Groundlings Theatre

The holy hall of improvisational and character-based sketch comedy has served as a comedic incubator for the likes of Lisa Kudrow, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and innumerable other Saturday Night Live actors—who have all shot to stardom from here. Fun fact: Paul Reubens’s The Pee-wee Herman Show and Elvira: Mistress of the Dark both originated as Groundlings stage shows. Today, the troupe operates a popular theater on Melrose with a calendar packed with programming—mostly weekly series. Harking back to its origins as a workshop, today the Groundlings School offers an extensive program of comedy classes to thousands of students each year, from a one-day beginners improv class to a sketch-comedy writing series, down the street from the theater.