Live & Alive

Ryan Sickler nearly died of a massive pulmonary embolism, and instead of keeping his medical trauma private, he turned his three-week hospital stay into a comedy set about incompetent nurses, heavy prescription drugs, and a fellow patient undergoing maggot therapy. On stage, he uses his signature wheezy laugh and highly conversational storytelling to transition from the brink of death to the absurdity of modern parenting.\n\nFilmed at Comedy on State in Madison, Wisconsin, and self-produced for a YouTube release in 2025, the hour finds Sickler leaning heavily into the blue-collar, story-driven style that built his podcasting fanbase on The HoneyDew. At this point in his career, he was juggling multiple hit podcasts and a steady touring schedule, and the material reflects that road-worn ease. He recounts calling Tom Segura from his hospital bed to say goodbye, only to survive and have to explain the drama later.\n\nAside from the medical crisis, Sickler spends time contrasting his blue-collar Maryland childhood with his daughter’s life in Los Angeles. Notable routines include his outright refusal to accept that Pluto is no longer a planet during pandemic-era homeschooling, a chaotic childhood game of capture-the-flag that went wildly wrong, and a brief, awkward backstage interaction with Brad Pitt.