It would be silly, and objectively incorrect, not to include the closest thing the Hideout ever had to a house team on my Hideout love list.¹ Parallelogramophonograph is one of the best in the world, and they’ve traveled the world to prove it. 

The team started in 2005 the same way most teams do, as a group of eager new improvisers who liked each other enough to practice regularly and create their own formats. Their very name—universally shortened to “Pgraph”—was a result of a silly yes-and session early on and remains proof positive that you can be a great troupe with a ridiculous name.

Originally with six players—Kaci Beeler, Kareem Badr, Phil Aulie, Roy Janik, Valerie Ward, and Wesley Bain—Pgraph was bubbling with talent and chemistry from the start, the two essential elements to any great troupe. Wesley left the group and Phil tragically passed away. But Kaci, Kareem, Roy, and Valerie continued on and turned out to be an undeniable quartet.

Pgraph’s big break was a mainstay regular gig at Coldtowne Theater (something I’d forgotten!). They then shifted to the Hideout when two of their four members bought the place, a valid reason if there ever was one. From there they performed every Friday night for years, and it’s my personal failure that I didn’t take advantage of that opportunity more often. There’s no greater compliment for an artist than to see them perform 10 or more times and feel sad I didn’t see them more.

Pgraph has never stopped swimming, constantly innovating with new formats: dystopian sci-fi, French farce, Southern Gothic. Besides teaching and performing at perhaps dozens of festivals, in 2011 they undertook a weeks-long visit to the legendary Edinburgh Fringe.² They wrote a book of essays that I recommend to anyone. During lockdown, they consistently excelled at Zoom-prov, proving it was possible. There are other accomplishments I’ve forgotten, or never known about. On top of talent and chemistry, Pgraph has a third fundamental quality in abundance: hustle.

By a bittersweet coincidence, Pgraph celebrated its 20-year anniversary just as the Hideout’s current location was winding down. It’s still basically the same quartet, with the asterisk that Valerie Ward recently moved to New York City. Calling Pgraph a troupe to aspire to might induce crushing imposter syndrome: as I’ve said many times: when I see good improv, it makes me want to become a better improviser; when I see great improv, it makes me want to quit. 

But that’s a dumb attitude to have, and I don’t, really. “Jaws” and “Star Wars” inspired a generation of filmmakers, and Pgraph has inspired a generation of improvisers, and continues to do so. Artistically, commercially, and spiritually, they’re the living embodiment of what the Hideout Theatre stands for.

1. Austin generally doesn’t “do” house teams the way you see in Chicago/NY/LA.
2. Old-school improvisers will appreciate the humor in Mitchell Deane joining them to be their tech for the entire run.