Laughs for La Plata County
The Baseless Comedy Club of Durango takes shape

John Monroe, founder of The Baseless Comedy Club, poses recently in the Henry Strater Theatre. The club brings the National Comedy Theater (NCT) improv group to town Nov. 5 for an all-ages show at the theatre./Photo by David Halterman

by Stew Mosberg

There are a number of venues in Durango where you can see live theater, listen to music, dance, even hear “cowpoke poetry,” but where does one go to hear stand-up comedy? To be sure, there’s Snowdown, which offers its share of belly laughs, and Durango Dot Comedy, the local improv troupe, but they’re local attractions, with local talent and occasional events.

Not long ago, John Monroe was wondering the same thing. Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Monroe moved to Durango eight years ago and tried to retire, but the former radio man, ad agency guy and marketing guru, was just too restless and chock full of ideas. He went to work consulting for a variety of local enterprises.

It was during a conversation with business associate and friend, Elise Smith, the former managing partner of “Off the Vine,” that the question of comedy venues in Durango first came up. The two thought it would be worth pursuing as a venture. Smith eventually got involved in other things, but John wouldn’t let it go. He asked Gary Pennington, former director of the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, if he thought a comedy club was a viable concept. Pennington, whom Monroe calls his mentor, was enthusiastic and encouraged Monroe to follow through with the idea.

Wanting to test the water without the obvious expense of starting a new theater, the marketer came up with the idea of putting on shows at several different venues. Thus, “Baseless Comedy Club of Durango” was born. Double entendre that it is, baseless pretty much says it all. Enlisting the support of Carson Jones at the Durango Arts Center, Sophie Parrott at the Strater Hotel, and Charles Leslie, the new director of the Community Concert Hall, Monroe began booking acts from around the country.

The first show, featuring Chuck Montgomery from Houston, was held at the DAC Theater on Oct. 10, and two other shows are scheduled for the Strater Theater; one on Nov. 5 will take stand-up to another level with a performance by the National Comedy Theater (NCT) Improvisation group. That show will feature a talented cast of comedians who perform a series of “improv” comedy scenes, all based on suggestions from the audience. NCT is one of the few comedy shows that is suitable for all audience ages.

On Nov. 14, Russ Rivas will perform at the Strater. Rivas, a well-regarded headliner from Albuquerque who also owns the comedy club Laffs in that town, is known for his fast-paced, high-energy performances, which often stray from political correctness.

Speaking of how he got into comedy as a profession, Rivas says, “I started comedy at the urging of my wife. Not only did she think I was funny, but she heard comics left home for weeks at a time.”

Monroe believes in the core concept that Durango is the perfect locale for affordable, professional comedy. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously and (we) make jokes about ourselves all the time. We even take great delight in our ‘worst dressed town’ moniker.”

As he reaches out to old and new contacts, and gains enormous knowledge about the booking of acts, Monroe has developed an impressive vision for Baseless Comedy Club. If the venture is successful, and with tickets priced below $20 there’s no reason to think otherwise, he foresees a future “San Juan Circuit,” similar to the halcyon days of the Catskill Mountains Borscht Belt.

Such an endeavor, he suggests, would require investors and sponsorship, yet he envisions that the San Juan Circuit would include Pagosa Springs, Telluride, Ouray and Farmington in addition to Durango.

Sketch comedy like an SNL format show or Chicago’s “Second City” are also part of Monroe’s long term plan, as are headline comedians who would perform here on their way to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He is already talking to comedians and agents from Texas to California.

For now, Monroe is thinking about the best way to set up the commercial side of the venture, the necessary funding, the booking of acts, future extensions into DVDs, television shows, and ways to grow Baseless Comedy Club into a seriously funny business.

If in fact laughter is “the best medicine,” perhaps in this time of economic despair, Baseless Comedy will be just what the doctor ordered. •