(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- Spooky season is around the corner, and Crossroads Comedy Theater has announced the start of a new October tradition with their slate of Halloween-themed programming. Shows run October 21 through October 31 at Plays & Players Theatre (1714 Delancey Pl, Philadelphia, PA) at various times.

These shows are part of a decade-long tradition of Halloween shows created by Mike Marbach, founder and Executive Director of Crossroads Comedy Theater and former Artistic Director of Philly Improv Theater. Over the years, Marbach has directed Halloween hits The Improvised B-Movie, Stay Dead!, A Nightmare on Jawn Street, and has worked with the show Not Yet Rated: An Improvised Movie since 2017. In fact, Not Yet Rated will be performing their popular Improvised Horror Comedy run live on stage for the first time since 2019 during this year’s Halloween programming.

Crossroads Comedy Theater is also part of the return of Philly Sketchfest, a festival of sketch comedy will take place October 21- October 23, featuring a who’s who of acts from all over the United States and Canada. Each day of the festival will be located in a different venue around Philadelphia, with Crossroads Comedy Theater sponsoring Saturday, October 22 at Plays & Players Theatre in Rittenhouse Square.  

The 2022 Fall and Halloween program includes:

STUDY HALL-O-WEEN: COMEDY INSPIRED BY SPOOKY LECTURES on Friday, October 21 @ 7:30pm. Get into the Halloween spirit with this special, Halloween edition of Study Hall! This night will feature lectures focused on the creepy, the crawly, and all things that go bump in the night. This long-running comedy show mixes real lectures with improv comedy to create a show that is both entertaining and educational. Lectures inspire the scenes that the amazing cast create right before your eyes. Tickets are  $15 and up.

KORNFELD AND ANDREWS: ONE NIGHT ONLY! on Friday, October 21 @ 9:00pm. Seasoned performers and longtime instructors Rick Andrews and Louis Kornfeld combine their improv powers for a longform show that's as honest as it is hilarious. With a patient, nuanced style, Andrews and Kornfeld create a textured world filled with characters that will make you laugh and move you all at the same time. It's comedy. It's theater. It's a performance you won't soon forget. Tickets are $14 and up.

THE STORY SO FAR & JOE MOORE’S EXPLODIN’ HALLOWEEN GARAGE on October 26 @ 7:30pm. It’s a gruesome double bill of halloween fun featuring improvised spooky stories from Nick Gillette and original songs for Halloween from Joe Moore. The Story So Far is a spellbinding risk of improvised performance. Moving tales, woven from your suggestions, unfold before you in freestyle rhyme. Irreverent joy mixed with profound truth in an unpredictable and singular night, never to be repeated. Tickets are $12.

Comedian Joe Moore has spent the last year working in his lab and is pleased to present a new album "The Mummy Forgot the Chips and Other Lo-Fi Novelty Halloween Songs For a New Generation". Featuring psychedelic drum machines, far-out distortion pedals, and a microphone packed with crusty playdough -  it's a garage rock universe full of tricks and treats! With an assembled band of Frankensteins, Dracula, Werewolves, and Witches, Joe believes he has one last chance to save both rock and roll and Halloween at the same time. But he can't do it without you! 

THE SIDESHOW HALLOWEEN SPECIAL on October 26 @ 9:00pm. Step right up…if you aren’t too scared! This edition of The Sideshow: A Comedy Variety Show is our Halloween special full of fun and spooky acts. Sketch comedy, stand-up, storytelling, variety, and all manner of tricks and treats are possible in one block for one low price. Tickets are $10.

NOT YET RATED: AN IMPROVISED HORROR COMEDY on October 27, 28, 31 at 7:30pm and October 29-30 at 7:00pm. Do you like scary movies? Then you will love Not Yet Rated: An Improvised Horror Comedy!  One of Philly’s favorite Halloween shows rises from the grave and takes to the stage for the first time since 2019! Using the tropes of horror movies and audience suggestions,  the cast creates a completely new movie made just for the audience. Monsters, haunted houses, demonic possession, psychological thrillers, slashers… it’s all on the table in a show never seen before and - like many of the characters - never to be seen again. No script. No props. No escape. Tickets are $15 and up.

A NIGHTMARE ON JAWN STREET: A HORROR COMEDY SKETCH SHOW on October 27, 28, 31 at 9:00pm and October 29-30 at 8:30pm. A Nightmare on Jawn Street is an original sketch comedy show in the style of Saturday Night Live and inspired by your favorite horror films. Zombies, slashers, demons, and much more will be explored in this show mixing sketch comedy and horror movies. Don’t worry about being too scared, it is a comedy show afterall. The only fear you should have... is missing out. Tickets are $15 and up.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting at xroadscomedy.com.