Shore Thing Theater

Founding (2019)

Ria Torricelli founded Shore Thing Theater in Ocean Grove, New Jersey in 2019, operating as the ComedySportz Jersey Shore franchise. The company delivers ComedySportz-style competitive short-form improv to the Shore community, filling a gap in live comedy along the New Jersey coast. The theater is governed by a women-led board of seven members with diverse ages and backgrounds and ties to the arts.

ComedySportz Format

As a ComedySportz affiliate, Shore Thing Theater runs audience-judged competitive short-form shows where two teams compete using improv games. The family-friendly format suits Ocean Grove's community character and serves both year-round residents and the area's seasonal Shore visitors.

Shore Thing Theater brings ComedySportz competitive short-form improv to the Jersey Shore through its Ocean Grove home, serving the coastal New Jersey community.

The flagship weekly production is ComedySportz, held every Saturday night at the Jersey Shore Arts Center's Herbst Theater. Two house teams -- the Ocean Grooves and the Asbury Snarks -- face off across six acts of competitive short-form improv games, with audiences scoring each round. The troupe maintains a rotating repertoire of 75 different games and avoids repeats within any given month, ensuring each two-hour show remains distinctive. Shore Thing Theater also participates in the ComedySportz Worldwide Championships, an international competitive event drawing teams from more than 20 ComedySportz franchises around the globe.

Shore Thing Theater was founded in 2019 by Ria Torricelli as the ComedySportz Jersey Shore franchise, establishing the only brick-and-mortar improv training facility and dedicated performance space along the Jersey Shore. Torricelli, who had previously worked with ComedySportz franchises in Portland, Oregon and New York City, brought the internationally recognized competitive format to Ocean Grove, filling a gap she identified in New Jersey's comedy infrastructure. Organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit governed by a seven-member board, the theater maintains an open-access financial policy under which no student is turned away from class for inability to pay. Torricelli serves as elected president of the worldwide ComedySportz council, giving the Ocean Grove franchise a voice in shaping the global franchise's standards and practices. With 35 active performers across its house troupe and a curriculum spanning short-form, long-form, sketch writing, storytelling, stand-up, and poetry, Shore Thing Theater has built an audience and training community in a coastal market that previously had no comparable institution.