ImprovBoston, a comedy theater that operated in Cambridge for over 40 years, is shutting down for good.
The news comes three years after the organization shuttered its 140-seat theater space in Central Square and temporarily paused operations due to the pandemic. It returned in 2021, using some classrooms and a small space across the street on Massachusetts Avenue. But the theater, which hosted a national touring company and offered comedy classes and corporate trainings, never quite bounced back.
“This is incredibly difficult,” ImprovBoston managing director Matt Laidlaw said in a press release. “I’m incredibly proud we were able to keep performing post pandemic and offer shows and classes to our beloved fans. However, without a theater to call ‘our own’ our chances for surviving long-term are very low. The best decision for the business is to wind down, and wrap up operations.”
The theater said it would cease regular operations on Dec. 31 after completing its final session of classes, and would honor existing client contracts.
ImprovBoston was founded in the 1980s, putting on shows in local bars and restaurants in Cambridge and Somerville. It later moved to a small space in Inman Square before settling in its longtime home in Central. The theater’s touring company performed nationally, and its comedy school offered improv, sketch and stand-up classes. Before the pandemic, ImprovBoston was behind popular shows such as the Halloween-themed GoreFest and the Naked Comedy Hour. It hosted the Boston Comedy Festival and the College Comedy Festival and co-hosted the Women in Comedy Festival.
Theater leadership said the decision to shut down permanently was due to a combination of small audiences, limited commercial venue space and lack of needed additional funding, despite receiving several grants aimed at helping theaters impacted by the pandemic.
“The saddest part,” said Laidlaw, “we have a vibrant and excited community of performers who we’ve seen grow from nervous students in a classroom, to hosting, directing and performing in so many amazing shows on our stages. On behalf of the entire organization we owe our students, instructors, performers, technicians, front of house staff and our audiences an incredible debt of gratitude and appreciation for helping us keep going, for so long.”