We’re Not Okay, and That’s Okay

A previous post brought up Kristee Ono, and about her there is more to say. In 2019, she and fellow comedian Wonder Dave established the Mental Health Comedy Hour, a monthly live show reported on by Anne Daugherty who characterized it as “part of a larger phenomenon of comedians using personal mental health experiences as comedy material.”
This was in the Bay Area of California (of course), and drew from the same talent pool involving All Out Comedy Theater, DNA’s Comedy Lab, and similar gatherings that featured comedians afflicted with depression, bulimia, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and other conditions.
A malady from which stage performers often suffer is fear of the opinions of their fellow entertainers. Some people in the business believe that no sober person is capable of mirth. Ono had quit drinking in 2012, and from a 2016 Vulture piece, a motivated reader could learn that “The peer pressure is still there for Ono, though she says that she values her sobriety more than calming her nerves down with a beer.”
It is no secret that alcohol and other addictive drugs often attract people who already were living with mental and emotional problems. In 2019, Daugherty quoted another Oakland comedian, Kelly Anneken , who identified as “triple A — alcoholic, anorexic and anxious.” One of her lines was,
Stand-up comedy is everybody’s last resort before suicide or grad school.
A couple of years later, the Mental Health Comedy Hour, still going strong, was written about by Kevin L. Jones, who pointed out the happiness of audience members allowed to “meet and greet” the comics after the show and reveal how helpful the whole scene was in shining light on their own dark sides. He added,
Even a few therapists who have made guest appearances on the show have said they got new clients from the performance.
Then came the pandemic lockdown, causing Ono and Wonder Dave to go virtual, which turned out to be a blessing because they were able to secure the participation of headliners who normally would have been out and around, doing other live shows. One such was Laurie Kilmartin, whose mother had died from COVID-19. Somebody who can get a laugh out of that kind of tragedy, can do anything.
Early in 2022 when public gatherings became possible again, the Mental Health Comedy Hour stage edition started back up, this time at various venues in San Francisco, where journalist Neha Gopal wrote it up. Summarized by the slogan, “We are not OK, and that’s OK,” the comedic material included…
[…] things that people usually hide behind the curtain: confrontations with demonic, pre-sober selves, nomadic journeys into family trauma, the slow burn of relentless overwork.
Also in the early ’20s, the self-exposure tradition was upheld by Sober Pop’s Comedy Night, a live show and podcast which featured Ono and many other performers with something to say about addictions and sobriety and “the lighter side of recovery,” and the marvelous healing power of converting misery into comedy.
This particular format also included, as its last segment, a question-and-answer session with the audience. “Crowd work” is beloved by many comics anyway, although they usually ask, rather than answer, the questions. Of course this setup is no obstacle, being just a variety of improvisation, a specialized talent perfected in classes which many comedians and actors join to hone their skills.
Written by Pat Hartman. First published January 31, 2025.
Sources:
“Comedians use humor to heal at Mental Health Comedy Hour,” OaklandNorth.net, October 1, 2019.
“Staying Sober in the Booze-Fueled Comedy World,” Vulture, August 4, 2016.
“‘Mental Health Comedy Hour’.” a safe space for laughter and serious discussion,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 2021.
“Not OK? That’s OK. Mental Health Comedy Hour brings laughter and healing.” OaklandNorth.net, November 13, 2024.
“Sober Comedy Night: Finding Laughter in Recovery,” AlcoholFree.com, June 19, 2021.
Image Copyright: Heidi De Vries/Attribution 2.0 Generic