Double Trouble
Hero of Heroes of Comedy
RECEIVED Fri., Oct. 13, 2006
Dear Editor,
As an improviser who has been on the scene for nearly five years, I first want to say that I love both of the improv troupes recently named best troupe in the Readers Poll [“Best of Austin,” Oct. 13]. However, I feel that it is imperative to your readers and to the improv community as a whole to point out a factual error in your blurb about these troupes.
Somewhere around 1997-1998, Sean Hill started the We Could Be Heroes improv troupe, which a few years later officially changed its name to the Heroes of Comedy. The Heroes began as a small ensemble, doing shows out of the Hyde Park Theatre. In 1999, Sean built the Hideout, the coffee shop/theatre at Seventh and Colorado, and moved the Heroes to that space. Classes began being taught, and suddenly the troupe grew from seven-to-eight individuals to more than 40, with Rookie, Junior Varsity, and Varsity level members.
The Hideout, it should be noted, is now the mecca of improv in Austin. More than 20 distinct groups perform shows there Thursday-Saturday, including the Heroes of Comedy. The Heroes may no longer be a specific "troupe" like it was through about 2003, but it is the "house" comedy group at the Hideout, casting and producing such classic shows as Gorilla Theatre, 6 Degrees, Micetro, Start Trekkin', and Cops & Lawyers. Without the Hideout, the Heroes, its founder Sean Hill, and current theatre manager Andy Crouch, there might not be a Girls Girls Girls, and Coldtowne might not have found the inviting home that it now calls Austin.
The Heroes of Comedy still exists, still puts on some of the most exciting and unique comedy shows in town, and by all rights should be recognized as the oldest currently active improv troupe in Austin. And as a committed member of that group, I can tell you, they will probably hold that title for many, many years to come.
As an improviser who has been on the scene for nearly five years, I first want to say that I love both of the improv troupes recently named best troupe in the Readers Poll [“Best of Austin,” Oct. 13]. However, I feel that it is imperative to your readers and to the improv community as a whole to point out a factual error in your blurb about these troupes.
Somewhere around 1997-1998, Sean Hill started the We Could Be Heroes improv troupe, which a few years later officially changed its name to the Heroes of Comedy. The Heroes began as a small ensemble, doing shows out of the Hyde Park Theatre. In 1999, Sean built the Hideout, the coffee shop/theatre at Seventh and Colorado, and moved the Heroes to that space. Classes began being taught, and suddenly the troupe grew from seven-to-eight individuals to more than 40, with Rookie, Junior Varsity, and Varsity level members.
The Hideout, it should be noted, is now the mecca of improv in Austin. More than 20 distinct groups perform shows there Thursday-Saturday, including the Heroes of Comedy. The Heroes may no longer be a specific "troupe" like it was through about 2003, but it is the "house" comedy group at the Hideout, casting and producing such classic shows as Gorilla Theatre, 6 Degrees, Micetro, Start Trekkin', and Cops & Lawyers. Without the Hideout, the Heroes, its founder Sean Hill, and current theatre manager Andy Crouch, there might not be a Girls Girls Girls, and Coldtowne might not have found the inviting home that it now calls Austin.
The Heroes of Comedy still exists, still puts on some of the most exciting and unique comedy shows in town, and by all rights should be recognized as the oldest currently active improv troupe in Austin. And as a committed member of that group, I can tell you, they will probably hold that title for many, many years to come.
Sincerely,
Troy A. Miller
Troy A. Miller