Latest / Austin Signal / From headliners to homegrown acts, Moontower Comedy Fest brings the laughs

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From headliners to homegrown acts, Moontower Comedy Fest brings the laughs · Austin Signal

0:08
Texas Republicans enacted over the
0:10
last year regulatory and legal
0:11
changes that have completely altered
0:13
life for non-citizens in the state.
0:16
Many of these changes were put
0:17
forward in the State Legislature
0:18
where they failed.
0:19
Now they are being made a reality
0:21
outside of normal legislative
0:23
processes.
0:24
And the Austin School District is
0:26
facing a giant budget deficit
0:27
heading into the next school year.
0:29
A draft of that budget was presented
0:31
this week to school board members.
0:33
Where the deficit stands and the
0:34
plans the district is considering to
0:36
address it, That's on today's show.
0:38
The Austin Signal is a production
0:40
of KUT News, hosted by
0:42
Jerry Quijano.
0:43
Plus, the Moon Tower Comedy Fest is
0:45
bringing hundreds more comics to
0:47
town over the next week and a half.
0:49
We're gonna hear from one of the
0:50
performers, and a seance
0:52
with Houdini?
0:54
Intrigued?
0:55
Find out more, up next here
0:57
on Austin Signal.
1:07
Howdy out there.
1:08
You are listening to Austin Signal,
1:10
made possible by community-powered
1:12
public radio here at KUT
1:14
News.
1:15
I'm your host, Jerry Kikano.
1:17
It is Wednesday, April 8.
1:19
We are glad to be part of your
1:21
day.
1:22
Travis County Commissioner's Court
1:24
voted this week to withhold 9%
1:26
of Tesla's tax rebate for
1:27
2020 through 2022 for,
1:30
quote, partial noncompliance with
1:32
certain provisions, end quote, in
1:34
the company's economic incentive
1:35
deal with the That deal was
1:37
finalized in 2020 and
1:40
offers Tesla up to 80%
1:42
of the largest portion of its county
1:43
tax bill in exchange for spurring
1:46
economic growth in the region.
1:48
We have more about this story at
1:50
KUT.org and
1:52
over on the KUT app.
1:55
During past legislative sessions,
1:56
bills aiming to bar undocumented
1:58
immigrants from working or going to
2:00
school here in Texas were proposed
2:02
by state lawmakers but faced
2:04
by partisan Push back.
2:06
And ultimately failed.
2:07
Now, however, those intentions are
2:09
being made a reality, seemingly
2:11
outside of the normal legislative
2:13
process.
2:14
And that's upending life for many
2:16
non-citizens here in Texas,
2:18
including many immigrants who are
2:20
documented.
2:21
For more about this, we are talking
2:23
with Eleanor Klybanoff.
2:24
She's the law and politics reporter
2:26
at the Texas Tribune.
2:28
Eleanor, thanks for talking with us
2:29
on Austin Signal.
2:30
Thanks for having me.
2:31
So can you start by giving us an
2:32
example of the things that have
2:33
changed for not only undocumented
2:36
immigrants, but refugees and
2:37
DACA recipients here in Texas?
2:39
So it's a whole wide range of
2:41
things. I mean, most recently we saw
2:43
the state change its
2:44
rules around who can get license
2:47
for jobs.
2:48
So there's certain jobs used to be
2:49
licensed by the state.
2:50
And it's wide range things from dog
2:52
breeders to electricians, to
2:53
massage therapists.
2:55
And it used to if you
2:57
were a non-citizen, you
2:59
could get those licenses.
3:00
If you were DACA recipient,
3:03
if you had asylum or were a refugee
3:04
and they're considering changes,
3:06
the agency that oversees that has
3:08
just.
3:09
Approved changes to that that will
3:10
really upend that whole system.
3:12
And these changes haven't been made
3:13
through the legislature, so how are
3:15
they being enacted, and why is that
3:17
significant to the story?
