The battle begins every Saturday night at 7:30 with Florida Studio Theatre’s improv series Out of Bounds. Laugh, eat, drink and generally get rowdy in the Bownes Lab Theatre as two teams of improv performers compete for the audience’s affection and the all-important bragging rights of the victors. Using general scenarios, with details solicited from the gathered crowd, each team strives to showcase their quick wit, humor and versatility, constructing characters and stories on the spot in an attempt to win the night.

Under the guidance of managing director Rebecca Hopkins, chief organizer of FST’s improvisational programming and the Sarasota Improv Festival, predictability is for the birds, and at Out of Bounds the unexpected is all you can expect. The night begins by randomly assigning the performers to opposing teams, giving none the opportunity to prepare or even know with whom they will be acting. And although the scenes (“games” as they’re known behind the curtain) will be familiar, the devil is in the details – details they never know until they’re already on stage.

“I love this game, because I don’t want to know what we’re playing,” said actor Steve Turrisi, who has been performing improv with the program for 10 years. “It’s different every time and you get to vent your comedic thoughts for the whole week in one night.”

But it’s not just fun for the actors. At the Bownes Lab the line between audience and performer blurs. The audience takes as active a role in the performance as they want, within reasonable expectations. Not only is the crowd’s input necessary to the show, but the exceptionally brave may even find themselves onstage, swapping barbs and jokes with the pros. You don’t have to go up, but if you want to you can probably find a place to squeeze in.

“This is a big audience favorite because there is so much audience interaction,” said Hopkins. “We’re asking them something before each and every scene. It’s not just one suggestion that we run with all night. They immediately see the payoff of their idea in the scene.”

If you don’t want to perform, you can still participate. Like the performers, the audience is divided into groups, but these groups determine the scores each team receives for each scene. It’s judging, but it’s all in good fun.

But even with bragging rights on the line, it’s all in good fun, a time to go out with friends, down a few drinks, laugh your head off and watch humans be goofy humans on stage. At it’s heart, that’s what improv is – performing for the fun of it – and at FST that’s what you get.

"You cannot come to this show and be unengaged," said Hopkins. "You can come with no fear that we're going to drag you up on the stage, but you can't not participate because it's such an interactive environment." 

For the next nine days, Burns Court Cinemas and Lakewood Ranch Cinemas will play host to Sarasota’s cinephiles and film fans, as they gather for the Cine-World Film Festival. Organized for the last 25 years by the Sarasota Film Society, Cine-World has made a name for itself, consistently bringing some of the most interesting and acclaimed foreign and independent films to Sarasota’s theaters.

This year is no exception, beginning with the opening night film, Mr. Turner, starring Timothy Spall as eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner and ending with the closing night presentation on Nov. 16 of Jean-Pierre Darden’s Two Days, One Night starring Marion Cotillard, the Cine-World Film Festival will screen films from 26 different countries, including Australia, Norway, Japan, Israel and Papua New Guinea.

In between, the festival’s Spotlight Selections run the gamut from the intriguing Escobar: Paradise Lost showcasing Benicio Del Toro as cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar to Ethan Hawke’s meditative documentary of aging pianist Seymour Bernstein. It’s a selection broad as the world it seeks to represent, with a little space left over for a film from one of Sarasota’s own in Karl Wilson’s Breaking Up With Rosie.

It’s easy for great films to slip between the cracks, drowned out by blockbusters and big budgets, and it can be a hassle to seek them out later – festivals like Cine-World do the work for us.

Cine-World Film Festival runs from Nov. 7-16, with screenings at Burns Court Cinemas and Lakewood Ranch Cinemas. Tickets are available online or at the theater box office. 

Click For Full Cine-World Programming

Calling all nostalgia nuts, vintage vixens and analog gents in this digital world—your retro fantasy has been fulfilled. Take a stroll down memory lane—Blvd. of the Arts—and party like it’s 1963 as Canned Ham Vintage shakes things up with the grand opening of their vintage pop-up boutique from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm tonight.

Serving small bites and cranking Jimi, Janis and Johnny from their restored 1960s radio, Canned Ham will take you on a nostalgic trip through the 20^th century via scavenged sartorial swag and repurposed home goods.

Owner and Sarasota local, Ashley Rogers has been busy amassing a carefully curated selection of one-of-a-kind pieces from decades past to guarantee you won’t end up in the same getup as your ex’s new girlfriend at a wedding or night out. Among the store’s current foraged fashion is a ‘70s hand-tooled leather purse, a vibrant Hawaiian printed Alfred Shaheen maxi skirt and an ‘80s side-slit suede miniskirt with fringe detailing.

Roger’s passion for punchy prints and funky finds stems from early childhood escapades scouring the city’s estate sales, co-piloting with her grandma on Saturday mornings. Armed with frosty Coca-Colas and the weekend newspaper, the two tag-teamed to track down treasure.                                                                                 

After years of hunting and gathering, Rogers seized the opportunity take her reminiscent rummaging to a new level. “I grew up in Sarasota and never saw that funky, young vibe we’re seeing more and more now,” she says enthusiastically. “I decided to just go for it, try something local and open a small business.”

Currently anchored in Rosemary District brick and mortar, Canned Ham will soon hit the streets in a 1963 Shasta trailer Rogers and her fiancé are restoring. Reviving it to its glory days, the wheels will wander streets in January, showcasing everything from paisley boleros to patchwork skirts. 

Canned Ham Vintage, 1361 Blvd. of the Arts

Canned Ham Vintage

Coastal Orthopedics

Sarasota County Area Transit's "We'll Take You There" marketing campaign, which puts the spotlight on public transportation and how it serves residents and visitors, was honored with several awards at the Florida Public Transportation Association's annual conference Oct. 27 in Naples, including a first-place finish for its new music video. The campaign is aimed at creating more exposure for Sarasota County's public transit system and the many locations it travels. The video, which features local band NeXXlevel, reflects SCAT's trips to everywhere from the beach to St. Armands Circle. 

Sarasota County Area Transportation

SouthTech, an information technology services firm that has delivered and supported infrastructure and business management solutions throughout Florida since 1994, announced the addition of Robert Snyder as systems support specialist to the SouthTech team. 

South Tech