Ryan Sickler transforms near-death experience into unlikely comedy mission

Ryan Sickler is utilized to asking the question that radical are acrophobic to ask: “Is determination anyone present who has ever really died and travel backmost and would beryllium comfy talking astir it successful beforehand of each of us?”

It’s not your emblematic drama amusement assemblage enactment but it has profound results. During his peculiar “Ryan Sickler: Live & Alive” released connected YouTube successful October, a pistillate successful the assemblage talked astir a near-death acquisition arsenic a kid wherever she rode her bicycle successful beforehand of a neighbor’s presumption wagon. But Sickler pointed retired that this singular level of candor successful the assemblage is thing helium continues to marvel about. In fact, helium said they did 2 shows the nighttime they taped his peculiar and during the 2nd amusement 2 radical successful the assemblage said they had near-death experiences.

“When I inquire the question, I cognize there’s idiosyncratic successful the assemblage that’s like, ‘There’s cipher successful present that’s died and travel back,’” Sickler said. “So present they’re each precise excited to perceive too. Like, what happened to this lady, oregon what happened to this guy? You know, there’s been immoderate chaotic ones, immoderate existent comic ones retired determination too.”

Given however galore drama specials are being released connected assorted streaming platforms, helium says that “we person mislaid the specialness of the special.” But Sickler said since coming truthful adjacent to decease and being capable to speech astir it with candor and relatability, helium is inactive calling his latest self-produced YouTube special, special. It present has much than 1 cardinal views connected YouTube. Sickler has been connected the drama country for much than 30 years and released his drama peculiar “Lefty’s Son” successful 2023. He besides hosts the “HoneyDew Podcast.” His drama vocation has often incorporated his lived acquisition with a uncommon blood-clotting illness called Factor V Leiden that astir killed him.

But these days, he’s grateful to beryllium alive, to person been capable to aftermath up erstwhile it looked similar helium mightiness not, to ticker his girl proceed to turn up and the laughs on the way. Sickler has agelong been candid astir his chronic wellness issues with his drama but helium has recovered peculiar meaning successful doing assemblage enactment erstwhile helium performs, that talks astir decease and what it means to live.

The Times precocious spoke with Sickler astir his peculiar and however helium thinks astir his consciousness of health, wit and mortality.

Ryan Sickler successful the workplace wherever helium films the “HoneyDew Podcast.”

(Al Seib / For The Times)

What did you privation to accidental this clip astir successful your caller special?

My archetypal peculiar was thing that was a spot of a hybrid of worldly that had been retired determination and around, but I didn’t ain it. It was retired determination connected people’s platforms. They’re making the wealth disconnected of it. And truthful I did a spot of, “Let maine get this worldly connected my transmission wherever I tin power it.” And past the different portion of that peculiar was becoming a caller azygous dad, each those things this time, specifically, I truly conscionable wanted to speech astir what had happened and the results aft that. I travel these drama accounts and successful October, determination were 31 stand-up specials that deed betwixt Netflix, Hulu, YouTube. November was 30. This period was a small dilatory due to the fact that the holidays, but it was inactive astatine 18 the past clip I checked. So I don’t deliberation there’s thing peculiar astir stand-up specials anymore. You’re successful an situation present wherever there’s a stand-up peculiar a day, radical are doing that with podcasts. There’s truthful overmuch contented going connected retired there, and I consciousness similar a batch of it is the same. So I this clip wanted to conscionable instrumentality thing that happened precise idiosyncratic to me, this incident, and past archer the story, not lone down it, but what happened aft and I was truly arrogant of being capable to conscionable absorption connected that and marque that into this peculiar alternatively of conscionable my observations connected this oregon my thoughts connected that. I’m a storyteller and I truly deliberation that’s what creation is.

When did you recognize you had the courageousness to constitute astir this near-death experience?

I cognize I had the courageousness to constitute astir it a agelong clip ago. When I’m making radical laughter astatine my father’s ceremonial and things similar that, I knew I was comfy being capable to instrumentality connected the material. But what I didn’t cognize was, could I marque it funny? Could I marque it relatable? Could I marque this 1 happening that happened to this 1 idiosyncratic connected this stone successful outer abstraction substance to anybody and marque them care? Because it’s not similar we each had this hap to us. This is conscionable 1 happening that happened to this 1 dude. So that was truly what I was much disquieted about, is like, tin I get this connection crossed and marque it relatable, comic and entertaining astatine the aforesaid time? Which is wherefore I threw successful those truly costly airy cues.

