Fresh off of performing and leading workshops at the Improv Wins conference in Austin, Stupid Time Machine is hitting the road once again to perform at two of the country’s best sketch comedy festivals.

This weekend, Stupid Time Machine is at Chicago Sketchfest.
We’re playing at stage 733 at the following times:
• Fri, Jan 12th – 8pm @ The Box
• Sat Jan 13th – 8pm @ The Box

Next weekend, we’re at San Francisco Sketchfest playing at
• Fri, Jan 20th, 10pm @ The Dark Room Theater
• Sat Jan 21st , 8:00pm @ The Dark Room Theater 

Here is STM’s latest video, Turning Points: The Horse.

If you are watching us and want to know more about what we do, check out our theater The New Movement at tnmcomedy.com.  With locations in New Orleans, Austin, and Houston we aim to transform the gulf coast into the next great comedy frontier outside of NY, Chicago, and LA.  Here’s a sample of  two badass upcoming TNM events:

• Megaphone Marathons (July)  – an open improv marathon held over three consecutive weekends in all three New Movement cities.
• The Megaphone Marathons Training Camp (July) – a one-week summer improv intensive with a rigorous focus on stage time.  Spending their days in classes and nights performing for paying audiences, training camp participants end the week with a festival performance at the Megaphone Marathons. Email TNMcjhunt@gmail.com for more info.

It’s here, folks.  Hell Yes Fest has touched down in New Orleans.

Beginning on Weds, Nov 9th, Hell Yes Fest will bring New Orleans four days of non-stop comedy including local talent and national fame from NYC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Austin, Houston, The New Movement, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and iO.   Held each year in Austin in April and New Orleans in November, Hell Yes Fest seeks out some of the nations most talented comedians, improvisers, and sketch groups, and brings them to our respective badass cities for four days of greatness.  The concept is simple: There is no call for submissions. There is no selection committee. There is only awesome comedy shows and parties. Hell Yes.
For more info on performers, visit: www.hellyesfest.com

You can catch Stupid Time Machine performing in Hell Yes Fest’s Thursday night improv mini-marathons.  8pm @ The Shadowbox Theater.

With the holiday travel season approaching, many of us anxiously await those dreaded travel days filled with impossibly long airport lines, invasive pat downs, exorbitant airline fees, and so much else that has stolen the joy from the flying experience.  In an effort to brighten up the many hours wasted in transit, we bring you this edition of

JUST PLANE FUN  

When on airplane, here are some fun things you can do to make your fellow passengers…

1.) …Terrified

After the plane reaches a comfortable cruising altitude and the peanuts/pretzels have been handed out, stand up from your seat suddenly.  With a shriek, hold your backpack over your head.  While nervously fumbling with the zipper to open the bag, proclaim “attention infidels, prepare to die.”

• Variation:
  Continue the sentence, “prepare to die…of laughter.”  At this point, produce from your bag a pair of comically large novelty glasses. Put them on and stumble about the cabin, groping the air in front of you as if you cannot see well in these glasses.  The audience will quickly come to love this and may even begin chiming in “it’s the glasses; take off the glasses; they are too big for you.”  Also you won’t get arrested.

2.) …Uncomfortable   

After the plane has reached a comfortable cruising altitude and the cabin has grown incredibly quiet, pull your legs up to your chest so that you are bunched into the fetal position in your seat.  Turning away from the neighboring passengers in your row (preferably towards the window) announce in a soft quivering voice just loud enough be clearly audible in the silence of the cabin: “I’m going to cum.”  Then maintain 100% eye contact with anyone who turns to look at you.

• Variation:
  Add a hooded sweatshirt

3.) …Excited

After the plane has reached a comfortable cruising altitude and the passengers have enjoyed their complementary in-flight beverage service, stand up suddenly in the main aisle of the plane.  In one grand motion, throw into the air a handful of one-dollar-bills that you have taken from your wallet, and in your best game-show-announcer voice, declare, “ladies and gentlemen, welcome to money plane!!” (be sure to stretch out the vowel sound in the last word so it is more like “plaaaaaaaane”)  Then sit down.  While people may be confused about what is happening, they are guaranteed to be excited.  It is the confusion itself that will excite them the most.  “Am I going to get money on this plane?  Is the plane made of money?  Whatever it is, I love it!!”

• Variation:
  After throwing the money into the air and making your announcement, remain in the isle and begin to clap.
  Continue clapping until 70-85 percent of the other passengers are clapping.
  Then put on the glasses. 

Enjoy your flight.

