The reopening of The Comedy Studio has been delayed to Aug. 13, ownership said this week, with people expecting to attend citing inspection issues from yearslong construction needing to pinned down.
The club, which opened in Cambridge’s Harvard Square in a restaurant attic in 1996, was pushed out to Somerville by rent costs but returned to rebuild in a 5 John F. Kennedy St. basement space: Announced in November 2021 and expected to finish in 2020, the work ballooned to $2 million with the help of an investment team but missed several expected launch dates. A Thursday opening of two shows with four comics was scrapped, first with all shows erased until Wednesday and then until an open mic Aug. 13 and an Aug. 14 pair of shows with comedian Myq Kaplan.
The issues with inspectors showed up as one of four joking options in a newsletter from the Studio on Thursday (“Cambridge inspectors wanted to come back so often to see private shows that they don’t want us to open to the public”; among the other selectable options were that “Our retractable roof has been much harder to install than anticipated”).
“We’re so sorry and frustrated on your behalf, and ours,” said the newsletter by lead investor John Bonham-Carter. “Our unforeseen delays have been painful.” A call to Bonham-Carter on Thursday was not immediately returned.
The newsletter calls for the support of comedy fans “now more than ever” in the face of delays with options and perks with memberships ranging from $5 billed monthly to $200 billed annually.
Kaplan, a New Yorker who began his comedy career in Greater Boston with frequent visits to the Studio stage, is set to perform “Before We Get Started,” a show in which he offers advice to a past self on matters from marriage and polyamory to “quantum mechanics to psychedelics, ‘Moby-Dick’ to Nintendo, reflecting on potential improvements as a man, a partner and matter/energy comprising an infinitesimal portion of the universe.”
The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge
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