2024 was an amazing year!

We devoted much of our time last year to raising funds for and otherwise supporting worthy organizations.  In May, we performed Friends Indeed as a fundraiser for the Centre for Expressive Psychotherapy in Bangladesh.  A high-energy combination of music and comedy, including demonstrations on the power of the arts to provide psychotherapeutic benefits, was led by Jim Robinson at the Hive Collaborative in Saint Paul.

Later that same month we continued our collaboration with NAMI Hennepin (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) with Laughing Matters, again combining music, comedy and riotous audience interaction to help raise funds and awareness for this tremendous local organization.

Finally, in October, we held our (mostly) annual musical fundraiser at the Black Forest Inn — Songs of POWER, PROTEST & JOY! — to celebrate and support the critical work being done by VoteRiders, an organization that works nationwide to provide voter ID education and assistance to all eligible voters who are in need.  Joined by more than a dozen of our favorite singers, instrumentalists and improvisers, as well as local activist Charlie Rounds, we raised $3,000 — which was doubled by a matching grant for a grand total of $6,000!

In addition to our regular touring shows (Country Roads, Honeywine and Spiked! Improv) and hosting the annual Sweethearts show at Crooners, we provided custom entertainment for several corporate events as well: talent acquisition specialists Harbinger, local television and Internet provider MIDCO, and health care services company Accord.

In April and May we held our annual storytelling show, this year aptly entitled Fiction.  We were joined by storytellers Jim Robinson, Julie Grover McArdle, Gennae Falconer, Martha Pettee, Josh Carson, Katy McEwen, Jen Scott, Lisa Heldke, Dennis Curley and Heather Meyer!

We wrapped up the year with our holiday variety show, Spiked!  This year's regular cast once again featured Brave New Workshop alums Jim Robinson, Katy McEwen and Joshua Will plus local sketch comedy and improv favorite Maureen Tubbs, with music from Dennis Curley (The Explainers, Country Roads), Dorian Chalmers (Church Basement Ladies, The Mancini Players), Natalie Nowytski (Orkestar Bez Ime, Follow the Firefly), Scott Keever (The Sweet Colleens, solo artist) and Marc Bohn (Tim Sigler, Jim Stairs Band). Our special guest stars were incredible: THREE (Lori Dokken, Rachel Holder and Judi Vinar); Doug Anderson; Todd Menton and Lorna Landvik; Courtney Burton; Gary Rue and Laura MacKenzie; Becky Schlegel; Eric Morris and Laura Rudolph Morris; and Dennis Curley and Brad Erickson as John Denver and the Muppets!