In 2009, Joshua and Levi created a staged spoof of the Hardy Boys books, The Harty Boys in The Case of the Limping Platypus. The show was a hit with kids and adults alike and was the top selling show at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Inspired by the show’s success, Joshua and Levi formed Comedy Suitcase.
The Harty Boys In The Case of the Limping Platypus was written and directed by Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen with original music by Marc Doty. The cast featured Sulia Altenberg, Leslie Ball, Ari Hoptman, Andy Kraft, Spencer Levin, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen. The Platypus costume was designed and created by Lisa Pramann.
Praise for The Harty Boys in the Case of the Limping Platypus:
“Rife with madcap fun and sharp wit” – mnartists.org
“These people know how to craft a good comedy show, and it shines through in everything they do. Very Highly Recommended.” – Twin Cities Daily Planet
“This loving and lovable riff on the Hardy Boys mysteries spoofs not only the books, but the Twin Cities and its landmarks as well (“We love the Minneapolis Institute of Art,” one brother gushes. “It’s just like the Walker only free and not so ugly!” The story is appropriately preposterous, the drama delightfully hokey and the big finale features an attack by an old guy dressed in a giant platypus outfit. In slow motion, of course. Good times.” – Pioneer Press
Comedy Suitcase is born!
In 2010, Joshua and Levi entered the Minnesota Fringe lottery but the ping pong balls didn’t go their way. They decided to bide their time and kick off their new company with a holiday themed Harty Boys show at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater in Minneapolis. The show sold out its run and Joshua and Levi had the funny feeling they were onto something…
THE HARTY BOYS SAVE CHRISTMAS
The Harty Boys Save Christmas was written by Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen and directed by Shanan Custer. The cast featured Sulia Altenberg, Leslie Ball, Ari Hoptman, Matt Rein, Karen Weiss-Thompson, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen.
Praise for The Harty Boys Save Christmas
“The whole family will love it!” – Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine
“Five stars… A Santa’s bag of comedic riches.” – Examiner.com
“Told with a cartoonish quirkiness for the kids and a winking self-awareness for the adults, The Harty Boys Save Christmas is a rare holiday production that offers merriment for all ages—even if it means tangling with the diabolical forces of Santa Claus. Ultimately the question isn’t whether the Harty Boys can save Christmas but whether Christmas can be saved from the Harty Boys.” – City Pages
Comedy Suitcase kicks into high gear!
Five shows! And three of them didn’t even involve the Harty Boys! This was the year Comedy Suitcase tried a little of everything. It was also the debut of our now annual early bird New Year’s Eve show, Baby New Year’s Time Traveling Diaper Party. By the end of the year, City Pages declared Comedy Suitcase “The preferred choice for family friendly hysterics.”
Amateur Hour played at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater in Minneapolis and featured Sulia Altenberg, Leslie Ball, Nancy Donoval, David Mann, Pablo, and Tim Uren with hosts Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen.
Praise For Amateur Hour
Scrimshaw and Weinhagen have dared accomplished artists from a range of disciplines to revel in their greatest flops. Live critiques from a panel of kids and amateur artists either ease the pain of rejection or repeat the nightmarish ordeal. Either way, audiences are in for an irreverent reminder that no great art was ever achieved without a generous share of mockery. – City Pages
Michael Bay’s Super Mario Armageddon was written by Josh Carson and Directed by Tim Uren. The show starred Josh Carson, Emily Jabas, Andy Kraft, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren and Levi Weinhagen.
