What do you do with yourself when your kid leaves home for college?
If you’re spouses Laura Zabel and Levi Weinhagen, you of course quickly see material for a new comedy show.
Empty Nest
Description:
Through a mix of sharp stories, absurd sketches, and knowing winks at the audience, Empty Nest dives into life’s big transitions — aging, shifting identities, long-term partnership — and finds the humor in the awkward, poignant, and downright ridiculous moments along the way.
Venue - Rarig Thrust
Content Warnings - Adult language
Genre and Content - Clowning, Comedy, Improv, Physical Theater, Spoken Word, Storytelling
Ages 12 to 15 and Up
According to an interview last fall with CBS News, Levi noted, "We were moping around the house. We'd check in with each other and say, did she call? Have you heard from her? Did she post on the internet? And I think we both realized we were kind of doing Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' about our kid. And we're like, well, that's kind of a sad but funny show. Maybe there's something here.”
So they put together a show, gave it first run at the Bryant Lake Bowl last September, and now they’ve fine-tuned it and are bringing "Empty Nest" to the Fringe.
The More Information tab on their show page on the Fringe site has this to add:
“Laura and Levi met performing at the Brave New Workshop and have performed for more than two decades in theater, comedy, and storytelling — and at home, they’ve been improvising marriage and parenting for over 24 years.”
You can see the full interview about the show’s first run (with clips from the performance) at the BLB via this link.
And if you need to be reminded who they are and what they've done, here's their bios:
"Laura Zabel
Creater/Performer
Laura Zabel is an actor, writer, and nationally recognized arts leader. She served as Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts for 21 years, an award-winning economic and community development organization based in Minnesota. Laura has performed with numerous Twin Cities theaters, including Mixed Blood, Brave New Workshop and Comedy Suitcase.
Levi Weinhagen
Creater/Performer
Levi Weinhagen is a theater artist, comedy writer, and co-founder of Comedy Suitcase, a perennial Fringe Festival favorite known for inventive, all-ages comedy. Levi is also a licensed therapist and teaching artist and has created work for audiences ranging from preschoolers to politicians."
Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.
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