Improvisation in Detroit
Companies
Historical Moments
The Second City Opens Its Detroit Company, Its Third North American Stage
The Second City opened its Detroit company in 1993, its first North American expansion beyond Chicago and Toronto. The Detroit location produced original revues and a training program, developing local talent in the Midwest. The Detroit company operated for sixteen years, making it the company's longest-running outpost outside its two founding cities before its closure in 2009.
Planet Ant Theatre Launches Improv Colony
In 2000 Joshua Funk, Nancy Hayden, and Margaret Edwartowski co-founded the Improv Colony at Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck, launching Improv Mondays, Detroit's longest-running improv show.
Go Comedy! Improv Theater Founded in Ferndale
Pj Jacokes, Chris DiAngelo, Tommy LeRoy, and Gerald Knight founded Go Comedy! Improv Theater in November 2008 in downtown Ferndale, Michigan, establishing the primary professional improv venue in Metro Detroit.
The Second City Detroit Company Closes After Sixteen Years
The Second City Detroit company closed in 2009 after sixteen years of operation, a consequence of the city's severe economic decline during the 2008 financial crisis. Detroit was among the American cities hardest affected by the recession, and the closure ended one of the few institutionally supported comedy venues in the Great Lakes region. The Detroit company had been the company's most durable regional outpost after Chicago and Toronto.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Detroit. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/michigan/detroit
The Improv Archive. "Detroit." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/michigan/detroit.
The Improv Archive. "Detroit." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/locales/north-america/united-states/michigan/detroit. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.