The Brave New Workshop (BNW), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958 and is the longest running sketch and improvisational comedy theater in the US. BNW continues the tradition, of writing, producing, and performing as a Resident Theatre of Hennepin Theatre Trust. History Brave New Workshop was founded in 1958 by Dudley Riggs, a fifth-generation circus aerialist who performed all over the globe. Riggs's parents were circus and vaudeville performers, and he regularly joked that he ran away from the circus to find a home. BNW was originally known as the “Instant Theatre Company.” Riggs assembled and led a talented group of writers and performers intending to make people think by first making them laugh. In the late ’50s, the troupe travelled to Minneapolis and performed at a restaurant called Steffano’s. The Instant Theater Company then decided to stay in Minneapolis and create a performing space for themselves; "Dudley Riggs' Cafe Espresso" opened in a former garage at 18 University Avenue NE. In 1961 the venue relocated to 207 E. Hennepin Avenue, and after much planning and brainstorming, and with help from friends Dick Guindon, Irv Letofsky, and Dan Sullivan, this would be the beginning of the satirical comedy theatre that was known for many years as Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop. Four years later, in 1965, the theatre moved to 2605 Hennepin Avenue, a space that had been a bicycle shop, and would be home to the theatre for most of the following four decades. The Brave New Workshop took its name from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and bills itself as the oldest ongoing satirical comedy theater in the nation. Nearly 400 original productions have been mounted on Brave New Workshop stages for more than three million people. Improv and sketch comedy shows can be seen on its stage nearly every weekend. In March 1997, Riggs sold the theater to John Sweeney, Jenni Lilledahl, and Mark Bergren. Bergren left the Brave New Workshop in 1999 to pursue other interests. The name of the theater changed slightly to "The Brave New Workshop, founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958." Despite the name change, BNW continued to produce all-original sketch comedy and improvisation revues on a year-round basis. They also oversaw the Brave New Institute, a training center for improvisation. The school claimed to have the most broad-based improv curriculum of any training center in the country,