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A unique method of bridging differences made a stop in Austin Monday night, using laughter as a catalyst for unity.

The Sketches of Minnesota program, presented by The Minnesota Humanities Center and Danger Boat Productions, uses improvisation comedy to draw on people’s views of their community both now and down the road.

“This is a great event that brings the community together to highlight some of the wonderful things, some of the areas of opportunity, and where we want to see Austin in the future,” said Discover Austin, MN Executive Director Nancy Schnable. “It lightens the mood. It gives everybody the opportunity to express how they feel in a fun and festive way.”

The event comes to Austin as part of the community’s Welcoming Week and is one of nine stops so far for the first-year program.

According to the Minnesota Humanities Center’s Director of Strategic Partnership Trygve Throntveit, the night is about creating experiences.

“For the Minnesota Humanities Center, we create experiences where people are telling and sharing stories to better understand one another,” Throntveit said. “Build trust and build the capacity to work across their differences on things that are important to them.”

“What’s novel for this is for the first time, we’re using improv comedy,” he added

The night began with discussion at the individual tables before giving way to the comedy itself, which seeks a relaxed atmosphere around the discussion.

This is paired with specific instruction at the start of the night to ensure people know discussions won’t veer from any kind of chilling effect that might styme the conversations.

“We speak to the entire group about the reason we’re here,” Throntveit said. “We’re not here to change our neighbor’s minds. We’re here to learn from differences. To value it and we have very specific ground rules we articulate that everybody commits to follow.”

An important part of the night is that the actors themselves sit in on the conversations, gaining first-person knowledge from those in attendance about those things they feel are important to the community.

“Because our improv comedy actors are listening to the conversations, the quite meaningful and serious conversations that people are having about their own town, we’re able to provide some laughter, but also some real reflection on issues that are important to people who actually live here,” Throntveit said. 

Throntveit said the overall theory of the program is that laughter can provide a relaxed gateway through discussion that allows people from the community to discover more about themselves.

He also said that this type of format seems to bear more fruit than simply telling people how to think or act.

“I do think the association of laughter with this mode of being humble and curious, does really change things,” Throntveit said. “It makes them much more likely to be humble and curious with people in the future.”

The Minnesota Humanities Center is also in the midst of planning for a second season of Sketches of Minnesota, however, applications have not yet been opened. Throntveit added that a larger presentation, which will draw inspiration from the communities Sketches has visited, will be held sometime early 2025 — February or March. 

That show will premier in the Twin Cities before visiting smaller communities outside of the Cities. 

For more information, visit: https://www.mnhum.org/