3:19
So a lot of these changes are
3:20
happening through the regulatory
3:21
system, which essentially means
3:23
that these agencies that have a
3:25
decent amount of power and are
3:26
supposed to sort of enact rules,
3:29
generally in response to legislation
3:31
or federal changes are
3:33
doing this separate from that.
3:34
So they're saying, we're
3:36
just gonna take a second look at
3:37
this on our own.
3:39
These agencies operate
3:40
independently, but they are part of
3:42
the executive branch and they're
3:44
run by these commissions and boards
3:45
that are made up of appointees
3:48
by Governor Greg Abbott and his
3:50
office must approve any of these
3:51
rule changes.
3:52
So it's really happening through the
3:54
governor and the executive branch
3:55
versus the legislative branch, which
3:57
is the typical process.
3:58
What have you heard from immigrant
3:59
rights experts about these changes?
4:03
Know, they say that it's been very
4:04
confusing and created this culture
4:06
of fear where even when some
4:08
of the rules don't necessarily apply
4:09
to every single group and some, you
4:11
know, in some cases, DACA recipients
4:12
are not impacted or refugees are
4:14
not affected, that people
4:16
are sort of proactively opting out
4:18
anyway because they're confused by
4:19
the rules or they're worried about
4:21
getting, you now, caught up in a
4:22
system that they don't intend to be
4:23
caught up in. And so we're seeing
4:25
a lot of people sort of proactively
4:27
chilling their own rights.
4:28
And then also I think there's a lot
4:30
of concern just widely about what
4:32
the economic impact of this will be.
4:34
You know, if you can't get general
4:35
contractor's license, if can't truck
4:37
driver's license.
4:38
If you can get people
4:40
to register their cars if they don't
4:42
have the proper documentation, the
4:44
ripple effects are expected to be
4:45
pretty significant.
4:46
The Texas legislature has been under
4:48
Republican control all three houses
4:50
for more than three decades now.
4:52
In your story, you talk about
4:54
how the Texas Republican Party
4:56
kind of run against maybe what
4:58
policies were at the beginning of
4:59
this 30-year tenure in the Texas
5:01
legislature. Can you talk a little
5:03
bit more about that?
5:04
I think while we're under this sort
5:06
of unprecedented immigration
5:07
crackdown on all these different
5:09
facets of life, it's easy to feel
5:11
like this is how Republicans have
5:12
always felt about this issue.
5:14
But what we know is that Texas
5:15
Republicans actually approved
5:17
a lot of these policies originally,
5:19
put them into place, or chose to
5:21
not undo them over the last
5:23
several decades, in large part
5:24
because of the economic concerns.
5:26
I think there was a
5:28
feeling when they first
5:30
sort of created this program to give
5:31
undocumented students in-state
5:33
tuition.
5:34
That we don't
5:36
want undocumented people to not have
5:38
a path to education because many
5:40
of those people, they have to sort
5:41
of attest that they wanna become
5:43
documented, they wanna to become
5:44
citizens.
5:45
You want those people to be
5:46
contributing members of society.
5:49
There's the Supreme Court decision,
5:51
Plyler v. Doe, that says that
5:54
undocumented children should get
5:55
free K-12 education like all
5:57
other children do.
5:59
And you don't want a whole
6:00
generation of children who haven't
6:02
been educated.
6:03
That's a huge problem that you
6:05
potentially have to deal with when
6:07
of what will those people do for
6:08
work? And the deterrence idea
6:10
that, oh, we wanna make sure that
6:12
these families don't feel like they
6:13
can bring their children here, that
6:15
Texas is not hospitable to them.
6:17
The potential trade-offs of that,
6:19
Texas Republicans used to feel like,
6:21
well, if they're here, let's figure
6:22
out how we can make sure that they
6:24
are contributing to society.
6:26
The economic concerns that you
6:27
stated. Are we seeing those impacts
6:28
already?
