Brave New Workshop

I have been to numerous BNW shows and loved all of them. My most recent experience was far from typical and may be enough to keep me from ever going back again.
Five friends and I attended «Throwback BNW: Junk from our Trunk.» We looked forward to an evening filled with some of our favorite skits from the past. What we got was hostility from the usher when we were laughing apparently «too loud.» We were seated next to the tech guy at the back of the room; he spent the first act complaining about our «noise». The second act featured an usher staring at us from 2 feet away telling us to be quite, after we had already stopped laughing from all the awkwardness. We said nothing the whole second act as this usher hounded us down and managed to completely ruin our night. She made us so uncomfortable that we left the performance before the improv 3^rd act.
If you run a comedy show you should be prepared for patrons to laugh. If their laughing is too boisterous you should be prepared to quiet them down in a reasonable manner that does not ruin their experience. BNW failed on all accounts during our last visit. We will not be back.
Update: the operations manager and I spoke the evening of the performance and exchanged contact information. The following week he reached out to me and offered his sincere apology and offered to try and make it right. I appreciate the effort on his part and hope that this gesture was more reflective of their theater than the actions of their usher the night of the show.

BNW is my favorite entertainment in the Twin Cities! I’ve gone to at least one performance of every show for the past few years, and they rarely disappoint. I appreciate their satirical take on current events which gets you to think differently about the world because they can be disturbingly accurate. The comedy is hilarious and the actors/​comedians are talented, especially Lauren Anderson and Tom Reed. BNW offers a great drink selection (and you even get a free drink for riding your bike or taking public transport!) We try to go on Saturday evenings so we can see the improv afterwards, which is always a highlight. I highly recommend this theater!

This is the 4^th time we have been to BNW and have had a great time each and every time. The Junk In The Trunk was a great look back at some of the great skits from years past. I wish we would have started going here earlier. Congrats to the cast. Definitely a great night out,

This theater holds a lot of hilarious comedies. Their shows poke fun and parody a lot of things are happening in pop culture, politics, and news. They can be a little cheesy, but they’re great for some nights full of laughs. They have the same actors on every one of these shows. These actors are great comedians who know how to entertain and give me a good time.
I’ve been to both the new and old location. I like the new one better. It’s better run, looks better, and the seats are more comfortable. The prices of their tickets are reasonable. I don’t have to burn a hole in my purse to go to this theater.

The new theater is great. A larger space on Hennepin in the the theater district, with an upstairs theater that is about the same size as the old one but more roomy and better sight lines. A downstairs bar where they encourage you to come early «the more you drink the funnier we are.» The bar has a couple of taps, some bottled beers, mixed drinks, and Cupcake wine.
I’ve seen a few shows over the years — and if you love improv, you will love BNW. One of the favorite players was off the night that we went, so the comedy was a little off for me — a little too political, had its ups and downs. The highlight was always when the cast made each other laugh.

My friend, Anne K., wanted to go see Fifty Shades of Gravy at Brave New Workshop and invited me along for the ride. It was a great diversion from our typical shenanigans — and we love supporting local artists.
I didn’t bother to look up a description of the show prior to our experience. My friend bought the tickets and I didn’t question her generosity. I read the Fifty Shades books (don’t judge me) and I figured this would be the funniest show I would ever see. The books give a lot of material to make fun of, after all.
I expected a mockery of the 50 Shades trilogy, a comedic slaughter of the ridiculous books and the people who read them. What we got instead was a social satire with references to the book. (‘Everything is Better when you Masturbate’ was one song they sang). Basically it was a show that made fun out of the horrific current events (specifically racism and related events) — and the book was a form of escapism from those events.
I didn’t want to go laugh at what is happening socially right now. I wanted to go laugh my head off at the stupid books and their subsequent success. I wanted to be made fun of for reading them (and enjoying them). I wanted kinky sex and spankings! Er, well, wanted to laugh at them anyway.
The cast was funny, very talented people. They wrote, produced and performed the show and I give them kudos for that. They also did about a half hour of improv a the end of the show that was awesome. It just wasn’t what I expected. Next time I’ll do my research!

50 shades of grey… With Lauren Anderson as one is the actors… What else could you want in a Friday night, this is a fantastic show with an amazing group of actors, a true must for a wonderful historical night out, another great show by the brave new workshop!

