"I was just trying to remember how long I've personally been doing this New Year's Eve show. I think this might be my tenth one in a row," says Hideout Theatre co-owner and longtime performer Kareem Badr. "I enjoy doing it so much that I've dedicated every New Year's Eve to going and doing these shows."
Their "Big Bash" New Year's Eve show is a longstanding Hideout tradition, but this year they're kicking the holiday celebration up a notch or five by doing a full week of holiday-themed improv shows.
After taking off for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Hideout gang sets to work for six straight nights of improvised holiday fun.
"Starting on the 26th, we have a show every night," says Hideout performer Cortney Hopkin, "Because we get the feeling that people are a little sick of being in their house and ready to see something fun and funny and do something with their family."
"Or wanting to not talk to them for two hours," Badr suggests.
On December 26, they're presenting an improvised Charles Dickens style Christmas story, "where people are down and out in 1860s London, but then in the end, the power of the holidays comes through," according to Hopkin.
On the 27th, it's a holiday edition of their competitive improv show "Theater Sports," followed on the 28th by a Christmas version of their Star Trek improv parody show "Start Trekkin'."
"I imagine they might beam down to a Santa's Village Planet. Who know?" says Badr with a laugh.
On Friday, they're presenting "The Big Bash Holiday Special" followed by Parallelogramophonograph's Holiday show.
On Saturday, it's "Same Year's Eve," the night-before-New-Year's-Eve show. "We ring in the same year," says Hopkin. They'll invite as many improv performers as they can fit onto the stage, an event that Badr calls "wonderful, beautiful chaos."
On New Year's Eve night, the Hideout is presenting two shows, at 8:00 and at 10:30. The late show includes a midnight countdown and the once-a-year only improv game "Mousetrap," which Badr mysteriously describes as "painful for the players, but the audience loves it."
The Hideout's holiday week runs from December 26 - December 31, with shows every night.