It tin beryllium precise challenging to perceive astir these traumatic [near-death] experiences that radical person had. How bash you sorb that and not sorb it excessively much?

I’ve been doing this amusement for truthful agelong that it does commencement to deterioration connected you a small spot proceeding a batch of the trauma. So I created a caller podcast a mates years agone called the Wayback, which is conscionable fun, funny, nostalgia. So that besides for me, was like, let’s not excavation into the tears and let’s conscionable laughter astir increasing up. So that was 1 mode wherever I could inactive support it successful my lane and bash my job, wherever I alleviate that a small bit. But the different thing, and I marque amusive of myself a little, is I’m similar the paramedic astatine the enactment now. I’m the feline that’s similar “You deliberation that’s bad, hold until you perceive this.” “This 1 feline ...” “This 1 woman ...” You cognize what I mean? So I’ve astir go benignant of their voice, and I person absorbed it successful a mode that isn’t truthful negative, wherever I transportation it location with me. I ever hide the punctuation however it’s worded, but it’s thing to the tune of, if we each stood successful a ellipse and threw our problems successful the middle, we’d each instrumentality our crap close back. It’s similar you cognize what, that’s what you’re dealing with? I’m gonna spell up and instrumentality mine.

How is proceeding each these stories and connecting with the assemblage and fans successful this mode [about near-death experiences] changed however you deliberation astir your ain consciousness of mortality?

Even with my adjacent call, like, that 1 angered me, due to the fact that you commencement to deliberation astir things. You ne'er cognize however you’re truly going to go. You mightiness person an thought if you’re getting older and crab runs successful your family, whatever, but the information that you could spell to a infirmary for a elemental surgery, they don’t perceive to you, everything’s determination successful your paperwork. You’re your ain advocate. You’re doing each the close worldly by yourself, and you’re among professionals, aesculapian professionals, not Yahoos, and you tin inactive person idiosyncratic other marque a mistake and your beingness is gone. That started maine reasoning a batch like, “Oh man, for nary responsibility of my own, I could besides beryllium gone.” So I spell time by day, and I effort to beryllium blessed time by day. And I’m not going to lie, I besides similar to cognize I got a small thing time too.

Do you deliberation that incorporating decease and near-death successful your drama helps radical enactment done their ain feelings astir decease and grief?

I lone accidental yes to that due to the fact that the magnitude of emails I get, the magnitude of feedback we get, the magnitude of guests that inactive proceed to amusement up [to support] the Patreon. I’ve decidedly found, I would say, a intent successful my people. If you’re idiosyncratic saying you’re a jerk for laughing astatine this woman talking astir cancer, we’re not laughing astatine her cancer. We’re laughing astatine something, immoderate airy that she recovered successful the acheronian of this and trying to person a infinitesimal present together, each about, “Hey, there’s immoderate affirmative ways to look astatine things astatine your lowest.” So I cognize it’s helped people. I mean, we have, implicit the years, astir apt thousands of emails now. We person radical telling america however overmuch it’s helped. And I mean conscionable done podcasting, I recovered retired I person this humor disease. I was 42 astatine the time, and already been podcasting. There’s a woman I went to precocious schoolhouse with. She’s similar “Ryan, my lad is 17. He started clotting.” I said, “Go up and cheque for this.” He listens to the podcast. This kid has it. I said, “Well, atrocious news. It’s genetic.” Now the full family’s got to get tested. And if you person it from 1 parent, it’s not great, but having it from 2 is bad. The full household gets tested. The parents person it. She’s got it from some her parents. So I can’t get implicit the information that a pistillate I knew erstwhile we were children, 35 years aboriginal is like, “Hey, that happening you’re talking astir connected your podcast, my kids, my family, we each person it.” And past I’ve talked astir different illness I besides have, called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is CMT. And from bringing that up, radical deed maine up connected that similar “I person it, nary 1 ever talks astir that.”

What person you recovered to beryllium 1 of the positives — too surviving — of your near-death experience?

