Laughter filled the air Saturday evening, along with confetti and streamers, as SAK Comedy Lab officially opened a new home for its improv performances on Church Street.

SAK, which established its first local theater in 1991, is now located in a new $1.4 million facility on the second floor of the 55 West development — around the corner from its previous digs on Orange Avenue.

“This is keeping art in downtown,” said Barbara Hartley, executive director of Orlando’s Downtown Arts District at Saturday’s grand-opening celebration. “It’s amazing to have such a great organization here.”

Hartley, who has been attending SAK shows since she was in high school, said the troupe’s new location pairs well with Fringe ArtSpace — just across the pedestrian bridge over Church Street — and together the two theaters could help rejuvenate downtown.

“It starts to cement everything,” she said. “It’s coming to life.”

Her enthusiasm was echoed by Kelly Allen, marketing and communications manager for the city’s Downtown Development Board/Community Redevelopment Agency. The city is contributing about $300,000 toward the construction of the new space.

“I think it’s great we can cultivate entertainment options for those in and around downtown Orlando,” said Allen, calling the new space “beautiful.”

Those who work in the space are equally pleased.

Pictures: Grand opening of SAK Comedy Lab’s new home on Church Street

“It feels more like a theater, it feels more professional,” said Robby Pigott, a longtime SAK improv artist, gesturing around the new 175-seat venue. “It makes it seem like we’re here to stay.”

The 55 West developers also contributed about $300,000 to the project. SAK has a five-year lease at the location, with an option to extend a further five years.

“It feels like it legitimizes the art form,” agreed fellow SAK performer Adam Scharf of the brand-new venue. “It re-excites us because it’s a whole new place to play.”

And play they did on Saturday. The first show in the new space: A “Duel of Fools.” That improv competition has been a mainstay of SAK through three decades and multiple venue changes.

Rob Ward breezily hosted the show, making quips along the way about work still to be done.

“We don’t have monitors backstage,” he said before bringing out the cast. “So hopefully our players are ready.”

SAK Comedy Lab’s (almost) ready to start laughing in new downtown theater

The backstage includes improv classrooms and an office, as well as a greenroom for the performers. Pigott said a plan was in the works to organize wigs, costume pieces and props for faster quick changes during shows.

If there’s still work to be done behind the scenes, it wasn’t evident onstage Saturday night.

Executive director Chris Dinger and artistic director Emily Fontano joined Pigott, Amanda Wirtz, Jamie Black and Jose Rodriguez onstage for a fast-paced set of competitions using audience suggestions and often involving song. Keyboardist Anthony Riley provided the music from a raised onstage platform, a nifty addition from the previous location.

Dinger gave a preshow curtain speech that in true comic form began with him wriggling into view on the floor, from behind a projection screen that didn’t rise quickly enough. He thanked those who worked on the project and saluted the history of the company, which started in 1977 as a troupe touring Renaissance festivals. Walt Disney World recruited SAK to perform at Epcot at the opening of the theme park, which is where the troupe remained for about a decade before opening its first Orlando theater — coincidentally also on Church Street — in 1991.

Dinger comically referred to the ’90s as “the Wayne Brady Years,” referring to SAK’s best-known alumnus, because “we were clinging to his coattails.” A move to a small space in a parking garage on Amelia Street resulted in what were dubbed “the rat years” — because of an ongoing vermin problem.

This latest home — with its eye-popping lobby that resembles a cityscape with colorful marquee lights — was deliberately designed to rev up a crowd even before the performers hit the stage, Dinger said: “We wanted this to be a space where when you walked in, it was like the show had already started.”

An emotional Terry Olson, one of SAK’s founders, recalled that at an early — and un-airconditioned — venue, staff would put dry ice in the vents to try and chill the room. He said it showed that “SAK has always been creative.”

And he paid tribute to SAK’s core-values statement, saying “The values of truth, excellence and joy are what I see lived here.” Olson wielded oversized scissors to cut a ribbon emblazoned with the sentiment “Truth, joy, excellence, play make life fun,” officially christening the new stage as confetti and streamers rained down.

Dave Russell, a co-founder who is still involved with the company, said SAK’s enduring success was a surprise even to him.

“We never thought it would be like this,” he said. “We thought it would go on for a year … and it just continued on.”

So it continued on Saturday.

As the early show crowd filed out, a line snaked through the lobby to the bar as chattering patrons sought libations for the night’s second performance. Others lined up at the box office to check in, while small groups clustered outside on the walkway, snapping selfies for social-media posts — now with Church Street as the background.

SAK Comedy Lab

• Where: 55 W. Church St., second floor
• Connecting parking: Use the 55 West Garage at 60 W. Pine St. and take the elevator or stairs to level 2. Parking price varies by night.
• When: Two shows nightly on Fridays and Saturdays, occasional performances on other days
• Cost: Usually admission is $20
• Info: sakcomedylab.com

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