SoHo Playhouse will host the Off-Broadway premiere of “Hard To Say,” a comedy written and performed by Kyle Ayers, best known for appearances on Conan and Comedy Central. The limited engagement runs September 4–14, 2025, at the downtown New York venue.
Ayers, a 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Best Newcomer Award nominee, brings humor to his experience living with chronic pain from Trigeminal Neuralgia, a rare nerve disorder often referred to as the “suicide disease” for the intensity of its attacks. The show blends storytelling and stand-up, charting Ayers’ misdiagnoses, brain surgery, and the realities of navigating a life with ongoing pain.
“We’ve got to laugh at some point,” Ayers says of the production, which has been praised for balancing dark subject matter with sharp humor. Fellow comedians Alex Edelman called the show “as well-crafted as it is hilarious,” while Adam Conover noted, “The hardest I’ve ever laughed at the darkest jokes I’ve heard.”
Ayers has performed at Just for Laughs Montreal, Bonnaroo, The New York Comedy Festival, and SF Sketchfest, among others, and his debut album Happiness reached No. 1 on iTunes’ comedy chart.
Performances of Hard To Say are scheduled Mondays through Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. at SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street. Tickets are priced at $37.50 and available through SoHo Playhouse. The show runs approximately 65 minutes.
SoHo Playhouse continues its tradition of spotlighting innovative works from New York and abroad through its Lighthouse Series and International Fringe Encore Series, evolving the Off-Broadway landscape with unique voices and stories.
