As comedy club closing, attorney says 'no connection' to Sept. 9 'sex offense' report

Buoyed by the #MeToo movement, allegations of sexual harassment and assault in the past year have reshaped the national comedy scene, removing one-time kings of comedy like Louis C.K. from the throne, as elder statesman Bill Cosby heads to jail.

Springfield has not been immune.

Several Springfield-based women performers recently created at least three new live comedy shows with largely female casts, the News-Leader reported, and showrunners said creating a safe space for women comedians was among their top priorities.

By way of promoting her monthly Chatty Cathy show, writer-performer Lillian Stone said, "Local women now have a place to go to debut their raunchiest, weirdest jokes without having to worry about harassment that can, unfortunately, run rampant in comedy clubs. We're focused on showcasing new voices in a safe, goofy space."

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Before Commercial Street wine bar Q Enoteca hosted Stone's show on Oct. 13, the show had been among other regularly scheduled performances held at Monk's Social Club, just west of Park Central Square.

Monk's recently closed, one of its co-owners told the News-Leader Wednesday. It opened in April and hosted various comedy acts and jazz nights in a two-story building at 504 W. College St.

In separate interviews, Stone and another local comedian, Roxie Anger, said they hosted all-female shows at Monk's, but that in late September they began working with other venues. Both Stone and Anger declined to comment in detail about why they changed locations.

Anger would only say, “So pretty much Monk’s ended up not being a safe place for women comedians or women in general, so I didn’t feel comfortable putting myself or my friends in a situation that could potentially be dangerous.”

Michael Underlin, Bradley Breier and Doug Driesel — all of whom are Springfield-based comedy performers with previous ties to Monk's and other venues — also told the News-Leader in separate, on-the-record interviews that multiple comedy shows abruptly abandoned the club in late September.

It is unclear exactly why. But Sept. 9, someone filed a police report alleging that a "reported sex offense" took place at Monk's in the early morning hours of that day.

As is typical for a police incident report, the document does not state in detail what is alleged to have happened, only that the alleged incident took place between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Sept. 9.

The report does not provide the name, gender or any other identifying details of any accuser — or person accused of any crime.

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No charges have been filed that the News-Leader could discover from a search of online court records.

In a brief interview conducted by phone on Wednesday afternoon, Monk's co-owner Jeff Jenkins — a longtime Springfield comedy performer himself — said Monk's had been closed "since Oct. 1, probably."

On Oct. 12, the Monk's Social Club Facebook page, now deactivated, posted about a Cards Against Humanity event slated for that night.

Along with promoting the game night, the Oct. 12 post stated, "Also we are going through an ownership change and the new ownership group is making the difficult choice of ceasing current programming and operations for Monks Social Club and will be focusing on GypsyLounge," referring to the name Jenkins and another co-owner, Kent Williams, used for their second-floor bar area at 504 W. College St.

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The News-Leader sought comment from Williams by calling a phone number associated with him in a public records database. A reporter also attempted to message Williams through Facebook but was not successful.

When asked about the police report Wednesday, Jenkins said, "I don't know what you're talking about. No, this is the first I've heard of that. I wish — no, I guess not. I'm flabbergasted by everything that's — I guess no comment."

Jenkins acknowledged that shows at his club departed last month.

"Yeah, they did," he said. "There was a couple of shows that did. That's all I'm going to say about it."

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Jenkins also said, "There are a lot of moving parts on this new ownership. There are people who may be buying the whole thing."

About 10 minutes after the interview with Jenkins ended, Jenkins' attorney, Taylor Moore, contacted the News-Leader.

"There's no connection with any sexual assault and Monk's shutting down," Moore said. "There's been nothing that we've ever heard of anything like that."

The Sept. 9 police report, Moore said, was news to him and his client.

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