OAK RIDGE, TN - A time-travel comedy show is coming to the Secret City. New York City writer-performer Shawn Wickens will present a late-night preview of Secret Time Travel Meeting at the 2026 Secret City Improv Comedy Festival on Friday, October 9 at 11:59 p.m. at The Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge.

Part comedy show, part speculative lecture, and part participatory future-planning session, Secret Time Travel Meeting invites audiences into a world where time travel may or may not be real, but the need to think more carefully about the future absolutely is.

For this special festival preview, audience members are encouraged to arrive in costume, disguise, or “secret meeting” attire: future selves, time travelers, undercover agents, alternate-timeline academics, mysterious informants, or anyone trying not to be recognized by history. The invitation is playful, but it also reflects the spirit of the show: a live, conspiratorial room where strangers become temporary collaborators in imagining what comes next.

"Makes curiosity feel safe and rewards it.” — Joel Daniell, Fringe Benefits Podcast

“I left the show with a spring in my step… with a connection to cosmic possibility.” — Holly Rowan, Heartline Reviews (Adelaide, Australia)

“As intellectually stimulating as it is hilariously unpredictable.” — Mitchell Manuel, Theatreview New Zealand

The 2026 Secret City Improv Comedy Festival runs October 7-10 and features its largest lineup yet, with performers from across the country. Secret Time Travel Meeting appears as part of the Friday late-night programming, followed by the 6th Annual Slayden Cup Tournament, where multiple improv teams compete for the crown. Tickets are available at secretcityimprovfest.com/tickets. Show passes are listed at $10 per night or $25 for the full weekend.

Shawn Wickens is a New York City-based comedian, author, producer, and creator of Secret Time Travel Meeting, an interactive comedy experience about time travel, optimism, and the future. His work has appeared in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, and beyond. He is the author of Time Machine Blueprints and is currently developing new writing and performance projects around the ethics of time travel.