Upcoming Events!

New York's best up-and-coming comedic actors audition for the biggest comedy festival in the world. The Characters show at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in July is where the comedy industry flocks to find the next stars of late night sketch shows, TV sitcoms, movies and more. Come watch undiscovered talent perform original characters, impressions, parodies, musical acts, monologues and other surprises.

An American (not) in Paris portrays the experience of loneliness, the inimitability of youth, and the reality check of growing up in a relatable, heartfelt, and ultimately laughter and smile inspiring way. You’ll leave hating Americans and Gen Z a little less (no promises, I guess).

Come watch Queer performers get into the “Yas, and!” spirit as they spread the LGBTQIA+ agenda through improv comedy! It’ll be a gay ole time!

We're a ragtag gang of Spokaniacs, exploring the outer reaches of the absurdiverse. If a rock looks unusual, we're going to pick it up and see what's underneath. (But don't worry. We always put rocks back where we found them.)

Sketch comedy that changes shape every show!

Completely comprised of students of the Peoples Improv Theater, this improv variety show will feature different improv formats performed by students from different levels. Come support the improv community!

Join Big Cup & friends the first Friday of the month at the PIT Loft April, May, and June, as they boldly ask: can friendship make comedy stronger? Does love conquer all? Join us for laughs from improv, characters, and stand up, and stay for poignant realizations that your friends really ARE your biggest strength. Peace, love, and Big Cup ✌️☮️☕️

"GREAT GATSBY!" is a parody jukebox musical of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel featuring pop hits from the early 2000s. This un-faithful retelling is this year's (Third) Best Musical (Based on "The Great Gatsby").

5 stand ups take the stage, but the one thing they can’t take with them is prepared material. The comics will engage with the audience and will also have the opportunity to get topics given to them at random. What ensues is anyone’s guess, but the one thing that is sure is that we will all have an absolute blast!

Alternative Medicine!

Presented by the Peoples Sketch Revues’ ABSURD TEAM!

Do you have steamy hot tea to spill? Come dish at Hot Goss – an improv show inspired by your gossip. Vent about a coworker. Trash talk your ex. Tell us about your weird cousin. You spill, we do scenes. Everyone leaves a little lighter.

A night of experimental stand-up from NYC comedian Jake Schick. Watch Jake develop this hour-long solo show live with occasional special guests!

This is for funny people @NITE… take a seat and shut your trap (you should’ve seen the other guy...)

Using audience suggestions of blunders, bummers, hiccups, slip-ups, etc., the No Duds explore the obvious downsides and secret silver linings of failures big and small.

The Sotto Voce & Friends show is an evening of story and song . We partner with public school music programs to increase awareness of the need for arts education in public schools. Opening for us is a musical ensemble of students from the NY public school system who will perform a short set. Then Sotto Voce presents an improvised musical that is completely sung through with no spoken dialogue!

Kevin Scott and Dion Flynn bring their years of experience and skewed point of view to the PIT for a not-to-missed hour of hilarious improvisation. Kevin (Centralia, The Second City) and Dion (The Tonight Show) are a guaranteed good time.

What happens when a team meets for the first time hours before they take the stage? 6-8 highly skilled performers come together and forced to commit... for one night only to create a never-before seen narrative. Anything can happen in this evening of experimental theater, almost as chaotic as a shotgun wedding.

Dale and Mary are a rural couple that are real good at making simple life real complicated. They just can’t seem to see eye-to-eye but their foibles are the dysfunctional glue that bonds and keeps them plodding on!

Frog Boyz Presents a night of stand up, animation, and sketch comedy by Sketch Team 6.

It’s time to pop out and show out with The Black Coalition!!! An all BIPOC Impov team ready to make their grand debut. Come join us for some long form improv by some of the best BIPOC improvisers The PIT has to offer. See our show and join the COALITION!!

The Maurine & Maurice Show is an absurdist mob-comedy experience where a retired gangster and his luxury-loving wife plunge an unsuspecting tour group into chaos—mixing scripted and unscripted antics, musical interludes, and a prohibition-era twist in a wildly immersive spectacle of crime, comedy, and calamity.

Real-life improviser parents and their children create magic and adorable mayhem on stage.

Join Kim & Yaro as they host a night of stand-up and improv inspired by the opposite sex.

