MAGNET NEWS 2006:

APRIL Magnet announces upcoming Rep show Under the Influence. Radio interview with Magnet instructors, partners, and performers on Cat Radio Cafe April 10 show (last 17 minutes)
MARCH Magnet announces upcoming Rep show No Filter.
FEBRUARY Echo, the first show developed through The Rep, premieres.
JANUARY Magnet announces The Rep, our vehicle for show development and booking.

2005
DECEMBER Beer and Wine license in effect! Mortified was nominated for best comedy show of 2005 in Time Out NY. Voting is online. TJ & Dave returned for another workshop, and punk icons Jon Langford and Danbert from Chumbawamba perform at Here Be Monsters.
NOVEMBER Magnet launches Teen Program
OCTOBER MadTV's Tami Sagher returns for show and workshop. TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi teach improv workshop. Magnet Launches Magnet Corporate Services
SEPTEMBER Katrina Relief fundraising drive and events meets goal of $5220.
AUGUST Second City's Rachel Hamilton joins our teaching staff!
JULY MadTV's Tami Sagher teaches Writing Sketch Comedy workshop
JUNE Jean Villepique joins our teaching staff, direct from Second City Mainstage!
MAY New round of classes start
APRIL 14th First shows at the theater
MARCH 19th Spring Session Started
MARCH 12th & 13th Free Classes were held
MARCH 10th Friends came out for the grand opening MAGNET PARTY at Slainte!

PRESS RELEASES:

February 16, 2006 MAGNET THEATER PRESENTS ECHO - TRUTH IN REVERB

April 4, 2005 MAGNET THEATER ANNOUNCES SHOWS AND NEW CLASSES

March 7, 2005 MAGNET THEATER ANNOUNCES GRAND OPENING

PRESS CLIPPINGS:

The ONION Weekender Back to School 2005 "For (figurative) bones"
Sept 8-14, 2005 page 25.

"Improv and sketch of vaying stripes reign supreme at each of these small bustling theaters. The Magnet, especially, hosts a few promising variety shows on its regular bill, like Son of Here Be Monsters, a comedy, film, and music mash-up that has drawn the likes of singer Laura Cantrell, absurdist duo Slovin & Allen, and heady comic Demetri Martin."

New York Times STYLE DESK| 'A FUNNY KIND OF LOVE'
Sunday, August 21, 2005

"Mr. Davis has recently won good reviews performing a character called Red Bastard, a bouffon in a bulbous red Lycra suit. In the guise of an embittered and elitist movement teacher, Mr. Davis might try to badger his audience into talking to him, or try to climb over everyone as he did one evening last week, for a group of 40 or so people at the Magnet Theater.

Some clowns speak, some don't. The same evening, Ms. Lindberg performed her character Dixie Cup, a clown who strips out of her big striped clothes down to her underwear while hanging upside down on a trapeze. In another clown persona, Mr. Davis plays a homeland security agent armed only with balloons."

New York Times THEATER REVIEW | 'MY YEAR OF PORN'
Monday, July 11, 2005

"Compelling...Ms. Kazdin brings a wry tone to her anecdotes, many of which are too graphic to repeat here. She also portrays a variety of eccentric but thoroughly believable characters."
- New York Times

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The ONION a.v. club Pick
Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Friday, May 27, 9:30 p.m. Son Of Here Be Monsters: Demetri Martin, Eric Slovin, Emily Flake, Chris Mills, Laura Cantrell & More. Magnet Theater, the latest comedy school/theater to open shop in the West Chelsea area dotted by Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, People's Improv Theater, and Gotham City Improv, has its roots in a place slightly more west, Chicago. Magnet's founders all learned how to make it up as they go along (long-form) while studying under Chicago improv guru and sometime pagan Del Close. Son Of Here Be Monsters is not exactly improv. It began in Chicago as a loose showcase for local singer/songwriters. The New York version has slackened the boundaries even more, giving comedians, singers, short filmmakers and others free reign. Here, Chris Mills and Laura Cantrell provide music while Saturday Night Live writer Eric Slovin, cartoonist Emily Flake, and absurdist acoustic aficionado Demetri Martin wax comedically. Magnet Theater 254 W. 29th St. (212) 244-8824. $5

