Friday Nite Improvs

Ah Friday Nite Improvs — the place to go for cheap improv shows in Pittsburgh. I’ve been a regular here ever since I was a freshman at Pitt that came across one of their free admission coupons.
FNI has been in action for 24 years and has always aimed to be a comfortable performance space for the general public. $ 3 gets you into a two hour late night, all audience participation show. So why pay to entertain yourself, you may ask? Put simply, it’s a great, fun, and very affordable space to try your hand at short-​hand improv. First-​timers and advanced comedians alike can perform here thanks to the show’s setup: a number of common improv games are modified and presented in a way that makes it easy for anyone to try their hand at improv. You don’t see that anywhere else. Since this happens at Pitt it’s an alcohol-​free area, too, meaning that while a lot of the audience is made up of college students this is not a drunk comedy party, either. It’s completely open to the public and people of all ages. While the only drawback here is that some skits do suffer from audience members’ lack of experience, since the showrunners are all experienced improv folk and they perform as well, the newcomers and students often get a lot of help on stage. Believe it or not a night here overall overall is far funnier than one might expect.
As for the admission fee, not only does it get you into the cheapest night of fun in the city, but the money just goes into rent, insurance and charity donations; the showrunners don’t earn a dime and do this for fun. How cool and awesome is that?
So while not the most «professional» of improv spots, this place has earned its place in the local comedy scene. If you want to check this place out during your next Friday night out go for it! It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the improv scene — and to make new friends.