42 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
D
ahn Brickner said he has liked
manipulating puppets since he
was 8 years old.
Since then, while accepting responsibili-
ties as a marketing and business writer, he
occasionally would make time to appear in
comedy clubs, using puppets as his medi-
um, sometimes during open mic nights
and other times as a paid performer.
Now, a few months away from turn-
ing 61 and describing health problems
that prevent him from doing continuing
computer assignments, he is joining with
another comedian, Billy Ray Bauer, to test
out some new routines in a show called
“Live & Laugh.
”
The two will be appearing in a dinner
and comedy show Friday evening, Oct. 21,
in a private section of Shield’s Pizza in Troy.
The 90-minute show follows a pizza-pasta
dinner, and the comedians bring in a small
platform along with lighting and sound
equipment.
“The show packages up two guys who
have worked together before,
” Brickner said.
“I’ve done this for my entire life, but this is
an adult use of puppetry. I have characters
I’ve featured at many comedy clubs in the
metro area.
”
Brickner, who addresses his act to baby
boomers, has a segment about a Jewish
senior trying out a Jewish dating service.
“I found that the way to really face the
aging process with some degree of accep-
tance and some degree of grace is to laugh
about it,
” Brickner said. “To me, humor is
the ultimate outlet in life.
“There are few things that are too sacred
to joke about. Humor is how we handle
things. When we get older, if we can’t laugh
at ourselves, what’s happening to us togeth-
er, that’s a pretty desperate situation. I find
release and comfort in humor, and I think a
lot of people do.
“Joking about aging and embracing it and
talking about what’s inherently funny about
it is a great thing.
”
Bauer, who has a more general comedy
act, has been appearing in clubs for 35 years
and has been seen on Comedy Central and
Just for Laughs on TV
.
Brickner’s interest in puppetry started by
watching Paul Winchell with puppet Jerry
Mahoney and buying Winchell’s recordings
to learn the craft of ventriloquism. When
Brickner was 10, his father took him to a
puppet show performed by Willy Tyler and
puppet Lester, and that served as further
motivation after going backstage and meet-
ing the entertainer, who did some improvis-
ing with his own and Brickner’s puppets.
Although Brickner performed at kids’
parties before starting high school, he
stopped because he didn’t think it was cool.
He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from
Wayne State University, started working in
the corporate sector and returned to some
ventriloquism after marrying and becoming
the father of two.
He performed for his own children and
then moved into bookstores before giving
up ventriloquism again while doing some
comedy writing for corporate occasions.
“Five or six years ago, I decided to pick
up the puppets again,
” said Brickner, who
lives in Shelby Township and thinks of
himself as culturally Jewish. “I sold some
of the kid-oriented puppets, and I bought
professional puppets made and customized
in California.
“I have a Trump puppet and a Clinton
puppet and I would do comedy like that,
but it’s not always amenable to audiences.
Most of the comedy I do is joking about the
aging process.
”
Brickner, who met Bauer at a comedy
club, has appeared at Mark Ridley’s Comedy
Castle in Royal Oak, Ann Arbor Comedy
Showcase, Big Tommy’s Parthenon and
Comedy Club in Novi and Go Comedy!
Improv Theater in Ferndale. He gives his
new act an R rating.
“Humor is something that really can
transcend all barriers and divisions between
people who are so polarized right now,
”
Brickner said. “It is the notion that we can
all put everything aside and laugh about
things that we share.
“Because my material focuses on the
inevitability of growing old and being able
to laugh about it, I think that’s a barrier
crosser, something that allows us to find
something in common and laugh together.
Laughter’s very important.
”
Dahn
Brickner
and his
puppets
‘Live & Laugh’
ARTS&LIFE
COMEDY
Details
“Live & Laugh” starts seating at
6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, at Shield’s
Pizza, 1476 Maple Road, Troy. $28.
eventbrite.com/e/live-laugh-tick-
ets-400711838897.
Ventriloquist Dahn Brickner’s adult
humor focuses on aging.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER