Come @ Me (Kyle Irion, Amy Knop, Isaac Garza): Fixing It In Posts

In the spir­it of giv­ing this hol­i­day sea­son, we’re bring­ing you the most fes­tive of deals: 3 come­di­ans in 1 amaz­ing episode! 

Come @ Me com­posed of Amy Knop, Isaac Garza, and Kyle Iri­on, and per­formed week­ly at Fall­out The­ater, isn’t your aver­age com­e­dy improv show (or troupe). Their unique for­mat, a brain­child of Garza­’s, involves select­ing audi­ence mem­bers’ (they vol­un­teer ahead of time) Insta­gram pro­files and craft­ing impromp­tu skits based on their posts. It’s a com­plex enough activ­i­ty to write and per­form for, peri­od, much less do it live, and hints at its ori­gins. ​“Come@Me start­ed as an advanced study project at Cold­Towne Theater…it’s a show, but it’s sup­posed to serve as a res­i­den­cy,” Garza says of the show’s roots. (For extra points on triv­ia night, mem­o­rize that the orig­i­nal show name was ​“Secret Stash”.)

Knop, an improv teacher at Cold­Towne The­ater and pro­duc­er of ATX Sketch Fest, is quick to shat­ter pre­con­ceived notions about pok­ing fun at someone’s posts. ​“It’s not a roast, we don’t make fun…[We] bring up the pro­file, talk to them to devel­op a sto­ry, then jump into improv scenes,” Knop explains, and lat­er adds ​“that makes it a show about you, in a sense.” Garza, a film­mak­er, adds a cin­e­mat­ic touch to their per­for­mances. His jour­ney from an intern at Conan O’Brien to an award-win­ning film­mak­er (check out his short film Pepi­to) adds lay­ers to their com­e­dy that makes the expe­ri­ence feel high qual­i­ty and pol­ished, while remain­ing authen­tic. Iri­on, with a focus on his act­ing work, infus­es his expe­ri­ences in the­ater into the mix, blend­ing the dra­mat­ic with the comedic. His recent for­ay into play­writ­ing and direct­ing adds yet anoth­er dimen­sion to this mul­ti­fac­eted group.

It’s the kind of show where audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion is clear­ly cen­tral, but Garza found it’s not a giv­en that every­one will buy in: ​“This show kind of depends on whether peo­ple would want to share their pro­file or have fun doing that. And the answer was yes!” Build­ing and main­tain­ing that trust is not tak­en light­ly, with Garza being emphat­ic that it enables the pay­off that ​“when peo­ple are com­fort­able enough to be hon­est and open up enough that they give up juicy stuff, it’s the best.”

Their rehearsal process, detailed by Knop, involves more than just run­ning through lines. It’s about build­ing chem­istry, hon­ing their craft, and the top­ics and the rotat­ing guests gel into some­thing big­ger. When a show runs every week, there’s a real risk of rep­e­ti­tion and burn-out, but the team has devel­oped a mind­set that pays div­i­dends with each per­for­mance, as Iri­on notes: ​“It’s a hap­py joy­ful ener­gy that we’re get­ting every week — it feels great to get it, it feels great to share with this cast.“

By the way, that ​“cast” is much more than the three play­ers we’re high­light­ing this week. ​“We have a core cast of twelve, which are real­ly great per­form­ers pulled from all over, from Chica­go, from Austin,” says Knop. The more the bet­ter to spread those feels around, and also ensures new per­spec­tives and organ­ic energy.

Be sure to lis­ten to the episode – record­ed at the Fall­out The­ater pod­cast stu­dio, of course! – to get the full expe­ri­ence, as Valerie can’t help but dig into not only the show, but the many and var­ied side projects of all involved. 

At the end of the day (as it is said), Come @ Me isn’t just a com­e­dy group; they’re a comedic expe­ri­ence. Knop, Iri­on, and Garza are pas­sion­ate about the show, the com­e­dy scene, and the peo­ple who are will­ing to share their lives — and the stage — with them. They’re always look­ing for new peo­ple to ​“come at”, and the door is open…just sub­mit your Insta­gram han­dle to the show account and get ready to be part of the show.

This episode record­ed on site at the Fall­out The­ater Pod­cast Stu­dio. Thanks to stu­dio engi­neer, Gar­rett Buss!

Fol­low Come @ Me show

• Insta­gram
• Tick­ets

Come @ Me can be seen and heard:

• Every Sat­ur­day night at Fall­out The­ater, 8:30pm

Show run­ners of Come @ Me can also be seen and heard:

• A Very Spe­cial Episode: Prime­time Improv Com­e­dy Fri­days at 8pm, fea­tur­ing Amy Knop & Kyle Iri­on, Cold­Towne Theater 
• All Night, All Night, All Night: The Sun­day Harold Sun­days at 8pm, fea­tur­ing Isaac Garza, Cold­Towne Theater
• Austin Sketch Fest, Memo­r­i­al Day Week­end 2024, pro­duced by Amy Knop & Xan­der Noland et al, Cold­Towne Theater
• This is Your Sign: Astrol­o­gy Themed Com­e­dy, host­ed by Jenn Rosario, month­ly Sat­ur­day 10pm, Fall­out Theater
• Cold­Towne Throw­downe: Improv Com­e­dy Brack­et Com­pe­ti­tion, host­ed by Xan­der Noland, week­ly Sat­ur­days 10pm Cold­Towne Theater
• Call Your Mom — short film by Isaac Garza
• Pepi­to — short film by Isaac Garza, win­ner of the HBO Lati­no Short Film Competition
• The Son Who Can’t Play Trum­pet - short film by Isaac Garza