, you know, wear a girl out. Which is why, as you’re reading this, my ass is planted firmly and deeply upon a beach chair in Hawai’i for a week as I rest up and prepare for my next round of popular posts. But just because I’m away doesn’t mean I can neglect my duties. And so this week, I present an interview with Kareem Badr, one of the four masterminds in the improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph, aka Pgraph [www.pgraph.com]. (And yes, you might have noticed, I am running a lot of interviews lately. I love other people’s stories. If there’s someone you want interviewed, drop me a note and I’ll see what I can do.) I first saw Pgraph perform at the 2008 Frontera Fest. They did a French Farce and, as I detailed here, I just about drenched my pantalones I was laughing so hard. ...

The most overrated aspect of mainstream film is production quality—3, 2, 1 Kill! proved that in November when the improvised movie event was scripted, filmed, and edited live at the Alamo Ritz. Luckily enough for the film snobs among us—this script is so indie that it doesn’t even exist—3, 2, 1 Kill! returns to the Alamo Ritz this Sunday for another round of seat-of-its-pants storytelling....

It has been almost eight years since the last episode of the Upright Citizens Brigade aired on Comedy Central. But beginning well before the series took to television—from its roots as an improv and sketch comedy troupe in Chicago to the opening of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatres in New York City and Los Angeles—the Upright Citizens Brigade has been in the process of constructing a comedy empire....

Austin’s newest improv training center, the Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation, launched its first series of classes at the recently-opened Salvage Vanguard Theater this past Saturday. ...

Photo not to scaleNow that we're finally settled into the new year, we're on the prowl for a few fine individuals to join our motley crew of writers and photographers. Specifically, we're recruiting contributors in the following areas: Arts & Entertainment Film, Art, Theater, Comedy/Improv News Local/State Politics, GLBT News, Items of an Offbeat/"WTF" Nature, Breaking News, Campus Shenanigans Other Cartoonists, Community and Volunteer Opportunities, Sports (UT) Photography Photo Essays, Special Events If you're interested,......

The Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament ended on Monday after six days of blithe musings from some of the finest improv and sketch-comedy troupes in the country. In its sixth year, Out of Bounds reached new heights of comedic exuberance over the past week—and, more importantly, surely introduced a new universe of humor to an unimaginable quantity of newcomers. But for some, Out of Bounds was more than a once-a-year......

Silver City Pink is an award-winning, all-female improv troupe from Los Angeles performing tonight at the Hideout (10pm) as part of this year’s Out of Bounds improv festival. The eight women of SCP met while taking classes at The Second City L.A. and have performed at the LA Improv Festival and the Del Close Marathon in New York City. I spoke with SCPer Amanda Tate about the festival experience and their Los-Angeles-colored impression of......

We recently had the opportunity to talk to the men behind the upcoming Out of Bounds Fest (and miniature golf tournament!), Jeremy Lamb and Shannon McCormick. The fest, which kicks off next Wednesday and runs for a week, is in its sixth year, and is quickly becoming one of the biggest, must-do comedy events in Austin. Can you give me a little bit of background on the festival and when it started? Jeremy Lamb: Sure.......

Tonight at Emo's, mc chris, the Yuppie Pricks and nerdcore rapper Terp2it (aka tireless local performer Chris Trew) will take the stage to rock your tighty whities. We recently snagged a copy of Terp2it's new album, The Freshest Dude, and sat down for a quick chat with him about his new release. How would you describe nerdcore to the uninitiated? I think it started as "rapping about something that's popular with nerds" like Star Wars.......

Friday, July 6artB Scene - Too Darn Hot! at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress ($5-$10) booksAlan Porter presents Before They Were Beatles, with Beatles cover band Daytripper at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedyJohn O’Connell with Jesse Pangelinian at Cap City Comedy Club comedyPunchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) comedyLovey and Lovey at ColdTowne Theater (8pm) comedyWeekly Improv Cage Match! at ColdTowne Theater (11:30) film"Bonnie & Clyde" and "White Heat" at The......