Love,

Stupid Time Machine

This is a big week.  Our good friends Chris Trew and Tami Nelson have just moved back to New Orleans.  In addition to being our friends, they are badass improvisors and the genius brains who started The New Movement.   Having built TNM up into an improv juggernaut in Austin, they have returned to their home city to join us in building the comedy theater this city deserves.  It is ON in NOLA.  And, boy, have we got a packed week for you.

AIRSEX
Tue, July 12th (10pm – 1am)
@ One Eyed Jack’s (615 Toulouse Street) 

Airsex: Shhhh....its a secret

After the weekly Stupid Time Machine show at the Howling Wolf Den, head on over to One Eye’d Jacks for Airsex.
What is Airsex, you ask?  Well, it’s a lot like Air Guitar, but instead of rocking out with an imaginary guitar, you’re making sweet and/or filthy love with an imaginary sex partner. You choose a clip of music, you show up in whatever sort of wardrobe you like, and you come up on stage and show everyone how you do it. Or how you wish you could do it. Or how you once had it done to you, and oh my god was that a bad idea and while it’s embarrassing to show that act to a room of strangers, you know that you need to do it now in order to make sure that no one else falls down the same rabbit hole you got stuck inside. Or, you know, just do it however you want.  The night will be hosted by Chris Trew, and will feature a half-time act by New Orleans native and nationally touring comedian Sean Patton.

• Find out more about the rules here.
• See some video of airsex athletes here.

MEGAPHONE NIGHT
Wed, July 13th (7pm – 10pm)
@ The Shadowbox Theater  (2400 St. Claude Ave) 

Every month we host Megaphone Night – an opportunity to check out the classes, shows, and community at The New Movement.  It’s like a one night stand with improv that will leave you feeling wonderful the next morning.

7:00p: Improv Zero – Free
Our free intro-to-improv class. No experience or RSVP necessary – just show up and we’ll show you our style of improv!

8:00p: The Shootaround – Free
Our open-to-anyone improv show featuring performers from The New Movement and people who have never performed before. Seriously, just jump up and play with us!

9:30p: The Megaphone Show – $5 (or FREE if you participate in Improv Zero)
Our flagship event takes the monologues of a local celebrity and spins them into live comedy. Featuring members of Stupid Time Machine, Chris and Tami and more.

This month’s guest storyteller is Lauren Thom from Fleurty Girl!

For more info on The New Movement, visit http://nolaimprov.com/. We teach improv comedy classes and are building a full time comedy theater in NOLA.  We’re now registering summer  classes (Weds 7:00pm ) and (Sun 12:00pm).  To register or find out more, contact Tami Nelson at: tami@newmovementtheater.com or (504) 302 8264

CHRIS AND TAMI DEBUT IN NEW ORLEANS
Sat, July 16th (8:30 – 9:30)
@ The Shadowbox Theater (2400 Saint Claude Ave)

Chris and Tami are New Orleans natives who have spent the last 5 years touring the country, headlining comedy festivals and starting The New Movement in Austin, Tx. They are officially back to join the Movement already in progress in New Orleans.

This is their debut show as Nola residents. They are very excited and hope to see you there.

“A fiercely enjoyable brain warp of a time” – The Austin Chronicle

The show is $5 (free for TNM students)

We are proud to announce that later this month we will be traveling to L.A. to do a run of our sketch revue All Beepers Go to Heaven on the mainstage at iO West.

After touring this show throughout the south, and bringing it to the Chicago Sketchfest and the invitation-only Hell Yes Fest, we couldn’t be more excited to deliver our latest sketch show to the smart hungry audience of iO West.  Should you be in LA or have people there who would enjoy the show, direct them here to access tickets and more info about the show.  Part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the show will run June 22nd, 23rd, 23th, and 26th at iO West with a special Midnight performance at The Complex Theaters on June 24th.

Get a Sneak Peek (Thu, June 9th) 

Can’t make it to L.A.? No worries.  For our friends and fans in New Orleans, we will stage a sneak peek performance of All Beepers at 9pm this Thursday, June 9th at the Shadowbox Theater.   For more info, click here.

Help us get to L.A.

In order to pay for travel, renting theater space, and the various other costs associated with the tour, the members of Stupid Time Machine have been taking turns doing “odd jobs” around town. These jobs have included participating in various underground “fighting rings,” selling our blood to a number of official and unofficial “blood houses”, and allowing our teammate Mike to be filmed in a  “modeling video” .  If you’d like to help us preserve our dignity and get to LA, and win some sweet “prizes” for yourself at the same time, click here.