Not a fan of Star Trek? No problem!

Step into the circle. Characters Anonymous is a comedy showcase of sketches and characters, where NYC’s sharpest comedians gather for a fictional support group meeting — each one playing an unhinged persona in desperate need of help.

Yelling at Pigeons is a sketch comedy group that features PIT writers and performers, who are up-and-coming-and-unwell. With an emphasis on finding hilarity in the lives of the mundane, Yelling at Pigeons presents a revue of sketches, characters, and musical performances that explore the most bizarre and downright dangerous delights of the average Joe.

NYCDA students perform standup comedy for the first time headlined by The Pit's own Chris Griggs!  

Expecteth the unexpected, for no two performances shall be the same. Verily, thou shalt be swept away on a journey of laughter and tears, as the players improvise their way through the labyrinthine tunnels of a story in the the style of William Shakespeare!

Join LaLaHaHa for a night of music, laughter, and both at the same time! LaLaHaHa is a musical sketch group based in New York City.

Fool Harmonic!

Presented by the Peoples Sketch Revues’ MUSICAL TEAM!

Welcome to the POuRNO Shop! Enjoy a visually satisfying show about the process of creating some wet, gushy, sticky, slimey “pourn”, all made LIVE (SFW of course).

Fight for democracy in the most dramatic election season yet!

The premier papery improv team, Lady Paper, presents their original form, The Estuary.

"One of the most impressive and absurd long-form improv routines in the city." - TimeOut NY

“Two Much with Peter & Matt” is a half short-form, half long-form improvised show featuring the winners of PIT's 2025 March Madness competition, Peter & Matt (@peterandmatt).

Experience comedy like never before at "Whole Lotta M's," the stand-up show featuring exclusively comedians whose names begin with M! It might sound mad, but the only thing crazy will be how much you laugh. Don't miss this memorable mess!

The Laff Hour is a comedy variety show produced by women of color that blends stand-up and short-form improv featuring an improved podcast, the Fourth Floor, involving the audience.

Join us for some long-form character-driven improv that will leave you wanting to pinch our cheeks and call us cutie patooties.

Leatherface Larry has had enough of Ted Danson. And Susie. And Jeff. And Leon. Someone has to save Cheryl, and maybe all of Texas. A musical of epic proportions, including numbers by spirit guides Marty Funkhouser and Richard Lewis.

The World’s FIRST: A.I. vs Human Comedy Roast Battle.

Elevator Pitch hits the stage to perform a full length improvised musical! With the power of song anything can happen..and will!

One woman shows are typically very tight, polished, and one woman. This is not that. In The First Two Woman Show, best friends Hannah and Carolina will act out scenes from their lives and attempt to share the spotlight.

Pit Ensembles Alumni team Toronto are back and they're bringing their friends. You give them the suggestion, they supply the fun, Canadian style.

It's a sketch comedy open mic, and the stakes couldn't be lower!

You’ve watched this show for seven years and finally and now it’s coming to an end. Dragons, meth, weddings, who knows what will happen. You suggest the title and we’ll show you how it ends.

Improv Team ‘Daddy Needs A Win’ performs their season finale after a successful run with PIT Ensembles. It’s long form improv comedy with high energy, relevant subject matter, & synergetic group play.   Featuring: Ted Andricos Max Banks Beau Danner Teddy Fischer Tiffany Huntley Francis Laguna-Driscoll Rebecca Miller Anna Nelson Mark Said Coached By Sunny Outlaw.

Febster is a sketch show that will make you laugh (hopefully) and cry (hopefully not... unless paired with laughter).

Zany chaos ensues! We hope you join us for this wild ride of satire and foolery!

People don't know what they want till you give it to them. Hence Suitably Disgraceful. In a world where art sucks and no one knows better, we become part of the problem in the form of sketch comedy that is quite disgraceful, but in a suitable way. The material contains surrealist and sadistic humor, along with some musical comedy mixed in!

Theatresports™ is the fast-paced improv show where two teams of improvisers will compete against each other, taking your suggestions to perform hilarious scenes, songs, games and more!

Sunny Outlaw performs his signature technique to improvise 60 minutes of completely-made-up material.

An explosive, high energy hour of improvised dark comedy hosted by Hyperkinetic (est. 2023).

