Paul Mecurio Will Bring Audience Members On Stage To Speak Their Mind in New Off Broadway Show
Do you feel like you don’t have a safe space to say what you really think? Paul Mecurio wants to give you a safe space to speak publicly about how you feel with a new Off Broadway show, “Permission to Speak with Paul Mecurio”.
Mecurio plans to improvise with audience members by randomly bringing them on stage and talking with them about who they are, their lives, interests, personal experiences and what they honestly think. He wants the audience to feel that they can say what they want without worrying about what he’s calling “contrived political correctness” or fear of offending. He promises the show will be funny first and foremost, but also a “truly freeing experience.”
“People have very revealing, fun and refreshingly honest things to say that no one has ever bothered to ask,” says Paul Mecurio, “so I created a show where audiences can have a lot of laughs and are free to be open and honest … by the way, when needed, we’re calling BS on the BS! I love the unscripted format, it’s fun, keeps me and the audience on our toes and we end up on this unexpected journey together into funny truths. Everyone has a story, every night people reveal something fun and eye-opening and in the process, people come to understand and appreciate one another a little more.”
Permission to Speak with Paul Mecurio opens on July 23rd at the Jerry Orbach Theater in New York City, with previews beginning July 16.
Mecurio is an Emmy and Peabody award winning comedian who headlines shows throughout the US and Europe. Prior to entering the world of entertainment, Mecurio worked as a lawyer on Wall Street at a top tier international law firm (Willkie Farr & Gallagher) and as an investment banker at a major Investment Bank (Credit Suisse), executing multi-million-dollar M&A transactions for Fortune 500 companies. While on Wall Street, Mecurio had a chance encounter with late night comedy icon, Jay Leno, who subsequently hired him to write jokes for NBC’s The Tonight Show. After living a secret double life as a Wall Street lawyer/banker by day and comedian by night, Mecurio, at the encouragement of Leno, left his day job to go into entertainment full time. This led to his work on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”.
Partnering with longtime friends and creative collaborators from The Late Show, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, PERMISSION TO SPEAK will feature set consultation by Emmy Award-winning set designer Jim Fenhagen, digital mapping by Tim Donovan and Ryan Kelly of industry leading experiential marketing studio Bravo Media and Optoma Projection, and lighting design by Michael Scricca.
Opie and Anthony fans also remember him as the comedian at the center of the Sex for Sam contest that ultimately got Opie and Anthony booted off the air at WNEW and possibly ending an era of radio.
The show will play Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8:00pm at the Jerry Orbach Theater at NY’s Theater Center (1627 Broadway, New York) beginning Monday, July 16, 2018 through Wednesday, August 15, 2018.
To purchase tickets, please go to: Ticketmaster or call the box office at 212.921.7862.
