The Starter Kit Likes: SXSW Shows Movie About Improv Extraordinaires TJ and Dave

Submitted by Justin on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 4:41pm
in

Hopefully, this will be the first of many regular columns here called The Starter Kit Likes, which will talk about anything we all enjoy to one degree or another. These things can be videos, music, articles, shows, or any other random topic we all agree on. Because today is the first day of SXSW, I figured the first entry should be about an event taking place during the festival. Lucky for me, it's an event that we're all equally and incredibly (like girlish squeal) excited to see.

In the improv community, TJ and Dave, two guys you may recognize from their Sonic's commercial apperances if nothing else, are two of the most respected and admired improvisers performing today. Starting tonight, with two more shows during the festival, a feature-length documentary about their long-form narrative improvisation called "Trust Us, This Is All Made Up" makes its world premiere at the Alamo Ritz. Having seen the movie at a special screening the director, Alex Karpovsky, held at The Hideout Theatre for Austin improvisers, I can attest that the performance shown in the movie is nothing short of brilliant. It's the closest I've ever seen to what it feels like to be on stage, but with the added of luxury of an outsider's perspective. Karpovsky also does a good job of capturing an improviser's worries before stagetime and his self-criticsms afterward. What those of us here at TSK are most excited about though are TJ and Dave's upcoming appearances at the Spider House Cafe, co-sponsored by ColdTowne Theater and the Austin Improv Collective, this coming Sunday and Monday nights.

TSK's own Zach Palmer saw TJ and Dave multiple times last summer when he was in Chicago and our own Erik Adams interviewed the duo for The Onion's Austin Decider. If you like good improv, smart comedy, well-done theater, or any combo of those, you must see these guys live. That's if tickets are still available. Most of us are going to be there for Sunday's show. Maybe we'll see you there.