Like nature, Four Humors Theater abhors a vacuum.

When the Ivey Awards announced in February that it was ending its annual celebration of Minnesota theater after 13 years, the small intrepid Twin Cities theater decided to fill the gap. Four Humors has announced that it's launching the Minnesota Theatre Awards, to be held September 24, which would have been the date of the 14th Iveys, at a yet-to-be-determined venue.

The theater, best known for doing comic send-ups of classic texts like such as "Candide" and "Lolita," is taking a grassroots approach to its awards, which it has announced will have categories and named nominees.

Four Humors has launched an online fundraising campaign to raise $10,000 for the event; it had raised $390 as of Wednesday afternoon. (For comparison, the annual budget for the Iveys, which shut down because funding was tight, was $160,000.)

Four Humors is also hosting two community forums to gauge support. Those will be held May 7 and 14, 7-10 p.m. at the Ivy Arts Building, Studio 243, 2637 27th Ave S., Mpls.

And the theater is pre-selling tickets at $30 a pop.

"We're incredibly excited to help create a celebration of Minnesota theater with you," said Ryan Lear (pictured above) a Four Humors regular.