PIP on TV

This March, the PIP will literally be trying something over our heads. Like in traditional puppet television, we will be using a video and monitor system and puppeteering above our heads to isolate the puppets on TV, but doing a LIVE PERFORMANCE.

This new technology will give us the freedom to try some things you haven't yet seen from the PIP. A core team of PIP veterns will anchor this show, and we've got a few new faces to fill out the rest of the ensemble.

The cast will use audience suggestions in a series of improvised games and scenes. Each show will be unscripted, unvarnished, and unduplicated -- with a new show each week!

DEETS

8pm Thurs in March, headlining "The Threefer" (dark for SXSW, 3/17) @ the Hideout Theatre

ENSEMBLE

Sara Farr has studied and performed a wide variety of different kinds of improv since 2005. In January 2009, Sara became excited about the idea of improvising with puppets and created the Puppet Improv Project to see where it would lead. Now in it's third year, as the PIP begins to explore Live Television, Sara is super excited to be hosting "PIP on TV".		Andreas Fabis moved to Austin from Germany in 2005. Here he saw his first improv show and was immediately hooked. It took a few more years before he took his first improv class, ended up on stage and became a Gnap Theater Projects company member. Andreas is a fan of intricate story telling and genre longform.		Brad Hawkins hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but loves Austin like a native son. Brad previously worked the stage as a slam poet and stand-up comic before taking improv classes at the Hideout. By day, he fixes computers. By night he can be seen at improv venues around town, performing with the PIP, Three Hot Chicks, or just watching his friends on stage.
Emily Breedlove grew up loving music and puppets. She pursued an opera career as far as a solo gig at Carnegie Hall, then moved to Austin. She studied at Coldtowne theater, then was cast in Gnap!'s One More Night and Guilds of Steel, as well as the troupes Blink and Techno Forest of Doom. A vetern of puppet improv, Emily joins the cast of "PIP on TV".		Gene Joe discovered improv at age 12 when he and his friends were assigned to write and put on a play. They only wrote 2 pages before deciding to make up the rest on the spot.  It was a success; the teacher begrudgingly gave them an "A-". Years later, Gene discovered people improvised plays intentionally. Now he regularly does on-the-spot shows in theatres and festivals around the U.S.		Jayme Ramsay is veteran puppeteer, having performed with the Trouble Puppet Theatre. She makes her improv debut as part of the "PIP on TV" ensemble cast.
Jessica Salinas been studying improv since 2009. It is the joy of her life! She played Mrs. Rosewater in ACC's production of 'Careful as Mice', 2009 She spends her days as the Director of The Montessori Center, a preschool for children ages 2 - 6.		Josh Gill has been trained at Coldtowne Theatre and Hideout Theater. He preforms with Battlestar Gillacktucka; Oh, Science!, Nice Astronaut; Dr. Doctor; The Varsity; & PIP. He is currently accepting all challengers.		Kim Coxis a fan of puppets and improv and playing -- all of which make her a great addition to the "PIP on TV" ensemble cast.
Lisa Jackson is a faculty member at ColdTowne Theater.  She has been performing improv for 5 years and can currently be seen playing with Battlestar Gillacktucka, Nice Astronaut, Austin Secrets, Stool Pigeon and PIP. A veteran of puppet improv, Lisa joins the cast of "PIP on TV".		Menelaos Prokos, originally from Athens, Greece, is a newly-adopted Austinite who found his love for improv and puppets after having dabbled with just about anything artistic during his long-term travels all around the world. When not on stage, he is either making a living through concert and event photography, or is jumping out of no-so-perfectly-good airplanes. He is fluent in Greek, English, Spanish and French and can count his fingers in Mandarin.		Topping Haggerty, who greatly enjoys animating inanimate objects, is a New Yorker, a San Franciscan, and an Austinite all rolled into one. She has performed and directed improv for many years, traveled many places, and is adorable in an enigmatic sort of way. She is currently a member of Gnap! Theater Projects, The Dancy Street D’Orchestra, and Comedy Sportz. A vetern of puppet improv, Topping will be playing with the ensemble of "PIP on TV".