Harbor Theater to host Kenny Ahern’s family comedy show

Harbor Theater will put its renovated downtown space to another test when Kenny Ahern brings his 60-minute family comedy show, To Laugh is to Live!, to Two Harbors at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6. For the 90-seat venue on Second Avenue, the performance is about more than one afternoon of laughs: it is another measure of whether the old theater can work as a year-round community anchor instead of a building people only remember in passing.

Ahern’s act is built for mixed-age crowds. The physical comedian leans on audience participation and an old Vaudeville style, a format that fits the kind of flexible room Harbor Theater has been trying to become. His booking materials say he trained at Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Clown College and studied physical comedy with Bill Irwin and Christopher Bayes. Ahern’s entertainment career began in 1983, after a college professor pushed him toward auditioning for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. That history gives his show the feel of a polished touring act with roots in classic live variety entertainment.

Harbor Theater is built to support that kind of programming. The theater says it is open for use by the public and has a movie screen, a stage, a live sound PA system and seating for 90, split between traditional theater seats and couches. It is also 100% volunteer operated, a model that depends on local residents stepping up to keep movies and events on the calendar. Matthew Unzeitig acquired the building in the summer of 2024 and has been restoring the former theater as a current work in progress.

The building’s long arc helps explain why the booking matters. Harbor Theater originally opened around 1940, closed in the 1980s, then briefly reopened between May 2014 and June 2015 before sitting vacant for years. It held a public grand reopening on April 10, 2026, after a soft opening in early 2025. The reopening also included a sponsorship program that lets supporters pay $150 to choose a weekend movie and receive recognition in the theater’s marketing, another sign that the operation is still blending community support with paid programming.

In a town of 3,633 people, according to the 2020 census, that kind of venue can have outsized impact. A live show on a Saturday afternoon can bring families downtown, add foot traffic for nearby businesses and give Two Harbors another reason to gather off Highway 61 and closer to the lake. For a restored theater still defining itself, Ahern’s appearance is a small but revealing test of whether Harbor Theater can become part of the town’s regular civic and cultural rhythm.