The Rozzie Square Theater

Founding (2018)

Courtney Pong founded Rozzie Square Theater in May 2018 in Roslindale, one of Boston's residential neighborhoods, drawing the company's name from the community's informal nickname. The theater offers a blend of short-form and long-form improv, running ComedySportz-style competitive short-form alongside Riot Improv long-form programming.

Programming

Rozzie Square serves the Roslindale and broader Boston South community with accessible neighborhood comedy. Classes and workshops supplement the performance calendar, providing a local training option for Bostonians who may not travel to Cambridge or downtown venues.

Rozzie Square Theater brings improv comedy to Boston's Roslindale neighborhood through a mix of ComedySportz short-form and Riot Improv long-form programming.

ComedySportz is the theatre's weekly flagship, a 90-minute audience-judged competitive improv format running Saturdays as part of the CSz Worldwide franchise. Riot Improv: Stories to Scenes, produced in partnership with the Riot Theater Company, pairs host and storytelling producer Julie Baker, a veteran of The Moth and GBH, with improvisers who transform real audience narratives into scenes. Improvised History is a monthly show currently running a Cold War spy arc titled From Rozzie With Love, performed by the Improv Intelligence Agency ensemble. Queer Comedy Night, hosted by stand-up comic Nora Panahi, runs the third Friday monthly and was created with community group Roslindale Pride. ComedySportz Mashup launched in January 2026 pairing seasoned players with Minor League cast members. Fabricated Fun is an all-ages audience-interactive puppet improv show.

Courtney Pong founded the Rozzie Square Theater in May 2018 by merging CSz Boston, which she had taken ownership of after relocating from San Francisco in 2016, with Riot Improv, which relocated from Jamaica Plain. The theatre became the only brick-and-mortar comedy club in Boston owned by a woman and an Asian American, a distinction covered by Boston Magazine and Inc. Magazine. Pong was named a 2020 Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and served as an Associate Professor teaching performing improv comedy at Emerson College.

Kristen Aldrich, an Upright Citizens Brigade graduate and 20-year improviser, was named Education Director in 2024 to lead an expanded training center. Emmy Serviss was appointed ComedySportz Team Manager in April 2025 following a promotion from the cast. Pong founded the Roslindale Women's Business Group in 2024 and serves as president of the Roslindale Village Mainstreet board, extending the theatre's role as a civic anchor in the neighborhood. The 2026 AAPI Comedy Festival, hosted at the venue, positioned the theatre as a platform for underrepresented comedy voices in Boston.