Photo courtesy Arcade Comedy Theater.

Arcade Comedy Theater
February 12, 13 & 14
Various times

Player One
Player One

Laugh your way through Valentine’s Day weekend with Arcade Comedy Theater, as the homegrown company celebrates its third birthday.

Head to the downtown-based laugh factory—Pittsburgh’s only nonprofit theater of its kind—for three days and nights packed with homegrown hilarity. Showcasing dozens of local performers—with seven shows over three days—Arcade’s birthday bash will also spotlight the venue’s active role in helping to bolster Pittsburgh’s prominent role in the national comedy scene. There’s something for every comic fan in the diverse lineup—spanning everything from improv, stand-up and sketch comedy, to magic, music and games.

Ed Bailey in Comic Wars.
Ed Bailey in Comic Wars.

Don’t miss the kickoff on Friday, February 12th, featuring short-form improv by Player One and sketch comedy by Frankly Scarlett. Later that night, Aaron Kleiber will host the popular, stand-up comedy game show, Comic Wars, featuring Mike Wysocki, Shannon Norman, Mike Sasson, Sean Collier, Holly Price and Ed Bailey.

The laughs continue on Saturday, February 13th, with an “Arcade Hootenanny” featuring local celeb and WQED filmmaker, Rick Sebak. Fresh off debuting his Return to Downtown television special, Rick will share memorable, true stories with the audience, while an all-star cast of comedy luminaries will turn his tales into live comedy.

Stick around for the 10 p.m. event, when the Arcade is transformed into a hip comedy club hosting performances by magician and comedian Lee Terbosic, long-form improv group, Irony City, and musical lounge duo Missy Moreno and Nick Stamatakis.

Rick Sebak
Rick Sebak

The wild weekend wraps on Sunday, February 14th during the Bonus Stage, featuring performances by three of Arcade’s talented in-house teams: Warp Zone, the High Scores and In Another Castle.

The weekend’s laughs are not just for the 21 and up set. If you have the next Stephen Colbert or Tina Fey in your family, grab the kids and head to Saturday’s matinee performance of Penny Arcade. During this interactive improv show, kids ages 5 to 12 are invited to ignite their imaginations and collaborate on creating skits for a series of fun, short-form games.

Last fall, Arcade Comedy Theater expanded its Liberty Avenue theater and campus by adding three new spaces for classes, rehearsals and special events.

Tickets range from $5 to $15, and are available online or at the door. View an entire anniversary weekend schedule.

Looking for more events? Read our 10 Pittsburgh events not to miss in February feature.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.