Comedian Guy Branum is certain that those who suffer from chronic depression like him were better suited for the isolation created by the pandemic this past year.
“Everyone is acting and living in the way that a depressed person lives: ‘Oh, I never leave the house. I never put on pants and I just watch old ‘Top Chef’s over and over again,’ ” says Branum, who started his comedy career while attending UC Berkeley. “I already know what happens on all 40 seasons of ‘Survivor,’ which means I’m in a better position to help out all of my non-depressed friends.”
Fellow comedians Kristee Ono and Wonder Dave agree — and not just because they’re depressed people themselves. The two launched “Mental Health Comedy Hour” two years ago, well before anyone knew about COVID-19, where comedians tell jokes before settling into more serious discussions about mental health with hosts Ono and Wonder Dave.
By the first month of lockdown last year, they realized “Mental Health Comedy Hour” needed to continue to help others — comics included — deal with the COVID blues, so the series went virtual.
在咒语的指导下,“我们不是好的,没关系,” the series is now set to mark its 30th show with Branum and San Francisco comedy legend Margaret Cho on Saturday, May 15, where all four comedians plan to be candid about their struggles with mental disorders.
“I believe talking about mental health openly and without shame is important,” Ono says. “I love being a part of the show and working with friends on something really fun that also keeps the conversation going and shows that talking about mental health is not just a bummer.”
The show began in January 2019 because Ono and Dave, friends who frequently worked together, including co-producing the popular live show and podcast“Nerd Rage: The Great Debates!,”noticed that audiences didn’t respond well to them joking about their depression and other mental health disorders.
“我必须让他们知道这是OK laugh about the things I was talking about,” Ono says. “I would notice some hesitance in responses, which I understand. It’s uncomfortable to talk about feelings in general.”
It had a slow start, but “Mental Health Comedy Hour” soon gained a following. After shows, audience members would tell them that being able to laugh about such a serious topic was actually helping them cope with their own depression. Even a few therapists who have made guest appearances on the show have said they got new clients from the performance.
The live series made stops at venues like All Out Comedy Theater in Oakland, Strut SF in San Francisco and DNA’s Comedy Lab in Santa Cruz. Then the pandemic wiped Ono and Wonder Dave’s calendar bare. When those venues began live-streaming shows that April, however, Ono and Wonder Dave offered to take their show online to help support the Bay Area venues and keep local comics like themselves working.
While performing on Zoom isn’t ideal for comedians, Ono and Wonder Dave soon found that the shutdown provided some benefits for their show. Suddenly location didn’t matter, so the two hosts could book headliners like former Bay Area residents Branum, Cho and Laurie Kilmartin, the latter who appeared in June and talked about the hardships of losing her mom to COVID-19.
Even as cities and states continue to loosen restrictions on public gatherings and comedians are returning to the live stage, outdoors or otherwise, Ono and Wonder Dave don’t know when they’ll be bringing “Mental Health Comedy Hour” back to an in-person setting. Because the online series has been working so well with their audience, and since they received a $20,000 grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission last summer, the two plan to keep helping people through the virtual show for the foreseeable future.
“People who themselves have anxiety and depression are pretty into watching comedy from the comfort of their own home,” says Wonder Dave. “While laughter isn’t actually the best medicine, it can make someone feel a bit better about their life, and that’s worth doing.”
“Mental Health Comedy Hour”:Guests Margaret Cho and Guy Branum. 7 p.m. Saturday, May 15. Pay what you can.bit.ly/MHCHBayArea