Comic Relief: Imposters Theater is Giving Sketch Comedy a Cleveland Home

by Henry Palattella

Michael Busch isn't joking when he says he wants to change Cleveland's comedy scene. 

Armed with metal-framed glasses, a soft voice and welcoming smile, the 43-year-old Busch looks like a combination of your cool English teacher and the guy who fixes your laptop at Best Buy. His everyman presence combined with his comedic chops landed him appearances on several big television shows, with roles as diverse as a puzzled student (Community, season one, episode 24), the clapper on a fake television show (Key & Peele, season four, episode 11) and an angsty nerd (Pretty Little Liars, season four, episode five). 

But when Busch returned to Cleveland nearly five years ago, after spending 15 years entrenched in Los Angeles’ vibrant comedy scene, he felt like a man without a country. 

So he came up with a plan: Head to an improv comedy theater, join one of the groups and go from there. 

The only problem? There was no such theater. For two years, Busch existed in a comedy wilderness, teaching classes in people’s basements and the backrooms of bars while also doing sketch and stand-up comedy at venues across the city. 

But even as Busch trudged across Cuyahoga County without a permanent comedic home, he felt compelled to help the place that developed him.

Busch began his comedic journey while growing up in Mentor. As a kid he spent hours consuming reruns of Kids in the Hall on Comedy Central, where he was drawn to Dave Foley, who was able to steal a scene with a single word or facial expression. After graduating from high school, Busch attended Ohio University, where he helped start the sketch improv group Four Funny Guys and Matt. He spent four years in charming Southeast Ohio before heading to Los Angeles. “We didn’t have any other marketable skills,” Busch jokes. 

This past year, he’s been the catalyst for the kind of change he’d like to see in Cleveland as the founder of Imposters Theater, a group that focuses on improv, sketch and alternative comedy in a storefront on Professor Avenue in Tremont. 

But he’s about to do a whole lot more.

As Busch has been teaching and cultivating Cleveland’s theater scene, he’s also been working on opening a new, professional theater space for comedy in Cleveland. This fall, that dream comes true at the new Imposters Theater on Lorain Avenue, a 1,200-square-foot space that is primed to become the epicenter of the Cleveland sketch and improv scene. With a small stage, inviting windows and an intimate atmosphere, Busch sees the place as much more than a theater. 

“Not only will it be a place for improv, sketch and alternative comedy but also a place where people have fun,” he says. 

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