Stand up comedy on the subway during Covid-19

Brut America

"Stand up comedy will not make a comeback. Because it's never left."  With comedy clubs closed during the pandemic, these comedians have turned the NYC subway into their stage.

Transcript

00:00The last time this many people were watching me on a train, I was making out with a stranger from the bar.

00:07Pre-pandemic, of course.

00:16The last time I did this on my show, someone came on the train, looked at me, handed me a dollar, and kept walking.

00:24And I was like, excuse you ma'am, this is actually Bushwick Sheik.

00:31It's very expensive to drive with a small body.

00:44Comics are not happy when they can't perform.

00:48A few comics have told me stand-up is the only thing they know how to do.

00:53It's their only skill set, and they need to perform for mental health reasons, for financial reasons.

01:00And I just came up with an idea, let's do a show in the train.

01:05Look, I do like masks. Masks are a good thing, because look, I'm talking to you all right now, you guys don't even know, I got braces on.

01:09Braces? That's not the joke, y'all. Braces? Braces at 26 years old is a weird place.

01:17What makes this different?

01:19This is different because obviously the setting is different, we're moving, it's like a lot of uncertainties going on.

01:25When I was performing, somebody was like trying to heckle, but you get that in the clubs too.

01:29This s*** is f***ing me up, right?

01:31Do it, let's see, man.

01:32Do it, let's see? You're watching it right now, man, what are you talking about?

01:36That's how you act when you know about that s***.

01:40We did it, I think back in December for the first time.

01:43It was very random, it was a very New York experience.

01:46I didn't think we were going to continue it this long, but it just worked.

01:59I don't know.

02:05Who the hell do we think we are, thinking that we're better than Zoom?

02:08Are you kidding me?

02:09Do you have any idea the sheer volume of shows I did in New York pre-COVID

02:14in front of like one uncomfortable couple in the back of a dive bar?

02:18Zoom and The One Train are so much better than much of what I've devoted my adult life to.

02:23Stand-up comedy will not make a comeback because it's never left.

02:27Promex took it in, and they wanted to perform anywhere they can,

02:34whether it was in the park or a church or on the subway.

02:38There were thousands of people that came to our shows that had never heard of us before.

02:43Because they can laugh at things like, what are we doing here?

02:47I hope years from now, or a decade from now, if I'm doing great and I've got a bunch of stuff going on,

02:53I'll be able to look back on this and be like, yeah, in the weirdest possible year,

02:58I performed on a One Train and somehow did okay doing comedy.

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