9.3.20 Update: Arcade is celebrating Youth Programming this September! Throughout the month of September, Arcade will direct 50% of all individual donations toward Youth Programming at the theater, including Penny Arcade “Pay As You Wish” shows and youth education and outreach. Any help big or small brings more laughs to Pittsburgh’s youngest audiences. Click the “Updates” tab to learn more and the “Make a Donation” button above to make a one time--or monthly!--gift today.
Stay tuned to Penny Arcade's website and the Arcade Comedy Theater YouTube channel for Penny Arcade Online content each month! Kids can get creative and inspire the show by filling out Penny Arcade's online Collaboration Stations at 321letsplay.com! Record a video for Question Monster, fill out three Google forms for suggestions, and even download an activity sheet for use at home.
Help Penny Arcade's home theater during the COVID-19 shutdown. Keep Pittsburgh's non-profit home for comedy open in your hearts! Donate to this page to show some love for Arcade Comedy Theater during its shutdown due to COVID-19. Arcade is a non-profit theater, which means that we exist to serve the community as an affordable, accessible entertainment option in the Cultural District, funded not only by ticket sales and classes, but through grants and donations from individual donors. Your support helps grow new, local comedy programming in Pittsburgh!
We are grateful for any and all donations given through this page and love seeing positive messages on our social media. If you are able to contribute, share this page, or just enjoy our online show, we'd love to stay connected with all of you during this time.
Sending you love and laughs from the Penny Arcade team. See you at our online stage soon!
About Penny Arcade:
Penny Arcade is an improv comedy show designed for kids 4–11 years old and fun for the entire family. At the start of the show, kids draw, write, and craft at our Collaboration Stations. Then the Penny Players bring those ideas to life on stage with a fun 45-minute improv comedy show — there’s even opportunities for kids to get in on the act! Every show is different!
Voted 2019 and 2020 “Best Improv Comedy Troupe”
About Arcade Comedy Theater:
Arcade Comedy Theater is a 501(c)3 non-profit theater organization located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District that produces, presents, and educates in the art of comedy. The Arcade was founded in 2013 as the city’s first non-profit theater exclusively dedicated to comedy, with a mission to strengthen and enrich the community through laughter for all. In 2017, the theater successfully expanded from a small storefront to a custom and accessible three-story, two-theater facility in order to serve more artists and audiences with new programming and class opportunities.
The theater presents a variety of programming 52 weekends a year in improv, stand-up, sketch, and other comedic forms, plus a bi-monthly matinee improv show for kids. Improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy classes for all ages and levels are taught by talented professional actors and comedians within the Arcade Academy. Arcade’s Corporate Training and Entertainment strengthens the communication skills of professionals and makes work fun throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Arcade has been named “Best Place to See Live Comedy” by the readers of Pittsburgh Magazine multiple times, and has been featured in WQED, Yahoo News, and Paste Magazine.
9.3.20 UPDATE: Celebrating Youth Programming
September 3, 2020
Arcade is celebrating Youth Programming this September!
In June, Arcade successfully raised $3,658 to fund Academy classes for Diversity Scholarship recipients. Our donors were inspired to give generously when we pledged 50% of all individual donations would be earmarked for this important initiative. While Arcade must continue to raise operational funds that supplement the loss of earned revenue due to the impact of COVID-19, we have not lost sight of the programs and projects that make us who we are. The continued support from our friends and family will ensure Arcade’s doors re-open to a vibrant theater, full of unique, community-focused offerings.
Throughout the month of September, Arcade will direct 50% of all individual donations toward Youth Programming at the theater, including Penny Arcade “Pay As You Wish” shows and youth education and outreach. Youth Programming at Arcade includes shows and classes for children and teens—online and outside now, and indoors once it is safe to do so again.
Improv shows and classes for kids and teens often use topics like science, literature, or pop culture to build bridges between the creative play encouraged in improv and the creative thinking necessary in learning. In summer 2020, Arcade launched its weekend comedy camps for kids and teens despite the limitations imposed by COVID-19 safety. In addition, Arcade Academy has partnered with the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania to provide summer camp and afterschool improv lessons for Provident Charter School, a tuition-free public charter school for children with dyslexia and other learning differences. We saw that even over Zoom or in a distanced, masked in-person class, our young students were embracing and enjoying improv comedy, and we want to continue bringing that joy throughout the year.
The award-winning children’s programming Penny Arcade has performed monthly shows and outreach for schools and nonprofit groups since February 2014, as well as Penny Arcade Online shows since April 2020. In the interest of becoming even more accessible to audience members, Penny Arcade changed its ticketing structure to be “Pay As You Wish” in 2017 and has continued with this program ever since. Penny Arcade is many children’s introduction to theater, and seeing their ideas come to life on stage ignites a love not only of comedy and theater, but an appreciation for the three tenets of Penny Arcade: listening, collaborating, and supporting. Arcade Comedy Theater and Penny Arcade strive to keep kids laughing and creatively inspired during the pandemic by providing engaging and interactive children’s programming both online and in-person.
Your support of Arcade’s Youth Programming this month makes shows and classes more affordable, helps pay instructors and artists, and offers arts education and outreach opportunities for local students. Any help big or small brings more laughs to Pittsburgh’s youngest audiences. Click the “Make a Donation” link on the Arcade At Home: Penny Arcade Online Shows fundraising page to make a one time--or monthly!--gift to Arcade Comedy Theater today.
4.29.2020 Penny Arcade Online Update
April 29, 2020
Thank you so much, everyone!
The first Penny Arcade Online show was enjoyed by 118 households live across the country on Saturday, April 25th, and 33 generous donors gave $910 to support Arcade Comedy Theater. We had kids sending us videos, filling out virtual collaboration stations, and even sending us hand-drawn worksheets. The show is still available to watch on Arcade's YouTube channel. Thank you for joining us to listen, collaborate, support...and most importantly, laugh!
3-2-1-Let's Keep Playing! The Penny Arcade team is excited to announce even more shows online in May, including both the 2nd and 4th Saturdays at our usual show time, plus a special appearance at the virtual EQT Children's Theater Festival.
- Saturday, May 9th at 1PM ET (RSVP on Facebook)
- Saturday, May 16th at 1PM ET (Part of the Children's Theater Festival)
- Saturday, May 23rd at 1PM ET (RSVP on Facebook)
Didn't have time to ask Question Monster your big questions last weekend? You can still send those in all month for our next shows.
We're updating our original goal to $1,500 and keeping this fundraising page active throughout the next month of shows. Stay tuned to the Penny Arcade website and Facebook for more information (and to see new videos from Question Monster). Thank you again for all your support, and we'll see you soon!
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