Collegiate Comedy Challenge Registration

DESCRIPTION | FORMAT | PRO-AM | PHOTOS | REGISTRATION

12 Improv Teams. 4 Nights. 1 Title.

CSz Philadelphia - home of ComedySportz, is proud to present the Collegiate Comedy Challenge (CCC), an improv comedy competition exclusively for student performers in the tristate area.

Collegiate improv teams perform on our professional stage in front of a live audience.  Students showcase their talents using their style of improv comedy in a fun, competitive tournament.  

Our goal is not to give out a trophy. It is to provide students with a unique professional experience where they can show-off their performance skills, collaborate with their peers, and network with Philadelphia improvisers. 

And we give out a trophy.

The early-bird registration to be eligible for the Pro-Am is December 19th, 2025.
The deadline for CCC registration to compete is January 31st, 2026.

Sign up today!

registration fee

There is a $25 registration fee per team. The fee must be paid by Credit Card. If you need another method of payment, please contact Aileen Bianchi.

DATES

Teams will compete in ONE of three* qualifying rounds:

Round 1: March 6th at 7 PM
Round 2: March 13th at 7 PM
Round 3: March 20th at 7 PM

The winning team of each round will move on to the… CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND: March 27th at 7 PM

*Depending on how many teams sign up to compete, we may add an additional week of preliminary competition, and extend the final championship round to April 3rd at 7 PM

LOCATION

All rounds will take place at CSz Philadelphia - Home of ComedySportz, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Questions?

If you have any additional questions, please contact the Collegiate Comedy Challenge Commissioner, Aileen Bianchi (email)

Any improv form is welcome, whether you do short form or long form, or something in between.

Individual Team Set

• Teams must have 3 players minimum, 10 players maximum

• Each team will have 12 minutes to compete.

  • This 12-minute set includes hosting for your team, getting your team suggestions from the audience, and performing.

  • The timer starts as soon as your team takes the stage.

  • Teams may use that time however they see fit* in order to showcase their talents.

  • At the 10 minute mark, the experienced tech person will look for a button. At 12 minutes, if the Team has not finished their set, the lights will go to BLACK. 

*Pun-Oriented games are prohibited during the 12 minutes due to the use of them during the Lightning Round at the end of the show.

Pun Lightning Round

• After all four teams have performed, each team will choose 2 of their “punniest” people to represent their team in the final Pun Lightning Round.

• There will be a total of 8 people on stage. The Host will call this round, and it will last no longer than 5 minutes. For each joke the audience laughs at, teams will receive one point. If no audience member laughs, no points will be given or deducted from a team’s score.

the winner

The team with the most points is the Winner of that round and will advance to the Championship Round.

Championship Round Format

Championships will follow the same format* as the qualifying rounds.

• Teams will perform a set of 15 minutes.

  • At the 13 minute mark, the experienced tech person will look for a button. At 15 minutes, if the Team has not finished their set, the lights will go to BLACK. 

*With one stipulation: Short Form teams will not be allowed to repeat the same games they played in their initial competition round. In other words, if Team A played Pick-A-Line in their qualifying round, then they will not be allowed to play Pick-A-Line during the Championships.

Judging Criteria

Teams will get points for every laugh-out-loud joke made in the Pun Lightning Round, and collect points from the judges: professional comedians and the audience.

the Judges

• The panel of judges is made of 3 professional comedians in the ComedySportz company. Judges will look at:

  • the entertainment value—how much does the team connect and deliver for the audience?

  • the platform and team’s specific criteria—did the team play the game mechanic successfully / was there strong, fluid, and grounded scene work?

  • the set as a whole—how polished was the set?

• Judging is done on a 1- 10 scale (10 being the highest). The total sum of the judges gets added to the teams final score.

The Audience

• The audience will be the fourth and final judge. Each audience member will vote for two teams that night. The more audience votes, the more chance you have to win…so, bring your friends!

BONUS TRAVEL POINTS

For the 2026 competition, we are adding in an extra rule awarding bonus points to accommodate for teams that travel far and wide. Any questions about the travel point system, please contact Aileen Bianchi.

• Each team competing will receive 1 point for every mile they are from our theater: 2030
  Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

• Travel points are capped at a maximum number of starting points up to 15 miles. Half miles or less will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

• Examples:

  • If a team is 2.5 miles from the theater, they will start with 3 points.

  • If a team is 60 miles from the theater, they will start with 15 points.

  • If a team is 14.45 miles from the theater, they will start with 14 points.

The Prize 🏆

The winning team will:

• Be presented with a TROPHY engraved with their name and winning year.

• Be invited back for a CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWCASE at CSz Philadelphia later that spring. What’s a showcase? It’s your very own show on the CSz Philly stage!

WHAT’s a Pro-Am?!

ComedySportz Philadelphia invites players from your team to play with ComedySportz professionals in one of our Saturday 7PM matches in the spring! A Pro-Am is a fancy golf term for a competition involving professionals and amateurs! Get it?

How to enter in the Comedysportz Pro-Am

Register your team EARLY for the Collegiate Comedy Challenge by December 19th. Once your team is registered, you will receive an email from the Collegiate Comedy Challenge Commissioner, Aileen Bianchi, announcing your eligibility and discussing details with you. That’s it? That’s it!

Rules and Requirements

• Teams must register by December 19, 2025. Teams registered after December 19th will not be eligible for the Pro-Am, though can still register to compete in the competition itself (until January 31st).

• Maximum two players per team may participate in the Pro-Am. Those two players will play in the same 7PM match.

• All players participating in the Pro-Am are required to attend a mandatory ComedySportz Orientation Night in April 2026 from 7-9 in our theater.

• Up to 6 teams may compete in the Pro-Am on a first come, first serve basis in the order of teams that apply early.