Shadowbox Live

We are super lucky to have Shadowbox Live here in Columbus! This is one of the coolest venues for live music and performing arts.
My best advice is that there’s definitely a show for everyone, but do your homework first. They have everything from musicals to tribute shows to stand-​up to weird and wonderful artsy shows (like 2015’s Japanese art performance). Some are kid-​friendly; some are not. Again, do your homework to make sure you have an amazing time!
If you get to your show a little early, there’s a great bar with plenty of seating and strong drinks. There’s also a bistro (Backstage Bistro to be exact) where you can grab some nosh before the show. My personal recommendation is the skillet rice, with local chicken, bacon, spinach, corn, and spices.
Pro tips:
+For parking, there a cheap, cash lot directly behind the venue. Access it from Liberty Street.
+Sign up for their emails, and they’ll likely send you sweet deals on tickets!

We love going to Shadowbox. Favorite thing to do in Columbus when we have time to get away. Thanks for being so great!

We attended the 7:30 Scandalous show. We had a great time!!! All of the people were wonderful! The show was awesome! The only reason why I rated it a 4 instead of a 5 is because I would have liked to have seen more of a menu selection. However, the food we ordered was delicious.

It’s ok. I had a decent time but I didn’t find the place that funny. The drinks are over priced and they’re bothering me a year after my first visit to come again. This is being done by text and phone. Over all I just think it’s an over priced improve theater.

I am a recent devotee of Shadowbox. Years ago I found them too loud and not very funny. With time and experience, however, the team has found a winning formula — at least for me. My favorite shows are the musicals. I saw Rocky Horror there, for instance. Excellent! It is clear they put a lot of work into these productions. I also enjoy their creativity, taking themes and building music and sketch-​comedy around them. No one else here does this. Steve Guyer and his company have worked their asses off, stayed committed to their own ideas, and I think it’s wonderful. One has to take risks — and speaking of risks, I enjoyed the Tenshu, which was a collaborative effort with other arts organizations, a retelling of a Japanese folk tale. And I MUST compliment the house band! You guys are wonderful! Your Pink Floyd show was amazing!
One thing I want to say here: I often am pleased to see a full house at Shadowbox. My faith in the community’s capacity to enjoy live performing arts is somewhat renewed. HOWEVER, as we converse with others at our tables, I often am struck by how many of them do not support other arts activities. I don’t begrudge Shadowbox its audience. But I would like to see these same people support other theaters, the symphony, the ballet and the opera, independently.
I like that Steve and co. support arts programs for young people, especially since so many programs have been cut from the public schools. My husband and I nearly always buy the revenue-​building ticket packs supporting this effort. The actors/​servers sell them pre-​show and at intermission. They are a good value all around.

Drinks were superb! Must buy beer by the bucket if you plan on drinking a lot!!! The show was super entertaining!

This review, to be fair, is based only on the performance we went to last night. We have been to Shadowbox about 20 times before with varying levels of service.
Let me break this down for you — the only reason I do not give 5 stars is because of the pre-​seating process. I know it is complicated to get that many people in and sat down, but there needs to be a better way. I feel like I need to be drinking to tolerate the crowd standing on my heels waiting to get in.
Other than this, everything is great! The drink selections are good and drinks made well. The food is really good too. I enjoy their oven baked nachos and the pizzas, which I allow myself to get since this is usually a rare night out.
The show is always really fun! I like the comedy skits they do and the band is really good.
All in all, Shadowbox makes for a fun date night out.
PS — follow them on social media, sometimes they give away tickets and discounts!

My first time… And I love it. Very nice staff. Show was awesome. Went to see 50 shades of shadowbox for my birthday. Food was very good. Love how the drink menu reflected what was playing for the night. Great drink called ‘dominatrix’ would definitely recommend this to others.

