Austin On Stage
Austin Variety Show to Be Broadcast Locally by KBVO-TV, Starting January 10th
For the past few months, the vaudeville-styled Austin Variety Show has been performed and videotaped with a live audience for television in a cabaret setting at Dillinger*illa Studios. Featuring live music, comedy, performers, and audience participation games, the production will begin airing on KBVO - My Austin TV, beginning January 12th.
The production is the brainchild of [austin swim]'s Troy Dillinger, an award-winning filmmaker and Austin musician for more than 25 years. The production is co-hosted by Second City alum Tom Booker, founder of The Institution Theater.
Each episode includes live burlesque acts, nationally known comedy acts, local music acts, specialty acts, and game shows where the audience members can win prizes. In addition, topical comedy video segments are played between each act.
The previously taped episodes will air every Sunday night from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. The one-hour show will be available to subscribers of Time Warner Cable Digital, Direct TV, AT&T, GrandeCom, and Suddenlink.
The channel locations are:
- Time Warner Digital Cable, Ch. 1525;
- Direct TV, Ch. 51;
- AT&T, Ch. 7 (HD 1007);
- GrandeCom, Ch. 18 (HD 318);
- Suddenlink, Ch. 15 (HD 115)
The Austin Variety Show displays national-level Austin talent to audiences both in-and-outside of the Austin area through its television broadcast and through web content and live webcasts. While the show is being broadcast locally, it will also be shopped to cable networks for national broadcast syndication.
Lin Television - Austin, home of KXAN and KNVA-The CW Austin, recently launched KBVO - My Austin TV, in order to provide Austin's digital cable viewers an opportunity to view local programming presented alongside popular national programming. Organizers said the partnership will also give Austin television audiences an opportunity to discover The Austin Variety Show before national cable audiences have the chance later in 2010.
Dillinger*illa Studios are located at 3708 Woodbury Drive, near Congress Avenue and Ben White by Ruta Maya Coffeehouse. Tickets for the monthly show and taping are $10 for general admission. For more information and tickets, call (512) 773-5697 or visit www.AustinVarietyShow.com.
Austin360.com
TV Blog - Local Variety
Lin Television’s KBVO (My Austin TV) will present a new, locally-produced variety show from the creators of Austin Swim (the live, Adult Swim viewing party formerly held weekly around town).
Dubbed “The Austin Variety Show,” the program, taped monthly before a live, South Austin studio audience, features music, comedy, performance artists and live audience games. Local businesses provide audience prizes and giveaways.
“The Austin Variety Show,” airing Sundays from 11 p.m.-midnight on Time Warner, Direct TV, U-verse, Grande and Suddenlink, is co-hosted by Austin musician and filmmaker Troy Dillinger and Second City alum Tom Booker. For more information, check out the show’s Web site or My Austin TV.
---- Dale Roe
SanFrancisco Examiner
Austin Variety Show strikes gold!
Dillinger*illa Studios is the newest addition to a warehouse area turned entertainment district, down one block from Ruta Maya. The night of Austin Variety's third episode, people in the ticket line were wearing silk nighties, slippers, or plaid flannel pajamas while toting cases of beer. The $10 admission price - $8 if you wore p.j.s - covered drinks, hot food, and over two hours of entertainment. The drink and food value alone is getting crowds to the door, but the quality of performers being booked keeps the audience glued to their seats.
The themed Pajama Party kicked-off with Ruby Collins' stand-up act, which was full of raunch and dictionary definitions for things like 'gorilla mask'. Hosts and comedic pros, Troy Dillinger and Tom Booker, transitioned between the performers and funny films with self-depricating humor and a contagious sense of enthusiasm. They pulled the audience into the mix with The
Mating Game, an unscripted blush-enducing version of popular dating shows.
John Pointer did the unthinkable with a guitar: he played it like a talented musician with his own point of view. Even his few cover songs were so far from regurgitated it took a few lines before some people realized they weren't originals. The mix of reverb, body and foot thumping, beat boxing, and incredible playing were enough to make one think there was a full band on stage. Recognizing such extensive talents might come across as douche-y, Pointer slid humor into the show as well and playfully mocked his own band-standing.
The closing act was burlesque by Goldie Candela, but the highlight of the evening was Tom Booker emulation of Goldie. He tore the pajama top and bottom from his body to the sway of sultry music. Just when the audience thought he would go no further, he went full birthday-suit and ran from the stage in hairy-back glory, bringing tears of laughter to many an eye.
The Austin Variety Show is performed live every month, broadcast in live webcast, and taped for later viewing enjoyment. Visit their website for performance dates, webstream link, and ticketing information.
From NowPlayingAustin.com
Keep Austin Artsy Feature: Austin Variety Show
Ed. Note: Our roving reporter, Ross Scarano interviews Austin Variety Shows co- founder, Troy Dillinger, about the latest hot event to hit the Austin Arts scene, The Austin Variety Show. After attending last months Austin Variety Show, eating amazing food, drinking free drinks and getting some special gifts from “Santa Claus,” I was hooked. Not to mention the actual show, packed crowd, amazing entertainment, or feel of connectedness among an audience of strangers. If you haven’t been, It comes highly recommended. Its silly fun, but hey, we all need some of that in our lives.– S. Gidseg
AN INTERVIEW WITH Troy Dillinger
From humble beginnings, the Austin Variety Show has become one of those Austin-specific events that keeps our city unique and, of course, weird. Not only weird – televised, too. As of January 10th, the Austin Variety Show is now a publicly aired event thanks to the good people at KBVO-TV. I spoke with the Variety Show’s co- creator and MC Troy Dillinger to get the lowdown on AVS.
