Denver’s growing comedy scene has snagged a new venue with a national reputation.
The Shops at Northfield Stapleton announced Wednesday that the Improv Comedy Club would open a location there Oct. 5.
The club, famous for helping launch the careers of Jerry Seinfeld, Lily Tomlin, Robin Williams, Adam Sandler and others, will feature a full-service restaurant and bar at its 10,000-square-foot facility.
“The Improv has a great following,” said Diana Fiore, marketing director for the Shops at Northfield Stapleton. “Having them here will give people more entertainment options, because there’s times when you don’t want to go downtown.
“This is in the backyard of many communities.”
The complex opened at East 49th Avenue and Verbena Street in October to serve the growing residential area on the site of the former Stapleton International Airport.
Fiore said the addition of the Improv, several new restaurants and a J.C. Penney store – which also opens Oct. 5 – will bring the mall to 86 percent occupancy in the fourth quarter. Current shops include SuperTarget, Circuit City, Bass Pro Shops and an 18-screen Harkins cineplex.
“This is the first comedy or theater-type retailer that we’re offering,” Fiore said.
The addition of another comedy club to the metro area does not bother Wende Curtis, owner of LoDo’s nationally renowned Comedy Works, which has dominated Denver’s comedy scene in recent years.
“I don’t believe that’s any kind of competition,” Curtis said. “Our real competition is the disposable dollar that people allocate to entertainment.”
Curtis noted that the Improv’s Stapleton location necessarily means it will go after a different market than Comedy Works. She also said Comedy Works frequently acts as its own competition, since it promotes shows that conflict with its own stand-up bookings.
“There are some weekends where we’ve booked the Buell Theatre and the Paramount and Comedy Works,” she said. “We grapple with that on a monthly basis.”
The Improv was founded in 1963 in New York City by Budd Friedman. The company now has 21 locations in the U.S. and one in London.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
