Bring the whole family on a funny walk with us.
Weekends in the Cultural District
Revolutions, Pirates, and Prohibition!
Come and explore the Penn Ave corridor while learning about Pittsburgh’s Drunken History with Arcade Comedy Theater’s comedy walking tour! Pittsburgh has often been called “a drinking town with a football problem,” so join us to find out how true that is. You’ll learn about the colorful characters that made this city the boozy, blue-collar cousin to Reno, Nevada… and if you’re lucky, you’ll learn some history along the way.
This walking tour is a fun and unique experience for all ages to enjoy (meaning, we won’t be stopping at any bars, but we’ll be pointing out some along the way for you to visit afterwards).
The tour runs approximately 45 minutes and is entirely outdoors (approximately 6 city blocks).
Current tour schedule:
- August 27 & 28 at 12:30PM, 1:30PM, and 2:30PM
- Saturdays in September at 1:00PM and 2:00PM
- Final performances on Saturday, September 24
Tours require a minimum of 2 guests in order to run. If a tour does not have enough participants, we may ask if you can join another group or reschedule.
In the event of inclement weather, tours may be cancelled. You will always have the opportunity to reschedule your tour or receive a refund.
More about the tour
Produced by Nia Johnson and Laura Young
$20 general admission
Children under 5 FREE
Suitable for all ages
Because this is a fully outdoor experience, masks are encouraged but not required.
Read the full coverage by Pittsburgh Magazine, written by Sarah Demchak:
Every tour has a guide and two character actors. These actors help bring history to life by popping out to play different characters at each stop. For example, participants meet a river pirate.
“There used to be river pirates and they had a whole thing where they would pretend that they were in distress to get other ships and boats to come and help them, and then they would rob them,” [Nia] Johnson explains. “So, we do a whole thing and we meet a pirate there and we get the tour participants to sing a river shanty with us.”
Participants will also meet Nettie Gordon… known as the ‘Queen of Allegheny City’ — “at 25 years old, she ran all of the gambling, the brothels, the cops, all the booze that came in and out of there,” Johnson says. “Nettie Gordon was responsible for it and she was really famous for never wanting her picture to be taken.”
At the end of the tour, the Andrew Carnegie character emerges to discuss the ills of drinking, Johnson says. “According to him, drinking was sinful and terrible and men should never do it, but opium was just fine.”