Blog & Buzz

NEXT ROUND OF IMPROV CLASSES: The next round of improv classes is starting up March 22th. If you register by March 15th, you’ll still pay the usual $150 price. After March 15th, prices go up to $175. So register by March 15th and save $25.
Improv 101 Saturdays 2:30pm – 4:30pm March 27 – May 15
Improv 201 Wednesdays 8pm – 10pm March 24 – May 12
Improv 301 Wednesdays 6pm – 8pm March 24 – May 12
Improv 401 Mondays 6pm – 8pm March 22 – May 10
Improv 601 Mondays 8pm – 10pm March 22 – May 10
Improv Singing III Saturdays 12pm – 2pm March 27 – May 15
To register or for more information visit our website.

MERLIN WORKS IMPROV MIXER: It’s already time to mix, mingle, play and audition again at Merlin Works. Along with our regular instructor-led warm-up and scene work jam, it will also serve as open auditions for upcoming Gnap! Theater Projects shows and troupes. Sunday March 14th at 2pm – 4pm at SVT.

HEIST!: See our crack team of improvisers pull off a the crime of a lifetime. Expect elaborate schemes, special skills, desperate men, and double-crossing deals. But be careful, while they lift your spirits, they just might steal your heart. This original format developed by the graduates of the Merlin Works Institution for Improvisation Narrative Longform Series will debut in the Saturday Night Special at Salvage Vanguard Theatre March 6, 13, and 27, 2010.

IMPROV SINGING GRADUATION SHOW: Come watch a full cast (13 people!) sing and dance their way through two full length musicals. For each musical, half the cast is the ensemble, doing back up singing, dancing, and characters, while the other half takes the leads in the story. In the second half of the show, they switch places and do it all over again. A live musician accompanies the completely improvised characters, songs, dances, and stories. Friday March 12, 10pm at SVT.

DUSK GOES NATIONAL:“Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica” has been accepted to the Chicago Improv Festival April 19 – 25 and we’ll be performing in New York City at the Tank Theater July 9, 10, and 11. To get ready for our trips, we’re going to be having some special fundraising performances in Austin at 10pm Friday April 9 and 16 in Austin at the Salvage Vanguard Theater. And we’ll be doing a full 5 week run again next Fall, October 22 – November 19, 2010.

Twitter: My twitter feed is up an running. So if you’re looking for someone to follow and you’d like to get updates about shows, classes, and what I’m cooking for dinner, look for my username ShanaMerlin.

IMPROV BLOG: AMSTERDAM AND ANNIVERSARY: If you want to read all the recaps on my trip to the Amsterdam International Improv Festival and the Merlin Works and Gnap! Second Anniversary Weekend at SVT, read all about it on my improv blog.

T-SHIRTS FOR SALE: Merlin Works now has stickers and T-Shirts for sale. Designed by the fabulous Jon Bolden, these shirts are printed on American Apparel Tri-Blend fabric: comfy from day one. And check out the great model!

LAFF: The Fourth Annual LAFF: Ladies Are Funny Festival, is coming May 5 – 8, 2010 to the Salvage Vanguard Theater. The schedule is set and this year is bigger than ever. We’re expanding the festival a day and moving in to the larger space at SVT. Plus we have our fundraiser: the Ladies Underhand Skillet Toss (LUST) April 18th. Keep an eye out for announcements about our amazing lineup of all-female improv and sketch troupes, one-woman shows, dance troupes, stand-ups, variety acts, anything funny as long as it’s a live performance by females.

INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS at the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE and the LONG CENTER: The scripted 1930’s science fiction radio drama I was touring the country with last year is now a comic book and a live action graphic novel. I’ll be performing in 10 minute epsiodes every month at the Alamo Drafthouse before a movie and this Fall I’ll be performing the full show in the Dell Concert Hall at the Long Center For the Performing Arts.

GNAP! SHOWS AT SVT: Gnap! Theater Projects is rocking through their 2010 Season. It’s The FamilyFridays and Saturdays through March 13 at 8pm The Saturday Night Special, Saturdays at 10pm in March will feature Merlin Works Institute Graduates performing Heist!. 1st Fridays is No Shame Theater, an open mike performance series.Apocalypse! runs March 26 – April 17. For tickets and show information go online.