(NewsWorthy.news) – A comedy club in Seattle has canceled the shows of four comedians out of concern over the neighborhood’s “progressive values.” Shows from Jim Florentine, Luis Gomez, Kurt Metzger and Dave Smith were dropped at the Capitol Hill Comedy Bar.
The club described the situation as “challenging” and claimed to have discussed it with local comedians, its investors, and neighborhood advocacy groups. The Capitol Hill Comedy Bar promised to refund tickets purchased for the canceled shows and claimed it truly valued comedy as an art and the variety of perspectives it brings. The club stated that the decision did not reflect on the quality of the work of the four comedians but was made to respect the community’s values.
The comedy club is situated in the former Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) area of Seattle. Anti-police protesters barricaded the six-block area and declared it “autonomous” after the death of George Floyd in police custody in 2020. Metzger commented on the decision on X stating that he found it “too funny.” The comedian referenced the blockade and thanked George Floyd for the fun he was about to have commenting on the issue. Florentine along with Metzger shared the email sent out to the four comedians and joked that he needs to clean up his act.
In his podcast, Gomez noted that a private business was allowed to cancel him but ridiculed the “woke” comedy lineup of the bar along with its ownership. He commented that not only was the club stupid for booking him in the first place before unbooking him but also that his own agent was stupid for choosing a progressive venue. He referred to the business along with its whole comedy lineup as “blue-haired freaks.”
Metzger predicted that the business would fail, calling it “sad,” and claimed that they had no real comedians coming in. In January 2024 Jay Leno said in an interview that he had stopped making political jokes to avoid offending others. Jimmy Failla, host of Fox News Saturday Night, criticized his position and argued that comedians should not be held to the same strict standards as politicians. He said that comedy is itself a “party” and claimed that the point of it is that you can “hit what you want.”
Copyright 2024, NewsWorthy.news
