Denver s once robust comedy scene has been shut down, with all indoor shows prohibited while metro counties are at Level Red. The situation is no laughing matter, to use the phrase that comedian Sam Tallent begged Kyle Harris not to include in the headline of his recent story on the scene.
The punchline? It’s the right thing to be closed right now,” Comedy Works owner Wende Curtis told Harris. “I get it. But I didn’t do this. You didn’t do this. That f cking idiot in office that I didn’t vote for he didn’t act. He didn’t lead. He lied to the American people.”
Nathan Lund, a seasoned Denver comedian, puts it succinctly:
COVID has fucked comedy. And that s about as optimistic as anyone in the industry is feeling these days.
Andrew Bray
“Right now, there is no Denver comedy, explains standup Christie Buchele. Dining, bars and comedy kind of all go hand in hand. So other than a couple Zoom shows, I don’t know of anything going on. The [COVID-19] numbers need to go down, and we need to get this vaccine rolling. This is the darkest-before-the-dawn moment.I hope. Comics, venues, waitstaff are all just standing at the starting line, waiting for the gun to go off. But the infrastructure is still here. It will bounce back quickly.”