In some truly sad news for local comedy and the arts, Jimmy Tingle has decided to close Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway Theater in Davis Square. The theater will close when the lease expires at the end of this month.

Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway always brought in some incredible artists that you wouldn't see anywhere else, and, to Bostonist's delight, the legendary Mort Sahl did a few nights there recently. The theater looked suspiciously like a dentist's office since the audience had to walk through a maze to get to the performance space, but Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway was a terrific, intimate venue.

Tingle will continue to perform his latest one-man show, "Jimmy Tingle for President." The press release put out by Tingle yesterday lists all the upcoming shows:

Our final two weeks of shows will present “Jim Morris and the Presidential Follies of 2008” through October 28, a memorial fundraiser October 27th for my friend Jay Clark’s family, with comedian Tony V and special surprise guest, and my latest one-man show “Jimmy Tingle for President” will be running preview performances through October 28th at JTOB and probably through Election Day 2008 at venue(s) to be determined.

The theater opened in November of 2002 and would have celebrated its fifth-year anniversary next month. We tried to reach him for comment and will let you know if we hear any more.

Image from Jimmy Tingle's website.