The ONION a.v. club Interview of Jon Langford about The Executioner's Last Songs and more.
April 20th, 2005

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH HIM
SARA STEWART  New York Post
Apr 1, 2005.  pg. 051

[EXCERPTED] Improv comedy has a lot in common with police work, contends comic - and former NYPD officer - Ed Herbstman.

"One key to improv is trusting your partner," he says. "It's like being a cop. Except when you're a cop, you have to trust your partner with your life. I'd rather die onstage."

Herbstman's knack for both endeavors should come in handy when he opens his improv-comedy venue, the Magnet Theater, later this month.

Cops and firemen will get in free, says Herbstman.

Back in his days on the force, he says, comedy was one of his best weapons.

"Some of my funniest conversations were with perps right after we'd arrested them, in the back of the car," he says. "I'd be, like, 'Why'd you pull that knife out and stab the car's tires? It would have been OK if you hadn't pulled a knife.'

"You'd get responses like, 'Well, you know, sometimes you get angry at cars.' "

...

In the end, comedy won out over cop work, and after doing some freelance writing for the second season of "Da Ali G Show," Herbstman was approached by an old improv buddy about opening a theater with two other partners.

"I said yes, thinking it would never happen," he says.

Much to his surprise, it did. The four Magnet owners and improv instructors - Armando Diaz, Shannon Manning, Alex Marino and Herbstman - are putting the finishing touches on their theater at 254 W. 29th St., slated to open in mid-April.

The Houses That Del Built
Time Out NY
3/3/05
Jane Borden

Diaz also cofounded the PIT in 2003 - itself an offshoot of the UCBT - but left last year due to creative differences with his partner. He'd planned to teach a few classes on the side, but says, "I realized I still had dreams about what I could do with a theater - besides, what else am I going to do?"

Performances aren't slated to start until April (the space is still under construction), but the theater is offering classes beginning in mid-March. The opening of the new venue cements the neighborhood as a mini-mall of improv and sketch comedy (ironic considering the number of gay jokes told onstage at the other spots). We just hope there are enough patrons for these humor havens - perhaps the Magnet will wind up attracting more.

The Daily Targum - Inside Beat
Issue: 3/1/05
Laugh Riot

..."New York is now a great place to study because of all of the opportunities," says improv guru Armando Diaz (www.armandodiaz.com). "There are a lot of talented performers and teachers here. And it's not as cold!" Diaz is another transplant from Chicago, studying in IO and Second City, as well as the Annoyance Theater. A friend of the UCB, he came to write for their show and eventually left to co-form the PIT with Farahnakian. In March will open the Magnet Theater with three other partners, another theater with a different approach to longform (www.magnettheater.com).

"[The Magnet] really gets away from turning comedy into a formula," says Diaz. "It's more about allowing for inspiration and discoveries, and about teaching fundamentals. There is too much emphasis on the product so students tend to go for the cheap and easy laugh. Not a lot of craft." Armando says of his teaching style, "It takes more work but it really pays off in the end." As for an explanation of the boom, he has a pretty good one. "People were still doing games that were 30 years old. So New York was ready for something new."

With three improv theaters operating in a three block radius - they operate around 26th or 29th street on 7th or 8th avenue - some may think that there's trouble a-brewin'. Not so...In fact, this triangle is a great setup for one of the trademarks of comedy: the multi-performance night. Improvisers can do the early show at one theater and walk a few blocks for the late show at the other, just like their stand-up counterparts do. This also allows other performers to watch the shows that go on at other theaters, allowing each improviser and theater to support each other, an inevitable outcome. Despite some exceptions, the improv community is largely one of optimism and support for each other.

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