Dangerfield's, the Upper East Side comedy club which was opened by Rodney Dangerfield in 1969 and called itself "the longest-running comedy club in the world," has announced it is closing due to COVID-19. "The State of New York and New York City's continuing Covid-19 lockdown, the banning of public venues, no official guidance as to when or if such public gatherings will be allowed or in what capacity, has placed a severe financial burden on Dangerfield's making operations in New York City untenable," reads a statement on Dangerfield's website.

The club goes on to say, however, it will be looking for a new home. "Once the Covid-19 crisis passes Dangerfield's will be reopening in a suitable public venue friendly area. Rodney Dangerfield Inc. will rebuild its iconic comedy club and continue to produce the funniest comedy shows the world has ever known !! This future location may be brand new, but we will make sure it still retains that classic Dangerfield’s look and feel….We look forward to entertaining the world for another 50 years at our future location."

Comedy Clubs and music venues in NYC remain closed due to the pandemic, though the New York Comedy Club Coalition (made up of some of the clubs in the city) have asked Gov Cuomo to allow them to reopen like restaurants.

Pretty much everybody who's anybody has played Dangerfield's over the years. Rodney used to film his Young Comedians HBO specials there, and the club was used as a location for 2019 blockbuster Joker, where Joaquin Phoneix's character performed a very rough open mic set.