January 23-24, 2026
SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival
The SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival presents improv teams from around world in a mini-marathon-style format. Each day is packed with literal non-stop comedy. Each day once we start, we don’t stop until the very end of the day.
2026’s festival is set for January 23-24. The Friday headliner will be Connor Ratliff presents The Acting Class!
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Fowler Blast Furnace Room | 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015
- Ages: 13+ (13-17 w/parent or guardian only)
- Event Rules
This show will contain adult language and/or situations. Seating will be assigned by ArtsQuest staff upon arrival into the showroom. Anyone coming in between the ages of 13 and 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No child 12 or under will be admitted. All performers and staff must adhere to our codes of conduct found here.
| 2-Day Pass | December 8-January 18 | January 19-24 |
| Price | $50 | $55 |
| ArtsQuest Member Price | $46 | $52 |
| Ages 25 and under & senior* | $47 | $53 |
Friday, January 23
- Doors: 4:45 pm
- Show: 5:15 pm*
| Friday Pass | December 8-January 18 | January 19-24 |
| Price | $28 | $33 |
| ArtsQuest Member Price | $25 | $30 |
| Ages 25 and under & senior* | $27 | $31 |
Saturday, January 24
- Doors: 1:30 pm
- Show: 2:00 pm*
| Saturday Pass | December 8-January 18 | January 19-24 |
| Price | $33 | $38 |
| ArtsQuest Member Price | $30 | $35 |
| Ages 25 and under & senior* | $31 | $36 |
*times subject to change
Friday Headliner: CONNOR RATLIFF presents THE ACTING CLASS
A one-person improv show disguised as an acting class, from the creator of the Dead Eyes podcast.
Professional actor (Étoile, Mean Girls 2024, Ghosts, Bob’s Burgers) and award-winning podcaster (Dead Eyes) CONNOR RATLIFF is a classically trained performer who graduated “with honours” from the prestigious Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts over a quarter of a century ago, making his professional debut on the stage of the Royal Court Theatre in London’s West End. During that same year, he also performed at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II. In the decades that followed, he has accumulated numerous credits as a star of stage, screen and stream, appearing in multiple Netflix Original Films as well as content on CBS, NBC, FOX, TBS, Home Box Office, Amazon Prime, and the now-defunct comedy platforms, Go90 and Seeso.
But none of that matters now.
What matters now is CONNOR RATLIFF presents THE ACTING CLASS, an unending series of workshop performances where he will, before your very eyes, demonstrate what acting truly IS.
Each performance will be slightly interactive and completely improvised, with occasional opportunities for “students” to participate (from the safety of their position in the audience.)
Defiantly self-indulgent and beyond pointless, THE ACTING CLASS is your opportunity to witness the kind of greatness – only slightly appreciated by The Industry – that has kept Connor Ratliff steadily employed for nearly half of the past 10 years.
Friday Lineup
Friday, January 23
5:15 PM Yes, And Ceremony
5:20 PM Jen and Andy’s Bogus Journey from Lehigh Valley, PA
Join local duoprov Jen and Andy as they themselves and other whacky characters on their journey to accomplish a goal suggested by the audience!
5:35 PM Just Friends from Philadelphia, PA
Based in Philly, Just Friends performs a Harold based off a suggestion of a random location from the audience—and yes, they’re JUST FRIENDS, nothing more!
5:50 PM Third Wheel from Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia based comedy trio—featuring two newlyweds, and one Jim! Providing a hilarious 15 minute set that will leave audiences breathless with laughter!
6:05 PM Brunch Buddies from Brooklyn, NY
Four friends from Brooklyn who love each other so much that they regularly grab brunch together—and perform unpredictable improvised narrative stories on stage.
6:25 PM Staycation from Lehigh Valley, PA
Veteran and local improv group Staycation take audience suggestions and weave them into a completely original show.
6:40 PM The Latchkey Kids from Pittsburgh, PA
Named ‘Best Improv Team’ by Pittsburgh Magazine four years in a row, this improv troupe performs a set based off found footage that has never been seen before!
