- (512) 814-TOWN
- coldtownehq@gmail.com
First off, we (Rachel & Dave) want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the talent, the work, sweat, passion, creativity, leadership, and the fire that this community has managed to keep going through ColdTowne’s good times and the hardest of times. Now that it is official, we are very happy and excited to tell you first – the ColdTowne community – that we have found an investor committed to supporting our vision as a hub of creativity for Central Texas, a platform for underrepresented voices in comedy, and a haven for people trying to do the opposite of whatever ‘Kill Tony’ thinks it is trying to do.
This month, Rachel and Dave, owners of ‘Jam City LLC dba ColdTowne’, sold ColdTowne Theater to a new company Coldtowne LLC. Coldtowne LLC is now owned by the same company that bought the brands, operations and assets of the Upright Citizens Brigade and Tim & Eric’s Absolutely Productions. This company, headed by Mike McAvoy, former CEO of The Onion and current CEO of UCB, with his partnership with Chairman Jimmy Miller from Mosaic, is making a major investment in YOU, our community, our student base, our audiences, our staff, and our performers.
They came to the theater, saw the talent, energy and community… and loved it. They believe in what’s happening here as much as we do. Dave has accepted a full-time position with the new company and will continue to be head of ColdTowne’s operations. The name ColdTowne Theater is not changing. Nothing from the outside is changing, other than including the Salon space on our campus and some more firepower behind our marketing signal. Hopefully by this Fall, an additional branch of UCB-branded classes and shows will slowly roll out to complement our ongoing ColdTowne-branded classes and shows.
We imagine we will have some new teachers joining us here in Austin from LA and New York to host workshops and electives, and eventually teach UCB 101 classes. Some of our current teachers will also be trained to teach UCB classes in addition to our ColdTowne classes. Think of our space as becoming ColdTowne University, with two slightly different Colleges on the same campus.
There will likely be new opportunities for our top performers, flagship shows and troupes to expand beyond Austin, with access to join a national comedy pipeline of live headlining acts and rising stars in alt-comedy.
We couldn’t be more excited for what is to come,
Rachel & Dave
ColdTowne Theater is now owned by a new company Coldtowne LLC, That company is owned by The Comedy Tent which is the same company that also owns UCB and Absolutely Productions nationally. This means longtime local owners Rachel and Dave have sold the company. Dave has been hired by the new company as Head of Operations for UCB and ColdTowne in Austin. No changes are expected to current classes, programming, and staffing through the summer at least.
First, we’re focused on getting feedback from the ColdTowne community, the broader UCB community, then beyond. An official press release will follow. This month we’re internally transitioning the paperwork and bookkeeping. In early April/May we’ll coordinate with UCB’s people to plan for a gradual rollout of new learning opportunities, including visiting teachers and workshops and intensives over the summer – with Fall 2025 being the earliest you could expect to see any UCB branded 101s or shows, and well into 2026 before teacher training or a full curriculum is up and running alongside ColdTowne’s.
We extended our lease at 1700 E. 2nd St. for two more years! Two more years! (With an option for a third.) We have also added the salon space next door for more classroom space. We are still on the hunt for a permanent home.
Facing an impending shutdown due to lack of independent funding, Rachel & Dave saw this as a great opportunity to both ensure ColdTowne’s financial survival (in a way that upholds our comedy ethos as best possible) and provide exciting new opportunities to our community of students, teachers, staff, performers, and audience.
Yes. ColdTowne classes will continue alongside UCB classes (whenever launched in 2026).
Yes. We have 20+ show slots a week, which is plenty of room for both our ongoing ColdTowne shows and eventual UCB branded offerings in 2026.
No, our AD leadership and artistic vision continues as is – so keep submitting those great show ideas as usual!
While we have a lot of similarities including a love of improv game, ColdTowne also emphasizes a relationship/emotion/humanistic style of improv comedy that we are excited to blend.
Mainly, behind-the-scenes business operations like professionalizing some of our processes (payment systems, licensing, etc.) with access to UCB’s broader business operations infrastructure. Our name, external signage, public-facing offerings and so on will remain the same.
No, Kristin Henn independently runs this program and we’re excited to continue hosting it!
We hope to see a rising tide of opportunities for all our local theaters and training centers, including networking nationally (and the return of some nationally legendary festivals…)
Keep doing what the ColdTowne community does! See shows, take classes, share your talents, get engaged and share your feedback. We appreciate your positivity, optimism and confidence in us during the transition.
We want to build a bigger national comedy community–a larger field of ideas that mirrors other parts of the entertainment industry. This provides UCB with a comedy footprint in more places, more touring opportunities, and a national pipeline of up-and-coming talent, while connecting small theaters to a broader network with more infrastructure to support them.
We believe Austin, between NY & LA, has the potential to be the anchor of comedy in the South. It’s a great town full of energy.
We came in the Fall, saw what was happening and loved it. We see an opportunity to build off the great community ColdTowne already has in place and connect it to a larger national network.
Austin offerings are yet to be determined. First we need to sit down and review the differences between ColdTowne’s and UCB’s syllabi.
In NY & LA classes are $500 but also include more classroom and show hours. All that is TBD but ColdTowne’s Community Board is committed to continuing to provide Scholarship and Financial Hardship programming to keep classes and shows accessible!
For invited teachers to teach the UCB curriculum down the line, yes, but the details are TBD. First, we’re sitting down to review the similarities and differences between curriculums.
Yes that is the vision, but first we will be starting with classes and teachers to train performers in the UCB approach.
To uphold consistency in our brand, first we’re focusing on training. Shows will come later.
Short-term, this helps keep ColdTowne afloat, pay the rent, and turn around its business. Long-term, ColdTowne is connected to a national talent network and supportive business infrastructure. Overall, we hope to see more talent opportunities, and fewer challenges with the business side (including limited access to capital, connections, and infrastructure).
ColdTowne: Dave Buckman, Head of Operations for UCB and ColdTowne in Austin coldtownehq@gmail.com
UCB: Mike McAvoy mike@ucbcomedy.com, Amanda Courtney amanda@ucbcomedy.com
Press: National media – press release in the works, Austin-area media – Carolyn Kelleher carolyngracekelleher@gmail.com