Two years with the Starter Kit...

I began studying improv comedy at the Hideout Theatre in August 2006. It was a fantastic way to relieve stress and find a new hobby. Upon graduating from three levels of six week classes in the Spring 2007, two of my classmates and I decided to form our own improv troupe. It was the next step after graduating if we were going to take this somewhat seriously. Eric, Justin and I began rehearsing at Justin’s apartment and discussing our improv philosophy. While going over things, we decided we needed to add more members to the group. We were quite fortunate in that the three people we invited over the next few weeks all agreed to hop on board. With a cast of six, we moved rehearsals to UT’s campus and signed up for our first performance opportunity: the Austin Improv Cagematch Tournament at ColdTowne Theater.

Formally a successful venture at the Hideout on Friday at midnight, attendance began to decline and a decision was made to move it to a smaller upstart venue. Austin improvisers used the Cagematch to experiment and form temporary teams. It was a great low-key opportunity for a new troupe to play around. The members of ColdTowne did an excellent job marketing their theater, and the Cagematch was due to have excellent turnout. The Cagematch featured two to three improv troupes each night squaring off in 20-25 minute sets. The audience voted on who was best and that group advanced to the next round.

Justin, Eric and I threw around potential troupe names since we first decided to team up. The group never came to a consensus, especially with six members at the time of our decision to compete in the Cagematch. Justin, on a whim, filled in our name as The Starter Kit, and we never looked back. With each show, more people said they liked the name and it grew on all of the doubters (I may have been the biggest advocate to abandon the name).

Members of The Starter Kit possess a lot of friends in the Austin area, and we managed to fill all of our shows at ColdTowne. I’m sure other troupes brought quite a few people as well, but nearly every performance we had at ColdTowne during the tournament hit capacity. We played with new formats during most of our shows, and realized we had a few key strengths: we loved audience interaction, we focused a bit on witty banter, and we had lots of energy on stage. These strengths helped us move on from round to round. The audience seemed to enjoy things like throwing lines of dialog onto stage which we had to read and immediately justify. The Starter Kit took risks during shows, and they paid off. We ended up winning the tournament and carried that momentum into our “debut” show (much like stores have a Grand Opening far after their actual opening) at the Hideout Theatre.

With the support of friends, family and awesome troupes like Parallelogramophonograph, our first show was a big hit and one that kept everyone focused to keep at improv. Over the course of a year, we began to play more and more shows at both ColdTowne and the Hideout. Due to our marketing and aggressive invitations for friends to try out improv, shows the Starter Kit played in sold more tickets on average than most troupes in official Austin Improv Collective shows.

As our first anniversary approached, The Hideout experienced bad A/C troubles. Combined with Austin heat and the rapidly approaching summer, this was problematic for a historic building. In order to combat the heat, The Starter Kit had a great idea that again catered to our love for audience participation. We handed out water guns to everyone who came to our first anniversary show, made buckets of water available for each row and let the audience go nuts. They pelted us with water, the stage got drenched and we nearly screwed up the set for another show (thankfully, everything turned out okay).

As time passed, we worked with a few private coaches and enrolled members in more advanced improv classes. We applied to the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival (Austin’s biggest Improv, Sketch and Stand-up festival) and were incredibly lucky again: we got to open the improv portion of the festival. Again, we had a great turnout and we were able to debut our 7th member: Erik.

Around the time of OoB, we lost Ann, who decided to move off to LA and pursue some other goals. Within a few months, Eric and Aden also decided to take a break. A bit concerning at first, the remaining members of our troupe decided to push on and try things out as a four person group. I was used to six people. Four meant a lot more stage time for me and everyone else. As much trust as I had in my partners before, I had to have even more faith in Erik, Justin and Zach as we played on. It was an exciting new direction. Shows were slightly different, as improv largely depends upon each performer’s style and personality. But the core philosophy of The Starter Kit remained.

Today is Erik’s birthday. During a trip out to celebrate early on Friday, his fiancé made a comment that really stuck with me. She said that watching the new Starter Kit lineup was awesome, because it was like peering into a group of friends hanging out with one another. I’ve continued to reflect upon this comment, and I see why she made it.

On stage, we can’t help but carry our group bond into shows. We are good friends. While we improvise, we joke around with one another. We like to put others into slightly precarious situations to see how the audience reacts. The audience is always in on the joke. In one scene from a show, Zach and I were detectives at a murder scene. Justin ran in to play the role of the body, and I couldn’t help but take advantage of the situation to mess around with him. I tested his commitment to lie still on the ground by placing objects on top of him. I removed his shoes to “examine the crime scene.” My character decided the shoes weren’t relevant, but rather than put them back on Justin, I decided to open the nearby door to outside the theater and toss his shoes out. The audience laughed, and from then on, Justin and I had another dynamic on stage - two friends playing around with one another. One person even offered Justin his shoes after the incident while the show was transpiring, and Justin accepted the offer, which the audience also enjoyed.

The Starter Kit loves improv. We wouldn’t perform it if we didn’t. But we also enjoy it as an opportunity to hang out with friends and joke around. Audience members often comment on enjoying those moments most, and other improvisers tend to enjoy seeing our different style.

We’re nearing our two-year anniversary as a troupe, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am blessed to work with these guys and see them every week. We’re bringing back our squirt gun show on April 17 to celebrate. We have a few twists in store, and we hope you will come check it out. Be warned: the show may sell out in advance. You can buy tickets directly from the Hideout’s website soon (not quite yet, but watch that link… I’ll update when it’s ready).

Brad signing out.