Improv Shop Expands — Again — With New Grove Space

Kevin McKernan is set to purchase a church to grow the improv comedy business' training center

Dec 5, 2023 at 1:46 pm

The Improv Shop owner and founder Kevin McKernan purchased the Old Remedy Church to expand the business' training center. Courtesy photo

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Yes, and … Improv Shop owner and founder Kevin McKernan is set to expand his ever-growing improv business. Again.

McKernan will purchase the old Remedy Church (4372 Vista Avenue) in the Grove across from Cardinal Care Field.

The Improv Shop settled in the Grove back in 2016 at a standalone building at 3960 Chouteau that previously held Bad Dog and R-Bar. In 2022, the Improv Shop expanded its business by purchasing the Gaslight Studio and Lounge building (4916 Shaw Avenue) on the Hill.

This new purchase, which will close on Friday, comes as business for the Improv Shop has continued to increase since the end of COVID-19 restrictions. “Post COVID we actually got people coming back to improv classes and shows and stuff," says McKernan. "We’ve seen a return to pre-COVID numbers, and this gives us an opportunity to teach more classes.”

The 1902 building offers McKernan 3,878 square feet of opportunity.

“It’s not a church in the way you would think; it’s not like a Catholic church,” says McKernan. “It’s a makeshift church. It used to be a two-family flat that they turned into a church.” He says the first floor of the church, which was previously used for services, will be used as a small venue. Luckily for Mckernan, the church already came with a stage.

“This will give us the potential to do some smaller, experimental shows in the venue space,” he says. “It could be used as a classroom or a smaller venue for small comedy shows.”

Upstairs are five refurbished rooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen, giving the Improv Shop plenty of space to expand its training center and rehearsal space.

Purchasing the church was a no-brainer for McKernan, who says he'd wanted to expand in the Grove because "it’s been a good home for us, and the community supports us.”

After casually looking for his next investment, the church made the most sense. “This makeshift church with classrooms would be perfect,” he recalls thinking. “The building gets to stay intact, and all the cool stuff they did to the church gets to stay. The building is turnkey, which is really nice.”

click to enlarge

Courtesy photo

Purchasing the church was an easy decision for McKernan as it features a first-floor stage for a small venue or rehearsal space and several rooms upstairs for additional classrooms.

When it comes to expansion, Mckernan says the Improv Shop never really plans on it, that it just happens when the time is right. “I never have real goals because I never know what it’s going to do,” he says. “The goal is always to keep shifting and meeting needs as they come about, and it seems to me if you do the work well in the moment and don’t worry so much about expanding, the answer is going to come.”

Another investment the Improv Shop has recently made is hiring new individuals to join the leadership team. “I’m not as hands on as I was back in the day, I have a kid and other stuff that I’m doing,” McKernan says. “But the leadership team there has put their energy into it and are growing it in really cool ways, and that’s exciting to me, too.”