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! Check back soon for updates about this year’s lineup, workshops, and more!
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Fowler Blast Furnace Room | 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015
- Ages: Ages: 13+ (13-17 w/parent or guardian only)
- Event Rules
| 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
5:35 PM Just Friends from Philadelphia, PA
5:50 PM Third Wheel from Philadelphia, PA
6:05 PM Brunch Buddies from Brooklyn, NY
6:25 PM Staycation from Lehigh Valley, PA
6:40 PM The Latchkey Kids from Pittsburgh, PA
6:55 PM Hot FM from New York, NY
7:10 PM Synced Up from Lehigh Valley, PA
7:25 PM Remain Dog from Philadelphia, PA
7:45 PM We’re Good, You’re Great from Lehigh Valley, PA
8:05 PM Macbeth (“The Scottish Improv Team”) from Sunnyside, NY
8:25 PM Mercy Santos from Brooklyn, NY
8:45 PM Connor Ratliff Presents: The Acting Class from New York, NY
9:45 PM Go Fish! from Philadelphia, PA
10:00 PM This Movie Does Not Exist from Lehigh Valley, PA
10:15 PM JAM
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
2:15 PM Swear Jar from Philadelphia, PA
2:30 PM Twin Dog from New York, NY
2:45 PM The Improv Your Life Players from Willow Grove, PA
3:00 PM People’s Improv Group (P.I.G) from Burlington, VT
3:15 PM Duct Tape Plumbers from Ambler, PA
3:30 PM That Thing You Pull When You Want to Stop from Chicago, IL
3:45 PM No Duds from Brooklyn, NY
4:00 PM Swingers from Brooklyn, NY
4:15 PM Just One Bed from Washington, DC
4:30 PM Zero from New York, NY
4:45 PM Tim for Short from Lehigh Valley, PA
5:00 PM Brothered Toast from Brooklyn, NY
5:15 PM Naughty by Nurture from Lehigh Valley, PA
5:30 PM Paging Doctor Pigeon from East Hartford, CT
5:45 PM Danger Stage from Pittsburgh, PA
6:05 PM Dance Factory from New York, NY
6:25 PM The Board from New York, NY
6:45 PM GirlProv from Norfolk, VA
7:05 PM Incognito from Enfield, CT
7:25 PM Breakfast Boys from Brooklyn, NY
7:45 PM Schmooty! from Philadelphia, PA
8:05 PM Go Dummy from Brooklyn, NY
8:25 PM Cobra from Lehigh Valley, PA
8:45 PM Opening Night from Los Angeles, CA
9:45 PM BARKO from Philadelphia, PA
10:15 PM – 12:00 AM After Party
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.