Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Hart Raiborn.
Holly, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I became the Artistic Director of Fallout Theater in early 2024. I first stepped foot in Fallout before I ever started performing comedy– as a plus one of a plus one for a summer party they threw back in 2018. I absolutely fell in love with the space and the community that night and knew it was a place I wanted to be. When I started performing standup a few months later, Fallout’s stage was always my favorite place to perform. In 2022, I branched out from standup to sketch comedy and I found a lot more freedom and joy in the collaborative process of sketch. I’ve met so many amazing comedians and artists through performing and working at Fallout. I’ve met life long friends and my husband at Fallout.
As Artistic Director, it’s my goal to champion new comedic voices and give new showrunners the confidence to take risks. Fallout’s motto is “Comedy for the People,” so we strive to make the theater a welcoming space for our audiences, performers, students, or any random person that wanders in off the street.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Running an indie comedy theater takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears! We are a completely independent operation and have no corporate backers. Everyone that works at Fallout (including our wonderful owners) are comedians themselves and we all have full time jobs outside of the theater, but we put so much work into it because we love Austin comedy and our community.
I think a big challenge for us right now is the economic uncertainty facing everyone. As folks tighten the belt on their finances, the likelihood that they will make room in their budgets for a comedy show decreases. I can’t fault anyone for that. However, as a BYOB venue, Fallout tries to remain an affordable and accessible live entertainment option in Austin.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Outside of the administrative work I do for Fallout Theater, I am a sketch and standup comedian. I would describe my standup as deeply personal and slightly absurdist. Although I got my start in standup, these days I’m most known for the sketch shows I create with my partners Mimi Meier and Greg Phelps. I’m most proud of getting to represent Austin and Fallout Theater at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2025 where Meier and I performed our 2-woman musical comedy show “How to Drive Yourself Crazy” for a 21 show run. Looking ahead, I’m interested in exploring more clowning and bringing another Halloween sketch show to Fallout this October.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The character of Austin comedy, just like the rest of the city, is constantly changing.
Austin comedy has a lot of eyes on it right now, and that brings in both praise and scrutiny. Local talent is being elevated to a national stage: former Austin comedians are now writing or are cast members for SNL; an Austin comic won the new Netflix standup competition show Funny AF; and more Austin comics than ever are making a full-time living from comedy, which would have been inconceivable a few short years ago.
At the same time, I think there is a misconception that Austin comedy is all based on shock factor and is generally mean-spirited. That kind of comedy certainly exists, but it’s far from the whole story, and it’s not what you’ll find at Fallout. The Austin comedy scene I fell in love with is still here: collaborative, DIY, experimental, weird, and hilarious.
And we’re growing and changing too. At Fallout, clown, variety, and experimental performances are becoming a bigger part of what’s happening on our basement stage. Those disciplines are reinvigorating my own love of comedy and I think that’s true for a lot of people in our community. I think audiences will continue gravitating toward more adventurous, genre-blurring comedy and venues like Fallout will play an important role as a space where artists can take creative risks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://falloutcomedy.com/comedy-shows/
- Instagram: @falloutcomedyatx