6:30
I think some of this has been slow
6:31
to unfold, but there's a lot of
6:33
sort of predictions of what the
6:34
impact both of these official
6:36
policies might be.
6:37
Right. I mean, if we don't have
6:39
truck drivers, if you don't people
6:40
registering their cars, if
6:42
we all people being able to get
6:43
insurance on those cars, we don't
6:44
people being able to work in these
6:46
industries where we do need people
6:47
to be working, expected to be
6:49
very significant economic ripple
6:51
effects. But I think in the what
6:52
we're already seeing is ways in
6:54
which people are choosing to
6:56
not do things that maybe they
6:58
actually still have a right to do.
6:59
So. The Texas Tribune just had
7:01
some great reporting from my
7:02
colleagues about undocumented
7:04
immigrants not going to seek health
7:06
care because they
7:08
feel like they're worried they might
7:09
get caught up in a system.
7:10
And the state has said that they are
7:12
tracking the number of undocumented
7:13
immigrants that are using hospitals.
7:14
So there's this feeling that people
7:16
are being tracked, that people are
7:17
being monitored, that they might be
7:19
caught up an ICE detention
7:21
if they go to a hospital
7:23
or seek health.
7:24
The economic ripple effects
7:26
of things like that are expected to
7:27
be very significant.
7:29
You mentioned Plyler versus Doe,
7:31
can you give us a refresher
7:34
and
7:36
why would a challenge to that case
7:38
be significant?
7:39
So Plyler v.
7:40
Doe was a 1982 Supreme Court case
7:42
that originated in Texas, as
7:44
many of our most interesting Supreme
7:46
Court cases do,
7:48
when Texas passed a law that
7:50
allowed school districts to charge
7:52
tuition or exclude undocumented
7:54
students from public school.
7:56
That was challenged, and the Supreme
7:57
Court essentially said that students
7:59
have a right to public education
8:01
irrespective of their documentation
8:03
status.
8:04
And the justices said like...
8:06
Really lean on the economic part of
8:08
this, which is, you know, these
8:09
children do not ask to be brought
8:10
here. They did not bring themselves
8:12
here.
8:13
And we are setting ourselves up
8:15
for a huge problem if we don't
8:16
educate them and set them on a path
8:17
towards self-sufficiency.
8:19
This has been sort of just an
8:21
accepted law of the land for several
8:23
decades now.
8:24
And recently, conservatives have
8:26
really begun to coalesce around the
8:28
idea of overturning Plyler with
8:30
the idea that,
8:32
you
8:35
and To
8:37
do that in all likelihood, you would
8:38
need the legislature to pass a, a
8:40
law, which then would get
8:41
challenged. And then they feel like
8:43
if they took it to this Supreme
8:44
court, they'd have a better chance
8:45
at getting that overturned,
8:47
sort of like we saw with the Dobbs
8:49
decision.
8:49
So that would take a couple of
8:51
steps. It's not imminent, but you
8:53
know, what we've seen so far is like
8:55
anything is possible.
8:56
We have been speaking with Eleanor
8:58
Klippanoff. She is the law and
8:59
politics reporter at the Texas
9:01
Tribune. We're gonna have a link to
9:02
her latest reporting in our show
9:04
notes. Eleanor, thank you for your
9:05
time.
9:05
Thanks for having me.
9:13
The Austin Independent School
9:14
District is facing a significant
9:16
budget deficit ahead of the upcoming
9:18
school year.
9:19
A preliminary budget draft was
9:21
presented to board members during
9:22
last night's work session.
9:24
For more about the financial outlook
9:26
for AISD, we are chatting with Greta
9:28
Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez, KUT's
9:30
education reporter.
9:31
Hi Greta.
9:32
Hi Jerry!
9:33
So tell us, what do we know about
9:34
the district's budget for next year?
9:36
Yeah, so I think it's very important
9:38
to say that it was a draft of the
9:40
preliminary budget because that
9:41
means that there's still a lot of
9:42
work to do.
