SAK Comedy Lab facts for kids

SAK Comedy Lab (SAK) is a super fun theater in downtown Orlando, Florida. It's a place where performers make up funny scenes and stories on the spot! This is called improv comedy. SAK has 250 seats, so lots of people can come and watch the shows.

One of the most famous people who started at SAK is the actor Wayne Brady. He's been on TV shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Let's Make A Deal. Even after becoming famous, Wayne sometimes comes back to perform at SAK shows! The regular performers at SAK are called the SAK Ensemble.

SAK also has a special training school called SAK University (SAK U). Here, people can learn how to do improv comedy through different levels of classes.

What Shows Can You See?

SAK's main show is called the Duel of Fools. In this show, two teams of three improv performers battle it out! They have a host who acts like a referee, and a piano player adds music to the scenes. The teams make up funny scenes based on ideas from the audience. The audience then votes for their favorite team!

Sometimes, SAK has other shows too, especially later in the evening. These shows might have different formats than the Duel of Fools.

Past Fun Shows

While Duel of Fools is always running, SAK also brings in other temporary shows. For example, in 2007, they had Rub a Dub Dub. In this show, performers would make up funny lines to go along with old health films or silent movies.

In 2006, they had The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare. This show was a funny parody of Shakespeare's plays. The performers would create a whole five-act play right there, using suggestions from the audience! The Orlando Sentinel newspaper even gave it good reviews.

Another show in 2006 was Fourplay: The Improvised Musical. In this show, the performers made up a whole Broadway-style musical on the spot! They also had You Bet Your Asterisk, which was an improv game show, and SAK Request Live.

Special Holiday Shows

SAK also has fun shows for holidays! These are often special versions of the Duel of Fools. For example, they have Love for Fools for Valentines Day, Yule of Fools for Christmas, and a Midnight Halloween Torture Show. They even have a Mardi Gras SAK Style show!

Shows for New Talent

SAK has shows that help new improv performers get better. Lab Rats is a show for people who have graduated from SAK's training school. Generation S (Gen S) is a show that features the best performers from Lab Rats and other special guests who are training to join the main SAK Ensemble.

The newest show is "The Thursday Show." This show uses classic improv games but features talented students from SAK University. These students, along with a few professional performers, create comedy on the spot using ideas from the audience.

SAK's Story: How It Started

SAK Theatre first began in Buffalo, Minnesota way back in 1977. It started with four people who performed at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. After a few years, SAK became very popular and started performing at many festivals at the same time. The original group trained more performers, and SAK grew from four people to twelve!

Moving to Florida

In 1982, SAK was performing at a festival in Largo, Florida. Entertainment scouts from the Walt Disney Company saw them and were looking for acts for the new Epcot Center. SAK Theatre Company officially became a business and moved its main home to Florida!

For seven years, SAK created and performed live comedy shows for Walt Disney World. You could see them in the United Kingdom Pavilion at Epcot and the Italy Pavilion at Epcot. SAK also kept performing at festivals and fairs around the world into the 1990s. At one point, they had over 30 full-time performers and staff!

Opening the Comedy Lab

In 1991, after their contract with Disney ended, SAK Theatre Company opened the SAK Comedy Lab. This first theater was on Church Street in downtown Orlando. It had 99 seats and was a place to perform original comedy plays and improv shows. This is when the "Duel of Fools" improv competition first started! For over 20 years, two teams of improvisers have battled every Friday and Saturday night to see who can make the funniest scenes and songs based on audience ideas.

Today, SAK Comedy Lab entertains over 30,000 people every year! They also help local groups like the Orlando Magic and Florida Hospital by providing team training and corporate comedy shows.

Where is SAK Comedy Lab?

The first SAK Theater was on Church Street in downtown Orlando. But they quickly needed a bigger space! So, they moved to a second location at 380 W. Amelia Ave. This spot had some problems with parking when there were big events at the nearby Amway Arena. Because of this, SAK moved to its current home at 29 S. Orange Ave. in early 2010.

Famous People Who Started at SAK

Many performers who were once part of the SAK team have gone on to have amazing careers in acting, movies, and other performance jobs. Here are some of them:

• Dee Bradley Baker
• Wayne Brady
• Karey Kirkpatrick
• Jonathan Mangum
• Paula Pell
• Moira Quirk
• Aaron Shure
• Paul C. Vogt