Philly Improv Theater

Founding (2005)

Greg Maughan, Bobbi Block, Matt Holmes, and Alexis Simpson co-founded Philly Improv Theater as a nonprofit in October 2005. The organisation was publicly announced at the First Annual Philadelphia Improv Festival on 4 November 2005, and its first classes were offered in January 2006.

Adrienne Theater (2014–2023)

PHIT opened its Second Stage at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street in Center City Philadelphia, in January 2014, establishing its first permanent home after nearly a decade of performing at various venues. In 2014, the PHIT Kids and Teens programme launched (serving students kindergarten through high school). In 2016, PHIT expanded to the Adrienne Mainstage.

Arden Theatre and Current Operations

In June 2023, PHIT left the Adrienne Theater and relocated its training centre to the Arden Theatre's Hamilton Family Arts Center in Old City Philadelphia. The organisation continues to offer improv and comedy courses to more than 1,000 students annually and provides corporate training to clients including Wawa, Comcast, and Bank of America.

PHIT operates as a broad-based comedy training and performance nonprofit, presenting improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy alongside extensive education and corporate programmes. The annual Philadelphia Improv Festival is one of PHIT's signature community events. The PHIT Kids and Teens programme, launched in 2014, extends the organisation's educational mission into K-12 settings.

PHEST (a seasonal showcase series presenting advanced student performers and guest teams from Philadelphia and beyond, running multiple times annually), The Hoppers Hit the Road (an original improv-to-script musical comedy produced during the 2008 Philly Fringe Festival that received a review in The Philadelphia Inquirer), Improv Sunday at Fergie's Pub (the founding monthly show, 2006 to 2008), and weekly programming at The Shubin Theatre from 2007 onward. House teams including The Future, Big Baby, Hoffman, 1816, Fjord, Channel 77, Swan Year, Metropolis, PG-13, and Hackett Park have anchored PHIT's performance slate, alongside sketch teams Dog Mountain, The Flat Earth, and Goat Rodeo. Master class productions with Keith Johnstone, Matt Besser of UCB, and Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall have been presented as part of PHIT's special programming.

PHIT's 2008 Philly Fringe Festival programming, which included 20 short-run shows at the Shubin and Adrienne theatres over 16 consecutive days, established the theater as the anchor of Philadelphia's improv scene and drew mainstream press coverage including a Philadelphia Inquirer review. PHIT was the only longform improvisation theater serving the Metro Philadelphia area for much of its first decade, positioning it as the primary training institution for a generation of Philadelphia-based comedians.

Alumni and performers who appeared on PHIT stages have worked on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, 30 Rock, Key & Peele, Orange is the New Black, and The Kids in the Hall. Stand-up comedian Kent Haines, PHIT's most documented alumnus, won the 2008 Philly's Phunniest competition at Helium Comedy Club and appeared on Season 4 of Comedy Central's Live at Gotham. PHIT's 2010 Kickstarter campaign raised more than $15,000, the largest Philadelphia campaign on the platform at that time, funding the permanent venue search that led to the Adrienne Theatre home opened in 2014. Artistic Director Alexis Simpson, who joined PHIT's leadership in 2008, has co-steered the organization through three venue transitions over nearly two decades.