John Skrtic’s 216 Daily: Imposters Theater
By John Skrtic
I stopped in at Imposters Theater, the city’s home for improv, sketch, alternative comedy, and the wonderfully absurd. This weekend the theater celebrates its third anniversary, a milestone that reflects both persistence and Cleveland’s appetite for live comedy.
Inside the theater I spoke with founder Michael Busch, a Northeast Ohio native who grew up in Mentor. As a kid Busch spent hours watching The Kids in the Hall on Comedy Central, mesmerized by the troupe’s fearless improvisation and offbeat sketches. The spirit of those performers stayed with him. After high school, Busch attended Ohio University, where he helped form a sketch and improv group named Four Funny Guys and Matt. The group eventually packed up and moved together to Los Angeles, chasing opportunities in comedy and television.
Busch has also built an impressive comedy career, though he mentions it with humility. His writing has appeared in sketches for Funny or Die and Comedy Central. His acting work includes television appearances on Human Giant, Key & Peele, and sketches on Conan.
But Cleveland never quite left Busch’s mind, and family helped bring him back home. He told me that most mid-sized American cities have at least one dedicated home for improv comedy. Cleveland, surprisingly, did not. Busch decided that needed to change. Growing interest in improv eventually led him to Lorain Avenue, where he opened the theater on a stretch of street filling with creative new businesses.