Home Events Arts

This 10th annual festival, happening on Memorial Day weekend, features more than 30 acts from across the country. The three-venue fest, taking over the hottest stages at ColdTowne, Fallout Theatre, and the North Door, rocks a diverse showcase of America’s best live scripted comedy from acts who are on the verge of blowing up – including this year's headliners – Ego Nwodim, Amber Ruffin, Maggie Maye, UCB Characters Welcome, and Asian AF – and so many more from everywhere that's funny.

Sean and Corey are enjoying the beginning of a relationship and new home; but their dogs, Abby and Dex, are definitely not. So there are a few conflicts to deal with in the relationships of all four characters, and – you won't believe what happens next in the world premiere of this new pet-friendly comedy from Allan Baker, directed by Robert Tolaro for Ground Floor Theatre.

Well, the end of any exhibition of work by this multitalented Solomon isn't really a reason to celebrate … but you know what we mean. Gotta mark the changes somehow, right? And we're sure the artist will soon return (somewhere in Austin) with new, equally wonderful works to feast our eyes upon. Until then, OK, let's get this party started.

The winner of the 2013 Funniest Comic in Texas competition and the 2012 Funniest in South Texas competition takes the Cap City stage to new Lone Star heights.

The Austin Shakespeare company, directed by Ann Ciccolella, brings all the romance, comedy, and dramatic clashes of this Shakespeare masterpiece to life on the hillside stage at Zilker Park. This iteration of the show is set in the Belle Époque of 1890s Italy – so there will be plenty of gorgeous costumes – and, big bonus, the role of Shylock is performed by Marc Pouhé.

"Though the man telling the jokes is sitting down (he's in a wheelchair), dying is a stand-up routine in this glowingly dark, profoundly moving new play by Will Eno,” states The New York Times. From the playwright of Thom Pain (based on nothing) comes this welcome work of theatre, embodied here by Ken Webster and Maria Latiolais; directed by Mark Pickell for Capital T Theatre. And here's our review of the show's previous presentation.

The Austin Creative Art Center presents this exhibition from Rejina Thomas – a show of paintings, architectural embellishments, and monumental glasswork "using geometric form and color to convey meaning and expression, reflecting the personal by removing the glamor to deconstruct racial history."

During 2018, Medearis – known to millions as The Kitchen Diva – donated several books, manuscripts, photographs, awards, and research papers to the Carver Museum. Now, they’ve been curated and presented as this new exhibition.

The devolution of the Austin sky. Texas caves reimagined as intergalactic landscapes. The peculiar yet familiar renderings of Southern life. Behold, as artists Mae Crocker, Renee Victor, and Heidi Pitre celebrate the beauty and quirks of this land we call home.

It's the first Camiba solo show for this master of silkscreening, vinyl weaving, and graphic manipulations. It's a look into the vivid and complex machinations of a creative mind via handmade manifestations that will delight your eyes. Recommended.

Founding members of the Austin-based Black Mountain Project – Adrian Aguilera, Betelhem Makonnen, and Tammie Rubin – debut a new body of work in sculpture, photography, text, and video. Also on display at the Carver: "Re-Membering Is the Responsibility of the Living," an installation by Taja Lindley.

In what's gotta be some sort of triumph of near-future political fan fiction, the author ships up a romance between the USA's First Son and the Prince of Wales.

This show at Co-Lab's current space in Springdale General features the collaborative work of Alexis Mabry and Steef Crombach, here exploring the “do it yourself” practice of traditional women’s crafts and techniques, warping the existing perceptions of soft sculpture, found fabric, and the timeworn gambits of quilt and tapestry.

This solo exhibit featuring new work by Philip Durst might resemble the quilts of your childhood, but the artist's vibrant use of multicolored candy wrappers and cardboard soda boxes aren't conducive to a good night's sleep. In fact, we tried Googling "collage + stunning" a few times, and it was Dursts all the way down, radiating patterns of playfulness and optimism.

This new show of beautiful sculptural works by Laura Latimer is informed and inspired by the way an organism physically modifies an environment or moves to another habitat that better suits its needs. (Kind of like the way Dimension's outdoor Sculpture Park moved across the street, y'might say, and you could experience that before or after viewing this fine exhibition.)

Heidi Pitre's ink drawings on vintage library cards merge art and literature, nostalgia and history, and recycling and reusing. And here's our review of the show.

This exhibition of new work and performances by Yuliya Lanina explores the effects of trauma on the human psyche, the exhibition beginning with her signature paintings of collaged, malformed characters that later come to life in a three-channel, immersive animation. You know how some artists can burn pretty brightly? Lanina is gonna be, as usual, on fire. Recommended.

Here's a new and detailed look at the history of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain and America, showing how it transformed the homes and lives of ordinary people and how it continues to influence modern design.

Here's a show that aims to "capture the essence of new growth, new beginnings, renewed spirit and heart," as curated by Lacey Richter.

And here endeth the current season of beer-soaked operatic celebration from Local Opera Local Artists, with a program of all female-composed music including works by Lili Boulanger, Judith Weir, Chen Yi, Genevieve Vincent, Ruth Sacks, and Rain Nox – performed (performed gloriously, we'll add) by pianist Jim James, cellist Barbara George, soprano Abigail Jackson, and mezzo-soprano Liz Cass.

