Shenanigans Comedy Theater is expanding, adding a new theater, classrooms

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Your favorite Laugh Factory is taking up even more space. Comedy Shenanigans will continue to add new shows and eventually there will be room to accommodate them all.

Founder Jessica Cotton says if you have an idea, they want to make it happen. While Shenanigans has all the usual comedy house stuff like improv, open mics and comedy sketches, the hosts have opened their doors to a lot more.

In their small space just outside of downtown Huntsville, you’ll find a theater, several tap rooms, and lots of owners and volunteers. They’ve expanded their services to include additional homeschool classes, American Sign Language classes, and a mentoring group for “weird kids.”

Cotton said he is grateful to not only survive the pandemic, but to thrive with talented artists around him.

“We have really great access to all these artists and musicians in the community who are like, ‘hey that’s a really cool idea,'” Cotton said. “So if you come up with a really great idea, we’ll do it, and we need the space to do that.”

Now they are working in exactly the same way. Cotton said her team jumped at the chance to lease space above their current location. He said they could open a second theater space, clean out the warehouse and add new classrooms. They also plan to expand their LGBTQ+ closet as well as their “diversity library.”

“We’re hoping to have three to four large bookshelves, and then it’s going to be a part of things that you can bring with you at any time,” Cotton said. “So that’s always going to change. Another part of that is going to be the resources that you can use or investigate based on what you’re studying or if there’s a grant for something that you’re doing, it could be useful in this capacity.”

Cotton says they are asking patrons to donate $10 a month to help pay for the new space.

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