SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Some of the country's best new comedy talents are now coming out of Austin, Texas - if they survive the crowd. The Texas Standard's Sean Saldana takes us to the weekly show where bombing the joke is only the beginning of the ordeal.
UNIDENTIFIED HOST: I want you all to know that this is a safe space.
SEAN SALDANA, BYLINE: I'm at the Creek and the Cave comedy club, preparing to watch Banana Phone, a show that doubles as a form of masochism.
UNIDENTIFIED HOST: Basking in the cringe of someone else's failures, I think that's something that we can all join together on.
SALDANA: Comedians tonight will do one minute of material. One of the first up is Amy Beth Castleberry.
AMY BETH CASTLEBERRY: Let's get started. Well, they call it scoliosis, and I call it my backstory.
SALDANA: After she's done, the show's hosts and the entire crowd get to roast her on stage.
KANDACE MEDINA: You said you wore a back brace?
CASTLEBERRY: I did wear a back brace.
MEDINA: That's a weird name for a saddle.
(LAUGHTER)
SALDANA: At this show, comics and attendees agree to an unusual social contract, one where jokes about race, gender, age, height and weight are all acceptable.
MEDINA: It is very "Lord Of The Flies"-esque, I guess you can say.
SALDANA: Kandace Medina is Banana Phone's creator, and she designed the show to be the worst-case scenario for a comic.
MEDINA: And if you can live through that, you can survive through anything that could potentially happen to you on stage that could be horrible.
SALDANA: About a third of the audience each week is other comedians. That means most of the time, the people heckling are peers.
MEDINA: There's something very human about connecting with people in a way that is love, but it's not kindness.
SALDANA: And when comedians get offstage, they often bond and network with the people who just harassed them.
MEDINA: I think in certain ways, comedians seek this out because it is this level of community where you find the misfits and the weirdos.
SALDANA: Banana Phone draws an average audience of more than a hundred every Sunday night. And comics visit from around the country, like Los Angeles comedian Jimil Linton. It'll be her second time on.
Wait, so whenever you went up there the first time, what were they riffing about?
JIMIL LINTON: Mostly me being Asian.
SALDANA: Comedy requires self-awareness. And getting in front of a bunch of drunk strangers is a great way of learning what people notice about you, says co-host Nick Cox.
NICK COX: It's like ego death. It does teach you something about yourself at the end of it.
SALDANA: Sometimes the heckles get too mean or personal. When this happens, the hosts cut the performances short.
COX: If somebody gets upset for real, it kind of changes the temperature of the room. No one wants people to be sad.
SALDANA: Around 50 comics sign up each week, like Chris Winfrey. He goes by an interesting stage name.
MEDINA: Coming to the stage right now. Give it up for Freeze the Comedian.
(CHEERING)
SALDANA: Freeze the Comedian got in front of the heckles by making his entire set about his body type.
CHRIS WINFREY: Wherever I go, it takes all of 30 seconds for somebody to talk about Ozempic. And I asked my doc. I said, how do I get diabetes so I can get it cheaper?
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Laughter).
WINFREY: And he said, just give it a minute.
SALDANA: After his set, Freeze receives a standing ovation, and then the heckling starts.
MEDINA: And, Lord Jesus, I ask that you give us an ocean big enough to baptize this man.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Humming).
SALDANA: After Freeze gets offstage, I check in with him.
WINFREY: I mean, I was shaking a little bit when I first went up, but, I mean, that's just your nerves. That's going to be natural. I have anxiety disorder, but I don't let that affect me whatsoever.
SALDANA: For almost 10 minutes, all the jokes the crowd made focused on his weight.
WINFREY: I'm so glad that they chose to roast me more than some of the other comics. That lets me know they care more. But I feel good, man. Yeah. Feel great.
SALDANA: Comedy is cruel - the rejection is constant, the pay is nonexistent, and most comedians never break out. Banana Phone gives comics access to a community of people who relate to their struggles. All it costs is their dignity. For NPR News, I'm Sean Saldana in Austin.
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