Best Off Broadway shows for kids and families

Role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons are inherently theatrical: The players are all playing roles, after all. But the idea of building an actual stage show around the game—an entirely improvised one, guided by audience suggestions and decisions—seems, well, a little dicey. But an element of the unexpected is one of the things that makes this goofy fantasy show such fun. Whether or not you know much about D&D going in, it’s an adventuring party you won't want to miss. Ages 5 and up.—Shaye Weaver

Three deadpan blue-skinned men with extraterrestrial imaginations carry this tourist fave, a show as smart as it is ridiculous. They drum on open tubs of paint, creating splashes of color; they consume Twinkies and Cap'n Crunch; they engulf the audience in a roiling sea of toilet paper. For sheer weird, exuberant fun, it's hard to top this long-running treat. Ages 5 and up.

Mischief Theatre’s long-running slapstick farce finds six amateur British actors (and two crew members who get pressed into service onstage) trying to perform a hackneyed whodunnit amid challenges that escalate from minor mishaps to bona fide medical emergencies and massive structural calamities. Kids with a taste for zany comedy will be rolling in the aisles. Ages 10 and up. 

Husband and wife duo Fan and Ana Yang have traveled world-wide to dazzle their audiences with their self-titled masterpiece, "bubble artistry." As lights flicker and music plays, prepare to catch some of the wonkiest looking bubbles you've ever encountered. Kids and parents alike will love how these soapy spectacles create a can't-miss experience. Ages 5 and up.

For more than two decades, this proudly old-school series is heir to the vaudeville tradition. Many of the acts incorporate comedic elements, and audience participation is common; kids make especially adorable assistants. You get a lot of value and variety for your magic dollar, and in contrast to some fancier magic shows, this one feels like comfort food: an all-you-can-eat buffet to which you’re encouraged to return until you’re as stuffed as a hat full of rabbits. Ages 6 and up.

On select weekend afternoons in the theater district, veteran magic men Jim Vines and Carl Mercurio perform a comedic set of tricks and illusions that is especially tailored to delight young audiences—though the rest of the family is likely to enjoy it, too. And at just $25 a ticket, this is a surprisingly affordable Times Square outing for a larger group. Ages 6 and up.