1.) The Megaphone Marathons
Friday, June 3rd – Saturday, June 4th (10pm – 2am)
Shadowbox Theater (2400 St. Claude Ave) 

It starts with a question.

What would happen if we took some of the best improv teams from the Megaphone family of theaters (TNM NOLA, TNM Austin, and our cousin theater the Dallas Comedy House), combined them with great teams from throughout the country, and had one big non-stop improv festival that would take place not simply in one city, but would travel to multiple cities for three consecutive weekends?

The Megaphone Marathons is the answer to that question.  The most ambitious improv festival in the history of improv festivals, the Megaphone Marathons features nearly 100 shows in 4 cities over 3 consecutive weekends.   Presented by The New Movement, Improv Wins and Studio8.net. The Marathons come to New Orleans this weekend.  Running from 10pm -2am on Friday and Saturday, the Marathons will give birth to 33 different shows right there on the floor of the Shadowbox Theater.  You better be ready for this.

• A $10 pass gets you into all shows for the night.
• Be sure to join us for the afterparty both nights at the Lost Love Lounge.

2.) Stupid Time Machine – Live at the Howlin’ Wolf
(Featuring: Level 2 Student Showcase)
Tuesday, June 7th (8:30pm)
The Howlin’ Wolf Den (907 S. Peters Street)

Join us Tuesday, June 7th for our new weekly show at the Howlin’ Wolf Den.  Performing every Tuesday at 8:30pm, we kick off the night with a new opening act each week.

On this night the show will be opened by our newest batch of level two graduates from the TNM Nola Training Center.

They will be performing under the team name ‘The Philosophers’.  We hope to god they will be wearing pants.

The Philosophers

Back from a great weekend at the Dallas Comedy House, we are gearing up for a big week next week.  Here is some info on all the great goings-on.

1.) Our New Spot

For those of you long-time STM fans, you know that our weekly improv show has had many homes over the years: the Avenue Pub, the Factory, that burnt-out dining car down at the train yard, the underwater lego fortress, etc.  Next Tuesday, our weekly show moves on up to the Den at The Howlin’ Wolf.

With the mainstage of Howlin’ Wolf hosting some of the biggest music acts in the city, the Den is a more intimate venue inside the club, complete with a full bar, food, and now your favorite improv group.   So join us and lets get back to proving that Tuesday’s don’t have to be the second shittiest day of the week.

Tuesday 5/24  (8:30pm)
The Den at The Howlin’ Wolf
907 South Peters street| in the Warehouse District.
Doors open at 8:00pm (Tickets: $5)

2.) Megaphone Night and Classes in May

We are now registering spring and summer improv classes with The New Movement.  We are currently enrolling our next class set to begin in June, and for those of you who can’t wait until then, we may have a few spaces in a class set to begin on Saturday May 21st.  If you are interested in either of those, you can reserve your space in the class by contacting Tami Nelson: Tami@newmovementtheater.com or (504) 302 8264

Interest in trying improv? Well come on out and get a taste at:

Megaphone Night
Thursday, May 26th (7-10pm)
Shadowbox Theater (2400 St. Claude Ave)

Held once a month, Megaphone Night is a 3-hour improv extravaganza featuring

Improv Zero: a free improv class

The Shootaround: a free jam where anyone can play

The Megaphone Show: Our trademark show presented by an all star cast of TNM improvisers and a special guest storyteller.

This month our special guest storyteller is The Local Skank.  This all-girl (one guy) ska/pop/punk band has been burning it up in New Orleans and is just about to release a new calendar and feature-packed DVD before hitting the road on a tour of the east coast.   You will fall in love with them in a way that will linger with you long after you’ve moved on and started a happy new relationship.

Then join us for drinks, delicious Vietnamese food, and hushed suggestive conversation at the after party  at the Lost Love Lounge.

3.) Shawn Dugas is a genius

Props to our good friend and TNM NOLA student Shawn Dugas who just WON on last night’s episode of Wheel of Fortune.  Shawn is a genius and master of luck who has made us all feel like winners by association.  He will be at Megaphone Night dancing as he did on the final minutes of the broadcast.   It is the type of dancing that will make you want to rip off your shirt and have him right there.  Ladies, this is what he looks like.   And this is what he looks like through the keyhole of a department store dressing room.

Rested up after last month’s performances at Hell Yes Fest in Austin, STM is hitting the road once again for the lone star state.  This time we are traveling to Dallas to present our sketch revue All Beepers Go To Heaven to the uncannily attractive audiences at the Dallas Comedy House.