Ross Scarano: So what is the Austin Variety Show?
Troy Dillinger: It’s a live event that’s filmed to be a television show. It’s old-style, almost vaudville, where there’s music, comedians, audience participation games, burlesque, free food and drinks – it’s a whole night for just ten bucks.
RS: How did it start?
TD: I used to do a live fan event for [Cartoon Network’s] Adult Swim. We’d get together with a band, and we’d project Adult Swim on a big screen every Sunday night. We had so much fun that we added a comedian, then we gave away prizes from local businesses, then that turned into a game show – next thing you know people were more interested in the two hours of entertainment before Adult Swim than they were in Adult Swim. So that part got kicked to the curb, and we’ve just been doing the live event, the variety show.
RS: I’m familiar with Adult Swim, and I don’t think I’d be wrong in saying that it has a very specific brand of humor – does the Variety Show have a similar sensibility?
TD: If you like Adult Swim, you’ll like what we do, but we lean a little more towards dirty jokes and fart jokes than the you’re-not-cool-enough-to-get-this type humor that Adult Swim is known for. We want everybody to get the joke.
RS: How did AVS become a television show?
TD: Well, if anybody was still putting stuff like this on the air, I wouldn’t need to do it, but nobody is. I grew up watching things like the variety show on TV, and it was such an amazing experience for me as a kid that putting AVS on the air seemed like the next logical step. You know, we had everything already in place but the cameras.
RS: What can people expect from this Saturday’s show?
TD: They can expect the most fun that they’ve had in quite some time. I know that sounds like a pretty bold statement, but we’ll back it up.
"So much fun!"
Review posted by: Artsfan from austin, Dec 22, 2009
I had the most incredible amount of fun at this event. When we arrived the line was already out the door, and the vibe was extremely upbeat. After enjoying an amazing dinner and some Rose's Salsa ( one of my favs) I got a glass of wine ( all free, mind you) and then settled in to a wonderful night of entertainment. Dirty Sanatas pre show was hysterical, the performers were really entertaining and the audience was more then excited to be there and participate. Highly Recommended. Dinner/Drinks/Entertainment/Supporting local businesses? Yes please!
"Christmas Fun - Austin style"
Review posted by: Jen from Austin TX, Dec 13, 2009
It was a cold, rainy and foggy night so it was super to see Austin folks turning out in full force to support some homegrown fun. The place was packed with enthusiatic fans, many dressed for the season and enjoying themselves. Brian Gutman, the featured comic had some hilarous bits- the one comparing TV to a library was very funny- my husband loved the one about the smart car. The band of the night was Star*Star a Stones tribute - they sounded great and the lead singer Jonny Burke was definitely channeling his inner Jagger!
University of Texas Daily Texan July 27, 2009
Drunk crowd laps up the obscenity laced music, comedy of 'Variety Show'
Jordan Turk - Daily Texan Staff
Just when you thought Austin was slowly bleeding out its old, unique character, a show of epic insanity designed to “bring back a little bit of what Austin used to be” pulls you out from the depths of coffee shop chains. “The Troy Dillinger Variety Show” owned Saturday night at the U.S. Art Authority, located next to Spider House.
The crowd was drunk before 9 p.m. and ready for a night of hilarity.
Hopping onto the stage, Dillinger, the host for the evening, welcomed the crowd with a smile and a lot of f-bombs.
Dillinger gets a little emotional when he starts talking about the purpose and history of the show. It’s his wish to return something unique and something completely Austin back to a city that sometimes seems to be on the brink of forgetting its identity, he said.
Starting off the variety show was the cabaret, punk, Texas-swing style band of “Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat.” Though the style combinations might sound off-putting, in reality, the band was an insane amount of fun to watch, especially the interactions of Mistress Stephanie and her boa-wearing, above-the-knee-boots-stomping, fishnets-and-lace-rocking male counterpart, “Kitty.”
After a brief interlude of Onion News Network videos, local comedian Bryan Gutmann was next to the stage. Overall, Gutmann was very funny. However, this view was not shared by the raging drunk in the third row, who cajoled and insulted him up until the very end, ruining what would have otherwise been a pleasant set.
The game-show portion of the variety show involved massive amounts of sex, exploring the spectrum of mere innuendo to full-on orgasms.
From boyfriends eating pizza off of their girlfriends’ laps to acting out a scene from a low-budget porno, sex was everywhere, and it was hilarious. For the final round, contestants were told to act out their best fake orgasm. Most of the men, when finished, fell to the floor. “I don’t know why all the guys keep dying after they orgasm,” Dillinger remarked on stage.
The raunchiest part of the show came when The Bat City Bombshells took to the stage. A local burlesque troop, these women knew how to work a crowd. Those who hadn’t seen pasties since Lil Kim at the Video Music Awards circa 1999 got an eye-opening surprise while watching the group perform.
The show was a blast, though those offended or not otherwise entertained by a dose of campy humor ought to stay home.
Where else in Austin can you find singing cats, comedians, game shows, and burlesque all under one roof?
The next “The Troy Dillinger Variety Show” is on Friday, August 21st at the U.S. Art Authority.
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