How is it that I’ve never written a review of Shadowbox? That really rather shocks me.
I’ve been going to Shadowbox since we first moved to Columbus and have never had a less than stellar evening. From the drinks to the food to the one of a kind entertainment, Shadowbox really gets it done right.
Bonus, if you provide your email address to them, they frequently send out free and cheap ticket offers. Free and/​or cheap is great! Especially since Shadowbox is very, very easy to drop a substantial chunk of change at.

I have been here on multiple occasions. It’s literally right around the corner from my apartment. So convenient and the device is awesome. The actors are the ones who cook and deliver your food to you. The shows here are out of this world! Best sketch comedy I’ve ever seen. They have a very talented staff. Never leave here disappointed. Always laughing and having a great time! This company knows what they are doing! Great food and drinks as well. Very nice Parking lot available for those who drive in to see there shows. Very clean and inviting! They also have lunch shows on Wednesdays so if you get an hour for your lunch go see them you won’t be disappointed!!!

Love this place. The food is excellent, which is often not the case with the affordable theater scene. Plenty of options, all tasty. (Personal favorites are baked nachos and pepperoni sub!) The shows are also excellent! To be honest, I do prefer the live music aspect of Shadowbox, over the acting/​comedy skits. The Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs and Englishman tribute is one of THE BEST shows I have ever seen, anywhere! I have seen it four times and I WILL be seeing it again, in January!!!

We come here for most of the sketch comedy shows that they do and we love it! The band is great and the actors are awesome! I can’t imagine how much work they put into the multiple shows they have at any given time and on top of that, they also are the servers! In addition to the comedy shows I’ve seen a few of the musicals including Chicago, Scrooged, and Reefer Madness. All have been fantastic and entertaining!

Shadowbox is a great night out. The musicians are out of this world talented.
The shows vary in genre — some have more Broadway style, some are sketch comedy and some are burlesque. But the music is always awesome. I have been to several types of shows and have always been thoroughly entertained.
The actors are also the servers so no food or drink except for before the show and at intermission, just fyi.
So, if you are looking for a fun night out, give Shadowbox a try!

I really love what they do here. The sketch comedy shows are hit or miss — people have different senses of humor — but the serious shows are the absolute best. I just saw Which One’s Pink, which was all about Pink Floyd. The music was incredible. The dancing and effects were captivating. I’d see that show again and again — and I NEVER want to see the same show twice.
A couple of things:
When you tip your waitstaff, you’re actually making a donation to the business. The waitstaff do not get the tips, but they don’t point that out. That part feels a little shady — I’d prefer they just tell you that upfront. We «tip» anyway because the shows are so good.
The Upsell –the waitstaff is going to offer you discount tickets to another show — and with that you get free tickets to one of their Friday lunch shows. They’ll ask if anyone is celebrating anything — for $ 50 you can have one of the performers sing to the birthday boy/​girl (at their seat) in front of the whole audience. For $ 100, they’ll pull that person up on stage. If you choose to do this — do the Britney Spears one. It’s hilarious.
The Food — they partner with Ohio businesses/​farmers, and the menu tells you you what farm their chicken grew up on. I liked that. The white pizza was ok. The nachos were AWESOME (get the BBQ chicken topping. YUM). Drinks are a little pricey, but really good. Try the house drink — the Freak. It’s fruity and yummy — you don’t taste the alcohol.
Seating — You need to have half your party there to get a number, which puts you in the queue to choose a table — so get there early.
They also have this neat restaurant section in the lobby (Backstage Bistro) where your group can sit together, have dinner, and play board games. Great concept — it looked really fun.
OK, that’s all I’ve got. I have it 4 stars because the comedy doesn’t always resonate with me and the tipping thing feels shady — if I had a 4.75 stars option I’d totally take it. This place is worth checking out.

I appreciate what they are trying to do here, but my experience was that they really missed the mark. I went in this past weekend with expectations of a good time and some laughs, and I think they only delivered on two occasions throughout the show. Acting was sub-​par at best, more theatrical than funny and costuming was cheesy. As another reviewer stated, your parents will like this place.
That being said, the good reviews seem to outnumber the bad, so maybe this just wasn’t my «cup of tea»… However the $ 40 price was steep for the lack of comedy. The facility had a strange odor and the food was overpriced and underwhelming.
I think my least favorite part was the constant up selling for our group… We were interrupted multiple times with offers of upgrades (to the tune of $ 100s!) for things like sex toy baskets? So strange.

