(lofi music)
(ding)
(trill into boom)
(piano music drowning out speech)
- He's a comic, a comic's comic.
Make some noise for the very funny,
the very talented,
Mr. Dan Smith, let's go!
Clap it up for the comedian Dan Smith.
- My name is Dan Smith.
I'm a standup comedian (giggles).
I go by "Dan the Can't
Standup Comedian" on stage.
I have been in a wheelchair my whole life.
There's three different
types of Spina Bifida.
Myelomeningocele is what I have,
and it's the most severe.
And it's where the spinal
column doesn't develop
all the way in utero,
and when you're born
there's actually an opening
in your back, so I had to
have surgery to close my back.
My favorite thing about Spina Bifida
is actually the words meningocele,
because if you say it
slowly it sounds like,
"my ninja seal".
Um, you know, so that's my favorite word.
That's my second favorite word.
My first favorite word
is myelomeningocele,
because it sounds like "my
ninja seal is named Milo".
(laughs) So, I have, you darned right
if I ever get a seal I'm naming him Milo.
How we doing? (crowd claps and hollers)
Yeah, hey thanks for coming out
to the standup comedy show tonight.
I'll be your can't standup
comedian for the night.
(crowd laughs)
I've always loved making people laugh,
you know at the times when I could do it,
when I did do it, you know,
and I tried to be funny.
And I remember people telling me
when I was younger, like
you know, adults telling me,
"oh, you're gonna be a sit
down comedian someday".
You know, and just kind
of laughing it off.
But, so, you know even
though I was shy and quiet.
I still, I've always loved
to make people laugh,
and I love to laugh myself.
I couldn't have done
comedy at a younger age,
because I wasn't ready to put
myself out there like that.
Getting up on stage in
a room full of people,
being the center of attention in the room.
No (laughs) absolutely not (laughs).
I wasn't comfortable enough with myself.
(mic bumps head)
- [Audience Member] Hurtles.
- Wheel tear hurtles (audience laughs)
and I fucking hurt myself
there (crowd laughs).
I didn't start until 2017.
At that time there was
also another comedian
in a wheelchair here,
in the Sacramento scene.
But uh, the answer we were
actually looking for is drowning.
Even though we didn't
have the same disability,
I saw somebody with a disability
making people laugh.
You know, and that was
a big influence on me.
I thought, you know, hey, if he can do it,
you know, I would like
to try sometime too.
And now I love being on stage,
it's my favorite thing to do.
- He's waving, yeah,
okay cool, here we go.
So Dan, I'm passing it
over to you my friend.
- All right, hey everybody,
welcome everybody to the
first ever Body Posi show.
(people cheering)
My last show was actually February 20th.
And I did one or two mics before that,
But uh, I just, every now and then, I can.
Don't go to as many as you normally do.
And I was telling myself though, that man,
you really need to get out again,
and then boom.
And then nope, can't go out.
Let me introduce myself,
I'm Dan, the can't standup comedian.
(people cheer and applaud)
I'm gonna get it out of the way right away
and let you know that I've been
in a wheelchair my whole life.
I have a birth defect,
it's called Spina Bifida.
There's actually three
different types of Spina Bifida.
There's occulta, meningocele,
and myelomeningocele.
Myelomeningocele is the most severe,
and that's the one I have.
Because if you're gonna
commit to something,
go all the way (people laugh).
(relaxing music and dog leash jingling)
Yes, all my jokes are wheelchair jokes.
I try not to make them alienating.
I'm gonna leave that sock in there,
because that's too far to reach,
and I don't feel like it.
But I also want to express what it's like
to have a disability.
People with disabilities, we
do get made fun of sometimes,
we get called some
pretty mean names, yeah.
One of the names that
really bothers me the most,
it's a word that's used to talk
about a certain type of disability.
It starts with an "r".
You probably already know
what word I'm talking about,
but I'm gonna say it anyway,
"Republican". (people laugh)
My wife and I, we're coming up
on our 14th wedding anniversary next week.
(crowd cheers) Thank you.
People ask me sometimes,
"hey, is your wife also
in a wheelchair?".
It's like me asking them,
"Hey, so does your spouse
also ask really fucking
stupid questions?".
(crowd laughs)
Here's a picture of my first kiss too.
I like that picture, I like
the expression on Anna's face.
Um, here's our first
kiss, as husband and wife.
My wife is very supportive,
and she has been from day one.
I do all my practicing in front of her.
We've been together for over 20 years now.
And as you can imagine, in 20
years, we been through a lot,
as any couple has.
But, we've also been
through problems with disability.
You know, and she's been through
a lot with me through that.
This tattoo says 90,
and that signifies my
90th day of sobriety.
I didn't drink every day,
but when I did drink I couldn't
stop until I passed out.
When I was younger, I
wanted to drink to fit in.
I quit drinking this last year.
I got 9 months sober now.
(crowd cheers) Thank you very much.
You joke about the things
that you struggle with
you know, and if you kind of
think about a comedian's set,
you know, the thing that
they're making you laugh about
is something that has been hard for them.
You know what though,
I didn't have choice,
I had to quit drinking.
Because if I had gotten
one more DUI in this thing
my wheels were gonna get
impounded, (crowd laughs)
and then I'm really doing
a pub crawl (crowd laughs).
I think that a lot of
comedians get into comedy
because they can't afford therapy (laughs)
It's a way to talk about
your problems, you know.
- I love this man, I
fucking love this man.
- (music drowns out speech)
The Sacramento comedy scene,
it's certainly a close knit scene.
We all know each other, I
feel supported by my peers.
I think that, you know,
we're a good little scene.
I've heard people from outside
of the Sacramento community
from LA and San Francisco
talking about how great
the Sacramento scene is.
You know, and it really is,
we've got some amazing comedians.
There's not much that makes me happier.
That's my time ladies and gentlemen,
thank you very much (crowd
clapping and cheering).
Hearing the laughter of
a room full of people,
that's my payment, you know,
and it feels great.
It feels like, you know,
I gave them something.
You know, because I feel
like laughter is a gift, so,
you know, it's the best
feeling I can think of.
(peaceful keyboard music)
