Jon Carr has returned to Atlanta improv theater Dad’s Garage in the newly created post of executive producer.
He was Dad’s artistic director in 2020 before departing for what would be a 14-month run at storied Second City, the respected sketch comedy theater group based out of Chicago.
Carr then spent a year as marketing director at Aurora Theater before Dad’s current artistic director Tim Stoltenberg, a fellow Second City alum, lured him back.
“What led me back to Dad’s was the chance to shape the future of comedy in America, whether it’s people or formats or characters or sketches,” Carr said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I want to take all the things I learned at Second City and apply it here.”
He will report to Stoltenberg, who was with Dad’s from 2001 to 2009, then spent several years in Chicago and Los Angeles before returning to Dad’s in 2020.
“Jon and I agree on so many things, on where Dad’s is and where it could go,” Stoltenberg said. “He is such a great asset.”
Stacey Sharer, managing director who oversees operations, budgets and fundraising, agrees: “Jon can enact Tim’s vision without needing a lot of support from us. He’s doing what he knows.”
Dad’s Garage, which was founded in 1995, hosts about 300 improv shows a year at its main 210-seat theater in the Old Fourth Ward, drawing about 30,000 attendees annually. The theater, which has a 30-person ensemble troupe, also does corporate shows, kids’ shows and summer camps.
And Dad’s has worked with fellow local theaters such as Aurora Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Stage Door Theatre, Serenbe and Horizon Theatre.
“Our mission is to grow our programming both at Dad’s and outside of Dad’s,” Stoltenberg said. “We want to take Dad’s outside of Atlanta.”
They are also hosting shows outside of pure improv such as the Write Club, a competitive literary event where writers do head-to-head essay reading which sold out earlier this month at its theater.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Carr said spending time at Second City, which has nurtured talent ranging from Alan Alda and Bill Murray to Amy Poehler and Steve Carell, was a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” But within weeks of starting there, he had to deal with a change in ownership: a private equity firm purchased Second City. Then his wife got pregnant.
So in early 2022, Carr decided to come back to Atlanta. “We have family here,” he said. “We needed to be closer to home.”
Carr’s history with Dad’s goes back two decades. He began attending Dad’s Garage in 2003.
According to an essay he wrote for the Dad’s Garage 25th anniversary book, “I was a nerdy homeschool kid that some would describe as ‘not traditionally funny but homeschool funny’.” He took improv classes and early on, he was so bad, he was suspended from the stage. Instead of slinking away in humiliation, Carr was given a second chance and decided to stay, eventually making it onto the primary ensemble cast.
He was named artistic director in late 2019 and spent a year in that post before going to Second City.
The theater itself is almost back to where it was financially before the pandemic, according to Sharer. She said Carr will be able to help the nonprofit group, which brought in $1.86 million in revenue in 2022, generate more income for the future.
“This is a good bet,” Sharer said. “He can immediately come in and start moving, get more programming, get more people trained. We can start to reach our full potential.”
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