Trust your instincts, faithful readers. That is a disturbance you've sensed in the force. For the second year in a row, the nation's finest and funniest poets plan to pummel Austin with their poesy, prose, puns...and all sorts of other p-words we can't mention here. Starting August 7, National Poetry Slam 2007 will transform Austin into the epicenter of all things slammarific, with five days of knock-down, drag-out, no-holds-barred competition to find out who can......

THURSDAY [31] music • Scion Live Metro presents GZA, Fyre Department at The Parish Room (FREE, RSVP before 5pm!) art • Opening Reception: George Krause: The Elizabeth Portraits & Other Works at d berman gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St (6-8pm) books • Douglas Brinkley presents The Reagan Diaries at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Russ Nagel, "America's Funniest Biker," with Trey Galyon at Cap City Comedy Club film • "Notorious" at The Paramount Theatre film •......

FRIDAY [13] fashion • RARE Magazine Spring Fling Fashion Show at The Belmont Hi-Lo (Moved due to rain) art/music • Take That!, a show of new images by Lance McMahan, plus music by Amanda Jones, Connie Ball, & Teddy and Marge at The Opera House (7-10pm) art • Hot and Cold: The Best of Canadian Contemporary Art at Art on 5th, 1501 W 5th (10am-6pm) art • Opening Reception for abstract paintings and encaustics......

FRIDAY [2] theatre • Improv rap group Aww Shit (Chris Trew, Cody Dearing, Eric Seufert) compose freestyle rap songs and improvise scenes based off of them at this week's Cage Match at Coldtowne Theater (11:30pm) art • Opening Reception for The Llamerret Show at Darkroom Gallery (7pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Okay Mountain & Site 1808 (7-10pm, 301 Chicon Unit E at Third and Chicon) art • B Scene: A Night......

If tragedy + time = comedy gold, then satirization of what is arguably this country's darkest decade was far overdue. Enter Parallelogramophonograph, some of Austin's finest purveyors of genre improvisation. Previously, Austinist has highlighted Pgraph's unusual (and beguiling) combination of lit nerd, geekiness and comedic chops. Their new show, Parallelogramophonograph Presents: The 1930's, draws on this, poking fun at the Great Depression via a completely improvised story set in that era. In this week's show,......

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 14th season of FronteraFest. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, or Mi Casa es su Teatro -- FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre presented by Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Script Works. For complete FronteraFest 2007 information, including times and locations for the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe and Mi Casa es su......

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 14th season of FronteraFest. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, or Mi Casa es su Teatro -- FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre presented by Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Script Works. For complete FronteraFest 2007 information, including times and locations for the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe and Mi Casa es su......

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 14th season of FronteraFest. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, or Mi Casa es su Teatro -- FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre presented by Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Script Works. For complete FronteraFest 2007 information, including times and locations for the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe and Mi Casa es su......

The city’s number one comedy theater has a Friday night lineup that is guaranteed to get your ass laughing, regardless of your particular comedic styling predilections. The full night of comedy at ColdTowne kicks off with some hot woman on woman comedy action (interested now, you sick bastards?). In the One-Woman Showdown, local improvisers Kaci Beeler and Jill Morris interpret their favorite movies as one-woman shows. Beeler will be adapting every geeky pedophile’s favorite......

You know those kids in high school who made AP English bearable with some well-played Grendel jokes? The dudes you met at the GWAR show senior year who won UIL awards in Band? That funny girl in art class who was actually good at art (and wasn't there to make bongs out of driftwood)? Local improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph are those guys. Equal parts socially-observant geek and dry-witted freak, the Austin-based comedy troupe recently won......

THURSDAY [2] film • Austinist, PartyEnds.com, and a bunch of other folks team up to host a free screening of the Vice Guide to Travel at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (7:30pm, Free!) fashion/party • Prototype Vintage celebrates their first anniversary on First Thursday, with snacks and beverages, DJ Little Joe, and more at Prototype Vintage (7-10pm) art • Celebrated Skin: Tatoo Art and Artists Opening at Julia C. Butridge Gallery @ DAC (6pm) art......