9:43
This is the initial version of the
9:45
budget that is used to guide
9:47
decision-making.
9:48
And so like you said, it's a $181
9:50
million budget deficit and
9:52
the district is working to reduce
9:54
it and Superintendent Matias Segura
9:56
said last night that he was very
9:57
clear that it would come with
9:59
sacrifices.
10:01
We're no longer at a point where we
10:03
can protect all things,
10:05
that the cuts are
10:07
going to impact our ability to serve
10:09
our students in a way that we see
10:10
best.
10:12
So the district's chief financial
10:14
officer, Katrina Montgomery,
10:15
presented four scenarios for cuts,
10:18
and in three of them, the district
10:19
would end up with a balanced
10:21
budget.
10:22
But these scenarios include
10:23
strategies that would help save up
10:25
$132 million,
10:27
and that includes, of course, cuts.
10:29
Yeah, yeah, and how would those
10:31
cuts impact schools in AISD?
10:33
Yeah so the district
10:35
is expected to have staffing cuts at
10:37
campuses so that will that
10:39
means it will impact teachers and
10:41
that would be more than 22 million
10:43
dollars in cuts in elementary
10:45
and middle schools and
10:47
the biggest savings would come from
10:48
other staffing reductions what they
10:50
called departmental reductions and
10:52
that will give a relief of 40
10:53
million dollars And there's also
10:55
other campus cuts that would include
10:57
include moving librarians
10:59
into supporting roles.
11:01
They would also reduce the number of
11:02
campus monitors at middle schools
11:04
and the number nurses on
11:06
campuses.
11:08
And other strategies include
11:10
cuts on travel and cell
11:12
phone expenses.
11:13
And another big one that would be 23
11:14
millions would be current
11:16
vacancies.
11:17
Okay, well, as you mentioned, this
11:18
is a budget draft that was
11:20
presented to board members,
11:22
trustees. What did they have to say?
11:24
Yeah, so they asked the
11:26
district to be thoughtful about what
11:28
cuts will be made, like if they will
11:30
have long lasting impacts, if it's
11:32
easy to just undo
11:34
them and maybe in a couple of years
11:35
be able to bring something back.
11:37
But they also said to be thought
11:39
about which populations would
11:41
be affected by the cuts.
11:43
And for context, this year as we
11:45
reach the end of the budget, the
11:46
district is a $49 million budget
11:48
deficit, that is $30
11:50
million more than they had
11:52
projected.
11:52
It's mostly because they were
11:54
relying on revenue from property
11:55
sales that didn't happen,
11:57
and so trustee David Kaufman said
11:59
that this time around he would be
12:01
very wary of one-time influxes
12:03
of cash like selling
12:05
property.
12:05
Mhm.
12:06
So he said that
12:08
the district was really working on
12:10
making long lasting changes that
12:11
could help balance the district in
12:13
the future that wouldn't just be
12:14
like a year by year try trying
12:16
to keep up with the budget.
12:18
Yeah, trying to see something a
12:19
little bit more long term planning
12:21
for the district.
12:22
Okay, so this was only a
12:24
draft of the budget.
12:25
What happens now?
12:26
What sort of considerations happen
12:28
next?
12:28
Yeah, so we have a couple of months
12:30
left.
12:31
So over the next few months,
12:32
district officials and trustees will
12:34
hold bi-weekly work sessions.
12:36
And these sessions are open to the
12:37
public. So you can see them on
12:40
the AISD YouTube website
12:42
or their YouTube channel, sorry.
12:44
And so the district is also set to
12:46
present a preliminary budget on
12:47
April 21st, which is
12:50
seeing more of the decisions they
12:52
have made and then a final
12:54
or that they're proposing they
12:55
haven't made them.
12:56
And our final recommendation on May
12:58
21st, and then the Board of Trustees
13:00
is expected to take a vote
13:02
in mid-June, and the new
13:04
budget starts in July
13:06
1st. And I gotta say, also during
13:08
the next month, AISD officials
13:10
will hold virtual meetings with
13:12
community to hear feedback about
13:14
the proposed cuts.
