Get the daily email that brings 100% Austin news, info, and entertainment direct to your inbox
The Creek & The Cave's former location in NYC.
No city is immune to the struggle that the pandemic has put on the entertainment industry but Austin is giving a New York City transplant a second chance.
Taking over what used to be Barracuda on 7th Street in Downtown, The Creek & The Cave will be reborn on April 1 as the newest comedy club in Austin. Austin's comedy scene has suffered with the loss of iconic Austin establishment Cap City Comedy to the pandemic.
The Creek & The Cave spent 14 years entertaining New Yorkers and giving comedians like Donald Glover and Sara Benincasa a stage until COVID-19 hit, forcing the venue to permanently close in late December.
After Austin-based Rough Cut Comedy Producer Marty Clarke heard about the closure on The Comedy Cellar, he reached out to former owner Rebecca Trent. As a comedian and producer for eight years, Clarke said he thought The Creek & Cave could fill a newly-opened spot in Austin's comedy market.
"With our shows going so well, and there being no comedy clubs in town, I reached out to Rebecca and we found an amazing spot that we can turn into something really special for the Austin comedy scene," Clarke said. "The stars aligned for us to build something cool and supportive that the whole community can feel a part of, continuing the legacy of The Creek & The Cave."
Once the club is up and running it will host shows most days of the week from 6 p.m.-12 a.m. On weekdays, you can expect to see local Austin comedians, themed shows, regional acts and interactive acts, while Thursday-Saturday will be reserved for headlining acts. Some shows will be free, though most weekday shows will cost $5 and most weekend shows will start at $20 tickets.
With an indoor and outdoor stage, open mics every night, light vittles and a full drink menu Trent said the new club will become a platform for all comedians, big or small.
"The Austin comedy scene has always been a wonderful and magical place to hone the craft and, as the scene grows and becomes more robust, we want to build a true clubhouse to serve as a place all comics can call home," Trent said. "We will be providing a platform for the up and coming local comedians, as well as exposing them to big-name headliners. Part Master Class, part Dojo, part club, and all funny."
Tickets will be available for purchase on creekandcaveatx.com and you can find the new venue on Instagram.
More on Austin comedy:
- Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos as richest person in the world ... ›
- How to Austin: a field guide to a weird city - austonia ›
- EXCLUSIVE: Joe Rogan teases new Texas podcast studio; locals ... ›
- Cap City Comedy announces fall revival coming to the Domain - austonia ›
- Upping the ante: Austin, Dallas are now private poker house hubs - austonia ›
Popular
Austinites were the second happiest with the downtown area in the latest study with 15 markets. (CC)
After studying 7,500 people in 15 global markets, including Austin, Gensler found that life in COVID has pushed city-dwellers to want more outdoor activities, social spaces and entertainment venues in bustling business districts.
Post-pandemic, the highest-rated downtown activities were shopping, visiting parks and just “hanging out.” The need for more public spaces like parks jumped from sixth on the list to second this year.
Although globally people view downtown as a business district for task-based activities, across the U.S., downtown districts are viewed more as a vehicle for entertainment. This is especially true for Austinites, where people surveyed said they would rather see more entertainment and cultural venues than shopping or public transit downtown.
(Gensler)
For Melanie Gartman, a manager at construction software company Levelset who has been living in Austin for most of her life, the needs and wants of the average resident closely align with her own.
Austin clocked in second-most desirable downtown, tied with Charlotte, North Carolina. Like the 78% of Austinites in the survey, Gartman said she thinks Downtown Austin is hanging on to its lovable charm.
“Even now with fewer people out and about it's still very vibrant and lively. I feel like I saw life come back to downtown a lot sooner than I expected it to,” Gartman said. “It's still holding on a bit that Austin vibe and with the high rises coming in, it's scary that we could lose that. I think it's holding on better than I would have expected, especially within the last two years of everything that happened.”
As Austinites eased back into downtown, the first stop Gartman made was to go see music again. Since venues opened back up, Gartman and her loved ones have seen live music at their favorite venues: Moody Amphitheatre, Mohawk, The Parish and Empire Control Room.
Blackillac opened for Gary Clark Jr. at the Moody Amphitheater's first show back in August. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
Entertainment is most important for Gartman’s life in Austin—seeing Gary Clark Jr. in August brought normalcy back into her routine—and said our local downtown is the ideal out of other cities in Texas.
“I've always noticed that between Houston’s downtown and Austin’s, Houston's is so Monday to Friday, eight to five, maybe a post-work happy hour,” Gartman said. “Growing up, downtown (Austin) was always the place to go. It has always been the hub and I think Austin is unique in that way.”
Traffic in downtown areas is way down overall, even though concern over pandemic safety has taken a backseat. Shopping traffic has decreased by 28%, dining out and entertainment attendance dropped by 33% in the post-pandemic sphere.
Even though her office is located downtown, Gartman usually works from home. Her downtown visits tend to be for the purpose of entertainment and she said the lack of parking sometimes becomes problematic.
“I feel like all these high rises are taking over all the parking,” Gartman said. “It used to be for go-to parking, I would just park under I-35. No big deal. But now, that’s kind of scary, especially if you're by yourself. The party parking is a barrier to actually making it down there.”
But with the rise of the hybrid work model, it’s likely that the downtown sphere is going to change all across the U.S. For now, survey participants said they would like to see their downtown reduce traffic, add more green space, improve the cityscape and increase parking capacity as we shape the future of cities.
