Thin Lips

Brendan Sagalow’s debut special gets its best mileage out of a specific kind of low-stakes anxiety that only a neurotic New Yorker could nurture. The set focuses on his struggle with newfound sobriety and dating in New York City, where being sober is treated as a severe character flaw rather than a healthy life choice. Instead of treating his lifestyle pivot with heavy-handed gravity, Sagalow uses it to fuel self-deprecation about his weight, his therapy, and his lingering paranoia that everything is a scam.\n\nFilmed at the New York Comedy Club in December 2023 and released on YouTube in August 2024, the 45-minute set showcases Sagalow’s decade-plus tenure on the club circuit. It features a strong chunk comparing the New York subway system to the waiting room of a mental hospital, alongside a story about performing a stand-up set for inmates at Rikers Island. He also touches on growing up on Long Island with an unearned affinity for hip-hop, putting his self-doubt on display before a hometown audience that has watched him climb from a 2022 Just For Laughs New Face to a regular guest on podcasts like Tuesdays with Stories and Are You Garbage?