The setting is a middle school gym/school dance. We’re making the audience relive their most embarrassing middle school memories by turning them into fun improv. Come laugh through the pain!

Backdoor Barbecue is a critically acclaimed* NYC-based sketch comedy group that serves up high-energy and tightly-structured shows. Featuring musical performances, character bits, topical monologue joke segments, and more, Backdoor Barbecue cooks up a new sketch revue with some of the funniest folks in New York!

Join us as a group of talented actors perform LIVE two never-before-seen comedy pilots written by some of the most hilarious storytellers in the city. Come catch these shows before they make their way onto your television screen! Presented by Peter Clark-Deutsch

Student Driver: Indie Road is The PIT's longest running indie improv show and is finally back a multi year hiatus caused by some serious "traffic" in the world.

Come see the material that did NOT get our performers a spot on SNL, JFL, or KGL! Okay, we made that last one up.

Night Shift presents "Nothing to See Here,” an improv comedy show blending humor with unexpected twists in a reality-bending narrative. Get ready for clever storytelling, surprising turns, and a unique mix of grounded emotion and absurdity. Join us for a great evening!

Join the That’s Our Show ensemble for a variety spectacular in the style of classics like The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and many others! We’ve got it all- singing, jokes, sketches, dancing, and a boat load of fun! Looking for an incredible night like no other? My friends, That’s Our Show!

Welcome to the improvised documentary — a longform improv show filled with talking heads, found footage, re-enactments, and more!

Two beautiful women are BACK in the BIG CITY of Manhattan, and they're ready to give the world what it's been asking for: A NON-DENOMINATIONAL WINTER HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA! Get ready to see some incredible digital sketch comedy, outstanding stand up, and we're going to also try to learn that jingle bell dance from the Mean Girls the Musical Movie. I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year...can you?

Featuring oldies AND goodies, the Old Favorites Open Mic will feature comics performing jokes/bits from their EARLIEST days in comedy (stand-up & characters welcome). This mic is open to YOU to dust off some of your old work. The older and dustier the better.

BREAKING NEWS: THE PIT announces the Peoples Sketch Revues’ TOPICAL TEAM! This team will present their comedic take on the hottest political and topical stories happening in the world today. Our Topical Team is directed by Makena Reynolds and will feature sketch comedy from: Reagan Allen Sebastian Martinez Sydney Kaehler Santos Aguilar Moureen Karim Lisa Naso   PEOPLES SKETCH REVUES is a new series featuring SKETCH HOUSE TEAMS built by our theater, for our theater. These teams showcase the best of the best by presenting all forms of sketch comedy including MUSICAL, POLITICAL/TOPICAL and ABSURD/GONZO! These teams are representation of all the Peoples Improv Theater strives to achieve in the NYC comedy community.

The Artist Formerly Known As: CRUD! is a mostly queer improv team. Formerly a house team at the PIT, they’ve performed at Baltimore Improv Festival and regularly spread their crud all over NYC. Follow @crud_improv for show details and more CRUD!

Documentary format improv show

An outrageous, off-the-wall sketch show written and performed by some of the hottest performers from Second City, UCB, BCC, and of course, THE PIT!!!!!!

It's a Lifestyle is a high-energy, offbeat musical comedy that dives into modern relationships and the chaotic world of swinging. Betty and Richard, a 1920s couple stuck in a marriage rut, stumble into the swinging lifestyle through free-spirited Wilma and Otis. What begins as an attempt to reignite their spark becomes a whirlwind of wild parties, blurred boundaries, and unexpected encounters. Chaos escalates when flamboyant mob boss Tony Zamboni mistakes their gatherings for a rival gang operation, sparking misunderstandings and musical mayhem.

Fair Playhouse’s Premiere Sketch Comedy Troupe, Egg Salad Sketch Comedy, explores themes such as pop culture, relationships, family, life in New York City, and more in this 60-minute year-end showcase.

An improvised musical featuring old-timey bluegrass tunes and a rotating cast on traditional instruments like banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, washboard, egg shakers and kazoo…

Come watch comedians deliver their best PechaKucha on stage and be inspired by their hilarious presentations!

A laugh out loud PIT show where everything that happens from the moment people walk in, to the stand up performances, get improvised upon by a brilliant team, Centralia style.

