The Penthouse is a trove of laughter and vital Vancouver history you didn't know about
The Penthouse Night Club in Vancouver has been around for decades, and while many patrons visit it for the tantalizing visuals, the clever marquee signs and the history of the establishment are emerging as driving factors behind its importance in the city.
Located at 1019 Seymour St., the club was officially opened in 1947 by the Filippone brothers.
Danny Filippone, who is the son of one of those brothers (Ross Filippone), now carries on his family’s legacy as the owner, and he is one of the key reasons behind the attention that has been placed on the historical significance of the club.
And if Filippone is the key figure in emphasizing the Penthouse’s history, then Benjamin Jackson, bartender and “The Sign Guy,” is one of the main reasons why the club has been such a touchstone in Vancouver in recent years.
“The story of the marquee has gone across the world,” said Aaron Chapman in an interview with Daily Hive, Jackson’s co-author in a new book about the Penthouse titled A Sign of the Times: The Best of the Penthouse Marquee.
How it all began with Pokémon
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Daily Hive sat down with Jackson, Chapman, and Filippone at the Penthouse Nightclub in the early afternoon, before the lights, music and people filled the club with the nightly shenanigans.
“Vancouver doesn’t make the news internationally that often. So we see a story about the Penthouse marquee, it’s like seeing a friend in a crowded room,” Chapman quipped.
Chapman has written several books about Vancouver’s history and has become a key voice in keeping that part of the city’s identity alive. Chapman calls the marquee a love letter to downtown Vancouver.
And it’s not surprising that the marquee has made headlines internationally, which, while never lacking in wit, often contain messages that cut deep and resonate with what’s happening in the world.
One example is when all the “51st state” conversations were happening.
Jackson said that customers had come in and suggested that the Penthouse should have a book, but the idea never really took off until he threw that shot at the Trump administration.
“It was never really taken seriously until I changed the sign last year to the Forever Neighbours Never Neighbors’ sign,” Jackson told Daily Hive.
@ThePenthouse604/X
“That’s the one that kind of put us over the edge,” Jackson added, saying it led to weeks of non-stop attention from the media.
“Danny called me at home and literally said, ‘Are you sitting down? You might want to sit down.'”
Filippone had received numerous calls about the book idea. Filippone told Daily Hive about how, before Jackson’s signs really took off, the marquee usually just mentioned who was performing, maybe hockey predictions.
“Occasionally, we would try to be funny,” Filippone said. “But it was maybe just a joke between ourselves.”
Cars would drive by and find the signs funny, according to the trio.
Those early signs were before the days of social media, which prompted Chapman to suggest that “it was social media before social media.”
Jackson came up with the Pokémon idea, which got some pushback from the GM at the time. Jackson eventually got the Pokémon Go-ahead to do it, and it went viral. Filippone encouraged Jackson to keep going and, in his words, “see what you got.”
Another sign we had to bring up was after the infamous Will Smith slap.
“Danny will call me sometimes and just be like, ‘What’s going on in the world right now?'”
Jackson took the hint.
We asked Jackson the timeframe between the slap and his sign going up, which read, “Certainly not making a Jada Smith joke.”
“So I would have put it up that night after the Oscars.”
It would’ve been Monday morning the next day when folks would be driving down Seymour Street to see the clever joke.
“We know people specifically take Seymour Street to see if there’s something on [the marquee],” Filippone shared.
“When he sort of hit his stride, COVID hit, and COVID shut the Penthouse down for 18 long months,” Filippone said.
The Penthouse went through an interesting phase when the pandemic hit, and it could’ve slowed Jackson down, but it didn’t.
Staying relevant during COVID-19
Amir Ali/Daily Hive
The pandemic not only took many human lives but also took down tons of businesses, and the risk to the Penthouse was immense. After all, dancers and bartenders can’t work from home, and it would seem, at least on the surface, the battle in keeping a club relevant during a pandemic seemed an insurmountable feat.
Filippone pointed out that Jackson, who has now worked at the Penthouse for 12 or 13 years, doing the sign for about 10, only lived a few blocks away, and the club was undergoing a bit of a renovation at the time.
“So, Ben would come down here, and he would change the sign quite regularly, which was really odd because the club was closed. We weren’t advertising who was dancing, but he stuck with it, and that’s when its popularity went through the roof.”
They ended up getting more messages and emails when they were closed than when they were open. It’s also a testament to the power of humour, especially during a dark time like the pandemic. Case in point, the sign about glory holes.
Coming Soon: Not Glory Holes #vancouver #gloryholes pic.twitter.com/jySU2fwEbz
— Penthouse Night Club (@ThePenthouse604) August 1, 2020
Filippone continued, “People weren’t saying, ‘Hey, when are you open?’ It was, ‘Oh, that was the best one. I needed a laugh today.'”
“Even today, when people talk to me about it, COVID times always get brought up. Someone always says, ‘My favourite ones were [during] COVID.'”
A vital history beyond the iconic sign
Amir Ali/Daily Hive
A lot of people don’t know what an important establishment the Penthouse was in the ’50s for the local music scene, especially when it came to breaking down racial barriers.
Upstairs at the club is Tyrant Studios, a live performance and event venue that’s open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night and “sometimes other nights too,” according to the website.
The club has been home to legendary musicians.
“Our historic venue is located above Vancouver’s legendary Penthouse Nightclub and has been a frequent haunt for the greats of performing arts history, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Oscar Peterson,” the website proudly states.
Filippone was a kid in elementary school when famous musicians would come over to his dad’s house.
“Music has always been a very big part of the Penthouse. When I started here in the ’80s, I brought music back, because there was a big lull where music hadn’t been here,” Filippone recounted.
“We had this sort of attitude in Canada that we didn’t have the same racial biases that were experienced in Alabama,” Chapman chimed in.
Chapman shared more about some of the big names that would come through, like Quincy Jones with Lionel Hampton. He explained that the Penthouse was an afterparty spot where musicians would mingle after shows.
“Very often was the case in Seattle, Oregon, down in San Francisco, a lot of those performers were told that once you’re done, you stay in the dressing room,” Chapman explained.
Chapman suggests it was a way to tell those musicians that the clubs didn’t want them fraternizing with the white clientele. The Penthouse didn’t share those sentiments for musicians who performed in Vancouver.
Pictures hung up on the walls of the Penthouse display some of the talent that came to Vancouver. People like Louis Armstrong, who would hang out for a drink after playing a show in Vancouver in the late ’50s.
Amir Ali/Daily Hive
“These photos were recently discovered. But when you look at the photos, you’ll notice that it’s a melting pot of people,” Filippone said.
“When you go to the nightclubs, you don’t see the different races with their arms all around each other, but you saw it here.”
It turns out that the book was a fantastic idea, as the first batch of books printed sold out in no time. But don’t sweat, more books are on the way. Filippone hinted that there was some other big news about the Penthouse on the horizon that we can’t share, but you’ll want to stay tuned.
If you want a personal look at some of the history behind the Penthouse, you can book a tour through Forbidden Vancouver. Tickets are extremely limited and sell out quickly.
Next time you walk by the Penthouse in Vancouver, remember that it’s more than just a strip club, and it pays homage to the city in ways that not many other establishments can.