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RAISING AUSTIN: CAROLYN LINDELL Improv Troupe is Great Fun for Kids Whoever heard of comedy improv for children? Well, I hadn't, until a friend mentioned the Flying Theater Machine, an Austin troupe that performs silly skits, songs and games aimed for kids — all for a decent price. The troupe, which performs 2 p.m. Sundays at the downtown Hideout Theatre, is a group of improvisation actors who can spin a story any which way, taking wild suggestions from the kids in the audience and giving everyone a pretty good laugh. In their most recent show, "Fairly Silly Fairy Tales," the actors do speeded up versions of fairy tales, and the children fill in the blanks for certain story elements, sort of like Mad Libs comes to life. At an August performance, improv actor Jessica Arjet started out the 50-minute show by explaining how the improv works – and that the kids could be called on to come on stage or shout out ideas. "There is no right answer," she said, and the children caught on pretty quickly. For the first fairy tale, Arjet asked the kids to shout out their favorite story; someone called out "Little Red Riding Hood." Then she asked for suggestions to change it around. The red riding hood became an orange crown. Instead of a basket of goodies, a kid shouted out "basket of chairs." What? The wolf became a pig and instead of visiting grandma's house, the heroine would visit a cow. Nothing was too outlandish, and then the troupe, which had five performers that day, went to work, grabbing a few hats and props that hang on racks right onstage. Up stepped an actress, who had slipped into a muumuu, saying, "Man, I feel like a cow." "Can I have another milkshake, Grandma?" asks the actress wearing the crown. The woodcutter barges in, and they stave off a pig attack with a milkshake, and everyone lives happily ever after. The next fairy tale was "Sleeping Beauty," where a cat puts a curse on Sleeping Beauty so she will prick her finger on a curtain and must eat pie for 100 years until a dragon saves her. Arjet, the dragon, wearing a green swimming-pool noodle for a tail, vows to end the curse, so all can eat healthy again, and the king quips, "Truly, you are a green dragon." Somehow, they always manage to put an ending on their stories, which are very short, and the kids giggle like crazy. There were several other segments, including the funniest skit, when two children and two adults came on stage and were instructed to move the limbs of two actors, who responded to the movements, and ended up with a slow motion chase of a chef accused of stealing ingredients. The theater, which is upstairs above the Hideout coffee house, is small, seating about 50. Even though the house was full, the kids could see all the action. The sillier it got, the better the laughs for this attentive crowd of youngsters. In the audience, I spotted an acquaintance, Corinne Arles, with her husband and two kids, ages 2 and 5. Arles later said her family had seen the Flying Theater Machine at least a half-dozen times. "We hardly do any television or movies, so it's another way for kids to engage," Arles said. "On a hot Sunday, for us it was a great thing to do." The Flying Theater Machine started in October, after Arjet, who also works as the clown Penelope Foolish, talked with other improv actors who are parents. "We thought we should have improv for kids, mostly because we wanted some of our kids to be able to see our shows," said Arjet, 40, a mother of two. "We all thought, 'Let's do that, let's make it happen.' " The lineup has gone through changes, but the performers I saw were Arjet, Maggie Maye, Paige Hadziselimovic, Gene Joe and the especially quick-witted Matt Pollock. Dario Konjicija and children's singer/ukulele player Laura Freeman also perform with the group. Arjet said she knows of comedy improv for children in only a few other places, such as Houston and New York City, so Austin is lucky to have the Flying Theater Machine, which has been gaining a steady audience. Some audiences are more timid than others, Arjet said, but the kids always throw out funny ideas. "They come up with wonderful stuff. They're so creative," she said. "We say it's perfect for kids age 4 to 10 and pretty fun for everyone else." The improv show is a simple family outing that doesn't require too much time or money (tickets are $5 apiece), but entertaining and different enough that it's worth wrangling the kids into the car. Sunday is the last fairy tales themed show; the Flying Theater Machine will start back again Oct. 12 with a "Monster Families" theme, in time for Halloween. Regular Raising Austin contributor Carolyn Lindell is a freelancer writer and mother of two. Flying Theater Machine Where:Hideout Theatre and Coffee House, 617 Congress Ave. When: 2 p.m. Sunday. A new series starts up on Oct. 12. Cost:$5 (babies free) Information: www.flyingtheater machine.com Contact:971-3311; e-mail ftm@arjet.net |