Chris Durant Recovery

On June 22, 2023 Chris Durant, founder, owner and booker of the Savage Henry Comedy Club, suffered major medical problems and was hours away from death. After surgeries and a week-long hospital stay in Eureka he was taken to the Sacramento area for specialized follow-up and recovery. Being a small business owner with a business still trying to emerge out of COVID, you can probably imagine that his health insurance coverage is minimal at best. He has put everything into that business, barely taking payments, working 18-hour days between shows, booking and promotion. Community members, national comedians, local comedians, tourists and artists of all kinds have expressed their appreciation and admiration that a Comedy Club of this caliber is open in a small "market".

Savage Henry started as a humor magazine in 2010 with Durant, his wife Monica and two others. In 2011 Durant started to book comedy shows at Jambalaya in Arcata which evolved into venues like Humbrews, the Arcata Theater Lounge and Six Rivers Brewery and more. In November of 2018 Durant and Monica opened The Savage Henry Comedy Club...Just in time for COVID. They powered through, adhered to all the rules and eventually opened back up and it's been slow. Durant, almost literally, worked himself to death.

Please donate if you can. One more push and Durant can get well and Savage Henry's foundation could be made solid and ready for many more years of being a unique venue for a unique community.

"This place is the reason I’m alive and the reason I’m happy to be alive." - Comedian, Podcaster and Musician Mark Sanders

"Savage Henry provides an important community space for people to let loose, enjoy good company, and use comedy as a tool to comment on the issues and cultural moments of the day. Over the years, Chris and the Savage Henry team have added so much to the wild, weird, wonderful culture of Humboldt. I'm so grateful for it!" - Natalie Arroyo, Humboldt County Supervisor and Eureka resident.

"Savage Henry has become more than a home for myself and many others. It's provided family, for some of us stronger than the ones we came from. While Chris and I will forever have a bond from Savage Henry, what he and I and many others gain goes well beyond comedy." - Local Comedian Legend Josh Barnes

"Savage Henry is the first legit comedy club to ever headline me. I hope it's the last one I headline too. I could die happy knowing that Savage Henry is where e my comedy career bookends. Giant Trees and down-to-earth people. It's unique in the comedy world." - National Touring Comedian Sam Miller

"Savage Henry is such a gift to the community and honestly I’d be lost without it or Chris, who beyond being a great friend, boss and business owner, is someone I feel lucky to call family. If any place deserves some goodwill, it’s the Savage Henry Comedy Club. Laughter is the best medicine, but so is cash that will pay for both medicine and laughs." - Headlining Comedian Lauren Brenner

"It’s incredible a town that small has something supporting local comedy and I don’t think Eureka knows how lucky they are." - Sacramento Comedian Scott Hoyle

“Savage Herny has become a home away from home. A place we all are truly welcome to enjoy a good laugh. Humboldt wouldn't be the same for me if it didn't have the Savage Henry.” - New Comedian Jamon Jamison

"Savage Henry Comedy Club is a beautiful community of generous people- we’re funny, but above all, we’re friends. I’ve never felt judged for my place in the world as a queer woman in this space- in fact, above that, I’ve always felt accepted as exactly who I was. Savage Henry is an opportunity for me and other members of the club to take what makes us awkward, strange- a bit funny- in our daily lives and make it a gleaming diamond of the night. I’m really grateful for my Savage Family, and anything to support keeping us alive is worth every penny." - New Comedian Elena German