Ted Alexandro And His Stay At Home Comedian Brings Laughter During Trying Times

By Sophia Chartrand Sophia Chartrand has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on May 19, 2020

Comedian, Ted Alexandro has been releasing laughter from the public all over the world with his nightly “TeddyGrams” live streams. After witnessing a surplus of international viewers on Instagram Live, he decided to create a compilation of his lockdown live streams, titled Stay At Home Comedian.

Stay At Home Comedian covers content that sheds a light on pandemic experiences. Topics include wondering who would be the best actor in certain movies, a cover of ‘Imagine’, and more. As this special is free to watch online, Ted Alexandro is highly encouraging viewers to donate to COVID Bail Out NYC, an organization helping to release people from jail in New York who cannot afford bail. 

The partnership with COVID Bail Out NYC started while Ted was working with two other comedians. As he wasn’t aware of the entire details at first, Ted was still wanting to help. 

“At this time, all of us are grappling towards having our freedom restricted and having to change our lifestyle,” Ted says. “I thought to myself, ‘Who is dealing with this pandemic the worst?’ I immediately thought of someone who’s in jail. Coronavirus is spreading in jails faster than anywhere else in the world, and this is because they’re not receiving proper care, as well as not social distancing and all these other things. With the people that are stuck in jails who can’t afford bail, it makes you think about how other people are dealing with this pandemic, which in a way, kind of brings us together, you know? It’s important to look at the most vulnerable populations.”

His reasoning was also not wanting to directly charge people, especially at a time where people are losing their income. 

Ted Alexandro
Photo Credit: Mindy Tucker

“We’re going through precarious situations with our jobs and finances,” Ted claims. “So I thought to myself, ‘Well, how can I use this video to help?’ That was the reasoning behind making it a fundraiser for COVID Bail Out NYC. Hopefully, people get some laughs and a bit of relief from realizing that we’re all going through the same thing. Another thing that was cool for me as I was doing the live stream was because people can comment on Instagram Live, people were checking in from around the world. For example, people would say stuff like, ‘Hello from Argentina’ or, ‘Hello from Australia!’ It was this global sense of connectivity that we’re all going through this together.”

Comedy is trending tremendously in the virtual world we’re living in now. Ted reflects on being the person people want to laugh with, yet it’s different because no one can experience being in a room together right now. 

“It’s such a specific thing of just congregating in a room with a group of strangers and listening to a person speak,” Ted says. “That’s a very specific type of dynamic. In certain ways, people are doing shows on different platforms. It is weird because, on the other hand, I think the appetite for comedy has never been bigger, but we can’t get into a room together. So people are figuring out ways around that.”

He also adds that a cool thing about stand up and comedy, in general, is that there are so many different avenues of content.

“Whether it’s live streaming, shooting videos, or whatever the case is, there are different ways to reach people,” Ted says. “I was live streaming on Instagram every night, and I thought, ‘If I can piece together a month’s worth of live streams and just pick out the highlights, especially because I’m talking about something so specific, it can be processed in real-time.’”

As so much is currently unknown in today’s time, Ted Alexandro believes it’s, unfortunately, going to take a while for things to open back up in terms of physically congregating at a comedy club. 

“With comedy, most clubs hold the capacity of only 150-200 people,” Ted claims. “It’ll be weird if there’s, let’s say, 15 people. I’m just curious as the next person to see how it’s going to happen and what it’s going to look like. But, in my opinion, I would be surprised if clubs open up before 2021. However, I do think that people will figure out ways to keep putting out content online.”

Watch Ted Alexandro’s Stay At Home Comedian special here. 

Be sure to also follow him on his social outlets below to stay up to date on his content. 

Website

Instagram

Twitter

By Sophia Chartrand Sophia Chartrand has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Journalist verified by Muck Rack verified

Sophia Chartrand is an Events Columnist at Grit Daily.

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