When the flooding happened over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, Improv Asylum did what it does best — it improvised. Laugh Boston and the newly opened Lil Chuck are under the same management umbrella, so they moved shows around. Improv classes were moved to another location. Some headliners from the Chuck moved to Laugh Boston. And the Main Stage show wound up at the Chuck.
“We know no matter where we are, we can put on a show,” said Main Stage cast member James Melloni. “But when you get us back in that home theater — like, home field advantage — that’s a whole ‘nother level.”
“I think we have been homesick a little,” adds Main Stage performer Kellie Moon, who, like Melloni, started out as an usher at the theater. “We miss the ‘in the round’ [stage], and we miss the energy that that space provides. It’s a different feeling when you’re down there.”
The stage setup at IA is unique in that the performers are surrounded by the audience on all sides. The audience is watching the show, and each other, which Moon finds invigorating. “When you’re in the round,” said Moon, “the audience is watching the audience laugh. The audience likes to watch themselves have fun, too.”
Part of the energy in the original theater comes from the foot traffic: people who just happen by, see the sign, and don’t necessarily know what they’re in for. Tucked away in the Theatre District, the Lil Chuck doesn’t get quite as many drop-ins. “In the North End, you have someone coming down thinking it’s a stand-up show,” said Melloni, “and they’re like, what is this? And then their mind’s blown, and they’re like, that was incredible!”
Melloni also teaches improv for IA, and in one of his current level two classes, none of his students have seen the original theater yet. “They’ve all started since we’ve been here in Lil Chuck,” he said. “They are in for a treat when they see this space — it’s a whole new generation that hasn’t even experienced [it] yet.”
Laviolette wasn’t surprised when the flood happened. As he pointed out, Improv Asylum’s theater is in a basement in a fairly old neighborhood, and there had been minor problems with leaks before. This time, the flooding wasn’t stopping. As Laviolette understands it, Boston Water and Sewer jetted the main sewer line for Hanover Street. “It’s like a massive forced cleaning that, amongst other things, forced all of whatever was in that sewer line back into the some of the secondary lines down at the end of Hanover Street,” he said. “Specifically the line that goes to Improv Asylum and the line that goes into Lucca Restaurant.”
Trying to keep the Friday show going, Laviolette wound up in the men’s room with a wet vac battling the water.
“The good thing about everything we do is, because it’s comedy-based, we can get away with a lot of things,” said Laviolette. “And so literally, we had two urinals that were open, and guys come in, I’m like, ‘Here’s the deal. We got two urinals that are open – pee, no poo, don’t flush, get out.’”
The entire theater, including the stage and the lobby, had to be rebuilt from the ground up, but kept the same footprint (and yes, the whole thing has been heavily sanitized since the flood). Improv Asylum did update the look and made minor improvements. Since the leaks tend to come from plumbing from outside their business, they installed a new drainage system to mitigate future events. And they opened up some space in the lobby to make it a bit more roomy for those waiting for a show to start or getting drinks from the bar.
“Structurally, everything is the same,” said IA operations director Pablo Rojas. Longtime patrons will see almost the same setup with the bar and the theater, but they’ve modernized the design a bit. “It’s a sleeker, cleaner look.”
Some of the theater’s tech has been updated, replacing old lighting and sound systems, and there might be more opportunity to use cameras and video. And according to Steve Sarro, IA’s musical director and the director of “North End Justifies the Means,” the new show will be fully improvised, rather than the mix of sketch and improv IA has often employed. And there will be more audience involvement.
“I want them to be on their toes,” he said. “You will never know at what turn your friend or you might get pulled on stage or spotlit in a fun way.”
While every show is different, each one is built from a theme, and coming back to the North End is on everyone’s mind. “We’re moving back home,” said Sarro, “which we’ve been away from all summer, so that has been a huge inspiration for us.”
Improv Asylum’s homecoming means the return of some of their other shows, like “Raunch,” a late-night offering. It also gives the Lil Chuck, which opened in October of 2024, a chance to get back on track and establish its own programming and identity. They already have Joe Dombrowski’s “Crowd Work” scheduled for five shows and “Naked Magicians” for two. But Laviolette doesn’t expect the Chuck to be running at full capacity right away. “I think in terms of a full slate of programming,” he said, “whatever that’s going to be, that’s probably not going to be till January.”
Throughout the Improv Asylum organization, there’s a sense of relief and excitement about coming home. Sarro put it in the same epic terms of the Stark family home in “Game of Thrones.” “There must always be a Stark in Winterfell in the north,” he said, “and I feel there must always be an Improv Asylum in the North End.”