Comedian and storyteller Dustin D’Addato takes you on a humorous journey through a life changing brush with death. Along the way learning what is truly important: Post-it notes, High school traditions and Fancy fake penises.

Join us for an evening of laughter, tears, and song, right out of a Sondheim fever dream.

This show is a parodies ‘experimental’ style theatre where the actors take themselves too seriously, wear all black, insert unnecessary themes, and make you think, “What the hell is going on?”

Ansa Edim's one woman storytelling show explores modern romance through the eyes of a fat Black woman boldly navigating a world of dating disasters, confusing societal expectations, and the cringey road to self-discovery.

Horse Beef begins every show by asking the audience for 3 desires. These 3 desires will become the starting point for 3 story lines that Horse Beef will weave together over the course of the show.

Our PIT/SNL Scholars will be presenting their SNL style audition. So come see some of our best and brightest swing for the fences and give it all they've got!

Up-and-Coming NYC comedians Sunny Outlaw & Mike Warner team up to provide an hour of explosive improv comedy!

Your Father and I would like to show you something. It is an expression of joy and of sorrow, of pleasure and pain, and, if you do it right, it takes about an hour.

A BoogieManja Production to showcase new solo characters from some of the best writer-performers in NYC.

A showcase of brand-new sketch comedy from a brand-new sketch comedy group! Fowl Play, founded by a group of odd ducks, produces comedy that's both playful and cutting, melding absurdist humor with sharp satire. There will be someone dressed as a giant razor blade.

Charlotte has succumbed to depression and must try various experiences in life to pull herself out. It's hilarious.

"With Love," is a solo variety act that explores what it’s like to be the author of your own life’s work AKA your eulogy.

Waddle down to one of the funniest stand-up comedy showcases this side of the pond! 

Two improv teams taking the stage for a night of improv comedy? Sounds like a DOUBLE WHAMMY to me! Join teams, Accidental Cowboy and ChitChat for one hour of laughs and lots of improv!

Brisk air, leaves falling, it’s always dark, it’s coming — cuffing season. And you won’t buy me a salad? What am I to you… Chopt Liver?

Dr. Kara Kibara sells her services through a hybrid Ted talk-workshop transformation-improv - performance style as the best dating and relationship guru.

Clarice formally invites you to an hour long revue of short-form comedic vignettes (colloquial, American: "sketches").

The Shy Vaudevillian combines stand-up, storytelling, and handmade visuals to create a distinctly modern vaudeville experience where body dysmorphia, lotto scratch-offs, and mansplaining collide face-first with a banana cream pie!

Tony’s on a trip to Italy again. But what kinda kingda ka’s in the zupa this time? The third installment of an epic musical, including numbers by Paulie Walnuts and Samuel L. Jackson.

A comedy variety show hosted by two eccentric New Yorkers (played by Diana Aydin and Mikayla Sherfy), who secretly live in The PIT Annex.

Join us for a night of stand-up, music, poetry, and sketch performances.

It's 1980 and one of the most popular shows on television is Love's a Funny Thing, the program where young couples come on to live television and reenact their most unbelievable stories (how they met, how they fell in love, etc.).

A multi-talented group of performers brings you an action packed hour of hilarious characters, music, stand-up, sketch, and improv comedy.

Fifth Floor Walkup is a fever dream of hysterical weirdness. It's madcap, what-the heck-just-happened, screwball sketch comedy with a motley cast of PIT-trained performers. Playing in the liminal space between sketch and improv, Fifth Floor stitches together a brand new show every time with high-production sketches, original music, and digital shorts that'll leave you in stitches and maybe thinking a little differently about how you see the world!

Through sketch comedy and character monologues, we tackle all the questions, false alarms, and mysterious symptoms that no other clinic will. Your appointment has been confirmed! Please note we are expecting wait times up to 6 hours.

Are you a life-long (live) Swiftie with a 13 drawn on your hand? Or are you someone dipping your toes in The Lakes of the 18 years worth of lore of today's biggest pop superstar? Either way, this show is for you! We will ̶i̶n̶i̶t̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶u̶l̶t̶ introduce you to the inside jokes of our fandom with educational segments leading into Taylor-themed sketches spanning topics from Jake Gyllenhaal's scarf to the Eras Tour.

