Play it by the ear: A powerful standup comedy show

Many of us crack jokes about sex. Usually, it’s about someone else.

Now imagine telling a honest joke about your sex life …….

Now imagine your Mom saying that joke to a room full of strangers,

Finally, imagine all of this being shown on Netflix

The above-mentioned scenario would be very uncomfortable for most people but I have actually been waiting for this for the past few years.

Two years ago, I turned down the Cochlear Implant surgery that would help me hear. It felt like a lie. The moment I took it off I would be deaf again. In my biggest moment of self doubt, my mother had reminded me that I didn’t need Cochlear Implants (CI) to think, to write, to express myself to my friends and family. I respect the decision of those who have taken up CI. I just hope they come to the show and bring their friends along to see me first before they try to hear my jokes though my borrowed voice for the evening- my Mom.

2020 was the year for ASL(American Sign Language). You could see ASL interpreters everywhere on TV and in every important event leading up to the elections. ASL folks got some serious love in the media, so much that people started missing them when they were not present.

In 2021, it’s time we see the people that the ASL interpreters were speaking to. Today, when I go on stage, the audience will clap and cheer for me and I will look at their faces and absorb into my heart. What I am offering to my audience is not words, it’s an experience.

For almost everyone in the audience it will be their time in a ASL standup comedy. It’s unusual to watch a standup comedian not saying anything, but if there is anything that 2020 has taught us, it’s that unusual is more common than we know.

Today, I will be cracking some audacious (and mostly true) jokes about my dating life, amongst many other things.

My mom didn’t really like my ex, so if you liked those jokes, please let my her know 😊

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — There is no ASL standup comedy show on Netflix yet, but if there was one, I imagined this monologue by the show’s performer. If you are curious to see what a ASL standup comedy show looks like, check it out here