Melanie PennStaff
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Happy March, Improv Shop! And happy birthdays to Jack Hentschell, Aubry Baker, Anna Agniel, Eesha Ved, Janelle Esposito, Tina Noland, Jon Beach, Sarah Godard, and everyone else celebrating birthdays this week! 🎂🎂 Here's some things to look forward to in and around the theater: THURSDAY PROGRAMMING - Tonight, Thursday March 5th, is a whole glut of teams: House Team Night at 7:00 in mainstage with GameBoyz, BRAINWORMS!, and Some Black People The Menagerie at 7:00 in sidestage with Junk Drawer, Floor Play, Queuecümber, and Scoville Squad The Merry-Go-Round at 9:00 in sidestage with Catt Maps, It Wasn't Me, C-Sweet, and Experi-mental The Jam at 9:00 in mainstage 🤸 FRIDAY PROGRAMMING - This Friday March 6th it's another super busy night: THE ASTERISK* at 7:00 in mainstage ~ this week's theme is false spring 🌤️ Time Is Extremely Ticking at 7:00 in sidestage ~ it's "a Celibate 4D sketch experience" Cagematch at 9:00 in mainstage with returning champion Manifesto vs. new challenger The Uncrustables Grandma's Den Hang with Mansplain at 9:00 in sidestage with Haute Mess Express, SMUT, and the eponymous Mansplain SATURDAY A.M. JAM - The third of a four-part series of Saturday morning jams will be this Saturday March 7th at 9:45-11:45 at The Annex, room C, facilitated by Elle Morgan! No annex subscription required, open to all current I.S. students and grads. This week's theme is locations and specificity. LEARN TO DM - Another fun thing to look forward to this Saturday is a class on learning to DM, facilitated by June Powell! This interactive workshop will give you a workflow to prepare encounters for your tablemates and get you running your first game. It'll run 12:00-5:00 at The Annex and is open to anyone who currently has an annex subscription. For more information, see June's post or send an email to theplanardragon@gmail.com. 🎲 QUEER IMPROV JAM - The monthly Queer Improv Jam is this Saturday March 7th as well! 5:00-6:15 in sidestage, open to any LGBTQIA+ participants regardless of improv experience, so tell friends! 🌈 Our friends of Yas And will be hosting and then kicking off their monthly show. Speaking of... SATURDAY PROGRAMMING - This Saturday March 7th is a lot of fun shows to look forward to: Yas And Friends at 7:00 in sidestage with the eponymous Yas And and this month's friend team SMUT The One Four Fives present an Improvised Musical! at 7:00 in mainstage Am I the Asshole? at 9:00 in mainstage After Dark with Gigi at 9:00 in sidestage ~ an improvised talk show with special guests Leah Bross, Maske, and Austyn Konarcik RUNNING CLUB - The weekly run/jog/walk/saunter meetup returns to Tower Grove Park starting at the Stone Shelter around 10:15-10:30, this Sunday March 8th. In an unexpected turn of luck, this Sunday's forecast is actually pretty nice and hopefully rainless. ☀️ Bring your dogs and your love for fresh air! Daylight savings can go kick rocks amiright? MONDAY JAMS - Come out for more miniworkshops this Monday March 9th at 6:00-6:55: Student Jam in sidestage with Megs Davis! 💫 Grad Jam in mainstage with Tara O'Nay! ✨ Tara's workshop will focus on rhythm and timing. MONDAY PROGRAMMING - This Monday March 9th is week #6 of this eight-week cycle of student showcases for our two Teams Level 2 classes in mainstage and our two Teams Level 1 classes in sidestage - only two more weeks before graduation! Then School Night follows in sidestage at 9:00 with three more teams. 👯♂️👯♂️👯♂️ THE MENAGERIE SUBMISSIONS - Submissions to play in The Menagerie in its April/May/June rotation will be open by noon on Saturday March 7th. If your team would like to play on a Thursday at 7:00, fill out the form here with team name, roster, and promotional information. Big thanks to Taylor and Kaylee for organizing! 7 THINGS STUDENT SPOTLIGHT - This week we're celebrating Weaves, who recently graduated Teams Level 2 with the team The Odd Throuple, and plays with twosie Bumblefuck. They're a current student in the Shotgun Workshop and Poetry for Improvisers, and incoming Friendo next session. 😎 Here's 7 things about Weaves: 1. I grew up in Brazil and Mexico and only moved to America when I was 7. 2. I can juggle, but only 3 things at once and I prefer if they are fruits. 3. I have a huge collection of puzzles! Over 180 at the moment and I am on the hunt for more. 4. My dentist said I have the biggest tonsils he’d ever seen. 5. The love of my life is a beagle mix. His name is Benson and my partner is jealous of him. I also have a blind puppy and an insane cat. 6. Graphic design is my passion (and I’d love to make a flyer for your show for free!) 7. Live theatre always makes me cry even if it’s a funny show. I just love watching people perform so much. That's 7 things! Thanks so much to Weaves for sharing. 🙂 Big thanks to everyone for creating lots of cool joyful events to plug into. Feel free to share 7 things about yourself* if you'd like a lil spotlight, or any improv-adjacent events you wanna share. See you soon. 💚