Salvage Vanguard Theater has announced its new season! // Rubber Repertory has started airing their dirty laundry in a new, recurring series called From the Dumpster, in which they confess to madcap ideas they seriously considered staging. // There's more than music to SXSW. ...

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.......

Few forms of entertainment elicit such fanatical, diverse opinions on what warrants the label of being "good" as comedy does. To this day, the mere mention of Andy Kaufman's name can set off a heated debate on whether "genius" or "talentless asshat" is more applicable, and the perceived injustice that the Freaks and Geeks fan club was dealt when network suits and critics downed one of Judd Apatow's earliest efforts still has teeth. All this......

The fun and lively improv show Plays Well With Others is being held over at the Zach Scott Theater and if you need to have your funny bone tickled, you should go. The show is directed by Owen Egerton and written by Les McGehee. Owen and Les also star, along with a cast of some of Austin's best improv actors like Megan Flynn, Jodi Egerton, Scott Chester, and Shannon McCormick. Also involved are videographer Ben......

We're just about to head to the grocery store to stock up on champagne and salty snacks for this weekend's award show marathon, but for those of you who like to venture beyond the comfort of your living rooms for these kinds of events, here are some party options: Tomorrow, you can join the Austin Film Society at Ringer's Sports Lounge where they'll be hosting a viewing party for the Independent's Spirit Awards. Two Austinites......

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,......

Tonight, Dionysium will encourage participants to "get their think on" by debating an issue of recent importance to Texas politics: are votes for third parties in America a waste? Local actor, comedian, and champion debater Mr. Shannon McCormick squares off against Travis County Libertarian Party Chair Mr. Wes Benedict, so it will be, indubitably, interesting. The hosts (now gaining even more fame for their national tour of Salvage Vanguard Theatre's Intergalactic Nemesis) will also......

Food. Booze. Art. Local Music. What else is there in life? The good folks over at YTCC have put together the ultimate party this weekend: Party Art: The Art Party!, this Saturday at Art Amici. There's so much packed into this one little soiree that we have to resort to a bulleted list to tell you about all the goodness: Food from Chow Baby, wine from Treana Winery, and cheese from Central Market. Performances......

After a little over a year in town, Austin's hardest-working improv troupe has not only been voted a Best of Austin 2006 pick, but also achieved a feat virtually unheard of in such a short period: opening their own theatre space. After the success of this summer's Test Pattern—a week-long series to test potential programming at the new theatre—Coldtowne will officially kick-off full operation of the Coldtowne Theatre this Saturday, October 28th. The 30-seat, black......

Alright. Gloves off. We’ve been snarked on in the past for flippantly referring to productions at the Vortex as “naked theatre”. Taking that into consideration, we’d like to bring to your attention some “adults only” (read: probably naked) theatre opening this weekend. Bell(e): The Museum of Suicide Machinery is a “mesh of performance art, visual installation, experimental theatre, and sound montage” from Austin’s purveyors of the out-there-experimental, Ethos. Anne Marie Gordon designs the scenery......

With Out of Bounds -- Austin's largest improvisation and sketch festival -- kicking off tomorrow night at the Hideout Theatre, Austinist sat down with festival producers (and talented performers in their own right) Jeremy Lamb and Shannon McCormick to discuss what the festival is all about. So tell us, what is Out of Bounds? Jeremy Lamb: Out of Bounds is the biggest improv festival in Texas. It started out as a 3-day get together......

It’s already a sold-out show for the endurance portion (regular tix should be still be available though). It’s the most eccentric cause we’ve ever come across. It’s the absolute strangest attempt at providing for that eccentric cause that we’ve ever heard of. And it’s wrapped around what will likely be the shittiest intentional, scripted movie ever made. And that includes that bullshit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-off you and your half-retarded friend made back in......

It’s pretty hard not to like Salvage Vanguard’s Intergalactic Nemesis trilogy (of which we saw Episode II: The Return of the Intergalactic Nemesis this past Friday). As the lights come up, an incredibly dry and playfully sarcastic LB Deyo introduces the show like a late night personality doing his opening bit. The audience warms, then laughs – almost as if Deyo is their new buddy, with whom they’re merely shootin’ the shit. By the......

If you're looking forward to another Sunday night of red hot laptop surfin', work email checkin' and Netflix queue updatin', we suggest you shake off that modern coil and head down to the first annual OoBenanny Fundraiser and Auction. Inspired by old-fashioned folk hootenannies, the OoBenanny fundraiser and auction is being thrown by Gnap! Theatre Projects to raise money for the 2006 Out of Bounds Comedy Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament. Last year's festival......

Last summer, Salvage Vanguard (the bacchanalistas behind the Dionysium) produced a live performance of "The Intergalactic Nemesis: Twin Infinity," the last in a trilogy of science-fiction radio serials. The run enjoyed considerable success, and as such they've decided to put on the entire trilogy this June. But tonight - and tonight only - they're doing a special performance of the first part at The Hideout Theatre. From their press release: Follow Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter......

[documentary] Grammy-winning classical percussionist Evelyn Glennie is one hell of a musician. She's also deaf. Check out Thomas Riedelsheimer documentary as he follows her across the States and around the UK in "," part of Austin Film Society's Texas Documentary Tour. At the Drafthouse Downtown. (7pm) (link) [film] Another screening of Werner Herzog's "Wheel of Time" at the Drafthouse Downtown. (9:45pm) (link) [film] Alamo Weird Wednesdays screens "Pigs," Marc Lawrence's cheesy horror flick about man-eating......