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Im too old for the show.
Theyre not going to take me, she remembers objecting at the time.
On March 11, Dont Tell Comedy posted Rices set online, and her life changed.
My website blew up, my Instagram blew up, and my TikTok blew up, she says.
Overnight, her inbox flooded with opportunities to perform all across the country.
But this, Dont Tell, is comparable.
But Dont Tell Comedy is responsible for many of the exceptions.
Every young comic wants a Dont Tell set, says comedian Leslie Liao.
Some comics will just blatantly ask me, How did you get that?
Five months later, she performed on Netflix on itsVerified Stand-Upseries.)
Dont Tell Comedy began in 2017 as an experimental ploy to get comics more stage time.
Kazanjian-Amory thought,Why couldnt this work for comedy?
On a whim, Kazanjian-Amory decided to test the model in San Francisco in January 2018.
It worked there, too, so he continued experimenting with shows in Portland and Seattle.
In 2024, Kazanjian-Amory estimates the total number of shows will top 4,500.
Past venues have included boxing gyms, thrift stores, and art galleries basically anywhere but standard comedy clubs.
As Dont Tells live-show operation gained momentum, Kazanjian-Amory decided to try filming comedy in unorthodox spaces too.
In 2019, the company shot Danny Jolless YouTube special6 Partsas a proof of concept.
The pandemic hit soon after and forced the company to reassess its strategy.
Instead, the videos had another effect.
That was pretty immediate.
His set currently has over 1 million views on YouTube.
I didnt exactly know how it worked howa comic got chosen.
The short answer to how to get a Dont Tell taping is to impress Kazanjian-Amory.
He books all of them himself.
Its a lot of responsibility for one person to manage, which Kazanjian-Amory says he doesnt take for granted.
One thing we dont care about is social-media following, says Kazanjian-Amory of Dont Tells booking practices.
This commitment extends internationally, too.
Its changed my life, Elassal says.
Hes since been cast on an FX pilot titledSnowflakes.
Beyond that, Kazanjian-Amory chalks a lot up to the mystery of the algorithm.
The tough thing about YouTube is the algorithm is so fickle.
it’s crucial that you stick to a system so people know what to expect.
As soon as some videos arent getting as much engagement, it torpedoes the overall channel.
They dont really fuck up, says Flynn.
This is mostly a comedian-run organization, he says.
Usually, with gatekeepers, theyre very separated from the actual comedy community.
We have boots on the ground.
He just tries to be conscientious: I hope that maybe were a more fair gatekeeper than other people.
