We make thinky fun

Exploring big ideas and messy topics
with improv since 2011

Tane Danger and Brandon Boat met in college when Brandon auditioned for the school’s improv troupe. Director Tane’s feedback? “We’ll call you.” The next year, Brandon returned with a gaggle of ideas for the show and Tane quickly realized that talent trumps first impressions every single time! The two have been cast mates, best friends, co-producers, co-creators and business partners ever since.

In their years performing together, Tane and Brandon began to suspect improv could be used for more than just entertainment. The country was divided and the issues were complex. There had to be a better way to inform and educate people about important policy topics while also bringing people together. They spent a summer asking both civic and comedy experts. Everyone told them it couldn’t be done…

“How can you do this important topic justice with comedy? It isn’t a joke!”

“No one wants to hear about ranked-choice voting at a comedy show.”

They did it anyway.

Through their work with The Theater of Public Policy, Tane and Brandon discovered that the secret sauce to promoting dialog, bridging divides and building community is using humor to lift people up, to make them feel seen and heard in a way that opens them to new perspectives.

Danger Boat Productions grew out of this experience, applying their brand of thinky fun to more than 700 shows, events and custom content for clients like Target, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, Mayo Clinic, the NFL, the Center for Disease Control and more.