Praise for Michael Bay’s Super Mario Armageddon
“Take the biggest video game of all time, get the brilliant comedic minds of Comedy Suitcase to reimagine it directed by the biggest director of all time, and you’ve got a Midwestern, live-action version of something straight out of Tim & Eric, Awesome Show.” – Vita.mn
“If you ever wanted to see a “big budget” adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. video games not starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizame, here is your chance.” – City Pages
Smothers Brothers Grimm was written by Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Eric Webster and Levi Weinhagen. The cast featured all of the above plus Andrew Moy. Directed by Jim Robinson with music performed by Scott Keever. Smothers Brothers Grimm was performed as part of the 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
Praise for the Smothers Brothers Grimm
“Subtly built and markedly free of schmaltz, the production deftly balances irreverently layered humor with a genuine affection for comedy as a coping mechanism. Such skillfully evoked emotional resonance elevates The Smothers Brothers Grimm into a triumph of heartfelt humor.” – examiner.com
“Eleven-year-old Andrew Moy is a show stealer, shining bright among a cast of some of the funniest performers in town.” – TC Daily Planet
The Harty Boys Save Christmas was written by Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen and directed by Shanan Custer. The cast featured Sulia Altenberg, Leslie Ball, Ari Hoptman, Andy Kraft, Karen Weiss-Thompson, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen.
“On Sunday night at the Bryant-Lake
Bowl, the most magical moment in Comedy Suitcase’s The Harty Boys Save Christmas had nothing to do with presents or snow or mistletoe: it was when a young child laughed out loud, with a contagious giggle, at a punch line involving Ayn Rand. I can tell you how Santa gets down those chimneys, but I can’t tell you quite how Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen pulled their magical feat off.”
-Twin Cities Daily Planet
Baby New Year’s Time Traveling Diaper Party was written and performed by Josh Carson, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Adrienne English Scrimshaw, Aaron and Miriam English Scrimshaw, Andy Kraft, Andrew Moy, Levi Weinhagen and Laura Zabel.
“Produced by Comedy Suitcase, the collaborative team of Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen, this event showcases the specialized blend of slapstick high jinks, wacky wordplay, and heartfelt sentiment that has made the humorists a preferred choice for family-friendly hysterics.” – City Pages
Pratfalls, podcasts and puppets!
This was the year Comedy Suitcase ventured into the world of podcasts. It’s also the year we drew both laughs and blood with our extremely last minute addition to the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Finally, we took a trip into the mind of Tim Uren and discovered… puppets!
The Pratfalls of Parenting, a podcast about creativity and parenting, created and hosted by Levi Weinhagen.
“Levi Weinhagen, the non-Scrimshaw half of the Comedy Suitcase duo, became a dad, which was funny enough. Then he began a podcast, wanting to hear from other artistic parents. The free download is the anti-mom jeans of these kind of shows, with such guests as author John Jodzio, comedian Bill Corbett, and comic actress Shanan Custer who link art to parenting. If only parenthood were always this funny.” – Minnesota Monthly
The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club written and performed by Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen as part of the 2012 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
“Comedy hurts. Well, physical comedy of the slapstick stripe, anyway. Joshua Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen prove it in this clever, colorfully written comedy about a desperate-for-work actor trying to fill the slippery shoes of the recently deceased Captain Clumsy and keep his kid-targeted TV show alive.” – Pioneer Press
“Scrimshaw is fearless in his antics; he is both the Acme steamroller and Wile E. Coyote.” –Twin Cities Daily Planet
Christmas Impossible was written and directed by Tim Uren with puppets created by Andy Kraft. The show starred Andy Kraft, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tina North and Levi Weinhagen.
Christmas: Impossible merges comedy, holiday cheer, and the imminent chance of a Grinch-like Christmas morning on a worldwide scale…It also has plenty of “Let’s clean the barn and put on a show!” energy that puts a lot of the bigger-budget holiday productions to shame.” – City Pages
Baby New Year’s Time Traveling Diaper Party #2 was written and performed by Josh Carson, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Adrienne English Scrimshaw, Aaron and Miriam English Scrimshaw, Dan Hetzel, Andy Kraft, Andrew Moy, Levi Weinhagen and Laura Zabel.
“Celebrating New Year’s Eve can be a tricky endeavor if your bedtime is still enforced by parents. Fortunately, Comedy Suitcase has you covered with Baby New Year’s Time Traveling Diaper Party #2. The kid-friendly show — that entertains grownups as well — returns for a second year with skits, funny word play, and hijinks… All of the shenanigans should make ringing in the New Year fun, even if the clock hasn’t struck midnight yet!” – City Pages
Sweat, Body Issues and other Horrors!
