Cape Girardeau's comedy club takes a break

Laughing Gas Comedy Club, 2160 William St., Suite 400, in Cape Girardeau, citing staffing issues and slow sales, has taken a hiatus for the rest of the summer in hopes of bringing back mirth and merriment to the location later this year.

Owner Jeff Johnson told the Southeast Missourian the club's last show was Saturday; he has canceled upcoming bookings and has refunded future ticket money.

"We're in an industry where it's hard to find and maintain staff and the experience of coming to a club needs to be fantastic," said Johnson, who is a St. Louis respiratory therapist. "Summer is also the worst season for what we do (and) we compete with outdoor activities."

The club is also known as N2O Lounge. N20 is the symbol for nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas, most commonly used in dentistry and for minor medical operations to aid in pain relief and sedation.

Johnson and Dr. Kara Lemmon had the venue built out in 2018 as a club and staged a debut show in May 2019.

COVID-19 struck in March 2020 and the club didn't operate for 18 months, reopening in October.

Johnson gives credit to a Small Business Administration program, known as SVOG, or Shuttered Venues Operators Grant, for helping keep the dream alive to have a fixed site for people to enjoy touring comedians.

"We have a loyal base of customers (and) Cape deserves an entertainment venue like this," Johnson said.

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