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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Son of Your Dreams

Katie Novotny

YouTube · 2026 · 30 min

A Midwestern tomboy on Fox News dads and dating droughts.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Released , on YouTube.

Katie Novotny spends a solid stretch of her debut special trying to convince a room full of St. Louis strangers that she is straight, mostly because her Fox News-watching dad has his doubts. Raised in Illinois as one of her father’s boys despite having an actual brother, Novotny traces how learning to throw a football and hang a picture frame turned her into a woman who confuses straight men. She even pitches the men in the crowd on a holiday bearding arrangement, and she sounds only half-joking.

The rest of the 37-minute set works outward from that same family orbit and a 13-year dating drought. On “Trying to Find Someone to (at least) Gaslight Me,” she admits to envying her married friends’ fights over dishwasher loading because at least someone is emotionally manipulating them from a mattress on the floor. Elsewhere she gets into her three priest uncles (“Three Catholic Pruncles”), childhood Catholic guilt, and the quiet divide between her dad’s Fox News habits and her own Instagram-fed news diet.

She closes the taping by tossing a game ball from the stage to a fan while her dad watches from the back of the room.

Recorded on November 15, 2025, to a sold-out crowd at Atomic by Jamo during the Flyover Comedy Festival, the special was a completely self-funded effort. Novotny came up through Second City and iO in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles in 2021, building a resume out of indie web series and national commercials while grinding on the road. She dropped the video for free on YouTube in early 2026, where it pulled around 15,000 views, before releasing the audio album through Brandie Posey’s DIY label Burn This Records in October.

Notable bits & set list

5 bits

  1. Moving to Los Angeles as a Midwesterner who drinks whole milk and loves small talk

    Contrasts Midwestern neighborliness with LA baristas judging whole milk orders and complimenting a CVS employee's uniform.

  2. Attending her grandmother's 96th birthday and taking an Ancestry.com test

    Jokes about paying monthly fees for white people to discover European roots, confirming Polish and Czechoslovakian heritage her grandma already told them.

  3. Father raising her like a son despite having a son

    Explains how her Republican father, who watches Fox News while she watches Instagram, taught her to throw football spirals and softballs, inadvertently intimidating men away.

  4. Dressing like the lesbian coach from a Sandlot reboot while being completely straight

    Details how her masculine athletic presence attracts DMs from women and confuses straight men, proposing a beard arrangement for the holidays.

  5. Dating standards dropping after years of singleness

    Admits to envying friends in bad relationships and wishing to be emotionally manipulated by a guy who keeps his mattress on the floor without a bed frame.

How it plays

Tone
Self-deprecating, candid, biting, and introspective.
On stage
Self-described Midwestern tomboy; self-deprecating, fearless, and relatable.
Pace
Conversational momentum punctuated by high-energy act-outs and Midwestern warmth.
About
Midwestern upbringing versus living in Los Angeles, Catholic guilt, Relationship with her father and political differences, Gender roles, tomboy identity, and being mistaken for a lesbian, Dating disasters, prolonged singleness, and low romantic standards

What the critics said

Praised for sharp storytelling, fearless vulnerability, and razor-edged punchlines that balance personal introspection with broad comedic relatability.

In the room: Enthusiastic sold-out festival crowd composed of friends, family, and local comedy patrons.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: stlmag.com, themaneater.com, do314.com, weownthelaughs.com, imdb.com, voyagela.com, thereitispod.com.

Backstory

Filmed during the eighth Flyover Comedy Festival in St. Louis; explores her Midwestern Catholic upbringing, relationship with her conservative father, and life after moving to Los Angeles.

Details

Released
Taped
2025, Atomic by Jamo, St. Louis
Runtime
30 min
Where
YouTube
Topics

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