ImprovBoston to shut down after 40 years

ImprovBoston, a comedy theater that operated in Cambridge for over 40 years, is shutting down for good.

The news comes three years after the nonprofit 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.

“The one thing that we could never fully grasp onto was the ability to get into a larger venue space,” ImprovBoston managing director Matt Laidlaw said in an interview. “And it wasn't so much that we didn't have great opportunities. We worked with some fantastic people in and around Cambridge. It's just that, as you're starting back up, the startup funding to build a theater out of a smaller space is incredibly challenging.”

The theater said it would cease regular operations on Dec. 31 after completing its final session of classes, and would honor existing client contracts.

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 numbers tell a very, very straightforward narrative, and that narrative is that we just wouldn't have the fiscal resources to sustain going forward,” Laidlaw said.

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.

“We loved when [people] walked in and kind of gave us the look of, like, ‘We have no idea what this is going to be,’” said Laidlaw. “And they walked out feeling as if they were part of a new family.”

This post has been updated with comment from ImprovBoston managing director Matt Laidlaw.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Matt Laidlaw's name was misspelled. We regret the error.