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Blackout Improv Does Something!!!
By Rogues Gallery Arts
Created by Blackout Improv
Playing at
Show Description
Blackout Improv, Minnesota's premiere all Black performer improv group returns to the Fringe bringing guests and our renowned approach to comedy which mixes humor, and heart with a social Justice bent.
Genre and Content
Content Warnings
The creators say this show is appropriate for ages 12-15 and up
Learn How To Fringe
Seat Reservations and Show Tickets
| Add to Schedule | Date | Time | Ticket Options | Quantity | Purchase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 08/03 | 4:00 PM | ||||
| Sun 08/04 | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Wed 08/07 | 5:30 PM | ||||
| Sat 08/10 | 10:00 PM | ||||
| Sun 08/11 | 8:30 PM |
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Video Trailer
Cast and Crew
Alsa Bruno
Improvisor/ FounderAlsa Bruno is a Minneapolis based improvisor and one of the founding members of Blackout.
Dorian Beal
ImprovisorDorian Beal (he/him) joined Blackout in 2024. Along with being a regular cast member in our main troupe, Dorian also performs as part of Blackout Presents: Shakespeare Unscripted.
Denzel Belin
ImprovisorDenzel Belin (he/him) is a Minneapolis-based director, writer, actor, producer, host, and improviser. Belin is a longstanding cast member and writer at The Brave New Workshop and a staff writer for AWF magazine. He currently writes and performs with “Queer Window,” an all-queer sketch whose credits include the New York Comedy Festival and the Funny and Dumb Festival in New York City. Denzel has appeared on TPT Almanac and created work for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, Mixed Precipitation, and Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about Denzel at https://www.denzelbelin.com.
Alexis Camille
ImprovisorVann Daley
ImprovisorVann Daley (she/her) is a longtime member of Blackout. A regional icon in the improv comedy scene, Vann is also a standup comic and theatre actor who can be seen on stage and screen. When asked about her, Vann’s daughter Naima said that Vann is “the moment.”
Destiny Davison
Improvisor/ Marketing DirectorDestiny Davison (she/her/they) is a Minneapolis-based performer, animator, cartoonist, and multimedia maker who joined Blackout in 2024. She debuted her first solo show, “Dolly Who?” at the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival, and has been involved in productions at HUGE Theater, Strike Theater, Theatre Pro Rata, the Bryant Lake Bowl, and recently as part of the cast of Blackout Presents: Shakespeare Unscripted. Her artwork has been seen on TPT Almanac, the Minnesota State Fair, and multiple state billboards thanks to the Minnesota Billboard Project. You can find more of her work online at destinydavison.com and yllodaka.com
John Gebretatose
Director/ FounderJohn Gebretatose (he/him) has been performing stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy in Minnesota's Twin Cities for over 15 years. He is the Co-Executive Director & Director of Diversity and Inclusion at HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, MN. John has taught countless improv workshops in theaters, hospitals, corporate workspaces, K-12 schools, and colleges worldwide. He has led and facilitated diversity and inclusion programming for improv theaters worldwide in service to his mission to uplift all voices. John trained and worked at the Brave New Workshop and is a founding member of Blackout Improv, Late Nights Minneapolis (a sketch comedy show), and co-founder of the Black and Funny Improv Festival.
Mahmoud Hakima
ImprovisorMahmoud Hakima is thrilled to be making his debut with Blackout Improv. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2001, he has moonlighted as an actor, storyteller, writer, director, producer, puppeteer, improv comedian, mascot, and all around great person! He is an active member of Dinner Detectives, Jesters Comedy Improv and the improv troupe Sympathetic Magic. In his “spare time”, he can be seen keeping children and families safe at Minnesota Children's Museum in downtown St Paul. You can also catch Mahmoud in another Fringe show, "Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon", a dramatic solo show being performed over at Theater in the Round!
Khary Jackson
MusicianKhary Jackson (any pronouns) is a writer, dancer and musician. Khary has been a recipient of generous grants, including the 2019 Jerome Artist Fellowship and 2022 McKnight Fellowship in Writing. Khary's poetry book, Any Psalm You Want, was published with Write Bloody Publishing in the spring of 2013.
AlysshaRose Jordan-Bird
ImprovisorAlysshaRose Jordan-Bird (she/her) is a theatre artist and filmmaker who joined Blackout officially in 2024. The previous year, she began performing as part of Blackout Presents: Shakespeare Unscripted at HUGE Theater in Minneapolis and at the 2024 Black and Funny Improv Festival.
Gregory Parks
ImprovisorGregory Parks (he/him) is a clown, actor, and improviser from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has performed on four continents with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Disney Live!, Kinoshita Circus, and as part of clown festivals in China and India. He performs mostly silent solo improv titled "Where I Am Now". An advocate for representation and a proud geek, he has moderated, participated in, and created panels for CONvergence sci-fi-fantasy convention and is the host of CVG-TV's Con-Link.
Jada Pulley
ImprovisorJada Pulley (they/them) is a theater artist and aspiring hype man. They regularly produce and perform in improv shows, ranging from Bad Poets Society to Bummertown, usually at HUGE Theater. Jada is a proud founder of the Queer and Funny Improv Festival and a director of the Black and Funny Improv Festival. When not improvising, they are probably writing, cuddling their cat, or forcing people to do icebreakers.
Lukas Ramsey
ImprovisorLukas Ramsey (he/him) is a comedian, illustrator, and writer based out of the Twin Cities. He has performed comedy all over Minnesota and produces Craft Laughs, a bimonthly stand-up comedy showcase at 56 Brewing in NE Minneapolis. His visual art is comic book focused, though he also did the internal illustrations for the poetry book - calling in black. Also, he likes to bake scones.
