The Garage Improv Comedy Club

Josh Lenn and Katarina Wahlberg founded The Garage in 2012 as a show format and club identity distinct from their International Theater Stockholm teaching program, providing a performance-oriented home for the community they had been building since Lenn's arrival in Sweden in 2008. The Sweden International Improv Festival (SWIMP), which the club hosts annually, became a significant event in the Nordic improv calendar, attracting visiting companies from across Europe and North America for a weekend of performances and workshops in Stockholm. The Garage has continued to operate alongside International Theater Stockholm, with the two organizations serving complementary purposes: the club providing a public entertainment context and the school providing structured training.

The Garage operates as a comedy-forward improv club, emphasizing entertainment and community gathering over formal training. The SWIMP festival reflects an outward-looking identity that connects Stockholm to the global improv circuit, treating international exchange as essential to the quality and vitality of the local scene. The club format makes improv accessible to audiences who may not seek it through a school context, building viewership alongside the practitioner community.