We will be performing at 8:00pm on Friday (5/13) and Saturday (5/14).  On Saturday afternoon, we will be teaching a sketch-writing workshop at DCH open to improvisers and non-improvisors alike.  This workshop will focus on the process of turning your ideas into stage-ready sketches, and using “comedy math” and “the game” to refine the funny within your sketches.  You can find a description of this weekend’s shows and workshop, learn more information, and buy tickets here.

If you are in Dallas, we’ll see you at the show. You will dig it.   You will dig the Dallas Comedy House even more.  Decidedly the best comedy venue in Dallas, DCH is a gorgeous theater that serves as home to a packed line up of great shows, mega talented performers, and a badass improv comedy training center.  Check em out here.

If you are unable to make it to the show and still want to be part of the action, hit us up on twitter @STMcomedy.   Got suggestions of great rib houses, bars, shrines to the Confederacy, and other places we must see while in exotic Dallas?  Got things you want us to take pictures of us doing, people you want to dare Derek to enter into a long-term relationship with?  Hit us up on the twitter.  Also, here is a link to a live private webcam we will place in our hotel bathroom so you can see us changing, bathing, and whatnot.

love,
STM

PS: stay tuned for updates on our new weekly improv show in New Orleans.

Dear people,
You have been patiently waiting, and now your time has come: The New Movement (TNM Nola) is currently enrolling its next level one improv class set to begin at the end of the month. The class is filling up quickly, so contact us to reserve your spot. Tami Nelson at: tami@newmovementtheater.com or (504) 302 8264

Sample the goods: Improv Zero, free class on April 13th

Weds, April 13th (7-10pm) at the Shadowbox Theater (2400 St. Claude Ave)

We get it: taking an improv class seems totally nerve racking. That’s why once a month we offer Improv Zero, a free introduction to improv class at TNM! On Wednesday, April 13th come out to Megaphone Night, a 3 hour improv extravaganza featuring Improv zero, and some other great opportunities to learn, play, and watch quality improv comedy.

At 7pm: join Improv Zero, a free intro to improv class designed for anyone with an imagination.

At 8pm: stay for The Shootaround, an informal improv jam where anyone and everyone can play.

At 9pm: Watch our trademark show, the Megaphone Show. An all star cast of TNM improvisers is joined by a special guest storyteller.

This show’s special guest is the Notorious B.E.M., Ben Mintz. Writer and lover extraordinaire, Ben has captured our hearts as the Editor of the NOLA Defender. With the tag line “Blood. Alcohol. Content”, the NOLA Defender is a powerhouse online daily paper, bringing you the sharpest coverage in New Orleans news and culture. With their mix of events coverage, music and theater reviews, searing editorial and original columns like “Ask Dead Huey Long,” the NOLA Defender is better than anything we’ve ever seen on paper, and perhaps the dopest New Orleans alt daily yet to sprout. Come see Ben, and check out the NOLA Defender at www.noladefender.com

Click here to see more of the NOLA defender goodness

Find out more at: www.NOLAimprov.com
RSVP on Yelp at: http://www.yelp.com/events/new-orleans-free-improv-class-with-the-new-movement
Click here to see pics from last Megaphone Night

On Monday: We spirited nationally renowned comics Kyle Kinane, Sean Patton, Rogelio Perez, and Chris Trew into the city as part of The New Movement’s #Hashtag Comedy Tour.  Once here, they joined forces with our very own Dane Facheux and Shawn Dugas to grace New Orleans with a night packed with the level of pro comedy this city hasn’t seen since the 1992 New Orleans debut of  Paul Reiser’s  one man movement piece “Still I Reise.”

On Tuesday: We introduced the world to our theater’s very first student team, Dance Crisis.  With Stupid Time Machine opening for them, they packed the house, and proceeded to blow the roof off, leaving us in a pile of rubble and breathless applause.

This is Dance Crisis

On Thursday: We headed to Austin for the first ever Hell Yes Fest, where Dance Crisis once again exploded brains and Stupid Time Machine opened for the esteemed Tim and Micah Project’s show Versus.

It is nice to be in on something early –  before everyone else discovers it.  There are certain times when you just know –  you pop in an album of a little known band your friend has lent you, you taste a  new edible concoction whipped up by a street-side food truck, you witness a no-name comedian at a-hole-in-the- wall open mic – and even though this is your first time experiencing it, you feel its potential energy and know right away that  ”this is going to be big.”

If you want to know how that feels again, go to Hell Yes Fest.  Or, better yet, go to anything The New Movement is doing.  Whether it is a free improv class, the debut of a student team, or a national invitation-only comedy festival, the feeling is the same: this is going to be huge.

Hell Yes Fest comes to New Orleans in November.  Be there.