The many challenges of the coronavirus pandemic have forced the closure of a New York City comedy institution. As the Comic’s Comic first reported, Dangerfield’s, the Upper East Side comedy club founded by Rodney Dangerfield and Anthony Bevacqua in 1969, announced this week that it will permanently close its current location due to COVID-19, which has “placed a severe financial burden†on the club, “making operations in New York City untenable.†The announcement notes that the club plans to reopen in the future at a new location that “still retains that classic Dangerfield’s look and feel.â€
You can read the club’s announcement of the news, which was posted on its website, in full below:
BREAKING NEWS !!
Rodney Dangerfield Inc., owner and operator of Dangerfield’s comedy club in New York City, announces with great sadness that after 50 years of continuous operations we will be closing our New York City venue effective immediately. Our flagship location at 1118 1st Ave. has been in the heart of Manhattan for over 50 years, and has enabled us to entertain millions of people from around the world.
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The State of New York and New York City’s continuing Covid-19 lockdown, the banning of public venues, no official guidance as to when or if such public gatherings will be allowed or in what capacity, has placed a severe financial burden on Dangerfield’s making operations in New York City untenable.
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Fear Not !!
Once the Covid-19 crisis passes Dangerfield’s will be reopening in a suitable public venue friendly area. Rodney Dangerfield Inc. will rebuild its iconic comedy club and continue to produce the funniest comedy shows the world has ever known !!  This future location may be brand new, but we will make sure it still retains that classic Dangerfield’s look and feel.
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None of this would have been possible without your support and we are eternally grateful !! Please check back on our website and social media for future updates and announcements. We look forward to entertaining the world for another 50 years at our future location. Your patronage means everything to us and we cannot thank you enough. We will see you soon!
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Respectfully,
The Rodney Dangerfield Inc. FamilyÂ
In addition to being the venue where a handful of HBO’s Young Comedians specials were filmed in the ’80s, Dangerfield’s hosted a long list of legendary comedians on its stage, including Jerry Seinfeld, Sam Kinison, Chris Rock, Roseanne Barr, Jay Leno, and Jim Carrey. More recently, the club was a filming location for 2019’s Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix for the scene in which Arthur Fleck performs his first, and brutally embarrassing, open-mic stand-up set.