6:55 PM Hot FM from New York, NY
Hailing from NYC, Hot FM combines the joy of local talk radio and improv, providing a unique show that is 100% hilarious and 100% radio!
7:10 PM Synced Up from Lehigh Valley, PA
An all-female and local improv team of nine years that takes audience’s gossip and turns it into a fast-paced, high energy set of hilarious chaos!
7:25 PM Remain Dog from Philadelphia, PA
Remain Dog is a long-form improv comedy troupe from Philly that thrives on creating unforgettable, over-the-top characters, and letting them run wild in worlds that stretch the limit of reality.
7:45 PM We’re Good, You’re Great from Lehigh Valley, PA
A local and veteran duoprov that puts on a quick-witted, fully improvised comedy show focusing on the humor found in audience discussions.
8:05 PM Macbeth (“The Scottish Improv Team”) from Sunnyside, NY
New York City’s own Macbeth creates totally improvised comedic shows featuring dramatic twists, absurd leaps of logic, unexpected detours into the surreal and supernatural, and epic finales!
8:25 PM Mercy Santos (God’s Favorite Improv Team) from Brooklyn, NY
Mercy Santos (God’s Favorite Improv Team) from NYC, performs Long-Form improv comedy (God’s Favorite Art Form) for you (God’s Favorite Audience).
8:45 PM Connor Ratliff Presents: The Acting Class from New York, NY
9:45 PM Go Fish! from Philadelphia, PA
Go Fish! Is a group of the most lovable and comedic improvisers on the high comedy seas—hailing from Philly, they take audience suggestions and run a Harold right before your very eyes.
10:00 PM This Movie Does Not Exist from Lehigh Valley, PA
A local duoprov with two certified cinephiles that improvise an entire movie right before your very eyes!
10:15 PM JAM
*times subject to change
Saturday Headliner: OPENING NIGHT: THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL!®
OPENING NIGHT: THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL!® is exactly that: a Broadway-style musical that is made up on the spot, based on audience suggestion. So every night is the ‘Opening Night’ of a musical that has never been seen! Now in it’s 26th year, Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!® is thrilled to continue as the show LAWeekly called, “almost too slick to be completely improvised”. It is, by the way—completely improvised.
Led by Director Shulie Cowen, Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!®’s cast combines the Chicago-style improvisation of the iO and The Second City with the Broadway stylings of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Gilbert & Sullivan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bob Fosse, and many more. Occasionally, they even borrow the 76 trombones from The Music Man. They usually give them back.
Cast film and television credits include; How I Met Your Mother, Mr. Mayor, Desperate Housewives, That 80s Show, Reno 911!, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Mad TV, and World Cup Comedy.
“Come back again and again — you’ll laugh every time.” (LA Weekly Best of 2010)
Visit their website at: www.improvisedmusical.com
Starring: Shulie Cowen, Norm Thoeming, and Matt Young with improvised accompaniment by Jonathan Dinerstein.
Saturday Post-Headliner: BARKO
BARKO is calculated slapstick improv.
Award-winning physical theater artist Nick Gillette, martial artist/philosopher Pim Van, and polymath clown/writer Sam Miller find the humor in the everyday parts of our daily routines.
It’s meta. It’s physical. It’s metaphysical.
It’s BARKO.
Saturday Lineup
Saturday, January 24
2:00 PM Luxury Gas from Lancaster, PA
Lancaster’s Improv Players newest house team, who provide an evening of delightful discoveries for players and audiences alike!
2:15 PM Swear Jar from Philadelphia, PA
Come watch the chaos with Swear Jar, a Philadelphia-based improv group that takes audience suggestions and applies them to hilarious stories and characters!
2:30 PM Twin Dog from New York, NY
Two college students (and besties) from NYC ask the audience Would You Rather questions, and build a hilarious story based off the response while driving each other crazy.
2:45 PM The Improv Your Life Players from Willow Grove, PA
A ragtag team of improvisers from the far reaches of the Philly suburbs—performing short-form improv and what some might call dangerously experimental.
