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WEEK OF MARCH 20, 2025
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 16
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Judge rejects DPS attempt to block Trump ICE order BY MELANIE ASMAR CHALKBEAT
Denver Comedy Underground reopens its doors in Five Points Club finds new home after performing in basement of Althea
BY JACQUI SOMEN SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
With the exception of a cozy night in watching the latest special on Netflix, it can be difficult for Denver comedy fans to find a quality show that won’t cost them close to $100. From entry fees to parking and drink minimums, great comedy often comes with a high ticket price. Denver Comedy Underground is the antithesis of this model. It serves top-tier comedy with a side of free pizza or cereal. You don’t have to buy drinks (unless you want to), and now they have a new space dedicated to the medium. Denver Comedy Underground, led by local comic Ben
Bryant, has been a staple of the city’s laughter scene for several years, but until recently, it was operating out of a church basement at The Althea Center for Engaged Spirituality. The new location is at 675 22nd St., located between California and Welton streets next to Woods Boss Brewing Company. The club had its first weekend of performances over the Jan. 25 weekend in this new neighborhood that Bryant calls “truly communal and social.” “I am just so grateful for everyone who came out and all the comics and staff who made it happen,” Bryant said about Denver Comedy Underground’s opening weekend in its new space. “It’s off to a good start, and I think there are a lot more
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great places we can take it.” Bryant is no amateur when it comes to the Denver comedy scene. He began his tenure in the city with a monthly show at the now-closed art center,The Bakery called “Guest List.” This show was highly regarded and was even lauded as “one of the best comedy nights in America” in The Interrobang comedy magazine. After a break from “Guest List,” Denver Comedy Underground developed organically, starting with weekly shows and growing from there. Even with a new space with roughly 140 seats (they’re still refining the layout) that the comedians can call their own, Denver Comedy Underground isn’t giving up on what made it
popular to begin with—Denver comedy-goers can see top-tier comedy alongside free pizza. The venue will also continue to host its famous “secret shows,” where audience members purchase tickets without knowing who they will see. “Normally, (the performers) are just fun surprises,” Bryant said. “Willing crowds are pretty down for anything. Ultimately, these are people who are going (are saying, ‘I’m going to just see capital C comedy.’”
A federal judge on March 7 rejected Denver Public Schools’ attempt to reinstate a federal policy that treated schools as “sensitive locations” where immigration enforcement should only take place if there is immediate danger to the public. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico said there is little practical difference between the prior policy, the last iteration of which was issued in 2021 under former President Biden, and a pair of memos issued by the Trump administration in January. “The concern was that there would be no limitations or no protections for schools, necessarily, under the new memo,” Domenico said in a ruling from the bench. “That is an overstatement. And the fact that there have been no actions on school property in the time since the memo was released here, or as far as we know anywhere else, highlights that fact.” Neither the old nor the new policy completely bans immigration enforcement actions at schools and other sensitive locations. The 2021 policy allowed such actions “either with prior higher-level approval or under exigent circumstances.” The new guidance from the Trump administration instructs ICE agents to use discretion “and a healthy dose of common sense.” SEE ICE ORDER, P7
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SEE COMEDY CLUB, P7
PHOTO CUTLINE: Denver Comedy Underground recently moved to Five Points after being in the Althea Center in the Cheesman Park neighborhood. COURTESY OF BEN BRYANT
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