Ryan Sickler transforms near-death experience into unlikely comedy mission

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Ryan Sickler is used to asking the question that people are afraid to ask: “Is there anyone here who has ever actually died and come back and would be comfortable talking about it in front of all of us?”It’s not your typical comedy show crowd work but it has profound results.During his special “Ryan Sickler: Live & Alive” released on YouTube in October, a woman in the audience talked about a near-death experience as a child where she rode her bicycle in front of a neighbor’s station wagon.

But Sickler pointed out that this remarkable level of candor in the audience is something he continues to marvel about.In fact, he said they did two shows the night they taped his special and during the second show two people in the crowd said they had near-death experiences.“When I ask the question, I know there’s someone in the crowd that’s like, ‘There’s nobody in here that’s died and come back,’” Sickler said.

“So now they’re all very excited to listen too.Like, what happened to this lady, or what happened to this guy? You know, there’s been some wild ones, some real funny ones out there too.”Given how many comedy specials are being released on various streaming platforms, he says that “we have lost the specialness of the special.” But Sickler said since coming so close to death and being able to talk about it with candor and relatability, he is still calling his latest self-produced YouTube special, special.

It now has more than 1 million views on YouTube.Sickler has been on the comedy scene for more than 30 years and released his comedy special “Lefty’s Son” in 2023.

He also hosts the “HoneyDew Podcast.” His comedy career has often incorporated his lived experience with a rare blood-clotting disease called Factor V Leiden that almost killed him.But these days, he’s grateful to be alive, to have been able to wake up when it looke...