Papa Squat is a sketch show created by deeply special freaks with one goal: to make you laugh, baby. 

TGIF (TESTING GAY IDEAS, FUNNY)!! PIT favorite and NYC comedian Michael John Ciszewski (Edinburgh Fringe, Off-Broadway) makes his return to 29th Street after sell-out smash hits LOVEFOOL and IF MEMORY SERVES for a Friday night Spring 2025 residency exploring BRAND NEW MATERIAL for his upcoming, as-yet-untitled, masterpiece-in-the-making FIFTH solo hour of comedy about his unbearably iconic mother, the way we build our own legacies, and the blistering stupidity of falling in love again and again. At every date, he’ll be joined by his favorite comics, drag artists, and queer performers. How’s that for divine comedy?!

Join the PIT’s personal Shadow Cast for a different cult classic movie with every performance. With shows including Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Room, Heathers, and more - it’s one helluva good time!

Screaming Crying Throwing Up is a sketch show by fangirls for fangirls (and anyone who wants to dip their toe into fandom). Our sketches explore the brilliance and complexity of fangirls, along with our current obsessions. Everything from K-pop, to Disney, books, tv, movies, fanfic, and everything in between. Let’s get delulu! #SketchShow!AU   Featuring: Alyssa Briddes Becky Davidson Helene Dubois Rhys Febles Taylor Sniffen Cahlia Walton Scott Kidwell

Comedy scenes, songs and sketches from some of New York’s funniest up-and-coming comic actors and writers. 

Endless scrolling? Watch hot locals in your area entertain YOU live

A sketch hour of absurdist and experimental comedy.

Corn Fed Sketch, the corniest sketch show in the west. What happens when you when you put a bunch Midwesterners with big dreams on a stage??? They write a sketch show! You can see the Titanic, a masked killer, and big ole glasses of whole milk. And if you’re lucky maybe you’ll get to meet The Donner Party.

It's your happy place! A stimulating sketch show adventure through your favorite things! First Day of Work Orientation! Elementary School Assemblies! The Food Network! You never know what you'll be subjected to!!

Comedians and writers from around New York write and perform a reading of the WORST poems you ever heard all in an effort to make each other break.

Maybe you loved your hometown, maybe you hated it, maybe you’re so indifferent you’re pissed we’re even bringing it up. Regardless— Skip Skip wants to visit! We’ll ask an audience member about where they grew up: the oddball characters, the local haunts, the myths and legends. Then we’ll make ourselves at home doing some good ol’ fashion long form improv!

Girl Theory dismisses the validity of the question “are women funny?” with a 50 minute girl-centric sketch variety show that will make you question everything that you have ever believed to be true.

A Night of Laughs, Mayhem & Unexpected Surprises!

The error404_ faction commits exactly 404 errors weekly, in a rotation of satirical plays (lots of mashups), audience plants (lots of crying), and concerts (so much dancing). House band Blink Floyd/ Pink 182. Sopranos and Snakes on a Plane the Musical 3 and Curb Your Texas Chainsaw Massacre the Musical 2 coming soon.

It’s a surreal but true-to-life love story between a woman and a bottle of vodka, from the early days of awkward first love to the ultimate betrayal, and the realization that life going forward without it isn’t just doable– it can be beautiful.

Landing on Me is a heartfelt comedy about how Lisa and Michelle found—and keep finding— themselves.

Cabin Fever is throwing together a shindig, and you're invited! Join us for a night with our hilarious friends as we regale you with some quality laughs and wholesome moments! Come sit around the campfire with us while we tell stories, make jokes, and come closer together. It's a night you won't want to miss! (S'more may or may not be offered as well)

Black Noise presents a night of comedy featuring Ethan Howard + Friends!

THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, and WET HOT SUMMER SKETCH SERIES IS BACK!!!!! 

SAM is a wacky and irreverent improv group that recreates audience members’ hometowns with a misfit spin!

After knocking baseballs out of the park, Babe Ruth sets his sights even higher — the moon.

Hot off their run as a PIT ensemble team, Daddy Needs a Win performs their unique form in their signature high-energy style.

Two half-sisters. First meeting. Family secrets will be revealed. Family futures will be decided. No one will leave unscathed.