After 28 years of creating joy in borrowed spaces across DC, Washington Improv Theater is finally creating a home of our own. WIT’s new digs will be a creative hub where laughter, connection, and community thrive. You can help make it real!
WIT’s Big Move is is an expression of radical optimism and creative energy. Amid a nationwide loneliness epidemic, our theater will serve as a much-needed antidote to growing anxiety and isolation, making a home for creativity and laughter.
SUPPORT WIT'S BIG MOVE NOW!
Why Now?
In a moment when our society is facing record levels of loneliness and disconnection, WIT offers something rare: a space where people gather face-to-face, take creative risks, find connection, and feel belonging. The DC area has never needed the joy, creativity, and connection that improv offers more. Our new theater is an act of radical optimism—an investment in community, creativity, and the power of shared laughter. Your support will help open doors to a space designed to welcome people from every background in the DMV. Let’s do this! Join the campaign to fund WIT’s Big Move today.
A Permanent Home Built for Creativity and Connection
Opening in January 2027 at 1222 3rd St. NE in NoMa, our venue will be WIT’s first-ever self-managed space and the first space in DC dedicated to the craft and community of improvisation. It’s more than a theater—it’s a full creative campus for the region.
The new WIT home will feature:
- A flexible 110-seat performance space purpose-built for the spontaneity and energy of improv, equipped with state-of-the-art lighting, sound, projection and accessibility.
- Seven fully accessible classrooms – a home for our students, WIT@Work trainees, and performers—a place where thousands each year can learn, rehearse, and discover new creative confidence.
- A community café/bar with indoor and outdoor seating – a welcoming gathering space where audiences, artists, students, and neighbors can meet, laugh, and connect before and after shows and classes.
Your donations will make this space a reality!
WHY DC NEEDS WIT
WIT's new home isn't only a comedy venue - it's a community center, training facility, a gym for the mind and spirit, and more, addressing critical needs in the District.
See the Space
As part of our design process, DMArchitects produced these renderings to help capture WIT's new space.
MAKE A DONATION
We're embarking on the most ambitious and consequential chapter in our almost 30-year history — one that will enable us to continue spreading joy and combating social isolation for the next three decades to come. We cannot do it without you.
Become an Ambassador
Improv is all about the team—saying “Yes, And” to a shared goal and building something incredible together. WIT’s capital campaign is no different. While every individual gift brings us closer to our $4 million goal, teaming up with your friends, fellow students, or performance ensemble members can exponentially multiply your impact and help us cross the finish line.
Team fundraising is a powerful way to leverage your network and turn a personal commitment into a collective movement. By rallying your circle, you don’t just raise money; you share the radical optimism and creative energy of WIT with others.
Click this link to join our team of dedicated community members committed to supporting our mission.
Campaign Updates
Meet the improviser who’s designing WIT’s new home in NoMa
Architect and Improviser Matt Alexander talks to WIT about his firm’s designs for WIT’s future home in NoMa, how being a performer has impacted the venue’s “blue prints,” and what excites him most about the space.
WIT receives $15,000 grant from The Morgan Fund for its new home in NoMa
The Morgan Fund at Seattle Foundation, which supports performing arts nonprofits with a focus on dance and theater, has granted WIT $15,000 for its new home in NoMa.
Step Up for Laughter: Support WIT’s Future and Our Present!
Washington Improv Theater is in a bold moment of transition — we need your support.
Our New Neighborhood
Our long-awaited permanent space at 1222 3rd St. NE is situated in the heart of the thriving NoMa neighborhood and it has a million things going for it:
TRANSIT | Just steps from the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro station and a 10-minute walk from Union Station (Red Line). The venue is served by multiple bus lines and bikers are served via multiple bike lanes, the Metropolitan Branch Trail (one block away), and several nearby Capital Bikeshare docking stations.
EATS | The food scene in NoMa runs the gamut from Five Guys to Marcus DC and everything in between, including the vibrant options at Union Market
DRINKS | The same wide range of options as with dining, only more liquid
SHOPS | REI, Politics & Prose, Salt & Sundry are a few of the well-known stores nearby
ENTERTAINMENT | Sing your heart out at Sid Gold’s Request Room, drive Fast and Furiously at F1 Arcade – there’s lots of other fun to be had
PARKING | Umm, did we mention the awesome transit? In our 10-year search for a home we were unable to find a location where parking would not be a challenge.
TOUR GUIDES | Not yet, that we’re aware of. But below you can see WIT’s artistic/executive director Mark Chalfant breathlessly attempting the fastest neighborhood tour imaginable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long has WIT been searching for a space?
We have been searching for a permanent home for WIT for a decade. During this search, we conducted 27 different site visits across all four quadrants of DC.
Why is this the right space for WIT?
A few factors make this the best opportunity we’ve found: 1. Our landlord recognizes the value WIT brings to the community and wants us in the space. 2. We’ve negotiated a competitive monthly rent, a 30-year lease (including extensions), and nearly $1M in support from the builder to fit out the space. 3. NoMa’s live-work-play ethos is a great fit for our programming and the neighborhood’s transportation and nightlife are great benefits. 4. This space gives us a high-profile street-level theater with marquee and ample classroom space, all under one shared roof.
How much will it cost?
$4 million is the estimated project cost. We are devoting a half million dollars from WIT’s cash reserves to support the project, and our landlord has granted us a generous Tenant Improvement Allowance (nearly $1M) to build basic infrastructure. In addition, we are seeking support from various Foundations as well as the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Your contribution is critical and will help us bridge the remaining gap of approximately $350,000.
Why does WIT need a space of its own?
We’re growing! We’re ready to triple the number of shows we do each year. We’re ready to double our student enrollment and train twice the number of WIT@Work clients as today. Renting every facility by the use or by the hour limits how much we can do. With our own space to leverage, we can do more shows, classes, community workshops, and organizational trainings at will, without conflicts and administrative challenges throttling our impact. This project also opens the door for us to host community partners or organizational clients in the space. Gaining the ability to expand our programming and also to stabilize them and make offerings consistent (such as shows every weekend), is key to the next stage in WIT’s evolution.
Continuing our artistic residency at Studio Theatre isn’t viable: the theater spaces at Studio are larger than ideal for our shows, there’s no classroom space included in the arrangement, and the economics don’t work long-term. With WIT’s former location, Source, now having been sold to a bar/restaurant, there are even fewer small theater options available in DC than there used to be. So let’s create our own!
How can I support the project?
The simplest way to make a difference is by donating directly through our secure giving page. Our platform supports Donor Advised Funds and other payment methods. You can also donate stock with the button below.
If you are interested in learning about exclusive naming rights opportunities for spaces within the theater, email dan@witdc.org.
Are there naming opportunities at the space?
Yes! Email dan@witdc.org if you’d like to discuss an opportunity. The spaces available are:
- Performance Space: One available. $750,000
- Lower level Classroom Space: One available. $500,000
- Café/Bar: One available. $250,000.
- Green Room: 1 available. $50,000
- Individual Classrooms: 6 available. $25,000
- Your name on the donor wall: $1,000