Small Steps Performing Arts
By the time most folks are easing into their Saturday night, Kevin Small has already finished a full-blown comedy show — one where the headliners are pre-teens and teenagers armed with one-liners and big imaginations. The stage? Big Laugh Comedy Club on 604 Main Street. The format? Family-friendly improv. The mission? Get everyone laughing — and maybe turn a few shy kids into confident performers along the way.
“It’s become something really special,” Small says. “The kids come once and they want to keep coming back. I mean, how often do they get to be on stage in front of a live audience and just play?”
If you’ve followed improv in North Texas anytime in the last 25 years, you probably know Kevin Small’s name. A veteran of the Dallas comedy scene, he cut his teeth with the legendary Ad-Libs in the '90s before becoming a key player at Four Day Weekend, where he spent years performing and later helming their training center as director. He’s done over a thousand live shows and appeared in more than 70 national commercials, including an HBO comedy special stint in Los Angeles before returning home.
But when Four Day Weekend’s landlord didn’t renew the troupe’s lease last year, Small suddenly found himself without the gig that had become his lifeblood. “The school was my baby,” he says. “When they pulled the plug, I realized if I wanted to keep teaching, I’d have to start over. So that’s what I did.”
Small launched Small Steps Performing Arts, offering improv classes for adults and beginners — first virtually, then in person. He found an unexpected ally in Big Laugh Comedy Club, which had mostly booked stand-up acts until one of the owners, a dad of three, floated an idea: What if Small could do a show for kids? Not just family-friendly, but one where the kids actually joined in.
“I teach these games in classes all the time,” Small says. “Stuff like ‘Conducted Story’ and ‘Professor Know-It-All.’ They’re simple, but they give you confidence. I realized I could just adapt that for kids.”
The result is a twice-monthly, one-hour, PG-rated improv jam that feels equal parts comedy show and playground that takes place on the Laughs’ stage Saturdays from 2 p.m. - 4p.m. There’s a grown-up cast of seasoned improvisers who keep things moving, but the best moments happen when Small opens the floor to the audience — coaxing kids on stage to fill in punchlines or help build scenes in real time. Games like “Pillars” and “Professor Know-It-All" provide young participants with a safe format, clear rules, and ample opportunity to be silly.
Small has learned to start each game with his core cast first, giving the kids a chance to understand the rhythm before inviting them up. “Once they see how it works, their hands go up fast,” he says. “And that’s the magic—when a kid who was nervous at the start of the show ends up leading a scene.”
That spark — the kind that can transform stage fright into stage presence—is what keeps Small coming back. “I think every kid deserves to be cheered on for being creative,” he says. “This just gives them a reason to try.”
The shows, which wrap up by 6 p.m., are timed perfectly for families. “You can catch the show and still make it to dinner,” Small jokes. But don’t mistake the early start time for amateur hour. If anything, these five o’clock shows have a little of the old Four Day Weekend polish, a dash of classroom know-how, and a lot of heart.
In addition to the performances, Small also offers a free beginner’s improv class every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., open to kids who want to try it out before jumping on stage.
“I never set out to make this my next chapter,” Small says. “But it’s turned into something I’m really proud of. We’re giving kids the chance to be funny, be fearless, and maybe find their voice in front of a crowd.”
