A Call for Change
Disabled comedians open up about industry inaccessibility
A day before Ramy Youssef was set to record his latest comedy special, “More Feelings,” his friend and fellow comedian Steve Way was scheduled to do a practice run as Youssef ’s opener at a Brooklyn venue. It never happened.
“The day of the show, they tell Ramy, ‘Sorry, we can’t get Steve on stage.’ They needed a week’s notice to rent a ramp,” Way, who has muscular dystrophy, recalls. “This isn’t Make-a-wish. I would rather be told I’m not good enough than, ‘Sorry, there are stairs.’”
Way is among a group of comedians who say the industry has a long and ongoing history of excluding disabled acts and audiences. Before arriving at venues, performers face “the fire and the gauntlet” of navigating inaccessible public transit and expensive rideshares — if they’re even available — says Pavar Snipe, a comedian with rheumatoid arthritis and the “It’s Not Even Like That” podcast host.
Assistive tools such as ramps, ASL interpreters and audio description are largely nonexistent at comedy venues, and when present, the cost of those is frequently footed financially by the comedians themselves, as is the case with the Seattle-based Disabled List Comedy Festival, says its co-founder Dan Hurwitz. Maysoon Zayid, a comedian, actress and author of the graphic novel “Shiny Misfits” who has cerebral palsy, says she had built a -year relationship with New York’s
Gotham Comedy Club partly because it has a physically accessible bathroom.
The pandemic ushered in the era of the Zoom show, which offered “accommodations that we have been always asking for, but only because it affected everyone,” according to Way. But many inclusive measures have been rolled back since venues re-opened and abandoned virtual shows — something comedian and “Russian Doll” actor Danielle Perez, a bilateral below the knee amputee, notes is “really denying the reality that accessibility helps everyone.”
Navigating these physical obstacles is compounded by the other challenges that come from trying to make a living in the comedy space, includ
ing juggling multiple jobs, traveling for shows and tours, generating new material and dealing with sometimes overly vocal audiences.
“It’s hard enough just being a comedian. We’re constantly fighting for spots. Constantly fighting for stage time,” says Way. “When you’re a nondisabled comedian, you’re traveling to all the different venues in New York, but when you’re disabled you have so few options. Venues will want to put you on only so many times in a row.”
Comedian Mike Favor, who has cerebal palsy, says acts can get “paid next to nothing” for doing those shows before they get to “a certain level,” with paychecks as little as $ and $ , and no health care. “I’ve had eight million different jobs concurrently, just to try to stay alive as a comedian and a disabled American, where I either have to be rich to survive, or I have to live in poverty to get any benefits,” Zayid says.
As for the comic material itself, the performers who spoke to Variety all take different approaches to joking about disability, but generally agree they don’t shy from addressing it with audiences and never make it their only set topic. “If you’re funny and the audience is there to laugh, they’re there to laugh,” says Snipe. “It’s, ‘Oh, I saw this comedian and she’s disabled, but that’s not all there is to her jokes.’”
Post-pandemic, those jokes are being met by audiences who “really feel emboldened to talk back,” says Perez. For author and Comedians With Disabilities Act troupe member Nina G., that turned into heckling and harassment while headlining a recent show. There, one person openly mocked her speech. She took it in stride. “I have a black belt in dealing with hecklers because this is what I’ve been doing all my life,” she says.
Hostility in comedy can come from different places on and off the stage. Zayid, a Palestinian comedian, alleges she’s faced censorship over her public criticism of the Biden administration and the ongoing Israel-gaza conflict. “It’s been traumatic,” she says of having almost every show since October canceled or postponed.
That’s in addition to losing her health care after not being invited back for a fall teaching position. Like Zayid, several performers said they rely on union membership or work multiple jobs to acquire insurance. It’s a necessity for those with disabilities, who can incur a % higher cost of living to obtain the same quality of life as nondisabled people, per the National Disability Institute.
Health care challenges alongside the demands of live and touring comedy as someone with osteoporosis and Crohn’s disease partly inspired Keisha Zollar’s shift into more screenwriting. “For me, as someone who has bouts of chronic disability and sometimes it’s debilitating, I was really putting my body through it,” says the improv artist and co-creator of Netflix’s “Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show.”
Zollar says acquiring additional financial support and community, both of which have come from working with Inevitable Foundation — a nonprofit that supports disabled screenwriters and filmmakers — have been key to navigating the demands and challenges of the art form. “It’s made it OK to be a full person, where usually ... you’re not allowed to feel all the complicated emotions that come with your disability journey.”
Perez says she’s found access in otherwise inaccessible clubs through the support of headliners such as Maria Bamford, noting “when she asks for a ramp, she’s gonna get a ramp.” Hurwitz adds that despite the industry’s general exclusion, disabled comedians who are fighting to perform, even by creating their own spaces, are helping elevate the community.
“What I discovered when we created the Disabled List is that the disability community [in comedy] was much larger than we originally thought, and that was a cool realization,” Hurwitz explains of working with the collective of Seattle stand-up performers. “It always makes me feel good when people do want to opt in. The connotations with disability are so negative, but it’s not a dirty word.”
Favor wants more comedians to opt into the medium and being visible on stage going forward. “I just want there to be more of us,” he says. “I want more spaces for us to have opportunities. I don’t want to have to cramp myself in places to make people feel comfortable with the decision to not be accessible.”
I want more spaces for us to have opportunities. I don’t want to have to cramp myself in places to make people feel comfortable with the decision to not be accessible.”
— Mike Favor