This is the first Reynolds Gallery show for both of these artists, and we were all like, "Hey, Natalie Frank! With a Grimm exhibition just in time for Ballet Austin's Grimm Tales based on her fantastic works!" and we barely even made note of Mr. Marsh's part of this two-person display … until we saw some stunning images showing the gorgeous and fairly chthonic "Cauldrons and Crucibles" work the man does with ceramics small and large – and then we made damned good and sure our schedule was clear for an even longer visit to this excellent Downtown venue.

The Alchemy Theatre Company presents Tracy Letts' drama exploring the life of one woman – as played by six different actresses in 11 scenes, directed here by Robert Walden.

This is the first time that the museum offers an exhibition focused solely on drawings from its permanent collection, with works by more than 40 artists who explore a wide variety of techniques.

Two new exhibitions are presented in this Downtown powerhouse of cultural expression, amplifying the inky might of PrintAustin. There's "La Huella Magistral: Homage to Master Printmakers," with a set of 19 prints paying tribute to master printmakers who inspired the artists of Consejo Gráfico, and "Mix 'n' Mash: Migration," new works by more than 200 artists. Bonus: John Patrick Cobb's "Chapel Shrine" paintings.

Here's a show celebrating the history of that Dark Knight, along with his allies and infamous villains, with 18 classic Batman comic-book cover images produced as screenprinted posters.

"For Austin area writers who can't afford the time or money to travel to a con right now, or who just want to talk shop." With your host, the estimable Rebecca Schwarz. Bonus: speculative fiction celebrated here, even if you weren't, like Ted Chiang, born in Port Jefferson.

Here's an original exhibition featuring aerial images captured by photographer Jay B. Sauceda during a six-day flying journey around the state. This show highlights the beauty of Texas borderlands and explores the process of capturing the images.

This contemporary new love story from Zach Theatre – it's a world-premiere musical, no less, infused with lyrical prose, jazz, blues, and soul – features two lost souls trying to find themselves in one another. Written by Ché Walker, Anoushka Lucas, and Omar Lyefook; directed by Dave Steakley, with musical direction by Christian Magby. And here's our full review of the show.

This new solo exhibition of two-dimensional and sculptural works by Brooklyn native Kambui Olujimi, now on view in the Blanton's Contemporary Project gallery, will revitalize your awareness of what's coordinated and universal. And, listen, the Blanton now stays open until 8pm on Fridays – through July 26.

This exhibition, a Holly Borham-curated collection focused on printmaking in the Renaissance, presents works that showcase the various intentions behind copies, ranging from legit collaborations between designers and printmakers to the unauthorized copies of Albrecht Dürer’s woodcuts (these resulted in a landmark legal decision against image piracy). And, listen, the Blanton now stays open until 8pm on Fridays – through July 26.

This film by The Propeller Group, an artist collective based in Vietnam and California, combines actual footage and staged portrayals of Vietnamese funeral rituals that shift dramatically from documentary to poetic. And, listen, the Blanton now stays open until 8pm on Fridays – through July 26.

Abraham Cruzvillegas’ vibrant artistic practice begins with the concept of autoconstrucción, an idea rooted in transformation, exchange, and play. During the exhibition, a series of site-specific sculptures will be enlivened through music, performances, workshops, cooking, storytelling, artmaking, skateboarding, and more, in activations led by the artist’s collaborators from Mexico City and community partners from Austin. See our feature article for more.

Here's the 15th annual exhibition at Austin City Hall, presenting a wide array of painting, sculpture, drawing, and other media by 113 local artists. This year, the exhibition includes a special selection of photographs: The Bold Beauty Project of Texas, featuring images of Texas women with disabilities taken by photographers from across the state.

Here's a night of much fine literary palaver, with Dimitris Lyacos and Nick Courtright, and Katy Chrisler.

If you're standing at the crossroads of wood and sculpture, one of the talented giants you'll see landmarking that intersection is James Surls. If you're at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum for this new show, you'll be amazed by more than 30 of that maestro's works – his iconic, surrealistic wooden creations as well as a few of his giant steel and bronze structures. Note: This is, surprisingly, Surls' first solo exhibition of sculptures in Austin.

Rosa Nussbaum’s new exhibition is informed by her recent years in Texas. Unable to drive and finding herself as a passenger in a car, the artist reflects upon how public space in Texas is often imagined as a place for mobile private space, structuring her show as a kind of theme park – using sculpture, performance, video, and a slideshow to explore how the car becomes a lens that focuses and reshapes the world around her.

Drawn primarily from the Blanton’s extensive collection of Latin American art, this exhibition offers an innovative perspective on how artists of the region have explored the links between visual art and written language since the early decades of the twentieth century, with examples ranging from Alejandro Xul Solar and Joaquín Torres-García’s creation of alphabets and metaphysical signs, to the visual experiments of Brazilian concrete poets in the 1960s, and the political codification of language by conceptualists since the 1970s.

Heyyyyy, it's a one-night-only showcase of Austin’s best Asian American comedians in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Stand-up, improv, sketch, storytelling, and out-of-town guests – hosted by Kim Tran and Yola Lu. Bonus: Asian snacks.