Upcoming Events

These are official Backline House Teams bringing you three different improv teams and shows, with new teams every six months! Check out veteran improvisers alongside the best up-and-coming talent coached by Will Meinen, Chris Bottom, and Rachel Ware.

Catch these teams twice a month on Tuesdays at The Backline and stick around afterward for an open stage!

Like an Open Mic for improv & sketch, the Open Stage will offer 4 minutes of stage time for each performer. This can mean that a team of 5 can do a 20 minute set, or maybe the 5 people only need 10 minutes and they each use their remaining 2 minutes with other teams or ideas. Hosted by Todd Dylan and Dylan Rohde every Tuesday at 8:15pm. (Signup in advance in the Omaha Improv page on Facebook)

The Backline will be showcasing both veteran and up-and-coming comedians every Wednesday at 7pm. Delivering a funny and diverse cast so anyone in our audience can find their new favorite local comedians! (Sometimes we'll have guests from other cities!)

Also, stick around after this show for our Open Mic at 8pm where anyone can get up on stage!

Brooke Barsell & Todd Dylan host The Backline Open Mic (standup) every Wednesday at 8pm. Each comedian will be allowed 4 minutes, and names will be drawn from a hat for those who show up before 8pm, people who show up afterward will be added to a 2nd list. Whether it's your first time or you perform weekly, why not try out your material in front of a great crowd at one of the best standup venues in town?

Since names are pulled at random, comics are encouraged to sit and watch everyone else, creating a fun and encouraging audience. 5 seconds of grace period before music plays you off. Prepare accordingly.

This show is FREE for everyone!

The ARENA is Omaha's #1 Improv Competition pitting together 2 improv teams to find out which Omaha team is the best. Each competition is followed by previous Champions that get their own weekly slot until someone beats their record! As an added bonus, the show will start off with a set from previous Champions!

Whichever team wins the votes of the audience comes back the next week to face a new Challenging team, each getting 20 minutes to win over your votes. The #1 team "4 Average People" has won 16 weeks in a row! Will a team ever beat that record? You decide!

Biscuits is layered with many of Omaha's funniest improvisers and ready to butter you up for a hot show. Often fast-paced and never flaky, Biscuits will always rise to the occasion! Improv like your grandma definitely didn't used to make. (Each show also features a guest team opening for them!)

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

NO SHOWS AT BACKLINE TONIGHT!! WE WILL ALL BE AT BENSON THEATRE!

https://ci.ovationtix.com/36337/production/1125124

Ultimate Cards of Destiny is fundraising for the Omaha Comedy Fest- this year featuring Amber Ruffin, I Mom So Hard, Kevin McDonald, and Matt Jones. We'll be gathering the best improv teams in the city for a night of competition raising funds as they try and secure a spot in the fest! We're making the tickets to this on the lower end so we can get as many people there as possible, but please bring as much cash as you'd like to donate. (The audience will get poker chips to give the teams you like the most and you can buy more throughout the show!)

This show is fast-paced and gives teams challenges as they draw the cards. Each team will get 2 minutes per challenge to win over the audience and raise as much as possible. There is plenty of audience participation, but only if you volunteer, and this high energy show is going to make you want to be a part of it. Come with a big group for a special occasion or just show up by yourself because you like supporting local comedy and want to laugh a bunch!


No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please
arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be
released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

I29 is kicking off the North American leg of their much anticipated WORLD TOUR (one City only) as they bring a collection of comics including headliner Susanna Lee, featuring Ali Kareem, with Rachel Ware, Dominic Kut Jok, and host Tyrel Frazier to their first (and only!) stop on their world tour that includes cities such as Omaha. And no I29 Comedy Productions show would be complete without its rascally founders, Matthew Blevins and Tony Geist, back from Nashville for one night only!

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

Pandemic! @ the Disco! (aka the artists formerly known as PanNick! @ the Disco aka the artists formerly known as PanNick) are Omaha’s premiere (and only!) two person musical improv team. This duo performs the hero's journey, taking suggestions from the audience to define the hero, portrayed by Matt Johnson. We then watch as that hero goes on a journey meeting less-than-helpful supporters, silly antagonists, and bewildered bystanders- all portrayed by Musical Director and accompanist Robyn Helwig.

Pandemic! @ the Disco is a top performer on the Backline’s arena board, having won a streak of 14 weeks, and is also the only team to have made it on the board twice (having won 8 consecutive weeks in 2019 as PanNick! @ the Disco).

The Broken Magic Comedy Hour is a standup comedy series brought to you by founding OK Party Member and national touring stand up comic Zach Peterson. Featuring some of the best stand up comics in the midwest and beyond, The BMCH is a professionally run stand up show that will have you coming back for more month after month.


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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

This show is Rated R for graphic language of adult situations.

A fearless standup show at Backline, but also one to avoid if you easily get rubbed the wrong way. We line up Omaha's top local comedians and give them a chance to perform some stuff they can't do at most shows. If this sounds like you something you would like, then you definitely will. If this sounds disgusting to you, we have other shows you should check out.

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

Dad Jokes (featuring Michael Johnson, Michael Smith, Justin Edmonds, Taylor Grote, and Rachel Ware) has been voted as one of the best improv shows at The Backline. They don't tell 'jokes' and they aren't your dad, but you'll love them just the same. Their show is some of the best longform improv comedy you can find in Omaha!

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

Date Night is here!

Gather up your special someone (or any someone) and come see great two-person teams improvising their little hearts out. Whether you actually bring a date, this show will be just as fun to watch alone or with a group of friends. Who knows, maybe you'll meet a future date here.

Hosted by Justin Edmonds

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

"The Strangers" is a 2-person improv show featuring Timmy Tamisiea and Will Meinen; two people who at one time didn't know each other and now they do!

Timmy trained and taught in Chicago and LA and continues to perform around the country with the Westside Comedy theater. Will got his start at The Backline, and trained/performed in Chicago at the iO and Second City theaters.

Both Timmy and Will moved back home to Omaha during the pandemic and decided to start performing together, initially as strangers and now as friends.

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

Yer Mom's Comedy Show presents standup comedians aimed at “Keeping parents sane one punch line at a time!” Join comic moms-Kendra Karbowski, Patty Fanciullo & Anneliese Wright, as they bring up some of the best talent the Midwest has to offer. Special guest comedians will keep the entertainment going and we’ll end the evening with our “MomTime” Comedy chat

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).

Babes in JOYLAND is Brooke Barsell’s monthly show featuring new up and coming comedians along with a hot fresh headliner. This is often a sold out show, so make sure to get your tickets in advance!

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No Drink Minimum. 18+ (or under with parent or guardian.)

Please arrive no later than 5 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets may be released for resale at that time, no refunds will be given. Parking available on the street (metered until 9pm).