Minneapolis "allows" more standup

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on July 23rd, 2009

That’s awfully nice of the Minneapolis City Council, isn’t it? An article in the University of Minnesota’s MNDaily.com has the details:

The Minneapolis City Council changed its licensing practices Friday to allow establishments with a class A, B, C and D liquor license to feature solo comedians. Prior to the change, only venues with a class A license– the most expensive and difficult to obtain– were allowed to feature live comedians.

We had heard about this battle back when we performed in Minneapolis is February. We were appalled that the Liquor Police had shut down some comedy venues. We were prepared to rant about it here, but we backed off at the request of some of the folks who were leading the charge to change the laws.

Local comedian Bob Edwards spent more than five years doing stand up in a dark basement room in the Corner Bar on the West Bank as part of the Comedy Corner Underground. However, a routine inspection by the city of Minneapolis shut the show down last November in compliance with the licensing law.

Three days later, the city shut down another comedy room at the Spring Street Tavern. Edwards, along with a coalition of other comedians, decided it was time to change the city’s laws that they felt were antiquated.

What the…?!? How creepy is that? Two comedy shows shut down in the space of four days? You gotta hand it to Edwards and the others for staying cool in the midst of such a bizarre set of circumstances. They not only managed to get those two venues back up and running…

…they doubled the number of venues that could perform comedy in the city, a move that has some University of Minnesota students and venues thinking about how it will impact them.

It’s an inspiring story. (And, despite the happy ending, just a bit disconcerting that a major city like Minneapolis would behave the way they did initially.)

It reminds us of the old days when even New York City would intimidate and manipulate venues and artists– Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, to name a few– by revoking (or refusing to grant) “cabaret licenses” for one offense or another.

It’s cruel and unusual punishment to take a guy’s livelihood away from him.

— Lenny Bruce
“All Hail Lord Buckley!”
by Douglas Cruickshank

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