Nov. 13, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
The Creek and the Cave, a staple venue in the Long Island City comedy scene, has shut permanently after a 14-year-run.
The much-lauded comedy club and restaurant, located at 10-93 Jackson Ave., has closed for good, its owner Rebecca Trent announced on social media Thursday.
“The Creek and the Cave is not going to reopen. I simply wasn’t in a strong enough position going into the pandemic to sustain ‘the Creek’ without going into insurmountable debt,” Trent wrote on Twitter.
Trent, in her social media post, wrote that the business was not equipped to deal with the burden of the coronavirus lockdowns and said she was left with no choice but to close.
She noted that the dated premises needed too many repairs and an infusion of cash to stay afloat.
“We had some interested investors, buyers, and ideas. But when it came down to it, the renovations would have been too expensive on a building that’s already crumbling,” Trent wrote.
I wanted to wait until the election was over before I let you all officially know something that I’m sure most of you already know. The Creek & The Cave is not going to reopen.
— The Creek & The Cave (@creekandcave) November 12, 2020
The club was known for its loose atmosphere and for providing an open platform to up-and-coming artists to cultivate their craft. The Legion of Skanks podcast was also taped at the venue.
Many renowned artists have performed at the club including Saturday Night Live Weekend Update co-host Michael Che, 2018 White House Correspondents’ Dinner featured performer Michelle Wolf and the comedic twins the Lucas Brothers.
Comedian Colin Quinn used the club’s stage to develop his one-man Netflix show called “Unconstitutional,” and labeled the venue as “legendary” on hearing news of its closure.
James Adomian, who is best known for his impersonations of George W. Bush and Bernie Sanders, took to Twitter yesterday and credited Trent and the Creek and the Cave for saving his career.
“I washed up there ten years ago with nowhere else to go, like some idiot in a fairy tale,” Adomian tweeted.
“Rebecca fixed my wings and helped me fly again and crash again and soar through the crashes,” he wrote.
The Creek and the Cave is gone. It was the totality of my New York. I washed up there ten years ago with nowhere else to go, like some idiot in a fairy tale. Rebecca fixed my wings and helped me fly again and crash again and soar through the crashes. pic.twitter.com/g5wi7ewzWD
— James Adomian (@JAdomian) November 12, 2020
The outpouring of affection for Trent and the club flowed across social media last night and a GoFundMe page has been created to help Trent cope with the financial cost of closing the business.
The page, which was set up by Victor Varnado, asks artists and former customers to show Trent their appreciation for her generosity down through the years. The page has raised more than $6,000 from 72 donors.
“From her annual self-funded community Thanksgiving dinners to providing free stages to develop new shows, free studio space for podcasting, an annual awards show recognizing burgeoning comics, to even letting many artists who were down on their luck live in her home, Rebecca has tried her best to take care of all of so many of us,” Varnado wrote.
“Let’s take care of her for a change, ” he wrote.
The Creek and the Cave is the second city comedy venue to succumb to COVID-19 lockdowns this year after the iconic Dangerfields in the Upper East Side of Manhattan shuttered permanently last month.
Trent continued to provide platforms to artists this summer by helping to put together a series of successful outdoor popup shows at the Plaxall Gallery. She teamed up with Michael Che and Culture Lab LIC to host the shows which drew large, socially-distanced crowds.
Featured Events
8 Comments
So , I am to understand the Ms. Trent does own the building?
Repairs should be performed by the owner. If she is indead the owner ,well done. No you can sell it and be rid of your stress
It is a very old building ,been in it before . I hope this is not a sob story , and she is just giving us crocodile tears.
I am sure she could easiely get permits being on the community board.
Stay safe
Is Trent the owner of the building? If the area that she use’s/rent’s for her business needs upgrades that may be at risk to patron’s, the owner of the property should pay for it. It’s actually a law. Fauty electric,plumbing, walll and cieling integrity etc…. is a violation and needs to be address.
I don’t blame her for not paying for the upgrades herself, the buildings owner should pay or be fine .
It’s sad that it is close , I do remember seeing Quinn on St Pat’s years ago there.
It’s defienetly a lose for ther area. But mediocratiy will replace it.
Welcome to Starbucks.
Sad to see this go, i remember when it first opened. So this little place, with a following is closing due to covid but the JAX over by Queens Plaza is opening as a food court, also know as a covid hot spot. Makes no JAXING sense
The handful of businesses that are still under full lockdown really don’t have any choices left. I guess the continued full lockdown and the statement that the building is in disrepair and needs major work left no choice but to limit their losses and close down.
Seems to be an place a lot of people enjoyed but neither the virus nor the governor care.
RIP Creek and Cave, you will be missed my dear friend.
New York City’s comedy scene is one of the fundamental institutions that contribute the vitality that makes our city worth it’s cost of living.
Creek and Cave has been the workout room for the exercise of freedom of speech.
Let us remember the diligence of Ms Trent and her Tribe, and let us uphold our Right to Laugh.
I suggest a monument, the Statue of Levity.
Huge loss for the neighborhood.
May this reincarnate as the gay bar and drag burlesque we deserve!