Despite Everything, It's Nice to Laugh
It's Nice to Laugh

Despite Everything, It's Nice to Laugh

Before this all happened, one of the best things about living in New York was seeing live comedy.

You could attend a new show every night of the week if you wanted to, or else just hear Cat Cohen sing the "upstate, upstate" song at Club Cumming for the 10th glorious time. It was a cheap and reliable way to de-stress, and the scene felt approachable, inclusive and exciting. Whether they were packing out Gold Sounds or the Bell House, every comic on stage seemed on the verge of at least a Quibi deal.

A lack of open mic nights is the least of the world's problems right now. But as the third month of lockdown approaches and news headlines continue to terrify, we've really been feeling the loss. To compensate, today we're launching It's Nice to Laugh, a month-long focus on funny shit featuring our favorite comedians, internet icons and other incidentally hilarious PAPER people. Follow along here on the site, as well as Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. We'll also be including relevant info so you can tip the comics who are out of work right now via Venmo and Cash App.

We can't make light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can try and distract you from it. Be safe out there, stay home if you can and feel free to heckle us in the comments.