Narratively

My mission as a hospital clown was bringing laughter to life’s darkest moments. One little kid in chemo taught me what the job was really all about.

I had a gun in my hand when I decided to finally give that open-mic night a shot. Seven years later, I’m a professional comedian.

Halfway through my gig on an ocean liner, a guest mysteriously disappeared — and I had to keep everyone laughing.

Ally Bruener used comedy to express what it's like to live with muscular dystrophy. But now she spends all her time battling Medicaid just to take care of her basic needs.

Going through my childhood with a last name nearly identical to the mother of all curse words was utter torture. But only after my family changed it did the regrets really begin.

Chris Crespo was born with a rare physical condition that left him with half-length arms – and a killer sense of humor.

In the early ’90s I hustled my way through New York’s cutthroat black stand-up scene — and learned the hard way that corny jokes were no laughing matter.

For the past 28 years I’ve built a stand-up routine based largely on my New York neuroses, and scheduled around my personal phobia of leaving the five boroughs. When I booked a weeklong gig on the other side of the planet I had no idea what to...

As the loving son of a clown, he reveled in all the goofy wonder. As a grown man, he returns to the ring and discovers what was really underneath that permanent painted-on smile.