Out of Bounds Comedy Festival
Comedy festival in Austin, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, often abbreviated OOB, is a recurring comedy festival in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2002, the festival presents improv, sketch comedy, stand-up comedy, and other comedy acts and films from Austin and other cities. It began as a small grassroots improv festival and miniature-golf tournament at The Hideout Theatre and later expanded into a multi-venue event.
| Out of Bounds Comedy Festival | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Comedy festival |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Locations | Austin, Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Founder | Jeremy Sweetlamb |
| Website | oobfest |
History
Out of Bounds emerged during a renewed period of Austin improv activity after an earlier late-1990s surge around the Big Stinkin' International Improv & Sketch Comedy Festival. In 2005, The Austin Chronicle wrote that Big Stinkin' had ended after its fourth edition in 1999, and that after a quieter period following the openings of The Hideout Theatre and Bad Dog Comedy Theater and the rise of local groups such as Well Hung Jury, Austin's improv scene was growing again.[1] Former OOB producer Shannon McCormick later described Jeremy Sweetlamb as the person with the festival's "initial vision" and said Sweetlamb wanted to build a specifically Austin approach to improv.[2]
The festival was launched in 2002 by Jeremy Lamb of Well Hung Jury under the name Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament.[1] Lamb later used the surname Sweetlamb after he married Caitlin Sweet and the couple merged their surnames.[3] The 2016 Chronicle guide described OOB as having been conceived by Sweetlamb as a celebration of improv, with its initial edition featuring local acts and visiting troupes from Dallas, College Station, and Kentucky; the festival's own history says the first edition was held at The Hideout Theatre over two nights.[3][4]
In 2005, Austin American-Statesman writer Sarah Rigdon described Out of Bounds as an annual grassroots Austin improv festival and miniature-golf tournament that Lamb had "hatched" in 2002. The article said Lamb and his collaborators designed the festival as a more relaxed, camaraderie-focused contrast to Big Stinkin', with an emphasis on performers meeting one another and experimenting rather than on industry discovery.[5] That year's festival was co-produced by Mike D'Alonzo and Shannon McCormick and included a Well Hung Jury reunion performance as well as more than 20 troupes from around the country.[5]
By its fourth year, the festival had grown to include 28 troupes, including acts from Austin, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Richmond, and New York City.[1] In 2007, The Austin Chronicle reported that the sixth annual festival included 43 improv troupes, including about a dozen from outside Texas.[6]
The festival later broadened beyond improv. In 2011, The Austin Chronicle wrote that the festival's tenth edition offered more than 120 improv and sketch acts, five dozen stand-up comics, and three films, with participants from Austin as well as Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, and Chicago.[7] The same year, the festival used multiple Austin venues, including The Hideout Theatre, ColdTowne Theater, The Velveeta Room, and the State Theatre.[8]
In 2012, The Austin Chronicle described Sweetlamb as the founder of OOB and reported that the festival had more than 500 performers in 100 shows across six venues.[2] By 2014, CultureMap Austin reported that the festival's 13th edition included more than 500 performers in 130 shows at 10 venues. Its international lineup included Icelandic comedian and Reykjavík mayor Jón Gnarr, as well as the Parisian troupe Parisian Gentlemen, while other featured performers included members of the writing staff of Key & Peele. The publication identified Sweetlamb as the festival's founder and executive producer.[9] In 2017, CultureMap Austin described Out of Bounds as Austin's longest-running comedy festival and the largest multi-disciplinary comedy festival in the South, reporting that the festival had grown into a seven-day event with more than 500 performers, 130 shows, and 10 venues.[10] In 2018, The Austin Chronicle described OOB as a multi-location festival featuring improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy by hundreds of performers from Austin and across North America.[11]
The festival went on hiatus after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in 2025, with Texas Standard reporting that the event was bringing improv troupes from around the country to perform alongside local Austin groups.[12] The festival's website announced a 2026 edition scheduled for November 5–8, 2026.[13]
Format
Out of Bounds has presented improv, sketch, stand-up, filmed comedy, and hybrid comedy performances. The festival has also retained its miniature golf tournament, in which performers compete for a trophy known as the Ridiculous Jacket.[14]