3:00 PM People’s Improv Group (P.I.G) from Burlington, VT
People’s Improv Group is the improv host team of the University of Vermont. Large in numbers and in laughs, they are always prepared to deliver some good crisp, clean fun!
3:15 PM Duct Tape Plumbers from Ambler, PA
A improv troupe from Ambler, PA that performs their signature format—The Voicemail, that starts with an audience suggestion, an outgoing company voicemail, and a flood of incoming messages that flood a wild chain of chaos and laughs!
3:30 PM That Thing You Pull When You Want to Stop from Chicago, IL
Chicago’s own The Thing You Pull When You Want to Stop puts on a comedic set the swirls and spirals toward the sun each performance, as bold and foolish as Icarus.
3:45 PM No Duds from Brooklyn, NY
Using audience suggestions of blunders, bummers, hiccups, etc. The No Duds from NYC explore the obvious downsides and secret silver linings of failures big and small.
4:00 PM Swingers from Brooklyn, NY
Swingers is an improv troupe from Brooklyn featuring REAL improv power-couples that perform in duos and occasionally swing with the other couples!
4:15 PM Wizard Police from Lehigh Valley, PA
Wizard Police enters a fantastical world of many characters, birthed from the four square and unfolding into wild scenes as the set progresses.
4:30 PM Zero from New York, NY
A New York based Improv team that performs maximalist slacker form, known for their high-energy, big personas, strong commitment, and utterly ridiculous humor!
4:45 PM Tim for Short from Lehigh Valley, PA
Tim for Short is a local and beloved short-form improv team, performing fast-paced games inspired by audience suggestions that often spiral into hilariously chaotic results.
5:00 PM Brothered Toast from Brooklyn, NY
An all-black male improv group based in NYC that provides hilarious and high energy improv!
5:15 PM Naughty by Nurture from Lehigh Valley, PA
Lehigh Valley’s own married improv duo, Naughty by Nuture, puts their marriage to the test on stage by performing improvised scenarios and suggestions never seen before.
5:30 PM Paging Doctor Pigeon from East Hartford, CT
Hartford, Connecticut’s own Paging Doctor Pigeon performs 15 minutes of hilarious long-form improv, as prescribed by your trusted physician, Doctor Pigeon himself.
5:45 PM Danger Stage from Pittsburgh, PA
Danger Stage is a short-form improv team made up of veterans from Pittsburgh, PA, known for their infectious energy and their motto, “Be the danger you want to see on stage.”
6:05 PM Dance Factory from New York, NY
Dance Factory takes eight alter egos from NYC and patches them together like some serial killer’s Sunday Best, providing several forms of improv, audience participation, and full commitment to the exploration of scenes.
6:25 PM The Board from New York, NY
The Board is an improv team formed at NYC’S UCBT, performing sets that have a little bit of edge, a little bit of sadness, and a random pop culture reference you wouldn’t have expected in one million years.
6:45 PM BARKO from Philadelphia, PA
Barko, hailing from Philly, PA, weaves improvised comedy from nothing to a twisted end, highlighting organic discovery and inspired action with slapstick!
7:15 PM Incognito from Enfield, CT
Incognito is the top-secret, eyes-only team from Hartford, CT that uses stealth technology to turn your suggestions into classified improv debriefings of hilarious hijinks.
7:35 PM Breakfast Boys from Brooklyn, NY
Breakfast Boys are a duo from Brooklyn that love breakfast so much they dedicate every improv set to it–developing a universe of pieces of gossip they discover during the most important meal of the day.
7:55 PM Schmooty! from Philadelphia, PA
A Philly-based improv group that promises to make all your dreams come true as they escalate into absurdity!
8:15 PM Go Dummy from Brooklyn, NY
Go Dummy is the Dumbest Improv Troupe in NYC, specializing in a fast-paced supportive improv, that won 11 UCB Cagematches in a row!
8:35 PM Cobra from Lehigh Valley, PA
Local improv group Cobra brings you twenty minutes of action packed, fast-paced improv comedy—carved from total chaos and shaped by comedic excellence!
8:55 PM Opening Night from Los Angeles, CA
*times subject to change