originally published: 10/15/2025
(MADISON, NJ) -- Looking for a night out to escape the Netflix doom scroll? Something beyond movies at the megaplex or a typical bar crawl? The Flip Side, a completely improvised theatrical comedy experience, brings sharp, unscripted humor to the Madison Community Arts Center every other month — and it’s anything but predictable. The Flip Side is the house team of Vivid Stage, a professional theatre company based in Summit.
Each 90-minute show is built from scratch in real time, blending the spontaneous gameplay of Whose Line Is It Anyway? with the performance savvy of SNL. Directed by Dave Maulbeck (Law & Order, Complete Unknown), The Flip Side features a powerhouse cast of Vivid Stage company members, Broadway veterans, film actors, and top NYC/NJ improvisers delivering lightning-fast laughs and totally original scenes every time. Every show also includes a special guest — a top-flight improviser hand-picked by Maulbeck.
The Flip Side performs every other month at the Madison Community Arts Center. Shows are 90 minutes long with no intermission — just full-throttle comedy from start to finish. Leave the kids, pets, and small woodland animals at home — this one’s for the grown-ups.
The next performance is on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $23, and $18 for students 25 and younger. Tickets are available for purchase online. The Madison Community Arts Center is located at 10 Kings Road in Madison, New Jersey. The Madison Community Arts Center is wheelchair accessible.
This month’s special guest: Mike Sause (Drunk Shakespeare, UCB, Gotham City Improv).
“I make this show like a good Jersey pizza — I build every show fresh and to order,” says Maulbeck, Vivid Stage’s Director of Improv and the creative mind behind The Flip Side. “No script, just suggestions from the crowd — and then the wild, joyful ride begins. It’s a comedy night where the stupidest thing is probably gonna happen… and usually does. We all laugh.”
You can expect:
* Gut-busting, PG-13 laughs
* Three fresh “chunkers” of comedy per night
* Scenes that swing from brilliant to bonkers
* A top-flight guest improviser each show
* A perfect date night, friends’ night, or a much-needed escape from reality
Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Their work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. They expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. They deepen the experience of all their patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.
The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings, works in a variety of media, and a menu of educational and senior outreach programs.
Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, the Shubert and Summit Foundations and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
Graphic by Dave Maulbeck
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EVENT PREVIEWS
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bergenPAC presents comedian Tim Dillon on June 20th
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