Getting in Bed with the Pizza Man is a racy, whimsical one-woman show exploring the perils and thrills of s3x and singledom during the COVID-19 era by actress, writer, and comedienne Katie Folger. Originating as a backyard performance with 25 guests, the show saw additional workshops with close friends from being performed in a bedroom to shooting in an immersive living room performance to a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to bring this vision to the stage.

Saddled between the white picket fence vision of older generations and the prevalence of “hook up culture,” fleeting situationships, and debauchery characteristic of dating in the 2020’s, Getting in Bed with the Pizza Man asks: What do love and s3x look like? Is unbridled s3xual exploration truly liberating? Where is home if you haven’t found it with another person? And is there value in both tradition and exploration?

“I’m thrilled to be premiering my first ever one-woman show, Getting in Bed with the Pizza Man, in my beloved hometown of Austin,” said Folger. “ATX, known for its grungier arts scene and slacker-esque stories, is going to be in for a treat of comedic storytelling that’s unabashedly feminine, s3xy, glamorous, and provocative—kicking up the sheets for a lil sum’n different. I’ve been acting on screen for years, but a live piece flew out of me after the pandemic. Our team keeps accidentally saying we’re “throwing a show” and I think this is no accident. We’re all starved for in person connection and community gathering in the flesh, and this is going to be a good freakin’ time. In the show, the main character gets an invitation to magic—consider this yours.”

Written by and starring Katie Folger, Getting in Bed with the Pizza Man is directed by Matrex Kilgore and executive produced by Dwayne Washington. The production team also includes scenic design by Paola Cortés-Manthey, lighting design by Eric Gerzymisch, costume design by Chrissy Paszalek, and hair and makeup by PaTi Currie. Additionally, Creative Producer Elizabeth Carroll and Producer Hannah Schon.

Katie is a 30-year-old single woman fumbling with dating, s3x, and boundaries in a rigidly boundaried pandemic world. On a dagger-tongued jump down a rabbit hole of beginner’s sexual empowerment, Katie exits the circumstantially imposed monogamy of a reality where it isn’t “exactly responsible to f*ck whomever you wanted when there was a deadly disease decimating significant portions of the population” with a wild(ish) woman’s abandon. On her first trip since lockdown to San Francisco, a saucy, kismet run-in with an old crush Lane leads to an “invitation to magic”…and potential for a hedonistic week of love-making. But her highfalutin expectations for transcendent, plague-fee org@sms are humbled by a stinging admission from Lane. Feeling rejected and unsure of herself, Katie finds herself consumed with prospect of love and ***, rebelling against the roles she thinks she’s supposed to play—pious girlfriend, perfect wife—with a teen’s angst, mostly to no avail. But seemingly lame, dead-end session with a psychic named White Raven gives an unexpected way to that foreshadowed magic, setting Katie on a winding quest of sexual misadventure and discovery—a hippie cuddle-puddle, an illicit encounter with Lane’s bestie, a curious collision with a pizza man—that ultimately centers Katie, sans pizza man, in her own delectable narrative.

Ages: This show is for ages 17+

About Katie Folger

Katie Folger is an actress, writer, and comedienne based in Austin, Texas. Her work is geared toward more nuanced representation of women in media, inspired by longtime mentor Robert Redford. An award-winning actress, her bold and memorable performances have garnered her praise from festivals like Sundance and SXSW, among others. She is best known for her starring role as the villain ‘Meredith’ in Rooster Teeth’s Streamy Award-winning sci-fi series DAY 5, (AMAZON, EL REY, SKY TV). Other TV credits include a recurring role in Robert Rodriguez’s series FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (AMAZON, EL REY). Up next, she can be seen in starring roles in feature films TOOTH SHOP FIASCO, an absurdist comedy produced by George Rush & Mike Tully, and FAMILY PORTRAIT, a sprawling Texas drama directed by Lucy Kerr (Filmmaker Magazine's 25 Filmmakers to Watch 2022).

Pre- pandemic, she wrapped a six-month long sketch comedy season at THE MAGNET, her NYC stage debut, and trained in improv under Amy Poehler herself at Upright Citizens Brigade. In Los Angeles, she was one of the first on-camera hires as a satirical news anchor and writer for Phil DiFranco’s ROGUE ROCKET in the New Media space. In the feature space, additional credits include Andrew Bujalski’s RESULTS which debuted at Sundance, starring roles in Karen Skloss’s THE HONOR FARM and Emily Hagins’s GROW UP, TONY PHILLIPS which both premiered at SXSW. Her breakout role was in ZERO CHARISMA which won SXSW’s Audience Award. She has collaborated with notable Texas film figures Richard Linklater, Bryan Poyser, Bob Byington, Yen Tan, Vicky Boone, Rooster Teeth, and the Austin Film Society.

Alongside her work as an artist, Folger is currently working towards a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with special interest in working with victims of intimate partner violence and in crisis and trauma intervention.

About Matrex Kilgore

Matrex is an award-winning international performer, director, and teaching artist based in Austin, Texas. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Theatre and Dance and trained with Oscar winning Actress Marcia Gay Harden, Obie Award winning director Katie Pearl, Keene Prize for Literature and The David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award winner George Brant, and three-time Helen Hayes Award winner Franchelle Stewart Dorn. He is the co-founder of the Center for Imagining and Performing Justice and also works for Texas Commission of the Arts.

Beyond this, he has taught theatre for social change to students ranging in age from elementary to college level. Matrex collaborated internationally with the late award-winning globalist theatre practitioner and scholar Stephen Gerald performing and creating bilingual performances based on classical pieces of theatre including the works of Chekov and Shakespeare. In South Korea, he partnered with Chung Ang University (the prestigious theatrical Korean university) to create bilingual pieces of theatre that represent both American and Korean Culture.

Matrex previously served on the Board of Directors for Ground Floor Theatre and was a company member of The Vortex Repertory Theatre Company, En Route Productions, Spectrum Theatre Company, and Shrew Productions. He has directed five one woman shows. Some credits include: Black Do Crack by Florinda Bryant, TWENTYEIGHT by Tyler English-Beckwith, Cracked by COIVD by Florinda Bryant, “A” (What The Black Girl Found While Searching For G0d) by Taji Senior, Single Black Female by Lisa B. Thompson., and Devour. by Taji Senior.

Parking @ Crashbox: If the parking lot is full, please park on the street on Bolm Rd or across the street at Govalle Park. Crashbox reserves the spot closest to the theater with a cone for patrons in a wheelchair. Rideshare highly suggested ;)