What a history!
The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament was founded in 2002 by Jeremy Sweetlamb as a way to get performers from Texas and beyond to come and enjoy the Austin comedy scene. That first iteration featured seven local improv troupes, a group from College Station, one from Dallas and one group we suckered into coming all the way from Kentucky (what’s up, Sunshine Express?!?!) All shows performed at The Hideout Theatre over the course of two nights.
In 2009, came the festival’s minty new 501(c)3 non-profit status and we expanded to multiple venues.
In 2005, we added a second stage and doubled the amount of shows.
In 2010, we added standup shows to the festival’s slate.
In 2012, we started selling trading cards featuring acts from the festival.
In 2016, we realized we had actually gotten too big, and we pulled back our scheduling, tightened up our shows, and chose venues that created intimate and personal vibes. As a result, the festival’s quality and word-of-mouth skyrocketed, creating an influx of submissions for the following years and even industry attention!
In 2018, we broke our festival’s submission record when 415 individual acts applied to be a part of our festival. We are completely in awe and honored.
In no particular order, over the years our headliners and acts have included: Maria Bamford, Mick Napier, Master Pancake Theatre, Jill Bernard, Matt Bearden, FrankenMatt, The Groundlings, Good Neighbor, Mary Jo Pehl, Impro Theatre, Todd Stashwick, pH Productions, Dave Razowsky & Carrie Clifford, Latino Comedy Project, Craig Cackowski & Rich Talarico, The Annoyance Theater, Kevin McDonald, ImprovBoston, Aparna Nancherla, Lashonda Lester, Will Durst, Martha Kelly, Greg Proops, Michelle Wolf, Amber Ruffin, Tim Meadows, Boom Chicago, Andy Ritchie, Brendon Walsh, Mac Blake, Scott Adsit & John Lutz, Beer Shark Mice, The Magnet Theater, Reformed Whores, Baby Wants Candy, Blowfly, The Doubtful Guests, Kevin Allison’s Risk! Podcast, Matt Jones, Katherine Timpf, The Writers of Key & Peele, Lauren Lapkus, Paul Brittain, Colton Dunn, Mission: IMPROVable, Weirdass, Adam Newman, Rebecca Drysdale, Wild Horses, Jon Gnarr, Mike MacRae, Mo Collins, Maribeth Monroe, Stephnie Weir, Epic Rap Battles, April Richardson, Austin Stories, Jon Barinholtz & Rob Belushi, The BackPack, Joe Bill, Impro Melbourne, Cook County Social Club, 3 for All, The Reckoning, Dasariski…and, literally, hundreds and hundreds more.
Now, after a globally induced hiatus, Out of Bounds is returning closer to its roots, a pared down more potent combination of A-list talent local, from away and from different levels of stardom.