RISK! Podcast Live

Like an X-rated Modern Love, told live

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS – Tune in as host Kevin Allison leads a cathartic, laugh-out-loud, anything-goes kind of storytelling smorgasbord uncovering and recording the daring truths of RISK! “Jaw-dropping, hysterically funny, and just plain touching” (slate.com), RISK! is where Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Lili Taylor, and Andy Borowitz have all bared soul. Tears will flow, guts will wrench and bellies will ache. Join us on the Dré as we record for podcasting and posterity on Saturday, July 1, at 8pm.

Kevin Allison got his start with the legendary sketch comedy troupe The State. When the troupe’s MTV show ended in 1995, its members disbanded and Allison failed to take off. After another solo show in 2009, fellow comedian and The State alum, Michael Ian Black, suggested Allison “drop the act and tell some of [his] own stories.” Allison’s first reaction: “Yikes, that just seems so risky…” But heeding Black’s advice, Allison was on stage the next week; “Suddenly, I was looking right into the eyes of audience members,” Allison stated “We were reacting to each other, like friends. After the show, people didn’t just say, ‘That was funny,’ they said, ‘Thank you. That really got to me.’”

That first dive into live storytelling became RISK! in August 2009. The place “where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share in public,” became an instant hit. Unlike other storytelling shows, such as The Moth, RISK! pushes its participants, both famous and otherwise, as far out on a limb as possible to share tales usually reserved for drinks with best friends or the confines of a therapist’s office. Raw, uncensored, and at times controversial, the stories range from the sacred to the profane, the hilarious to the horrific. For the audience, it’s a chance to connect to all that makes us human. As one fan put it, “If you are looking for stories that SHOCK YOU INTO BEING HUMAN again…this is the place.”

The RISK! podcast premiered shortly after the live show in October 2009. Hosted by Allison, the weekly podcast includes not only the best stories from the live shows, but also “radio-style” stories and interstitial music and comedy from artists all over the world. Described as “One of the bright spots in the comedy podcast explosion” by the LA Times, the RISK! Podcast draws 2 million downloads a month and has won both NYC PodFests’ Excellence in Podcasting Award and ECNY’s Award for Best Podcast. The monthly live show, winner of an ECNY Award for Best Variety Show, has now grown bi-coastal and is hosted at The Bell House in Brooklyn and the Bootleg Theater in LA. RISK! also tours to sold-out crowds from Philly to Portland, OR, as well as internationally. RISK! comes to MASS MoCA on Saturday, July 1, at 8pm, where the theme of the night is “revolting,” featuring stories that horrify, inspire, or spark revolt.

On Saturday we hope to be outside under the Dré Pavilion, located directly outside our museum lobby. Inside or out, our in-house café Lickety Split will deliver your dinner and the bar is always well-stocked with Bright Ideas Brewing beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Word to the wise: RISK! might get dirty; this event is best suited for audiences 16 and up. Tickets are $12 for students and in advance, $18 day of, and $24 preferred. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am to 5pm every day except Tuesdays. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased online at massmoca.org.

Images
High-resolution images of MASS MoCA’s summer 2017 events are available through this link.

About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making, displaying, and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video. MASS MoCA nearly doubled its gallery space in spring 2017, with artist partnerships that include Laurie Anderson, the Louise Bourgeois Trust, Jenny Holzer, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and James Turrell.

Gallery admission is $20 for adults, $18 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is seasonal and currently on view. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit massmoca.org.

Hours
11am to 5pm, closed Tuesdays

Summer Hours (beginning June 26)
10am to 6pm, Sundays–Wednesdays
10am to 7pm, Thursdays–Saturdays

Download the RISK! Podcast press release.