Colfax Avenue - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation novel On the Road, some of which takes place in Denver, contains several references to Colfax. The protagonist, Sal Paradise, at one point keeps an apartment there and drinks in its bars. When the characters Dean Moriarty, Marylou and Ed Dunkel leave Denver, Kerouac writes that they "roared east along Colfax and out to the Kansas plains" — this was before the construction of Interstate 70.

In the "Erection Day" episode of South Park, Jimmy tries to buy a hooker at Colfax Point, a reference to sections of the avenue noted for prostitution. The "Casa Bonita" episode of South Park features a visit to Casa Bonita, a Mexican-themed restaurant and entertainment complex located on west Colfax in Northeast Lakewood. In the South Park episode "My Future Self n' Me", a secretive business is shown to be located at 3451 Colfax Avenue; although this address seems to be featured prominently in the episode, in reality, nothing unusual appears to be at that address on either West or East Colfax. In the ninth season episode "Bloody Mary," one of Randy Marsh's Alcoholics Anonymous classmates exclaims "No more blowing guys on Colfax Avenue for a pint of vodka for this cowboy!"

Five Iron Frenzy, a ska-punk band consisting of Denver natives, has a song called "Where the Zero Meets the Fifteen". The songs lyrics describe how an experience at Colfax and Broadway made the singer feel as though he would be unsuccessful in his continuing attempts to save the world. The title refers to two bus routes that cross at this intersection; in the song, the narrator is waiting at a bus stop.

In the movie About Schmidt, Jack Nicholson's character drives his RV along a stretch of East Colfax near Ogden Street. The Royal Host Motel and the Ogden Theater are visible.

In the movie Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia picks up a prostitute along East Colfax, in front of the Bluebird Theater.

The Denver band Slim Cessna's Auto Club mentions Colfax in the song "Champagne Like a Lady" while comparing a girl to a Colfax hooker