Comedy Club Coming To Beverly 'Off Cabot' Street

BEVERLY, MA — A new entertainment venue coming to Beverly could provide just the comic relief the North Shore could use coming out of the coronavirus crisis.

The Cabot Theater said on Tuesday it will open the 150-seat "Off Cabot Comedy Club" in partnership with John Tobin Presents at the old 9 Wallis Street location.

The club is expected to open in late February or early March.

"There are so many incredible comedians in New England that we have been fortunate to host on our Cabot stage over the past few years and we have developed such great relationships with John and his team that it felt like a natural extension to find a place that we could dedicate strictly to comedy," said Cabot Theater Executive Director Casey Soward. "We think people need to use laughter as an elixir in these pandemic times — and what do you know. ... there was a perfect place to do this for lease just down the street from us."

The former The Grand Salon location was a blues club called 0 Wallis before pandemic-related issues forced the closure of the live music venue.

The Cabot will help upgrade the venue with a new sound and lighting system, while John Tobin — a former Beverly City Councilor — will present and operate the shows.

"Ryan Cott and I and all of us at John Tobin Presents have enjoyed a successful and fun working partnership with Casey and his team at the Cabot over the past several years," Tobin said. "Everything to us is about relationships that are sincere, meaningful, mutually beneficial and enduring.

"To integrate our teams in order to make Off Cabot a reality is beyond exciting and a real example of collaboration. We are so eager to make great shows and events happen in our new, shared space."

Official booking announcements can be found starting later this month here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)