Coronavirus Closings: With Charm City Comedy Festival Postponed, Local Comedy Groups Adapting To Online Shows
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore's annual Charm City Comedy Festival set to start this week has been postponed.
"We had just gotten acceptances for the improv and sketch week, which is the first week, and then all of this hit," Megan Wills of the Charm City Comedy Project said.
The 10-day festival was set to feature 400 performers and accounts for 33 percent of the Charm City Comedy Project's annual revenue.
Many comedy and improv groups are participating in online sketch shows or classes during Maryland's stay-at-home orders.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:
- Coronavirus Resources: How To Get Help In Maryland
- Coronavirus In Maryland: What We Know
- Coronavirus-Related Closings
- Latest coronavirus stories from WJZ
"Every week we've been able to do it, it's grown," Baltimore comedian Michael Furr said. "More than anything, I'm scared that, when we do reopen, it's going to be a really slow, gradual thing to get people back into spaces."
The Baltimore Improv Group has offered online classes and Zoom shows since Gov. Hogan limited the sizes of gatherings in late March.
"That Monday, we canceled our shows, and by Tuesday, we were doing shows online," Terry Withers of Baltimore Improv Group said. "No one in any of the comedy community is happy about it, but I think we're going to come out of this time stronger than before."
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
