GIVEN JUST FOUR MINUTES TO WIN OVER THE AUDIENCE packed into Comedy Works in downtown Denver, Jeremy Cash unleashes a string of one-liners. “I went to a climate change protest over the weekend, but I couldn’t find any parking,” he says, “so I just drove around for 14 hours.” It’s a Tuesday evening in July, and Comedy Works is hosting New Talent Night, which, over the years, has become a weekly tradition. “I don’t have kids,” Cash continues, “but if I ever do, I’m going to home-school them because if they’re going to get bullied, I want to do it.” His allotted time expended, Cash walks offstage to the sound of laughter and deserved applause. More than 200 comedians signed up for the 15 spots available tonight, most, if not all, with the goal of polishing their performances and attracting the attention of someone who’s not even in attendance: Wende Curtis.
Curtis has owned Comedy Works for 22 years and is such a legend in the business that the 60-year-old doesn’t need to be present to make her influence felt. Despite the fact that New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles all have comedy scenes that are better-known than Denver’s, Comedy Works has an outsize reputation in the business. “When people ask me what the best comedy club in the country is, I always say Comedy Works Denver,” says Las Vegas–based comedian Brian Regan, who has performed at the Kennedy Center and Radio City Music Hall. “I’ve always felt that way. There are a lot of great clubs out there, but the planets just line up when it comes to Comedy Works.”
Curtis started working at the now-defunct Comedy Works in Fort Collins in late 1986, during her senior year at Colorado State University (CSU). Initially hired as a waitress, Curtis eventually
