We’re less than 12 hours from entering 2020, a new year / entirely new decade, guaranteed to bring lots of change and growth at ColdTowne and around Austin and the world, but in a good way we hope!
Before we start the real countdown, we’re taking a look back on some celebratory moments around our neck of the Austin improv + comedy community at ColdTowne this last year.
Y’all We Asian kicked off the year with a completely sold out run of Starring Y’all We Asian, which placed the members of Austin’s only Asian-American improv troupe in major lead roles you can’t find in Hollywood. The troupe ended the year with a new weekly residency at 7 p.m. on Fridays at ColdTowne (starting January 3!) and a Critic’s Pick Award in Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin 2019 poll.
While Prima Doñas didn’t have a main stage show this year, they did scoop up some awards for their shows in summer and fall 2018. The all-Latinx improv troupe (known for Latinauts and Latinacional) scooped up the award for best production in improvised theater at this year’s B. Iden Payne Awards held in November at the Austin Scottish Rite Theater to honor and recognize the thriving theater community in Austin for the 2018-2019 season. Directors Ben G. Bazán and Lilli Lopez were awarded Best Direction of an Improvised Play for the fall 2018 main stage show Latinacional at ColdTowne Theater. Prima Doñas was also awarded an Austin Critic’s Table Award for their performance at FUTURX Festival in 2018.
This year the troupe was invited to represent ColdTowne Theater and Austin Improv at the Del Close Marathon in Los Angeles this past June, the first festival in L.A. since moving from NYC. The troupe was back in L.A. in October for the Los Angeles Diversity in Comedy Festival hosted by Second City.
Sugar, Water, Purple celebrated a full year in their weekly Wednesday night slot! They also won the Rudy Kloptic Award at the 2019 B. Iden Payne Awards. You can read more about Sugar, Water, Purple and their show “Can We Kick It?” in this January 2019 review by the Austin Chronicle’s Trey Gutierrez.
Lots of Awards! One Hour Til Air earned the award for Best Cast Ensemble in Improvised Theater. Many of ColdTowne’s main stage shows also celebrated sold out show runs. Y’all love an intimate theater setting and we love y’all for it!
Pride Month Party with QueerTowne
QueerTowne held it down monthly with full crowds, complimentary bevvies including some support from Deep Eddy Vodka and Big Swig, and loving shouts out from Austin Chronicle’s Qmmunity. Hosts Mase Kerwick, Javi Ungo and Laura de la Fuente shared the stage with some of Austin’s finest citizens, community leaders and comedians. Mase’s favorite QueerTowne moment was the Pride Month Party in June. We don’t have access to photos from this exclusive event, but here’s one from Halloween!
ColdTowne Conservatory. We teach classes here!
We added several new faculty members to the ColdTowne Conservatory. As our conservatory grows, we are grateful to have true performers and teachers in the classroom for our students to train in improv and sketch. Read more about these new instructors and their backgrounds here: COLDTOWNE CONSERVATORY WELCOMED NEW FACULTY MEMBERS IN 2019
ColdTowne Staff Retreat 2019
This December ColdTowne ownership and staff went on a 24-hour retreat to reflect on the last year (decade tbh) and outline goals for the future. 2019 has been one of ColdTowne’s most fruitful years yet and we have our incredible community of creatives, performers, producers and students to thank for the many successes and recognition our little theater under a video store got to celebrate. We were lucky to have the opportunity to reflect on that gratitude collectively and all jokes aside (because we’re a comedy theater and have to make it clear sometimes), we hope you continue to stick with us through 2020 and this next decade.