13:15
Okay, well, it sounds like a story
13:16
that is going to continue to
13:18
develop, and I'm sure that you
13:20
will continue to cover it.
13:21
We'll bring it to you here on Austin
13:23
Signal. We have been chatting with
13:25
Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez, KUT's
13:27
education reporter.
13:29
We're going to have a link to her
13:30
latest reporting in today's show
13:32
notes. Thank you, Greta.
13:32
Thank you, Jerry.
13:34
And thank you out there for tuning
13:36
in to Austin Signal, making us
13:38
part of your Wednesday.
13:39
We hope you're having a nice one out
13:41
there. We've got a lot of arts
13:42
coverage coming up after the
13:44
break. Stay with us.
13:59
This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
14:01
Comics from around the country are
14:03
filtering into Austin this week for
14:04
the Moon Tower Comedy Fest.
14:06
It started 15 years ago and
14:08
since then has grown into one of the
14:10
biggest comedy events in the
14:11
country.
14:12
Takes place across 11 venues,
14:14
lasts a week and a half, and one of
14:16
folks on the lineup is Angelina
14:18
Martin.
14:19
She spoke with Texas Standard host
14:20
David Brown about the festival
14:22
and recounted how cutting her
14:24
teeth and making little money.
14:26
Ended up making for some pretty good
14:28
material.
14:30
I've mainly worked service
14:32
industry, jobs and
14:34
such.
14:35
So when I realized
14:38
that I didn't know much in
14:39
taxes, I figured they wouldn't miss
14:41
it. So I started doing jokes about
14:43
not paying my taxes and
14:45
then they got broadcast online and I
14:47
realized, oh, I'm gonna get
14:49
found out.
14:50
So far no one's knocked on my
14:52
door.
14:54
Well, this week hundreds of comics
14:56
from around the country are going to
14:57
be joining you for the Moon
14:59
Tower Comedy Festival taking place
15:01
in the Texas Capital City.
15:04
Tell us a little bit about why you
15:06
like this festival so much.
15:07
A lot of folks do.
15:09
Yes, I'm super excited.
15:12
I love Moon Tower so much.
15:14
It's always been such a
15:16
huge part of the Austin comedy
15:18
scene and the national comedy scene
15:20
in general.
15:22
It was such a badge of honor when I
15:24
got on the festival when I
15:26
was a few years in to stand
15:28
up and have been on
15:30
several years since then.
15:32
And it's just
15:34
so validating.
15:36
Now you produce a show called Slide
15:38
and the DMs that Moontower picked up
15:40
this year.
15:41
Tell us a little bit about that
15:42
show. What is that?
15:44
The whole premise of the show is
15:45
that standups or sometimes other
15:47
local celebrities like musicians
15:49
will come on the show and
15:51
share strange messages
15:53
that people have sent them or
15:55
sometimes that they've sent other
15:56
people.
15:58
And then a cast of improvisers
16:00
do improv based off
16:02
of their messages and
16:04
it's such a good time.
16:06
That's so clever.
16:07
Well, you know, it's interesting to
16:08
see how Austin's comedy scene
16:10
has really exploded, it seems
16:12
like, in the past five years.
16:15
You've got venues like the Creek in
16:16
the Cave and Joe Rogan's Mothership.
16:19
Where does the Moon Tower Comedy
16:21
Festival fit into that scene?
16:23
Yes, it's really interesting to
16:25
see and experience the scene growing
16:28
through the years because
16:30
I did move to Austin
16:32
specifically because I wanted to
16:34
start comedy in a small but strong
16:36
niche comedy scene.
16:40
And now there is an issue presence,
16:42
which is cool.
16:43
I feel like the scene has kind of
16:44
grown alongside me.
