Levity Theatre

Founding (2021)

Noah Johnson founded Levity Theatre in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in 2021, addressing the absence of adult-focused improv opportunities in the region. Johnson had previously volunteered and performed at Upfront Theatre in Bellingham, Washington, bringing that Pacific Northwest improv tradition back to the Idaho Panhandle. Levity launched with comedy shows, improv classes, and corporate training programs.

Move to Downtown (2025)

In June 2025, Levity Theatre relocated to a new downtown Coeur d'Alene location at 4465 N 15th St, improving visibility and accessibility for its growing audience. The company has built a reputation in the region for family-friendly improvised musicals and its "lean into the absurdity" performance philosophy.

Ongoing Operations

Levity Theatre continues to operate at its downtown Coeur d'Alene location, offering improv shows, improvised musicals, classes, and corporate training as northern Idaho's primary dedicated comedy institution.

Levity Theatre presents all-ages improv comedy with a particular emphasis on improvised musicals and accessible, family-friendly programming. The company's philosophy of leaning into the absurdity reflects a performance approach that prioritizes joy and spontaneity over technical precision, making the shows approachable for audiences with no prior improv experience.

Levity Theatre presents weekly improv shows built around several recurring formats. Improvised Musicals are 90-minute productions featuring approximately 15 original songs inspired by audience-suggested titles for nonexistent shows, with recent entries including "Call Me Grandpa" and "In Love with a Cow." Comedy Clash is an audience-voted improv competition format pitting ensemble members against each other. Improvised Murder Mysteries are a seasonal offering, typically staged in October. Improv in the Park and Improv Playground are outdoor community events. The company also co-founded and participates in the Northwest Improv Fest, an annual festival launched in 2024 that brings improv companies from across the Pacific Northwest and the country to the Inland Northwest region.

Noah Johnson founded Levity Theatre in 2021 after relocating to Coeur d'Alene and finding no adult improv opportunities in the Idaho Panhandle. Johnson came to improv without a theatre background, first joining an improv club at Whatcom Community College alongside a friend, eventually serving on the club's steering committee and directing the troupe toward public performances. He later volunteered at and performed with Upfront Theatre in Bellingham, Washington, before returning to Idaho. Recognizing that Coeur d'Alene lacked any equivalent institution, Johnson began teaching classes and built the Levity ensemble almost entirely from scratch, personally training nine of the troupe's ten original members. The company describes itself as Coeur d'Alene's first improv theatre.

Johnson has emphasized accessibility and affordability as organizational values, including reducing ticket prices to remove financial barriers for community members. In 2024, rather than travel to an established improv festival, Johnson co-founded the Northwest Improv Fest, a multi-company event held in Spokane that celebrated both national touring groups and local Inland Northwest talent and returned for a second year in 2025. Levity's programming has grown to encompass a structured four-week class curriculum, free workshops, and a range of show formats from family-friendly improv to improvised musicals. The theatre's presence in Coeur d'Alene established the Idaho Panhandle as a site of original improv activity for the first time and, through the Northwest Improv Fest, extended the company's regional influence into eastern Washington.