This is one place I’ve always had an interest in checking out for probably the last 16 years, but it always managed to stay on the back burner. Well a friend went and saw the «Which ones Pink» multimedia celebration of Pink Floyd and told me I would really enjoy it. With some friends, we came and checked it out, and I was pretty much beyond amazed and just floored by how good the performance was.
The service/​staff/​music/​performance was all really spectacular, I would give this place a 5 star, it’s totally worth it on the people who work here and their passion alone. It was just the food, it wasn’t bad tasting or cooked improperly, just sub quality, but I found it understandable, because they serve everyone before the performance starts, so to work with the amount of time they have, the food items need to be prepared and served quickly, so this is what you get.

My first show was because a friend offered me his two free tickets on Thursday night show to see ‘Sex At The Box’. Its history from there, as Ive paid to see more shows and now I volunteer there as well. I tell friends its like SNL skits live on stage with local actors, and a house band that really rocks out. Everyone has a lot of talent whether dancing, singing, playing, or just plain old making you laugh.
The food and alcohol adds a nice touch, the seating is good. The acting staff also waits tables, seats guests, among other roles. Check out the lineup of shows, as they change them around, so you may find one, two or all of them appealing. Street parking is around, a parking lot out back, and a few more on the block. The neighborhood is safe and there is more bars in the area.

Great entertainment, every show is well produced and the talent here is just amazing. Food/​drinks are a good addition to any show. The comedy shows will keep you laughing and the musicals will blow you away with broadway level talents of this production company.

I love what everyone does here. Even if the food was terrible and the performance sucked I would still rate them 5. They combine much of what I love into one thing it is quite remakable and perfect. Fun and a lot of hardwork. I can always appreciate that.
The pizza was tasty enough would have been better with beer. Show was pretty good. Not as inspired or as forward or different as I had hoped it was orncould have been, bingo love Pink Floyd and I wish I could have stayed for the talk afternthe show. The band was really amazing. the sax was so good. nice work. Made me jealous. Rhe cast milked like they had fun and learned and are experimenting, and that showed through.

I’ve been to Shadowbox Live three times now. Most recently, we went to see Sex at the Box in January. I’ve always had a good time when I’ve went. Is it the funniest thing you’ll ever see? No. Is it a great alternative than the usual dinner & bar evening? Absolutely.
I can’t comment on the food, as I’ve never eaten there. I will say, the drinks are a little pricey, not concert prices, but about what you’d expect from a comedy club or similar venue.
I recommend Shadowbox to just about anyone looking for something different to do for an evening. It’s always entertaining, they performers are consistently good and it’s just a fun time. Give it a shot!

I recently cashed in on the free tickets I scored at the Unilocal Block Party and watched the «Holiday Hoopla» show. I felt the music carried the performance more than the sketch comedy, but I did have some laughs from the latter. The performers are really talented and when they transform into servers, they’re really fun, nice, and charismatic.
The food and drinks are a little on the high side, but that’s what you should expect when being served during something like this and not at a restaurant. One small annoyance are what seems like canned laughs from the crowd. I don’t know if it’s a sign of support to the performers or what, but every time I go I’ll hear the fakest of laughs coming from certain sections.
It was a pretty fun and with free tickets a cheap date night, but I have and would again pay to see their shows.

So. Much. FUN! Went to see Freak Show to celebrate my birthday. Wasn’t sure what to expect as I have gotten mixed reviews from people. All I can say is you have to go and see for yourself. It’s a easy going atmosphere and the servers are also the performers. If you go as a party of 2 you will most likely be at a table with another couple which also makes it fun getting to know new people. We ate before we went but from what I saw of the menu it was mostly pub food, good for snacking while having a beverage. ;)
What do you have to lose?! Give it a try and support our local artists.