ComedySportz Philadelphia

Founding (1992)

ComedySportz Philadelphia launched in 1992 as one of the earlier franchise expansions in the CSz Worldwide network following the original Milwaukee company (1984). The franchise established competitive short-form improv as a regular entertainment offering in the Philadelphia market, operating at The Adrienne Theater on Sansom Street in Center City. The company's 1992 founding predates CATCh (2016) and other Philadelphia comedy institutions, positioning CSz Philadelphia as the city's longest-running comedy entertainment brand.

Philadelphia School of Improv

Alongside its public performance schedule, CSz Philadelphia operates the Philadelphia School of Improv, offering class programs in short-form improv for adult students. The training program extends the franchise's reach beyond its competitive performance format into instructional programming.

Ongoing Operations

ComedySportz Philadelphia continues to perform at The Adrienne Theater, offering family-appropriate competitive shows, adult programming, corporate team-building, and classes through the Philadelphia School of Improv.

ComedySportz Philadelphia presents competitive short-form improv in the CSz Worldwide format, with two teams competing in improv games before a referee with audience scoring. The Philadelphia School of Improv extends the company's work into training, offering structured curriculum in short-form technique. Corporate team-building programming serves the Philadelphia business market.

ComedySportz (the weekly competitive short-form match format running since 1992, featuring house teams The Philadelphia Fighting Amish and The New Jersey Turnpikes with a referee and announcer), Big Bracket Bedlam (a March tournament-style elimination competition featuring 50 CSz players), Dun-Dun: Improvised Crime Unit (a Law and Order parody with five improvisers from a single audience suggestion), Thank You Places: An Improvised Musical (a fully improvised Broadway-style musical), Off the Record (an improvised Spinal Tap-style musical documentary with live songs), and the Longform Mini Festival (an annual weekend of longform performances and workshops). The 25th anniversary match in 2017 at Mandell Theater at Drexel University drew over 40 alumni performers from the company's history.

ComedySportz Philadelphia is the longest-running comedy show in the city, operating continuously since 1992. Jennifer Childs, a CSz Philadelphia player from 1992, co-founded 1812 Productions in 1997, which became the only professional theater company in the United States dedicated exclusively to comedy, earning multiple Barrymore Awards. Scott Greer, a CSz alumnus from 1993, is a Barrymore Award-winning actor. Thomas Fowler, a player from 1994, went on to work on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and A Black Lady Sketch Show. Kelly Vrooman went on to the cast of Nickelodeon's Sunny Side Up Show.

The company's current roster includes multiple Barrymore Award winners among its active players, among them John Zak, Dave Jadico, Brian McCann, and Fred Siegel. Over three decades the Philadelphia School of Improv, housed within CSz Philadelphia, has trained thousands of students in the Rittenhouse Square area, making CSz one of the longest-standing improv training institutions in the Mid-Atlantic region.