Harlem comedy showcase is a safe space for up-and-coming performers who are trying to figure things out.
By Faye Beard
At Comedy in Harlem, a hip club nestled in the historic Sugar Hill neighborhood, a group of healthcare professionals recently gathered for a Big Dose of Laughter.
Aarian Punter, MSW, LCSW, served as host and the opening act. “I’m a psychotherapist by day and a comedienne by afternoon,” she told the audience. “I’m not out in these comedy streets like that.”
Punter, a comedy veteran and performance poet, produced the afternoon show featuring food, drinks and hilarity. “Laughter is good for the soul,” Punter said. “If you can have a good laugh, you’ll notice that whatever was bothering you before will decrease. Your endorphins allow the oxygen to move through your body and give you space to forget about what’s hurting you. It opens you up to relax.”
Fellow comic Nadine Huggins, LMSW, performed a set based on the funny antics from her therapy sessions. She was inspired when she heard TikTok sensation Nurse Blake (@nurseblake) channel the challenges of being an overworked healthcare professional into his But Did You Die? comedy tour. “I find that bringing humor into my practice helps put people at ease during the difficult times and conversations we are going through,” Huggins said.
Throughout the show, Punter had to manage an enthusiastic heckler with the patience that only a social worker could. She reminded the guest that this was her time and that he should practice boundaries. Then she turned the spotlight on him asking, “Are you going through something, Sir? Are you seeing a therapist?” The audience laughed, but the heckler seemed to laugh even harder.
“Social work chose me,” said Punter, who had the heart of a social worker, but initially no desire to officially enter the profession. She shared in an interview at Hunter College in New York that she believed social workers caused harm like the one depicted in the film Claudine, starring Diahann Carroll. “I thought that social workers came and disrupted the family and caused women to dismantle their relationships with men.” She was accepted into the master’s program there and learned what social work was supposed to be. “Hunter was a social justice-centered learning institution. It showed me what radical support looked like. That tapped into me being an artist.”
Now, Punter runs a private practice, licensed in New Jersey and New York, and describes herself as a comedy clinician.
While Punter prefers the day life over nightlife, she makes an exception on Tuesday. That’s when she invites up-and-coming comedians to the Stand Up and Work It Out Open-Mic night.
It’s the only show at Comedy in Harlem that provides feedback to performers after their set, explained Nicky Sunshine, who co-owns the club with her husband, Jamie Roberts. The comedic couple do the honors of relaying constructive criticism. “We give them pointers. We don’t tear them down,” Sunshine said. “We help them make their performances stronger.”
In Sunshine and Roberts, Punter said she found her people. “We have a social justice lens, and we express our activism through comedy.”
Punter is serving as host and producer for the Stand Up and Work It Out weekly showcase. She created the concept. “As I began to grow as a therapist, I thought about what do I do in therapy and what do I do up on stage.” Punter said. “I’m working things out. This was created as a place to combine humor with healing.”
Faye Beard is a New York-based writer.
