Comic Ahmed Bharoocha walks on stage on the Lyric Hyperion in Silver Lake to a sold-out present. The viewers erupts with loud cheers as he grabs the mic and takes within the second of his first particular. As director Andrew Max Levy pops in from backstage to cease filming and hush the viewers they usually come to a sudden cease. The director and the comic embrace one another and Bharoocha thanks the viewers for popping out.
And similar to that, Spesh, a newly fashioned, L.A.-based manufacturing firm and distributor of other comedy specials, wrapped the ultimate shot of its third particular of the yr.
“I think we want to get it more regularly, like one a month would be our 2026 goal,” stated Sean Casey, producer of Spesh.
“Three in a year seems low for what we want to do,” added Mike Bridenstine, common supervisor of the Lyric Hyperion and producer with the corporate.
Positioned in Silver Lake, Spesh strives to zag whereas everyone seems to be zigging, stated Jake Kroeger, one of many producers behind the choice comedy troupe.
The group reacts to Ahmed Bharoocha’s stand-up comedy efficiency.
(Karla Gachet / For The Instances)
Conversations about beginning the manufacturing firm started in 2024 and went into 2025 amongst Casey, Bridenstine and Kroeger. The three have been across the L.A. comedy scene for years and felt prefer it was time for a shake-up. They observed streaming platforms had been full of specials that each one appeared and felt the identical, stylistically talking, making a landfill of repetitive comedy.
By Spesh, their objective is to deliver alt-comedy — humor that breaks conventional guidelines — to the mainstream. They needed to rewrite the playbook and produce that sort of comedy out of 75-seat black containers behind espresso retailers.
“For an art form that’s supposed to be breaking the rules, there sure are a lot of rules,” Bridenstine stated. “People are ready for something new,” he added.
The 2 specials they’ve produced have stayed true to the parameters they set for themselves. They’ve helped set up their ethos with two massive swings.
The crew from Spesh hangs out with comedians Ahmed Bharoocha and Simon Gibson within the again room on the Lyric Hyperion.
(Karla Gachet / For The Instances)
Their first particular, Emily Browning’s “Temporary, Beautiful,” was launched Sept. 4. The improvised 70-minute present follows her making balloon animals whereas riffing with viewers members about romance, dangerous roommates and a re-creation of the bag scene from “American Beauty.”
“Teeny Tiny” by Joey Greer was launched Sept. 15. The off-the-wall particular, filmed with a grainy ‘90s filter, follows the comedian playing with the conventions of comedy, sketches and live performances throughout his hour.
Like those two specials, Bharoocha’s will likely be launched on YouTube.
When Spesh approaches performers, it doesn’t need to hear their dream comedy particular that Netflix hasn’t discovered. They need to hear the bizarre concepts that nobody even desires to listen to.
“A lot of times you see a comedy special and you see a comedian in an absolute biggest space that they could possibly get ahold of and we know that that’s not how everybody’s living it day-to-day,” Casey stated. “We wanted to see specials that looked like the shows that we’d go to and we put on, and that our friends go to.”
Their objective is to seize a second within the lives of those comedians that showcases their materials proper earlier than they launch into the mainstream.
“We really want to, not only highlight comedians that we think are special, but we really want to give a platform to what their voice could potentially express in the most wonderful, hilarious way,” Kroeger stated.
They’ve examined ideas on stage that haven’t labored; generally comedians themselves have realized their act wants extra finessing.
Ahmed Bharoocha, proper, greets his spouse, Abby Londer, and kids, Rukaiya and Walter Bharoocha, after his efficiency on the Lyric Hyperion.
(Karla Gachet / For The Instances)
The creators of Spesh say their job is to curate a playlist of comedy specials from must-see comedians to uplift their careers — to provide them area to comfortably be themselves in entrance of an viewers and a few cameras. “Selfishly, I would love it if better comedy got into people, and for these comics, I think they would like to be seen by an audience who likes comedy,” Bridenstine stated.
When Casey requested Bharoocha, a 41-year-old comedian from Santa Barbara, if he needed to movie a particular, he didn’t have an hour able to be filmed.
“Actually, when I said yes to the special, I didn’t realize it was a full hour,” Bharoocha stated. “When I finally realized that, it just made me hit the mics, hit the shows and just start sharpening up and getting it ready for the special.”
Initially, Spesh needed to supply a comedy particular stuffed along with his animal jokes. As conversations went on, Bharoocha and firm moved on from the concept and his hour was jokes about secret handshakes and his culturally various upbringing — however nonetheless with quantity of jokes concerning the animal kingdom.
Bharoocha is happy to indicate the web his type of comedy, however stated there’s no added stress — he simply had enjoyable with it.
“I’ve been doing stand-up for 21 years now, and my take on specials has evolved,” Bharoocha stated. “I don’t necessarily have any certain expectations for it. It was more like, I wanted to capture an hour that I was really proud of.”
