Behind the laughter: Rascals bankruptcy

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 30th, 2008

A Sept. 19 article in NJMonthly.com has only some of the details of the last couple years of the Rascals chain as it descended into insolvency and eventually crashed.

It was a little over a year ago that the last remaining Rascals (in Cherry Hill, NJ, only 7 minutes from our apartment) closed its doors. We recall the incident clearly, as we were scheduled to headline there the following weekend.

The former chief executive of a bankrupt public company that ran Rascals comedy and night clubs used company money to pay for at least $400,000 in personal expenses, according to a complaint filed in bankruptcy court.

Former CEO Eduardo Rodriguez used an American Express card issued to a one-time consultant of Headliners Entertainment Group to charge family vacations to Disneyland Paris, Jamaica, Cancun and Florida, the complaint filed earlier this week alleged. He then had Headliners or one of its subsidiaries pay the bill, according to court papers filed by a bankruptcy trustee overseeing the company’s liquidation.

Lots of folks took the closing to mean that the business was faltering. If the allegations in the piece turn out to be true, the failure of Headliners (the parent company to Rascals) was unrelated to the health of the business in general or any business trends.

From our perspective, our regular headline dates at the Cherry Hill location were nearly all well-attended. We managed to get local press on nearly every occasion (owing somewhat to our local roots) and, as a result, had healthy, energetic crowds.

And we’re of the opinion that someone with deep pockets and a sound business plan could come into this area (Cherry Hill, South Jersey, call it what you will), open a comedy club and mop up.

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