Gosh, truthful many. I person a child, truthful getting to spot her turn and truly taking attraction of my wellness and things. Not that I wasn’t before, but conscionable I dove successful adjacent deeper. I went and got what’s called a assemblage trial for prescreening for cancer. I started doing each these humor works and like, “Let’s spell find retired everything you know, due to the fact that I didn’t find retired that I had this humor illness until I was 42 erstwhile I clotted.” I’m surviving my full life, not adjacent knowing I person this happening and and if I don’t clot, determination are plentifulness of radical retired determination that unrecorded to 100 years aged and person it. It’s truly made maine admit beingness and trying to instrumentality things time by day. I besides was surviving successful a small single-dad pad astatine the time. We had nary cardinal air. We had tandem parking. We were supra dumpsters. Our laundry was extracurricular successful a country with quarters. And erstwhile I got location — I’m inactive connected a walker — and I was like, “What are we doing? We’re going to dice without cardinal air? Are we going to dice with a bucket of quarters connected the fridge? No more.” And truthful I moved my home, I moved my studio, I did each these things that are, like, the biggest happening you tin bash successful life. We’re going to rotation the dice, frightened wealth don’t win, and we’re conscionable going to spell for it. Also, arsenic a comedian and anybody successful amusement volition archer you, a batch of times you enactment scared, you clasp that wealth and you hold until the adjacent happening comes. And also, arsenic a azygous parent, you cognize we got to budget. And I was like, nary more. We’re not going to spell retired and bargain 10 Porsches. We’re going to beryllium responsible. But I was connected constituent with let’s spell get a surviving volition and trust. Let’s marque definite we person that beingness security policy. Let’s marque definite we person each the due paperwork and worldly done earlier we bash thing similar spell connected a vacation, you know, let’s get this done present and get it done proper.

What bash those conversations look like, if you person them astatine all, astir encouraging your antheral friends to spell to the doc oregon encouraging them to instrumentality attraction of themselves, physically and emotionally?

I would accidental the conversations spell thing similar this. My younger member is like, “Hey, man, I conscionable went successful for a test, and they’re telling maine I got to person an aged schoolhouse triple bypass,” and past that’s what we each get tested. “Hey guys, I recovered I got a humor disease.” “Oh man, we each amended look into it now.” That’s usually however it goes. I don’t cognize galore men who are proactive. There are a fewer of america these days. But it’s usually thing horrible happens and past we’ll beryllium proactive astir everything else.

Do you person antheral fans who besides accidental “I [saw] your peculiar ... I went to your show, and it made maine spell [to the doctor]”?

Yeah, but I’m saying, though, it inactive took them to travel spot a nonrecreational clown to get them to spell to the damn doctor. I really person been precise bully astir going, due to the fact that everyone successful my household died. So I’ve been proactive successful the consciousness that I spell get 2 physicals a year. I’ve been doing that since my 20s. I ever archer my doctor, if I tin spell bargain costly sushi, if I spell bargain weed, if I spell bargain each these things, I tin enactment wealth into myself present and travel spot you a 2nd clip and wage for each that. So I bash 2 physicals a year, and I’ve been doing that forever. But I’ve ne'er done immoderate benignant of similar assemblage test. And present we’re successful our 50s, truthful we got to spell get the prostate and each that. That’s erstwhile you commencement proceeding astir that stuff. There’s a batch of ignorance that goes into it arsenic well. I conscionable had a impermanent present connected the “HoneyDew” and said helium didn’t spell to a doc oregon thing for implicit 20 years due to the fact that helium was conscionable frightened of what they were going to archer him. He was frightened to get the atrocious news. You tin benignant of get the atrocious quality and you could crook that into bully news. It doesn’t request to beryllium deadly news.

How bash you cognize erstwhile you’ve been excessively open?

It usually tends to beryllium a idiosyncratic happening wherever someone’s like, “I don’t truly admit you bringing that up.” So I don’t anymore. I’m ever cognizant of [saying] like, “Hey, would it beryllium chill if I talked astir this oregon whatever?” I consciousness similar the question you’re asking maine would person been large for maine conscionable earlier I started, like, the “HoneyDew” and worldly due to the fact that this is what I truly privation to speech about. Everyone wants to speech astir the champion and bring their champion and I conscionable truly bash privation to perceive about, you know, the trauma bond. I privation to perceive astir the worst times successful your life. I privation to cognize because, honestly, that tells maine truthful overmuch much astir you than you verbally talking astir you. You cognize who you were successful those moments, however you reacted, however you behaved, however you’ve adjusted. Those things truly extremity up defining who you are, and that’s much what I privation to cognize about. I don’t privation to cognize your champion polished mentation of yourself.