Live stand-up thrives on a lot of things: the booze, the buzz of the crowd, and, in some cases, even the hecklers. Live stand-up also thrives on the unknown, on what a performer just might say or when they’ll say it. Sure, there’s joy in revisiting a classic set from Richard Pryor or George Carlin, but part of the thrill of going to a big-city comedy club is the element of discovery, the chance that an up-and-comer will blow the roof off the place. Or maybe a comedy legend drops in, and you’ll be among the first to hear a set that lives on for decades.
Comedy is at its most effective when it operates in this realm of the unknown, when we’re hearing things nobody has ever heard before, told in ways they’ve never been told. In that way, the best jokes are sort of like secrets. As it turns out, some of the best jokes actually are secrets — well, they start out that way, at least. And then everyone knows them.
The Guest List, a new hour-long stand-up comedy series on Audible Channels and hosted by comedian Ron Funches, knows just how funny secrets can be. The upcoming first season was recorded at a “secret” venue in San Francisco, where guests on a list (get it?) were given short notice of the show’s time and place — The Barrel House, a modern speakeasy, befitting the show’s clandestine theme. What’s more, the comedians, including Maria Bamford, Godfrey, the Sklar Brothers, Eddie Pepitone, and Cameron Esposito, were part of a secret line-up — the audience had no idea who they were about to see.
Part of the charm of the performances captured on The Guest List is a sense of intimacy created by the secrecy of the show. In a weird way, that covert effect transfers to the listener, who, if they are anything like me, will be listening with headphones or while alone, allowed to listen in confidence.
It’s cheesy to talk about the “power of comedy,” but it’s not outrageous to say that jokes can illuminate the fact that you’re not alone in having a certain type of shame or secret. It’ll probably help anyone going through relationship issues to hear Bamford, in the first episode of the series, joking about her marriage counselor. She even sings a song about it.
Maria Bamford
On The Guest List
Sean Donnelly, who also appears in the first episode, would probably appreciate that joke, based on his bit on married sex, which he characterizes as “Angela’s Ashes type of sex.” The comedians even tell each other some secrets in backstage anecdotes at the end of each episode. (These stories run the gamut, but, in summation: Everyone steals.)
Secrets are funny in that they’re drawn from every aspect of our lives, whether from the crimes we’ve committed, our spiritual crises, the dates we go on, or the sex we have. These things are as human as they are cringeworthy. Which is perhaps why we seek out the confessional experience of a comedy show. The Guest List isn’t just comedy, then. It’s catharsis.
The Guest List is now available on Channels in the Audible app. Season 1 runs 01/19 - 03/31. Listen to a preview:
Preview of The Guest List
From Audible
