SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival 2026
The 13th annual #SSICF
January 23 & 24, 2026
Join us for the 13th annual SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival with headliner Connor Ratliff presents The Acting Class on Friday! Saturday Headliner TBA.
SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival features teams from The Lehigh Valley, NYC, Baltimore, Boston, Toronto, and beyond!
Want to Submit your Improv Team? Follow the link below for more details!
Submission Deadlines:
Early Submission: Now-October 17, 11:59 p.m. – $10
Regular Submission: October 18-November 14, 11:59 p.m. – $25
Final Deadline: November 14, 11:59 p.m.
Friday Headliner: CONNOR RATLIFF presents THE ACTING CLASS
A one-person improv show disguised as an acting class, from the creator of the Dead Eyes podcast.
Professional actor (Étoile, Mean Girls 2024, Ghosts, Bob’s Burgers) and award-winning podcaster (Dead Eyes) CONNOR RATLIFF is a classically trained performer who graduated “with honours” from the prestigious Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts over a quarter of a century ago, making his professional debut on the stage of the Royal Court Theatre in London’s West End. During that same year, he also performed at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II. In the decades that followed, he has accumulated numerous credits as a star of stage, screen and stream, appearing in multiple Netflix Original Films as well as content on CBS, NBC, FOX, TBS, Home Box Office, Amazon Prime, and the now-defunct comedy platforms, Go90 and Seeso.
But none of that matters now.
What matters now is CONNOR RATLIFF presents THE ACTING CLASS, an unending series of workshop performances where he will, before your very eyes, demonstrate what acting truly IS.
Each performance will be slightly interactive and completely improvised, with occasional opportunities for “students” to participate (from the safety of their position in the audience.)
Defiantly self-indulgent and beyond pointless, THE ACTING CLASS is your opportunity to witness the kind of greatness – only slightly appreciated by The Industry – that has kept Connor Ratliff steadily employed for nearly half of the past 10 years.
This show will contain adult language and/or situations. Seating will be assigned by ArtsQuest staff upon arrival into the showroom. Anyone coming in between the ages of 13 and 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No child 12 or under will be admitted. All performers and staff must adhere to our codes of conduct found here.
