Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe

My wife and I went to the comedy cabaret on her 40th birthday. We drove up from Rochester, MN on December 2, 2011. From the beginning, it was one of the worst experiences we have had on a night out. Josh was our waiter; he was sweating profusely, because there was obviously not enough wait staff. He apologized twice for it being so busy – which was not true because there were several tables that were not occupied. The Chanhassen staff were simply not equipped that particular night. First: Drinks. We arrived at 7:10. It took Josh 20 minutes to get our first drink, a bottle of Miller light and a cranberry vodka. My Miller Lite was warm (therefore awful). My wife’s drink was tasty. When Josh brought our food (40 minute wait, 7:50) we asked him for the Chanhassen drink cup/Diet Pepsi and I wanted a glass of water. At 8:15 he brought us a drink cup and another Miller Lite. I stated I wanted a glass of water. At 8:40 I searched out Josh and asked for the bill. At 8:50 we left the table and went to the ticket office and requested our bill. I never got my glass of water. The lady who came to talk to us and give us a form to fill out was very nice and seemed concerned that our experience was not fulfilling. She took time and listened to our complaints. Secondly: the food. I ordered a Philly Cheese steak, my wife ordered a pulled pork sandwich. The bread on my sandwich was stale and rubbery – the meat was good. My wife’s pulled pork was average, but the portion was small. We both had fries – which were cold. I had asked Josh for ketchup and a side of ranch dressing – I got neither. We were at table 320 and the folks sitting with us thought that the Philly Steak looked good, so they ordered one, both men at the table also thought the bread was horrible, and neither of them could get drinks either; it was a common complaint throughout the time we were there from various tables. Thirdly: the show. They had a very off night – which must happen during improv, can’t really blame them; it happens, or can you? For us, $25 dollars a ticket, 2 hour drive, gas money, and a $37 dollar supper bill, one would expect the troupe to be on every night they do their show! The troupe was simply not funny. The guy who warmed the crowd up at the beginning took way too long. And, here’s a hint. If warm-up-guy has a list of special events before hand, take a look at it and prepare some kind of humor, or set-up-punch line. A couple times he said, “I don’t even know what to say about that,” which left a lot of dead space. If there are birthdays, anniversaries, etc. have some very funny reusable humor ready to go (not every single thing has to be improvisational). There was a Lubricant Company there and a male dentist with several female co-workers, he should have come up with scads of humor ahead of time and really sold the thing. Instead it looked like he was going through the motions. We have always had excellent experiences at the Chanhassen dinner theater, so of course we thought that the comedy caberet would be great. It wasn't. It was a very disappointing ending to an absolutely great day. We decided to stick with the plays - they are top notch productions.
1 8 years ago (20-08-2017)

I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard for so long!!! I attended Stevie Ray's Improv last Saturday night-- I'm still laughing! I loved how the cast sought cues from the audience, keeping my anticipation high due to the continuous unexpected twists a skit would take! I really appreciated that the humor remained "family friendly" too. It allowed me to relax & not be concerned that an off-color zinger was going to shock me out of the hilarity I was enjoying! I will definitely return soon and will tell my friends about it! (To the cast, this is from aka "Susie"!)
5 10 years ago (07-04-2015)

Great idea for a date night.
4 9 years ago (03-04-2016)