Duck Washington
Improvisor/ DirectorOriginally from Lansing, Michigan, Derek “Duck” Washington (he/him) has been a theatre artist in the Twin Cities for over twenty years. He is an actor, director, audio designer, playwright and improviser. Duck is Executive Director of the Twin Cities Horror Festival, and is the founder of Rogues Gallery Arts. Duck is also a company member of Theatre Pro Rata, The Theater of Public Policy, Fearless Comedy Productions, and the insult comedy troupe Vilification Tennis. Some of his recent artistic credits include companies like Chameleon Theatre Circle, Walking Shadow, Theatre in the Round, Dangerous Productions, and The Brave New Workshop
Karyn Wilson
ImprovisorKaryn Wilson (she/her) is an improviser, actor and teaching artist living in Minneapolis, Mn. Originally from Washington DC, Karyn trained with the Washington Improv Theater. Karyn can be seen performing around the Twin Cities with Spolin Improv, Hot Pot Improv, Blackout Improv, Temps, PHXDC, Scraps, and Star Trek: the next Improvisation. She is an instructor at HUGE Theater and co-leads their monthly musical improv jam. Additionally, Karyn is the Learn to Skate Director at St. Paul nonprofit, Brownbody.
Aron Woldeslassie
ImprovisorAron Woldeslassie (he/him) is a stand-up comedian, author, and producer based in St. Paul. His comedy comes from a blend of observations on race, relationships, and culture as well as personal stories. Aron is a founding member of the Nordly and Minnesota Tonight. His work has been featured on Minnesota Public Radio, and TPT’s Almanac.
Devohn Bland
Special Guest Saturday, Aug 3rdDevohn Bland is a writer, Comedian, musician, and filmmaker who specializes in harnessing radical collective joy. He is a Co-founder\Co-producer of Uproar Performing Arts, has opened for Joe Pera, and will be be performing a solo show at The Southern Theater in September. Virgo Sun, Pisces Moon, Scorpio Rising.
Suzanne Victoria Cross
Special Guest Sunday, Aug 4thTheo Langason
Special Guest Wednesday, Aug 7thTheo Langason(he/him) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, teaching artist, and musician based in Minneapolis. A graduate of Rutgers University–Camden with a degree in Theatre Arts, Theo has been working locally, nationally, and internationally as an actor, director, musician, composer, improviser, poet, and teaching artist for over a decade.
M20
Special Guest Saturday, Aug 10thM2O is a musical comedy duo based in the Twin Cities. Maren and Morgan perform original geeky songs at local geek conventions, sharing their love of their favorite fandoms and hobbies. They composed their first song in February 2010 and had their debut performance at CONvergence (CVG) in July 2017 as SlytherPuff; they have since rebranded to their new name M2O. Their fandoms include Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, and more! Follow them on social media to keep up to date on upcoming performances: https://linktr.ee/M2O.mn
Miss Shannan Paul
Special Guest Sunday, Aug 11thMore Information
The possibilities are endless with Blackout Improv!!!
It has been a while since Blackout Improv had a venue selling best run in th Minnesota Fringe Festival six years ago. Since then we have been performing all over, gracing stages from Amsterdam to the Ordway just a few weeks ago. We love connecting audiences to Black joy and social justice through our unique style and approach to comedy. Since a lot of what we do is improv its safe to assume that each one of our performances will be unique as we generate a performance for you spontaneously, in large part based on your suggestions. These shows will be especially different as every one of our performances will feature different games with a rotating cast and feature a separate Black twin cities artists as a guest. The things you can rely on are that we will be funny, heartfelt, honest, and unapologetically Black!!!
Featured Special Guests
We are very honored to have some amazing special guests joining us for Blackout Improv Does Something! Here is who you can expect to see joining us onstage as part of this years festival!
Saturday, Aug 3rd @4pm- Comedian and Musician Devhon Bland
Sunday, Aug 4th @ 7pm- Actress and Production Manager for Pangea World Theater Suzanne Victoria Cross
Wednesday, Aug 7th @ 5:30pm- Blackout Alum and Musician, Performer, and Poet Theo Langason
Saturday, Aug 10th @ 10pm- Geeky Musical Duo M2O featuring Morgan Strickland and Maren Aalgaard
Sunday, Aug 11th @ 8:30pm- Comedian and Radio Host Miss Shannan Paul
What is Blackout Improv?
Blackout Improv is the Twin Cities premiere all-Black performer improv team. Its players have performed on stages all over the world but the group is based right out of the Twin Cities area. The troop was founded in 2015 and continues to grow and expand, currently containing 16 active members! Locally Blackout Improv has been involved inshows at HUGE Theater, The Phoenix Theater, Mixed Blood, The Gurthrie, Strike, Bryant Lake Bowl, the Ordway and so many more. We've run workshops in schools and with special groups. We strive to connect with our audiences in a way that promotes honest and inclusive dialogue and conversation. Our troupe consist of seasoned improvisers, teachers, actors, comedians, clowns, cartoonists, storytellers and so much more. You may spot our members on stages across town, on screen, or producting their own works across the creative industry.
What is Rogues Gallery Arts?
Rogues Gallery Arts is the production company of Blackout director Duck Washington. Since created Rogues Gallery Arts has created comedies, horror shows, audio plays, improv teams and more. It also produced Blackout Improvs previous run in the Minnesota Fringe Festival in 2018 and its run in the Twin Cities Horror Festival in 2021. This show marks Rogues Gallery Arts fifth time producing as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, most recently producing the solo show My Only Hope For A Hero.
