GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — On March 12., The Comedy Project had their last live show before the pandemic hit.
Fast forward to November 12., and they had their first show since being able to open back up. That show was also their last one before another temporary shutdown order was enforced.
Now, they are allowed to open again, but this time without food or liquor, which is a large part of comedy club revenue.
The Comedy Project Owner, Joe Anderson, says the club -which just opened Jan. 31 was hanging on.
He said this as he sat in his cold theatre trying to save money by not running any heating or cooling systems.
"I appreciate you dealing with the fact that it's cold in here because like everybody, we're just trying to, you know, conserve expenses and so like as soon as stuff happened and we got shut down we're like turning off coolers, because we have a bar here, and we haven't run the heat, because we're just again trying to... we just kind of went dormant," he said.
Anderson says he's not complaining because unlike some of his friends across the country he's grateful they didn't close indefinitely by losing their building.
"I mean there are comedy clubs comedy theaters, all over the country that are literally, they're gone. I mean places that have been around for 20 years I've got friends that run or work at theaters down in Texas and Toronto in New York, and they're gone." Anderson said."
Anderson told us they are teaching comedy classes to survive but can not wait until they get to see people again.
Mike Logan, a national touring comedian that lives in Grand Rapids performed in The Comedy Projects last show before the original shutdown. He said he lost thousands the day after the shutdown due to months of canceled shows.
But this pandemic really helped people understand whether comedy was their passion or if it was just a fun practice they could no longer afford to do.
"A lot of comics except for like the big names you see on Netflix and stuff like that, like, they all have like a side hustle a day job or something, like I bartended while I was also touring and stuff, you know, I've got friends who are like the house emcee of comedy clubs we sit there every weekend, controlling the crowd but during the day they stock shelves at Meijer so like there's like different jobs that we all pick up and everybody kind of went full time on all of their part time jobs," Logan said. "I'm a really good cook. And so I decided to sell food out of my kitchen because you can now in Michigan during this lockdown like they restricted with a lot of restrictions on whether or not you can sell food out of your house. And I've always been somebody who monetizes my talents."
Even with his new job, Logan has never left comedy moving online to forums that he says scratches the itch but will never compare to the feeling of a live show.
He knows that comedy clubs, which are already rare in most U.S. cities will open back up but is worried about smaller bars that used to offer open mic nights.
Anderson echoed that thought saying that comedy clubs can't just open like venues such as movie theatres and bowling alleys.
Anderson told WZZM that before the crowd, you need the comedians, and the rehearsals and the environment for a show.
So yes, The Comedy Project is now technically able to open, but now they are prepping for a performance where food and drinks cannot be served and under a capacity limit.
Nevertheless they are hoping to bring the laughter back into their space before the end of January.