Out of Bounds Comedy Festival 2018: Picks

August is no laughing matter … until it is. That’s in the final dog days when the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival shows up to provide a week of comic relief from the heat, politics, going back to school, whatever. We’re talking improv, sketch, and stand-up by hundreds of mirthmakers from Austin and across North America at multiple locations around town.

This year's Out of Bounds – OOB if you're using shorthand – starts Tue., Aug. 28, and winds up on Labor Day, Sept. 3, so here are a few recos for the remaining nights:

Tue., 8pm, Hideout Downstairs:
The Matriarchy (all-women Austin improv troupe), followed by a live taping of the Rooster Teeth Presents: Always Open podcast (the online phenomenon's first female-driven broadcast show hosted by Barbara Dunkelman)

Tue., 10pm, Hideout Upstairs:
Yes Anderson (Austin troupe that not has the best improv name ever but uses it to improvise stories in the style of Wes Anderson films) and Golden (Austin troupe that improvises silent stories)

Wed., 8pm, Hideout Downstairs: Escándalo! (from a sold-out run at the Hideout, the show of improvised telenovelas) and Harlequin! (five women improvise romance novels)

Wed., 9:30pm, Hideout Downstairs:
Speechless Live (speakers are given a sequence of random PowerPoint images they've never seen, told what kind of speech they're giving – TED Talk, quarterly report, app launch, or such – and have to tie it all together off the cuff; for this edition, OOB has drafted improvisers Kareen Badr and Shannon Stott and stand-ups Ky Krebs and Arielle Norman

Thu., 9:30pm, Hideout Downstairs:
Audrey Stewart (stand-up from L.A.), MAYHEM (Minneapolis improv duo), and Austin’s Girls Girls Girls doing Broad Ambition, the improvised Eighties women’s workplace musical

Fri., 7pm, Velveeta Room:
Leading the Blind (Austin-based podcast where host Arielle Norman talks to comedians about comedy goes live to interview acclaimed L.A. stand-up Ian Abramson)

Fri., 8:45pm, Hideout Downstairs:
The Wolf (a Groundlings offshoot from L.A. with Edi Patterson, Jim Rash, Jeremy Rowley, Kevin Kirkpatrick, and Mitch Silpa) and Midnight Society (longtime local troupe based at ColdTowne)

Fri., 10:30pm, Hideout Downstairs:
Night School (San Francisco troupe that covers broad educational topics in 5-minute speeches), Available Cupholders (longtime all-star Austin improv troupe), and X Plus One (improvised Forties sci-fi radio drama by a troupe from NYC)

Sat., 7pm, Institution Theater:
Teresa Lee (stand-up from L.A.), Katie Nguyen (stand-up from Portland, Ore.), Parallelogramophonograph (perennial local improv faves), and ONE (a one-hour, one-actor improvised story by Edi Patterson)

Sat., 10pm, Fallout Theater:
Kids These Days NYC sketch group with producers/contributing writers from The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Full Frontal With Samantha Bee), local heroes the Knuckleball Now, and COACH (improvisers from San Antonio)

Sat., 10:30pm, Spider House:
All-Star Sweet Pigeon featuring Aaron Behrens (Ghostland Observatory frontman provides the true stories that a stellar team of improvisers uses as a launching pad for original scenes)

Sun., 9pm, Fallout Theater:
Gina Yashere (stand-up by this correspondent from The Daily Show With Trevor Noah), Y’all We Asian (Austin’s local all-Asian American improv troupe), and Death Hammer (heavy-metal improv from Portland, Ore.)

Mon., 7pm, Hideout Downstairs:
An Evening With Tyler and Chuy … featuring Tosin (Austinites providing improvised soul), GayCo Productions (outstanding sketch comedy troupe from Chicago), and The Lottery (four audience members are chosen at random to perform with festival headliners GayCo Productions)

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For more information, visit the Out of Bounds website.