Celebration and Representation – A Black History Month Show Presented by The Cookout Collective: Who all gon’ be there + Earth, Wind, & Tired + Baggage Claim + Lena Dunham

Buckle up! Joyride is a non-stop, high-energy improv performance series where the destination changes every weekend.

WIT is DC’s top spot for hilarious improv comedy. Our company ensembles — featuring the fastest and funniest minds in the region — are ready to take your silliest suggestions and transform them into jaw-droppingly hilarious scenes, entirely made up on the spot.

The Cookout Collective is currently made up of all-Black improv groups from the DC region and Baltimore, Md. Started in 2020, The Cookout, WIT’s annual celebration of Black improv comedy and culture, takes place every summer and draws huge crowds. That event and the Collective were created and are curated by WIT improvisers Jamal Newman (who founded WIT’s first-ever all-Black ensemble Lena Dunham Improv) and Krystal Ali, who performs with Lena Dunham Improv, as well as company ensembles Hellcat and LIZARD GIRL. Both Jamal and Krystal also perform with Kinfolk — the first-ever all-Black team to win the Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament in 2024.

WIT is proud to be home to The Cookout and to join the collective in celebrating Black History Month and underscoring the importance of representation for improvisers of color.

Who all gon’ be there

Cast: Aaron Harris, Haywood Turnipseed, Jacquel Tomlin, Joanne Harris, Leslie Turner, Micha’le Harrison, Richard Johnson, Simonica Mendes, Stewart Gray III, Tracie Turnipseed, Trevion Jones

Earth, Wind, & Tired

Cast: Aaron Harris, Chizo Nwagwu, Lee Bennet, Lori Pitts, Renee Namakau Ombaba, Richard Johnson, Slli’m Williams, Stephanie Rae, Tandra Turner

Baggage Claim

Cast: Samiyyah Ali, Kendall Hollimon, Precious Jenkins, Renee Namakau Ombaba, Clyde Thompson, Eddison Wilkinson

Lena Dunham Improv

Cast: Krystal Ali, Bam Alston, Darnell Eaton, Derek Hayes, Erica Johnson, Eva Lewis, Jamal Newman, Nic Small, Simone Webster

Go to our Plan Your Visit page to learn about WIT shows and view our health and accessibility policies. WIT may have still or video photography at its events. Entry to the event serves as consent to be filmed for WIT’s promotional purposes only.