Last night I went to the Brave New Workshop for the firs time to see the Christmas show «Twerking Around the Christmas Tree.» Wow — what a great experience!
The show was upstairs and there was a full bar with specialty, themed cocktails for the show. I had a Miley’s Merrymaker (notice the theme) — hot chocolate with kahlua and peppermint schnapps. It was the perfect drink to get me in the holiday spirit, and the price was totally reasonable ($ 6).
The show had 4 actors who did 3 acts. The first 2 were scripted, and the last was improv. The whole show was hilarious and included lots of Minnesota puns.
I can’t wait to go to the next show at the BNW.

I’ve been familiar with Brave New Workshop for quite some time. I’ve been to their old location and their new location. I was impressed with both locations. There are many qualities that I like about this place: their productions, their humor, the scenery, etc. These actors in these productions are hilarious! I think a couple of the actors write the plays, and they do a great job. My favorites are when they make fun of Minnesotan culture. I will continue going to their productions.

I had to take my husband to this comedy theater. When I lived in Minneapolis 20 years ago they were the best comedy theater I had ever been to. I’m happy to see that they are still the best comedy theater group I have seen.
We were lucky to be visiting Minneapolis during their best of show. Every skit was hilarious. My personal favorite was the skit about sweatpants and yoga pants. Too funny!!! All the actors were excellent.
If you need a good laugh this would be a great place to go. They also do improv after the last intermission.

I love a good comedy show and BNW never fails to deliver. These are some seriously crazy and hilarious character comedians.
I’ve been going to BNW since I was a teenager and have seen a lot of shows over the years. Caleb and Katy McEwen were fantastic on stage and I miss them but this comedic genius duo is still going strong from behind the scenes. The BNW shows are designed to make you laugh out loud with just the right amount of offensive material (which I think is key to good comedy). I’m amazed that the shows continue to be this funny and creative after so many years. They do a great job of finding new material from current events and twisting them into situations you can’t help but laugh at.
While enjoying the show, be sure to partake of their fun cocktails that they sell at very reasonable prices. Makes the show even funnier! With or without adult beverages, the BNW shows are going to make you laugh and look at the world a little differently. Check it out.

Came here this past weekend for the Christmas show, «I Saw Daddy Marry Santa Claus». Honestly I think they should have named it something better, because the show was so much better than the title led on. We were ushered upstairs to our reserved table after getting drinks. We had one free drink ticket each, so I cannot comment to the drink prices, but the bartender was extremely friendly and accommodating. I would say that they should take out one of two tables upstairs, as every time I laughed I bonked heads with the woman behind me.
Some of the acts were inclusive and some were more improv — I thought it was a nice mix. They included jokes about Minnesota and some pop culture /​politics which was funny too.
While they swore a couple times and mentioned some innuendos, I was not offended or blown away by anything. I thought it was a pretty hilarious show — I would definitely go back!

I always have a great time watching shows at the Brave New Workshop’s Comedy Theater on Hennepin. It’s the best entertainment bang for your buck, because these actors are insanely talented and ridiculously hilarious. I’ve only seen shows at their new Hennepin theater, so I’m not sure how much better this is from the older one, but I sense having separate restrooms is a BFD. I also like that they have bars on both floors, and the drinks aren’t that pricey, either; in fact, they have some great drink specials during the shows. During intermission, they have servers that take your drinks as well.
Of course, the nice amenities and comfortable space wouldn’t be anything if the shows themselves are bland, and these are brilliant scripted shows, people. There’s typically a theme with every show. For example, Occupy Arden Hills makes fun of the aimless millennials (thank you very much), while Lance Armstrong’s Steroid-​Pumped Revue has skits about cheating. Not all skits are over-​the-​top funny, but there’s a lot of those, enough to keep me coming back. I also like how they can combine scripted comedy with some improv. Watching a show at the BNW is surely a fun way to spend your night with friends.

If you leave a show and didn’t feel offended, you obviously weren’t listening — and I LOVE it! I have been more times than I can count (OK not really, but probably 6 – 7 shows over the years) and have loved everyone. The show is especially funny for Minnesotans as they put in a lot of local news/​political pundits, but can certainly be enjoyed by everyone.
This is a no-​holds-​bar comedy performance and keeps you laughing the whole time. After their last show on Saturday they do a 30 – 45 minute improv set with suggestions from the audience. I’ve found this to be hit or miss — luckily last Saturday it was absolutely hilarious (of course I always stay for it though — there is something wonderful and awesome about an art form in such a raw form and being able to see it live).
Customer service is great too — the bartenders are always having a good time chatting with you etc etc while still giving good service to all patrons.