Author: The Committee Movie

Epic Summer of Love Weekend.

The Committee Movie

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We had an amazing time this weekend visiting the Summer of Love exhibit at the de Young Museum with none other than Lisa Law (Flashing on The Sixties, The Hog Farm, The Jook Savages, and much more). Lisa photographed everything in the sixties, from Committee performances in San Francisco and LA, to Monterey Pop, Woodstock, Further, and everywhere else. Thanks, Lisa, for letting us tag along,

Gary Austin (October 18, 1941 – April 1, 2017)

The Committee Movie

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We lost another pioneer this week with the death of Gary Austin. When The Committee started its run at The Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, Gary joined the cast in San Francisco under the direction of Del Close, and he was part of the company when it made its early breakthroughs in longform improvisational theater. Austin continued on with The Committee with various ensembles under various directors, evidently soaking up everything he quickly learned. It’s hard to imagine that The Committee’s cultural influence would be so widespread without Austin to evangelize their work. The Groundlings, which Austin founded in 1974, became a force in comedy that for years was matched only by The Second City in the talent that it attracted and nurtured. As a teacher of acting for forty years, Austin helped players bring their full selves to the stage and to play at the top of their intelligence. Thanks, Gary, for your commitment to elevating the art form and for your life of service. 

Fragmented, Illogical, Unpredictable.

The Committee Movie
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“The Committee Workshop style is almost the complete opposite of the Stanislavsky Method. ‘The Emotional Symphony’ where each member is assigned a different emotion to emit in the form of a sound upon the conductor’s cue breaks every rule of Method Acting. There is no character analysis, no logic, no build-up or reason for the emotions, only the emotions themselves. Somehow, the fragmented, illogical, and unpredictable nature of The Games more closely represents the workings of the human mind than the logical constancy and fixed identity portraits typical of O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Clifford Odets, etc.” – Judith Meyer, “The Games are the New Theatre”, Los Angeles Free Press, September 6, 1968 (thanks to Chris Smith, via Tamara Wilcox-Smith).

 

 

Talking The Committee on “SK Morton’s Lousy San Francisco” podcast.

The Committee Movie

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Earlier this month we joined San Francisco history and culture maven SK Morton on his podcast SK Morton’s Lousy San Francisco Podcast to talk about The Committee, The San Francisco Improv Festival, and our personal histories in uncomfortable detail. We even do a little improv at the end. Enjoy, it’s a fun listen and if we got anything wrong, holler.