DELRAY BEACH = Imagine being a stand-up comedian or a fan of comedy only to learn you are losing your hearing.
That’s what happened to Abby Stonehouse. Only she didn’t accept her fate quietly.
Stonehouse has been working with venues in Montreal to create comedy shows that are more accessible to the hearing impaired. Her shows include a sign language interpreter and closed captioning.
Considering South Florida’s large elderly population, Stonehouse’s formula might prove useful for Sunshine State producers, too.
Today’s Stand-Up Spotlight also includes the story of a club that mixes punk rock and stand-up comedy; Las Vegas’ rise in the comedy pyramid, and a Q&A with Tom Segura.
Start your week off with some funny, folks.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – July 17, 2023
Montreal stand-up making comedy inclusive for those with hearing loss
Abby Stonehouse may not take herself too seriously but her cause is no joke.
The comedian was diagnosed with hearing loss eight years ago. Fast forward to 2019, and Abby was headlining the city’s first hearing-accessible comedy show, with an ASL interpreter and closed captioning.
“When I started doing standup comedy I realized the arts is so inaccessible to so many people. With my work with Hear Quebec my passion for accessibility grew,” she said.
Hear Quebec, the only non-profit organization serving Montreal’s English-speaking community with hearing loss, teamed up with Abby to help the organization make stand-up comedy and other performances, more inclusive.
Violence and community: Inside the Fun Gutter punk comedy shows
“I like sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll as much as the next guy. As long as the sex is with my husband, the drugs are for my cirrhosis, and the rock ‘n’ roll is jazz,” says comedian Claire Pellegrino, igniting one of the biggest laughs of the night at Fun Gutter: a stand-up comedy show with a punk house band.
In front of the stage at the Cobra Club in Bushwick, there are rows of two chairs each, arranged to create an open space for laughter and moshing alike. Live stand-up and live punk are actually not too dissimilar: Both contain equal parts “violence” and “communal participation,” say Fun Gutter’s co-hosts Sasha von Didkovsky, 24, and Bailey Pope, “thirty-something.”
A stand-up surge has lifted Las Vegas into the comedy conversation
Las Vegas has every right to brag. It’s still the entertainment capital of the world, and now it’s a sports town and a music festival mecca. Plus, it remains a cornucopia of comedy.
That last one might have felt less prominent in the past, but Vegas has always had a sense of humor. Stand-up comedy has never been as loud, as funny or as diverse here as it is today.
Comedian Tom Segura Wants to Know Where the Bodies Are, Garth Brooks
“I can’t believe what my life is,” says Tom Segura.
Segura has good reason to be proud. The 44-year-old comic has grinded away for decades to become one of the most successful (and prolific) comedians around. He co-hosts a pair of popular podcasts — Two Bears One Cave with pal and fellow comic Bert Kreischer, and Your Mom’s House with wife/comedian Christina Pazsitsky; penned a bestselling book of humorous essays; sells out stand-up shows across the country; and just released his fifth Netflix stand-up special, Tom Segura: Sledgehammer, which is one of the best of the year. Oh, and he recently sold a pilot to a top streaming service and has not one, not two, but three feature films in various stages of development.
