Laura Merli’s Debut Special Belly Slappin’ Fun Focuses on the Funny

“Does anyone just tell jokes anymore?” my father-in-law implored at the dinner table last weekend. And while he’s hardly the first to make this complaint, I get where he’s coming from. So many comedians are touted as storytellers and truth sharers these days that we sometimes lose sight of what their job is: to make us nearly piss ourselves laughing. While her awkward, irreverent comedy may not be tailored to straight-laced boomers like my beloved father-in-law, stand-up Laura Merli proves with her debut half-hour Belly Slappin’ Fun that yes, there are still comics who focus on delivering consistent, laugh-out-loud punchlines. 

Merli’s style—one-liners stacked on top of each other that are sometimes interconnected but just as often not—shares comedy DNA with her idols Mitch Hedberg and Maria Bamford. The short, punchy jokes are there, along with the jarring transitions, like when she pivots from talking about UTIs to her tamagotchis. There’s also a relatable social unease that propels her set forward. This is aided by Flop House Comedy Club’s layout; it’s a small venue, with the audience claustrophobically close to the stage. Merli’s energy comes across as more frantic than it might in a larger space, and the audience gets to stew in any discomfort until they start laughing. 

Between her puns and jokes flourished with silly pronunciations, Merli emits a flat, almost humorless chuckle that instantly endears her to the viewer. Her laugh is so idiosyncratic that it makes whatever bit she just did even funnier. Her voice is likewise a bit monotone, which contrasts beautifully with her wild, off-the-wall anecdotes. Merli is a self-confessed awkward person, and she uses any stiltedness to her advantage while performing. 

Merli spends Belly Slappin’ Fun talking about just about anything under the sun, from standard stand-up fodder like sex and drugs to more personal topics, like having autism, being on antipsychotics, and getting tooth implants in her teens. However, she doesn’t approach these more specific and sometimes sensitive subjects with the same emotional patina that lots of comedians use nowadays to lend gravitas to their sets. Merli focuses on the funny instead, and it’s so refreshing.  

When it comes to physical humor, Merli takes a less-is-more approach for much of the special, employing understated movements to sell a bit until suddenly she goes big—and yes, I am talking about the titular belly slappin’. Her word choice when crafting jokes is just as discerning. Merli can crack you up with a succinct nickname for an evening snack or her truly visceral imagery to describe a sex injury (one of three she describes to the crowd). 

Old school in style, modern in subject matter, yet entirely original, Laura Merli’s Belly Slappin’ Fun feels the natural next step in comedy’s evolution.

Watch Belly Slappin’ Fun for free on YouTube.