16:45
It is more competitive to
16:47
get stage time, but the stage
16:49
time you do get, there's
16:51
more chances of something
16:53
exciting and substantial coming
16:55
from it.
16:56
You're going to be performing at a
16:57
special showcase called the Texans.
16:59
What should people expect there?
17:01
Um, yeah, it's going to be the
17:03
best of Texas comedy.
17:06
One of my favorite performers
17:08
are going to on it.
17:09
So I am honored
17:11
to be on that list and
17:13
it's just going to showcase
17:15
the really high quality
17:18
stand-up talent that Texas
17:20
has had for many
17:22
years. Uh, and
17:24
it'd nice to show people
17:26
that we have always had
17:28
lots of talented.
17:29
Comedians here, so it's fun
17:31
to see my friends get
17:33
their shine.
17:34
Is there anything that makes Texas
17:35
comedy unique, is there something
17:37
about being here in Texas that,
17:39
I don't know,
17:41
sort of feeds that
17:43
comedic spirit or no?
17:45
Well, I think,
17:47
speaking to
17:49
Austin more specifically,
17:52
I do see, even though the city has
17:54
changed so much
17:56
in the past
17:58
six to 10
18:00
years, especially, but I think
18:02
the same kind of charm that
18:04
brought people to Austin, which is
18:05
like a combination of
18:08
Southern hospitality
18:10
and eccentric.
18:12
Individualism.
18:13
I think that shows in our comedy
18:15
scene.
18:16
So I have been charmed
18:18
by the friendliness
18:20
of Texans and I think it
18:22
comes across in our
18:25
comedians.
18:27
That was comedian Angelina Martin
18:29
talking with Texas Standard host,
18:31
David Brown.
18:32
We're gonna have a link to more of
18:34
that conversation in today's
18:35
podcast, Show Notes.
18:44
Austin playwright Katie Bender used
18:46
magician Harry Houdini's archives
18:48
to create her play Instructions
18:51
for a Seance.
18:52
She'll perform the solo show next
18:54
week during Fusebock Festival.
18:56
For KUT's art beat, Michelle
18:58
Dahlenburg spoke with Bender about
19:00
how writing the piece helped her
19:02
escape.
19:12
Austin Playwright, performer and
19:13
theater maker Katie Bender is
19:15
showing me a collection of unusual
19:17
artifacts.
19:18
Hand cup.
19:21
These are not just any objects,
19:24
they're inspired by things that once
19:26
belonged to Harry Houdini.
19:31
These items will be used in Katie's
19:34
solo show, Instructions for a
19:35
Seance, which she's performing at
19:37
Fusebox Festival next week.
19:40
Inspired by the Houdini archives at
19:42
the Harry Ransom Center, the
19:44
piece explores themes of caretaking,
19:46
ambition, and the urge to escape
19:48
parts of your life.
19:50
Everyone, close your
19:52
eyes.
19:53
During the show, Katie attempts to
19:55
summon the spirit of Houdini,
19:57
the famous magician and escape
19:58
artist.
19:59
We gather here now
20:01
to join together for the
20:03
purposes of escape.
20:05
Katie started developing the show in
20:07
2015 as a graduate student
20:09
at the University of Texas.
20:11
Kirk Lynn was her professor and
20:12
mentor.
20:13
He knew that there was a lot
20:15
of magic and magical realism
20:17
in my plays and that
20:19
I've always been interested in sort
20:21
of taking audiences into
20:23
the experience of moments of the
20:25
unknown which magic does so
20:26
beautifully.
20:27
Kirk recommended that she look into
20:29
the Houdini archives.
20:30
I was immediately struck by
20:32
kind of the force of Harry
20:34
Houdini's will and ambition and
20:37
was really drawn
20:39
to these pictures of him
20:42
mid escape.
20:43
But also in
20:45
his letters, he has such a
20:47
particular cadence and it was
20:49
something I started to really hear.
20:50
I felt like I was kind of channeling
20:52
Houdiny.
