Kyle Ayers’ ‘Hard to Say’ ending run at SoHo Playhouse

By SCOTTY BENNETT

Hard to Say by Kyle Ayers is a stand-up comedy show about dealing with chronic – at times – nearly intractable pain. In Ayers’ case, it is caused by a nerve disorder called trigeminal neuralgia, sometimes referred to as “suicide disease.” It affects sections of the trigeminal nerve in the head and face and is difficult to treat. Ayers uses humor not only to distract his attention from the pain, but also to entertain and inform people about the condition.

Comedy is said to take dozens of different forms depending upon who is doing the analysis and commentary. The history of the psychology of comedy has gone through seismic changes over many years, with lists ranging from six to over 30 different types. In the current view, the kind of comedy Ayers uses is personal traumatic experience. A show such as his would not have worked 20 years ago. Making humor out of trauma on a personal level may have appealed to some people, but it would have been off-putting to most.

It takes tremendous skill for a writer and comedian to put together an engaging, heartfelt, funny, personal story about pain. While Ayers’ material doesn’t always work, most of it does and brings humor and understanding.

Kyle Ayers is an established comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He has multiple performance credits in his history, but none with the depth of personal exploration as this show. His 75-minute stand-up routine is composed of what he refers to as-not-quite-a-TED talk about trigeminal neuralgia, but more of an overview of the disorder with insights from someone living with it.

He judiciously uses projections to humorously illustrate the journey he has been on since the onset of the disorder. It is a technique similar to comedian-engineer Don McMillan’s approach to comedy.

Ayer’s use of humor helps clarify some of the issues being presented. They also help guide the conversation through the struggles he encountered with the years of misdiagnoses. In the end, he manages to take a complicated topic and make it accessible and acceptable to an audience.

It has been said that laughter is the best medicine. According to some doctors at the Mayo Clinic, it’s about finding moments of humor, joy, and human connectedness, even if they’re not always quite what you expect. Kyle Ayers shows us those moments, and they are not what you expect.

Hard to Say (75 minutes) continues at SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, in New York City through Sept. 14. For tickets, click here.