Adventure Squad
Kaci Beeler and Valerie Ward make up Adventure Squad!, an improv show that explores the mysteries, excitements, disappointments, and embarrassments of two quirky and awkward pre-teen girls. An average show follows them through a single day at school: getting ready with their families, sitting in class, and the horrors of P.E. are a few of the scenes you might see. Â Adventure Squad! strives to present the humor and humiliation of those awkward years in a truthful way that the audience can cringingly relate to.
PERFORMING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3RD AT 9:02PM
Tickets for this performance are still available!
Adventure Squad (Kaci Beeler & Valerie Ward)
About the Performers:
Kaci has been studying and performing improvisational theatre for over seven years. She initially used improv as a tool to help her with her scripted acting work, but has since devoted herself fully to the artform. She has studied under Keith Johnstone (author of Impro and Impro for Storytellers), members of the BATS Theatre in San Francisco, and members of Impro Theatre in LA, as well as many other wonderful teachers who are passionate about improv. Kaci has performed in more than 20 North American cities, 2 Canadian provinces, and at many festivals including the Chicago Improv Fest, Twin Cities Improv Festival, Montreal Improv Festival, Seattle Festival of Improv Theater, Toronto COMBUSTIONfestival, Out of Bounds, Out of Bounds West, The Big Ha! Festival in Omaha, The Providence Improv Fest, The Hawaii Improvaganza in Honolulu, Sarasota Improv Festival, Frontera Fringe Fest in Austin, and The Improv Variety Pack Invitational in Tulsa. Kaci is the Director of Design at the Hideout Theatre where she also teaches, performs, and directs shows on a regular basis. She performs weekly with the award-winning, internationally touring longform narrative troupe Parallelogramophonograph (Fridays at 10pm) as well as in the many diverse shows at the Hideout Theatre, and semi-regularly with the troupes Perfect Season, Available Cupholders, Adventure Squad, and The Amazon and the Milksop. Kaci is interested in telling compelling and dynamic improvised stories in as many ways as possible. In 2009 Kaci won the Austin Iron Improviser Tournament and was one of the 8 marathon performers in the Hideout Theatre’s epic 40-Hour Improv Marathon and 41-Hour Improv Marathon. She is the recipient of a B. Iden Payne award for ‘Oustanding Work in Improvisational Theater’ and an Austin Critics Table Award honoring her work in the Hideout Theatre’s 40 Hour Improv Marathon.
Valerie Ward has been improvising for over six years. She was a founding member of the once-renowned and now forgotten troupe Ed32. As the second-most dedicated member of that sprawling conglomeration, she learned the Johnstonian basics third or fourth hand and had a blast. Since the dissolution of that group, she honed her skill with the Heroes of Comedy until she could trick her way into a fledgling Parallelogramophonograph as a founding member. She has studied with BATS in San Francisco and Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. Like everyone else, Valerie loves a good story. She also seeks to explore the unique capabilites of improv as an artistic form, usually by making mistakes and being okay with that, as soon as she stops laughing. She also seek to apply the skills and theory of improv in broader realms including her sewing, cooking, social interactions, freestyle rapping, and navigation. Valerie has also been seen in Vinyl Destination, Improvised Shakespeare (08!), and the probably defunct all-girl rap sensation Cock Sound. She hopes to stop defuncting things and possibly start a solo rap career under her pseudonym, The Cup. Look for her to star with Kaci soon in the dynamic Adventure Squad! improv duo.
Hometown: Austin, TX
Home Theatre: The Hideout Theatre