Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard

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Home Teams

The Foolish Mortals – new troupe of accomplished improvisers, including several Heroes of Comedy "gone rogue"

Gag Reflex – local incarnation of a Windy City sketch troupe founded by suburban Chicago theatre veteran Dale Roe with journalist Joe Stafford; stages original revues of songs and sketches

Get Up – longform from improv vets Shana Merlin (We Could Be Heroes, Girls Girls Girls) and Shannon McCormick (No Shame Theatre, Foleyvision); scenes include their popular "24 (minutes)," an improvised parody of the TV thriller

Girls Girls Girls – all-female troupe doing longform improvised musicals; includes Monique Daviau, Julie Lucas, Kacey Samiee, Tara White (all Heroes of Comedy), Shana Merlin (Get Up, Heroes of Comedy), Andrea Young (Heroes of Comedy, Foolish Mortals, Wooden Nickel), Jennifer Cargill (Tight, Wooden Nickel), Annette Jurcevic, Shelly Miller, Caitlin Sweet, and Kimberly Tortorice

Heroes of Comedy – house troupe for the Hideout since 1999, responsible for the crash-and-burn elimination improv format Micetro, and the longform TV parody Start Trekkin'

The Knuckleball Now – improv troupe founded last year by Mike D'Alonzo (festival co-producer, Austin Theatresports, Gravy, Catch 24) and Craig Kotfas (Heroes of Comedy, Gravy, Catch 24) with a slant toward unpredictability

The Plurals – troupe featuring Braden Walker, Joel Osborne, Lauren Kearcher, and Adam Hilton

Polite Society Presents... – improv on the edge of disaster commandeered by Andy Crouch (We Could Be Heroes, Ed 32)

The Sicks – sketch comedy troupe including such local improv and sketch comedy veterans as Ben Sterling (We Could Be Heroes, Well Hung Jury) and Jordan T. Maxwell (Well Hung Jury)

Think Tank – sketch comedy troupe risen from the ashes of Fatbuckle and featuring Lee Eddy, David Higgins, Gabe McIver, Alan Metoskie, Jeffery Mills, Zach Muhn, Jason Newman, Jose Villareal, Chuck Watkins, and Brent Werzner

Tight – ensemble of Chicago and Cleveland transplants who honed their chops at Second City, Improv Olympic, Annoyance Theater, ComedySportz and Boom Chicago; includes Rachel Madorsky, Dave Buckman, Jennifer Cargill, and Erin Plischke, all also with Wooden Nickel; Bob McNichol and Erika May (McNichol & May); and MacArthur Antigua (Mild Dementia)

Well Hung Jury – one of the city's most active and daring improv companies, responsible for Improv in Weird Places (performed on a Capital Metro bus, in a river, and at the state Capitol, among other venues), setting the world record for Longest Continual Improvised Narrative (27 hours, but unfairly ignored by the Guinness Book!), and launching the Out of Bounds festival; formed in 1999, folded in 2003

Wooden Nickel – troupe formed by a range of local improvisers and transplants from Cleveland and Chicago who shared an interest in Chicago-style longform; includes Rachel Madorsky, Dave Buckman, Jennifer Cargill, and Erin Plischke, all also with Tight; Andrea Young (Girls Girls Girls); Chris Allen and Andy Periera (Heroes of Comedy); Terrill Fischer and Cynthia Oelkers (ComedySportz/National Comedy Theatre)

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Visiting Teams

Apollo 12 – large-ensemble troupe hailing from Phoenix, Ariz., performs freestyle longform, letting the suggestion guide the flow of the evening's performance

Bearded Lamb – solo improv by Jeremy Lamb, formerly of Austin and an improviser with the late, lamented Well Hung Jury (which will return from the Comedy Hereafter for one show at this year's Out of Bounds)

French Club Dropouts – Dallas troupe consisting of comedy veterans Brandon Enriquez (Second City Toronto), Angie Epley (Voodoo Mechanic), John Rawley (Lone Star Comedy), Victoria Hines (ComedySportz), and Brad McEntire (Mild Dementia)

GunShow – New York City-based improv and sketch group that uses the exploration of memory as the basis for creation. Improv shows are based on true stories which inspire other true stories which inspire fantastic scenes.

Jesters Ink – Virginia's premier improv troupe; promoters of Dodgeprov, crossing improv and the schoolyard game

JoKyR and Jesster – improv duo composed of Joseph Kyle Rogan and Jesse Parent, two of Utah's most prolific and experienced improvisers, who perform high-stakes, character-driven improv

Keilly & Roeters – experienced Los Angeles improvisers Suzanne Keilly (Groundlings, Acme Comedy Theatre) and Kirsten Roeters (Improv Olympic, the Milkman's Other Kids) who teamed up last year and created a show of sketch comedy

The Kihckercast Project – solo offshoot of New York City-based improv troupe in which Topping Haggerty improvises emotionally charged and tragically funny characters and songs

Kick the Squirrel – Portland, Ore., specialists in longform improv, including their original format "The Bar," focused on random people sitting on bar stools who tell us who they really are

Massive Creativity – Houston improv troupe founded by MacArthur Antigua (Tight) and specializing in longform

Mavervol's Space Island – solo improv work by Marty Barrett, a Los Angeles-based writer and performer

Mild Dementia – small Dallas troupe that shoots beyond traditional sketch comedy and improvisation with subversive ideas and surreal aesthetic to create what has been described as a "variety show for metaphysicians"

Mod 27 – Palm Beach, Fla., quintet of improvisers dedicated to longform

PUNCH DRUnk Comedy – Dallas troupe infamous for a no-holds-barred approach that is frequently rude, crude, and outrageously funny

The Tiny Bandeleros – eight-member troupe based in Los Angeles that uses three opening lines of dialogue from movie scripts to spin a longform narrative around seemingly unrelated subjects