DENVER WILL LOSE THREE STAGES AMID THE RETURN OF THE CITY’S LARGEST COMEDY FESTIVAL
Denver’s comedy scene may be nationally renowned, but that hasn’t stopped a succession of local performance venues from closing or moving.
The latest is Wide Right, a Ballpark neighborhood restaurant, bar and hangout for Denver comedy fans and stand-ups. Owner Meghan DePonceau wrote on Facebook on Aug. 28 that the spot would close permanently in December.
The closure arrives with the separate news that the Denver Comedy Underground venue would also close at its current location — both announcements arriving just a few days before this week’s High Plains Comedy Festival, when the stand-up world’s spotlight briefly turns to Denver.
The fest takes place at the Paramount Theatre and in several South Broadway venues Sept. 19-21.
One of those venues is also in its final days in Denver. Mutiny Information Cafe, a punk-rock mainstay bookstore and coffee shop, is moving from its longtime home at 2 S. Broadway to a less expensive location at 3483 S. Broadway in Englewood.
Taken together, the three stages have hosted dozens of regular, themed comedy nights, open mics, and showcases over the years.
Wide Right, which opened as a Buffalo, N.Y.-themed bar in 2019, is known for its stand-up, storytelling nights, roast battles, and karaoke, many of which are free to attend. It was started five years ago by Denver comics DePonceau and Jeremy Pysher.
The space at 2100 Curtis St. had previously hosted the comedy-friendly venue Old Curtis Street, where Denver’s Grawlix trio — Ben Roy, Andrew Orvedahl and Adam Cayton Holland — got its start before going on to its truTV sitcom, “Those Who Can’t.”
“Before everyone gets upset or starts a ‘Save Wide Right’ Campaign…. Please know, I promised I would dedicate my life to Denver Comedy for 5 years,” DePonceau wrote on Facebook. “And I did, with every drop of blood, sweat and tears that I possessed. Don’t be sad. If my bar ever meant anything to you, please come by for a show, mic, game or karaoke and say goodbye this fall/winter.”
“That being said,” she added, “I am also hiring for football season…”
DePonceau didn’t make herself available for an interview after acknowledging multiple Denver Post requests.
The bar will host its final Bills game (vs the Detroit Lions) on Dec. 15, and its final night of business will be on Dec. 20, 2024 — the same date that beloved Denver comedy hangout El Charrito closed in 2018, DePonceau wrote. That was another rough, pre-pandemic time for the Denver comedy scene as El Charrito’s loss accompanied the closure of Denver Comedy RoomRoom.
Denver’s comedy scene snapped back after the pandemic much quicker than most, and this week’s High Plains Comedy Festival shows its continuing tenacity. But DePonceau’s post about the impending closure of Wide Right landed the same day last month as news of Denver Comedy Underground’s closing. That’s another beloved Denver comedy venue that welcomed national touring headliners and a rotation of local luminaries.
It operated in the basement of the Althea Center for Engaged Spirituality, a non-denominational church at 1400 Williams St., and shut down on Aug. 31. The board at the Althea Center made the decision after operations have “proved too difficult,” said Ben Bryant, a Denver comic who founded the Underground in 2019.
“They were fine with it for three years, and then they suddenly weren’t fine with it,” Bryant said, noting that the Underground’s hiring of a catering company to keep up with liquor sales was one of Althea’s breaking points. “We’re looking for a new space but we only have a couple options: find a space that’s ready to go, or one that needs a literal million dollars so we can build out our own space.”
Like Wide Right, Denver Comedy Underground saw an outpouring of love in hundreds of social media posts.
“The area was sketchy, but Wide Right was really cool because it gave comics somewhere to go after shows,” said Ben Kronberg, a veteran Denver stand-up and operator of the Denver Comedy Lounge in the River North Art District, in a Denver Post interview. “They really championed the scene and created a community around themselves.”
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With dozens of national comics in town for High Plains, however, it’s not a great look for Denver comedy. Sudden vacuums in artistic scenes are not unusual, Kronberg said. Clubs and showcases close. Big-fish, small-pond comics move to other cities, and others rush in to fill the space. In cities such as Austin, Texas, those fillers can change the flavor of a scene: Joe Rogan has remade the city in his own comedy image, The Atlantic reported this week, attracting bro-dude influencers and other men’s-rights advocates to the typically liberal, music-heavy town.
That seems unlikely in Denver, with its established pipelines that route hungry, talented comics to A-room clubs such as Comedy Works and The Denver Improv, as well as a bevy of open mics, themed shows and touring names who often record national specials here.
But the loss of these venues, just before the national comedy spotlight turns to Denver for a week, shows the challenges of running a business in general, said Kronberg, who started Denver Comedy Lounge in 2019.
“The scene is always in constant flux and the nature of comedy is super fluxy,” he said. “But these venues served a lot of audiences and helped a lot of new and touring stand-ups. They’re definitely a big loss.”
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2024-09-17T15:24:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd