Comedians
Pat Dixon
Atheer Yacoub
Courtney Reynolds
Bobby Sheehan
Casey Crawford
Chris Cyr
Michael Angelo
Where
Emblem
187 Graham Aveneue
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
When
Friday, April 26th
8 pm
No Cover, No Drink Minimum, and No Censorship!
About
Free Speech is a comedy show that celebrates the diversity of opinion. The comedians will use the stage as a safe space for their art creating a not-so-safe space for contemporary ideologies. The content of their material will be analyzed by both the comedians and the public. The resulting discussion will create a vigorous and healthy atmosphere of debate about the subject of speech, taboo, and censorship.
Format
Free Speech will have four comedians per episode perform their ‘back of the journal’ material; their most controversial and challenging subject matter that they know is funny but rarely perform because of industry, societal, or political anxieties. The performance will be filmed in front of a live audience.
After the show, the comedians will sit together and watch the footage. They will make commentary similar to sports announcers analyzing athletic plays. The comics will discuss each other’s jokes, delivery, and why it urks societal norms.
The audience will also be interviewed. After the show, a Q&A will be conducted by Johnny Azari from the stage. The audience will be asked what offended them and why? What did they enjoy? Do they think comedy can go too far? Do they think censorship and deplatforming are acceptable? Should social media outlets be treated as public utilities under the law so that everyone can voice their opinion? Is comedy a catharsis meant to help us process our deepest grief or is just entertainment and should not be taken seriously?
The footage will be cut together marrying the performance, audience comments, and the comics dissection of comedic architecture. Juxtaposing these three elements: the process, the performance, and public reaction, Free Speech will create a dialogue sorely needed in comedy. It will give the average person access to the tools comedians use to create comedy and it will give comedians insight into how their jokes reverberate with the average person.
Johnny Azari
An Iranian-American comedian, blues musician, and film composer, who has been on tour since 2013.
Born in Shiraz, a city known for wine, poetry, wine, and revolution; at a year old, he was relocated to a city known as New York; noted for grit, madness, and proliferation, where he was raised. These things have no influence on him whatsoever.