Improv Troupe, Available Cupholders, Returns To Sarasota For Special Residency

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) has announced that Sarasota Improv Festival favorites, Available Cupholders, will return to the Gulf Coast the first weekend of June for a special residency. The Austin and Los Angeles-based improv comedy group is known for performing shows that combine Theater and Improvisation, frequently in formats that are challenging and ever-changing.

During their time at FST, the group will perform two distinct improvised comedy shows on Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4, at 7:30PM each night in FST's Bowne's Lab.

Tickets are $20 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000. The group will also lead three workshops for students of all experience levels on Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5. Enrollment is $35 per workshop. Those interested in discovering their own creative spontaneity can register online at FloridaStudioTheatre.org, or by calling Pamela Smith, Education Administrator, at (941) 366-1350.

For almost twenty years, Available Cupholders have brought their distinct style of narrative improv to festivals and improvisational theatre companies around the world, including Boom Chicago (Amsterdam), Annoyance Theatre (Chicago), and Impro Theatre (Los Angeles). The group has never missed a Sarasota Improv Festival in the event's eleven-year history. Available Cupholders even founded the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in their native city of Austin, TX.

"As we begin to build our Improv schedule back, the biggest hole this summer is the fact that, this year, there is no Sarasota Improv Festival," said Will Luera, FST's Director of Improv. "We know how much the festival means to our community and improv fans in the area, so we wanted to bring back a Festival favorite for a special weekend-long residency. We immediately thought of Available Cupholders-their quick wit and unpredictable sense of humor is openly welcomed and appreciated by Sarasota audiences."

On Friday, June 3, the group will perform Fakespeare: Improvised Shakespeare, a never-before-seen show in which four expert improvisers pit their theatrical training against their comedy training to improvise a full-length show in the style of the one-and-only William Shakespeare. All-new characters, dialogue, plots, and more will keep the performers on their toes. To make things more interesting, select audience members-from the comfort of their seats-will decide when each player switches into and out of Shakespearean performance style throughout the show.

On Saturday, June 4, the four members of Available Cupholders will have to draw on their decades of experience creating both award-winning comedy and theatre to improvise a full-length play-completely from scratch. Using only one suggestion of a made-up play title from the audience, the team will create a full world of rich characters, relationships, plots, dialogue, intrigue, dramatic glances, and all the comedic lip-biting tension one show can take.

During their residency, Available Cupholders will lead three special workshops focused on building stage presence, creating a powerhouse improv group, and learning how to set up scenes with exciting new twists. All three workshops are suitable for beginners who are interested in dipping their toes into the exciting, inventive world of improv as well as more advanced participants.

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