Paramount Center for the Arts to host ‘Sketches of Minnesota’ statewide tour

The Minnesota Humanities Center and Danger Boat Productions announce the first annual “Sketches of Minnesota: Civic Community Comedy Tour” dates for 2025.

Imagine the joys of a 10-city road trip. Austin. Duluth. Emily. -Glencoe. International Falls. -Little Falls. So many falls. -Morris. Waite Park. West St Paul. Winona. Now, imagine going along on that trip with some of the funniest people in Minnesota, and without the unplanned construction, gas -stations with missing restroom keys, or GPS failures. And the whole thing takes less than 90 minutes.

Please join us for the first annual Sketches of Minnesota: Civic Community Comedy Tour.

• St Cloud – Tuesday, Feb. 11, 7-9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) Paramount Center for the Arts, St. Cloud.

• Minneapolis – Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7-9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) Dudley Riggs Theater, Minneapolis.

Through an epic partnership established in 2024, the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) and the comedy team at Danger Boat Productions traveled to 10 communities across Minnesota. They’ve taken stories from each town and put them into a hilarious sketch comedy revue.

It’s like going along on the year-long Sketches of Minnesota road trip, but you get to enjoy the highlights from the comfort of a theater seat.

This fully scripted show – unlike the typical Sketches shows which are entirely free-form improvisational comedy – will take you on a journey to 10 communities across Minnesota. We will deep-dive into the foundation of Sketches of -Minnesota performances: what makes us different, what makes us alike, and what do we need to work on within our communities? Join us to find out.

About the Sketches of Minnesota initiative

Sketches of Minnesota is a traveling program designed to increase understanding and encourage conversations among people who might not know each other or have differing viewpoints, by bringing neighbors together over a shared meal and improvisational comedy.

Co-produced by MHC and -Danger Boat Productions, this unique performance was hosted by 10 communities across the state in 2024. The performers learned directly from residents what makes their community great, what people get wrong about it, what divisions concern them, and what they imagine for the future when they work collectively with their neighbors.

In each town, the Danger Boat troupe listened in on dinner conversations and then brought the stories and ideas to the stage. After the show, MHC facilitated a discussion to find out what stood out, what made them laugh, what gave them pause, and what surprised them. Consistently, the final theme for the events is a positive message: we have more similarities than we know, and these conversations lead to a greater willingness to listen to one another.

About the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC)

MHC, an affiliate to the National Endowment for the Humanities, was founded as an independent non-profit organization in 1971. MHC strengthens our society by promoting the humanities and increasing shared understanding of our collective pasts. MHC creates a wide variety of humanities programming in collaboration with individuals, creators, scholars, and organizations to build a more curious, inclusive, and connected -society. MHC has a long history as a grantmaking organization and operates a full-service event -center in a historic building in St. Paul. More information is available at mnhum.org.