This was the year Comedy Suitcase worked out while working out some emotional issues. We also made our first appearance at the Twin Cities Horror Fest with a brand new Harty Boys adventure and officially made our all ages new year’s eve show a tradition.
Comedy vs. Calories: FIGHT was written and performed by Joshua English Scrimshaw, Levi Weinhagen and Andy Kraft as part of the 2013 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
“The folks from Comedy Suitcase burning away the fat with high-impact humor!” – City Pages
“The highlight of the show for me was watching each man take center stage and deliver a monologue about his personal relationship with physical fitness (striding on a stair-stepper all the while, of course)… Each monologue was funny, sure, but they also dipped into deep wells of intimate, relatable humanity.” –mnplaylist.com
The Harty Boys In The Mystery of the Mall of America… of Death! was written and directed by Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen and performed by Sulia Altenberg, Leslie Ball, Dan Hetzel, Ari Hoptman, Andy Kraft, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen.
“The third installment gives fans what they would expect: goofy physical humor, sarcastic asides about the Twin Cities, and an epic, slow-motion fight deep in the show… This family friendly production lends high spirited hysterics to the Halloween season.” – City Pages
“Best Bet: Laugh your way through this family-friendly show as the Boys leap headfirst into a mission to save their friends, parents, and the Mall of America from such sinister forces as evil clowns and deceptive marriage counselors.” – Minnesota Monthly
Baby New Year’s Time Traveling Diaper Party #3 was written and performed by Josh Carson, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Adrienne English Scrimshaw, Aaron and Miriam English Scrimshaw, Dan Hetzel, Andy Kraft, Andrew Moy, Levi Weinhagen and Laura Zabel.
“Who says you have to ring in the New Year at midnight? If you have kids, or are the type who can barely stay awake past 9 o’clock, then partying into the wee hours of the morning just isn’t going to happen… Thankfully, the folks at Comedy Suitcase will be ringing in 2014 two times well before bedtime. The family-friendly event will entertain kids and grownups alike with dance numbers, funny skits, and other shenanigans with hosts Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen and friends. Expect hilarity.”
– City Pages
2014/2015 – THE YEAR OF CLASSIC COMEDY!
In 2014, Comedy Suitcase brings you a season of shows inspired by classic comedy and comedians! February also sees the debut a companion podcast examining the work of our favorite 20th century comedians.
The Kafka Nuts! Somebody’s been telling lies about Zeppo K and it’s up to those crazy cut ups, Flywheel and Woozer to prove his innocence! The anarchistic clowns of 1930s film comedy turn the nightmarish bureaucracy of The Trial into a screwball comedy of Kafkaesque proportions!
Reason Gone Mad is a companion podcast to our 2014/2015 season! According to Groucho Marx, “Humor is reason gone mad.” Comedy Suitcase puts that quote to the test as Joshua and Levi along with special guests examine the work and influence of classic 20th century comedians. Our first episode focused on comedy legend Lucille Ball and her groundbreaking work in I Love Lucy!
Comedy Suitcase’s Rocking New Year’s Afternoon!
The return of Smothers Brothers Grimm!
The return of Comedy Suitcase’s Rockin’ New Year’s Afternoon!
Comedy Suitcase Goes Superhero!
Comedy Suitcase Presents: The Averagers! Minnesota’s mightiest heroes: Captain Average, Iron Range Man, Passive-Aggressive Hulk, Black Wood Tick, and Paul Bunyan God of Lumber! At the 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival!
“The Averagers is one of the funniest shows I saw at the Fringe this year!” – Cherry & Spoon
Averagers: Christmas War
Featuring
Eric Webster as CAPTAIN AVERAGE Joshua English Scrimshaw as PAUL BUNYAN
Levi Weinhagen as IRON RANGE MAN Laura Zabel as BLACK WOOD TICK
Matthew Kessen as PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE BULK
Rachel Austin as BABE the BLUE OX
Irene Weinhagen as MAGGIE SUNDGAARD
Dan Hetzel as EVERYBODY ELSE
“The brilliant comedic minds of Comedy Suitcase”(vita.mn) transform your favorite big screen comic book characters into distinctly Minnesotan superheroes: Captain Average, Iron Range Man, Passive-Aggressive Bulk, Black Wood Tick, Paul Bunyan God of Lumber! Alone they are underwhelming but together they are… THE AVERAGERS!