20:53
Katie started by writing a play for
20:55
two actors, inspired by Houdini's
20:57
life.
20:58
At the time, she was juggling
20:59
writing and work while being a mom
21:01
to her young daughter.
21:02
Like I would have these long
21:03
extended fantasies about like just
21:05
going to Mexico alone and like
21:07
disappearing into the sunset.
21:09
And I realized that I was
21:11
just craving a kind of
21:13
escape because I felt like I
21:15
didn't have a release
21:17
valve in my own life.
21:19
As she looked at the photos of
21:20
Houdini mid-escape, Katie wondered,
21:23
what does it mean to be an ambitious
21:25
artist in late stage capitalism
21:27
and try to raise a child?
21:29
I came to this realization
21:31
that it really was a seance to
21:33
contact Houdini to help
21:35
me get some of that escape in my
21:37
life.
21:38
And let us all now together
21:40
reach out into the spirit
21:42
world.
21:44
Harry Houdini,
21:46
are you here with us?
21:49
Harry Haudini.
21:52
Can you give us?
21:55
Early on in the seance, Katie asks
21:57
her guests to write down what they
21:59
wish to escape.
22:00
And everybody has something,
22:02
you know. U.S.
22:04
Politics, inflation,
22:06
war, headaches,
22:08
back pain, stuff in my teeth,
22:11
financial burdens, fundraising,
22:13
the daily grind of a regular day
22:15
job.
22:16
Katie's been developing versions of
22:18
instructions for a seance for over a
22:19
decade. How have you changed while
22:21
working on it?
22:22
I really wanted to be known in the
22:24
world as an artist and not a mother
22:26
when I started this process and
22:28
I feel very different now.
22:29
I no longer want to escape my
22:31
family. My family is really the
22:33
space of love and
22:35
support in my life and
22:37
I need that.
22:39
Katie has performed versions of the
22:40
seance all over the US,
22:42
and she's heading to Milwaukee to
22:44
perform it at Milwaukee Rep this
22:45
fall. But she's especially excited
22:47
to perform it right here in her
22:49
hometown next week.
22:50
Austin itself is
22:52
I think spiritually a really
22:54
powerful place just because of the
22:56
connection between the
22:58
Edwards Aquifer below us and
23:00
the movement of the Colorado River
23:02
and the spirits
23:03
that I feel like are alive
23:06
and well in Austin and
23:08
especially in Texas Performing Arts.
23:10
There are some real ghosts in that
23:11
building.
23:12
And as for Houdini?
23:14
So far the seance has failed.
23:16
I've never made contact with
23:17
Houdini, but.
23:20
What happens next is always
23:21
something that is really surprising.
23:25
Piece points the audience to wonder
23:27
and awe, like the kind magicians
23:29
create.
23:30
I hope that the guests leave the
23:32
theater feeling newly
23:35
engaged with what
23:38
live performance can
23:40
do. Gather a group of
23:42
people together and
23:44
commune together and try
23:46
and
23:48
escape our
23:50
troubles together.
23:55
And in this coming hour
24:01
This is...
24:07
Katie will perform instructions for
24:09
a séance at Fusebox Festival next
24:10
week.
24:11
Find more information and tickets at
24:13
fuseboxlive.com.
24:15
For KUT's Art Beat, I'm
24:17
Michelle Dahlenburg in Austin.
24:20
And thank you for tuning in today to
24:22
Austin Signal.
24:24
That is it for today's
24:26
show. We're gonna have a link to
24:28
all the stories that we shared with
24:29
you today in the podcast.
24:31
Show notes, and you can always find
24:33
more from our show at kut.org
24:36
slash signal.
24:38
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
24:40
director and Kristen Cabrera is our
24:42
managing producer.
24:43
And I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
24:45
We will all be back with you
24:47
tomorrow one o'clock right here
24:49
on KUT and wherever
24:51
you listen to your podcasts.
24:53
Have a great day.