Improv troupes from around the country and Canada will again converge on SouthSide Bethlehem later this month for the fourth annual SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival.
The two-day event is scheduled for Jan. 20 and 21 at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks and will feature (almost) continuous, marathon-style performances by improvisational comedy troupes from around the Lehigh Valley and beyond.
Chicago's The Improvised Shakespeare Company will again headline the festival on Jan. 21. Hunter Nelson and Terry Withers' "David Mamet's The New David Mamet Play" will be performed Jan. 20.
The Lehigh Valley will be represented by the troupes ManDudeBro, Cons & Pros, Cast Party, Jed & Dan, Aunt Merica, Dream Carnival, The Fourtets, #News, Burritos and Mascara, Cat Sweaters, Flumplenarfs, Cranks and Pulleys and The Associated Mess. Muhlenberg College's UiP and Lehigh University's The Hobo Army will also be back.
Friday tickets cost $14.50-$16 in advance, $17-$19 at the door; Saturday tickets $22.50-$25 in advance, $26-$29 at the door.
Performances will take place in the Fowler Blast Furnace Room.
Here is the schedule:
FRIDAY, JAN. 20
- 6 p.m.: Ceremonial Fist "Yes and" Ceremony
- 6:15 p.m.: #News
- 6:30 p.m.: Kilimanjaro (Philadelphia)
- 6:45 p.m.: Burritos and Mascara
- 7 p.m.: Windows 98 (Philadelphia)
- 7:20 p.m.: Doel Whip (New York)
- 7:40 p.m.: Sad Trombone (Philadelphia)
- 8 p.m.: Local Spot (Baltimore)
- 8:15 p.m.: Trophy Wives (New York)
- 8:30 p.m.: Cat Sweaters
- 9 p.m.: Hunter Nelson and Terry Withers' "David Mamet's The New David Mamet Play" (Baltimore)
- 10 p.m.: The Associated Mess
- 10:30 p.m.: Flumplenarfs
- 10:50 p.m.: Clown Boy (New York)
- 11:10 p.m.: The Quitters (Washington, D.C.)
- 11:25 p.m.: Cranks and Pulleys
- 11:45 p.m.: Flux (New York)
SATURDAY, JAN. 21
- 11:30 a.m.: York High School (York, Pennsylvania)
- 11:45 a.m.: UiP
- Noon: A Spork in the Road (New York)
- 12:15: Cons & Pros
- 12:30 p.m.: The Hobo Army
- 12:45 p.m.: No Parking Players (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh)
- 1:15 p.m.: Cast Party
- 1:30 p.m.: Two Guys at a Bar (New York)
- 1:45 p.m.: Jed & Dan
- 2 p.m.: History of the Future (Manchester, Connecticut)
- 2:20 p.m.: The Wrasslers (New York)
- 2:40 p.m.: Classy and Relevant (Pittsburgh)
- 3 p.m.: Just Us (Lehigh Valley)
- 3:20 p.m.: Remote Possibilities (Baltimore)
- 3:40 p.m.: Solo Sleepover (Harrisburg)
- 4 p.m.: 4 Litres of Orange Juice (Toronto)
- 4:20 p.m.: Playground (New York)
- 4:40 p.m.: Madeline (Washington, D.C.)
- 5 p.m.: Crisis: An Improvised Comic Book (New York)
- 5:15 p.m.: Aunt Merica
- 5:30 p.m.: Metropolis (Philadelphia)
- 5:50 p.m.: How Time Works (Boston)
- 6:10 p.m.: PLUR (New York)
- 6:30 p.m.: Mermaids (New York)
- 6:45 p.m.: Burritos and Mascara
- 7 p.m.: Bitchezzz (Pronounced "Girls") (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
- 7:20 p.m.: Dream Carnival
- 7:40 p.m.: Fancy Man (New York)
- 8 p.m.: My Privacy (New York)
- 8:15 p.m.: The High Scores (Pittsburgh)
- 8:30 p.m.: ManDudeBro
- 9 p.m.: Improvised Shakespeare Company
- 10:30 p.m.: Team Lopez (New York)
- 11 p.m.: Stevedore (New York)
- 11:30 p.m.: The Fourtets
- 11:45 p.m.: The Distance (New York)
- Midnight: "Aliens That Are Ancient" (Lehigh Valley)
- 12:15 a.m.: Bronson (New York)
- 12:45 a.m.: Fresca (Philadelphia)
- 1 a.m.: Dark Sneak Love Action (Philadelphia)
- 1:15 a.m.: Screwdriverz (New York)
- 1:30 a.m.: TBD
- 1:45 a.m.: TBD
- 2 p.m.: Closing improv jam