But when sculptures mysteriously come to life and attack Black Friday shoppers, the Averagers are forced to destroy the city’s beloved Spoonbridge and Cherry! Fearing for the safety of other cherished landmarks, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board issues an ultimatum: either give Parks and Rec complete control of the Averagers, or give up crime fighting for good! The choice divides the team, pitting hero against hero in an all-out CHRISTMAS WAR!
Comedy Suitcase: Big Baby New Year’s Eve Show!
For you big babies who hate staying up late, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen team up with their real-life spouses and children for an evening of family funny.
Intermediate Physical Comedy for Advanced Beginners
A series of lessons on physical comedy performed by two masters of the genre, with no words spoken. Presented at the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
Joshua Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen – accompanied by keyboardist Marc Doty – offer a silent-movie-type tour of the banana-peel and rubber chicken brand of humor,
“There’s genius in the simplicity: Scrimshaw has a romantic date with a drone; Weinhagen offers a goofily interpretive dance to “I Think We’re Alone Now.” The pair engage in all kinds of chicanery, from an audience-participation awkward silence competition to an obstacle course involving inflatable rafts, whoopee cushions and eggs.” – Pioneer Press
Slapdash Panic!
On July 10th, 2018, a last minute spot opened up. Suddenly Comedy Suitcase was in the Fringe! Now, Levi and Joshua give audiences a peek behind the curtain and show them how they build a show from nothing to finished.
“These two artists certainly could have written and rehearsed a Fringe show in 3 weeks, but clearly they wanted to see if they could create existential slapstick. The audience was roaring with laughter, and often at almost NOTHING. A raised eyebrow. A sigh. Improvised dancing. It’s all hysterically funny.” – Audience Review
Comedy Suitcase celebrated 10 years of show making with a New Year’s Eve afternoon spectacular!
Pandemic doesn’t like theater!
2022 sees the return of live Comedy Suitcase shows! Hooray!
Two idiots get ready for bed. Complications arise. A live show full of physical comedy, music, and no words.
Bob and Reggie Go to Bed is a silent physical comedy with live musical accompaniment similar to Comedy Suitcase’s 2017 Minnesota Fringe hit Intermediate Physical Comedy for Advanced Beginners. The production reunites Comedy Suitcase co-founders Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen with Sulia Altenberg. The last time the trio shared a Fringe stage was in Scrimshaw and Weinhagen’s 2009 top-selling Minnesota Fringe production, The Harty Boys in the Case of the Limping Platypus (when Sulia was just thirteen years old!). Bob and Reggie Go to Bed marks Comedy Suitcase’s first collaboration with Rhiannon Fiskradatz. Her offbeat score is performed live and helps give Bob and Reggie Go to Bed its unique energy.
“It’s just good old-fashioned comedy, the kind that works in any era, geography, or age of audience, in the Buster Keaton silent film kind of style. I’m certain these two go home with bruises and abrasions every night the way they heedlessly throw their bodies around the stage, all for the sake of comedy.” -Cherry & Spoon
The set up is simple: Bob and Reggie are idiots. They want to stay awake until midnight. Complications arise.
From the creators of the Fringe Festival hit, Bob and Reggie Go to Bed, comes a New Year’s comedy for the whole family!
Bob and Reggie Stay Awake is a silent physical comedy starring Joshua English Scrimshaw, Levi Weinhagen and Sulia Altenberg with live musical accompaniment by Rhiannon Fiskradatz.
“Worthy of a Buster Keaton film” – Pioneer Press
“I don’t know what I was expecting when I entered the theater for this show but it wasn’t to see my love of silent comedy brought to life, live on stage… Scrimshaw and Weinhagen are brilliant in their gag creation and execution. You have to be pretty smart to act this stupid.” – MN Stages
