ACME Comedy Theatre

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The ACME Comedy Theatre is a sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile" in the U.S. ACME was started by M.D. Sweeney as "The Two Roads Theater" in Studio City, circa 1989. Sweeney changed the name to Acme a few years later, and moved the theater to North Hollywood. Eventually, he brought it to La Brea near Los Angeles's "Miracle Mile," where it quickly rose to prominence in the world of sketch comedy. Throughout the 1990s, a rivalry developed between ACME and the more famous Groundlings, and both theaters vied for the best sketch comedians in Los Angeles. (Though Sweeney's partner--the mother of his chidren, Sherri Stoner--is a former Groundling. The name "Acme" was selected after Stoner's career in animation writing/production had started to take off.)

In 2004, Sweeney, having opened a successful, adjoining restaurant/club with Acme Alumnus Adam Carolla, decided to retire from directing and sold ACME to Travis Oates, then a member of ACME’s main sketch company. Oates embarked on an ambitious renovation of the theater and made ACME the most technically advanced 99-seat theater in Los Angeles. In the first quarter of 2007 ACME underwent a second major renovation, which saw the installation of broadcast equipment, effectively turning ACME into a television soundstage. ACME is now the only sketch comedy theater to broadcast all of its shows live to the Internet.

Its notable alumni include Adam Carolla, Alex Borstein, Joel McHale, Fred Goss, Jamie Kaler, Cecily Adams, Jackson Douglas, Alan Heitz, Maz Jobrani, Lisa Kushell, Ralph Garman, John P. McCann, Paul Rugg, Marc Drotman, Katie Donahue, Jerry Lambert (actor) and Scott Kreamer.