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- Don't let this white fur fool you.

This is a proud black woman right here, okay?

- I just notice a standup comedy show with dogs.

- [Nick and Jolie] Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

(dogs howling) - That counts as laugh.

Boom!

(reflective music) - Hey, run around!

Catch the ball!

Do this, you wanna play?

(dogs barking) (reflective music) (reflective music continues) (gentle music) - We're coming to the comedy show for dogs.

(gentle music) - I love having a place in New York City where I can bring my dog to come and hang out.

Have a couple drinks and hang out with friends.

Yeah, it's great.

(gentle music) - Showtime!

- What's going on.

- Hey Lydia!

- Hey.

- [Nick] Good to see you.

- Would you mind holding her so we can start setting up all the tables, getting everything situated?

- Yeah, thank you.

- I'm Jolie.

- And I'm Nick Polanco.

- And together we are, - [Nick and Jolie] Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

- Wow, that was good.

We even practiced that.

- Not too bad.

- That's good.

(gentle music) - Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

It's a not-for-profit organization where we produce dog friendly comedy shows that individuals can bring their dogs to the show.

We raise money for animal rescue, animal shelters and we put the spotlight on underrepresented performers here throughout the city.

- Test one, two.

How does it sound in the back?

(cheerful music) Let's have a good show.

- How cool is it to see comedy and to be able to bring our dog.

So, that's why we keep coming back.

(gentle music) - [Jolie] We have a diverse lineup of performers.

- Thank you both for coming.

It'll be a good show.

Good show.

- Thanks for having me.

Having us.

(gentle music) - We have an environment where a bunch of dogs are running around crazy and we're just creating community for animal lovers, comedy lovers, and ultimately, just trying our best to raise money and awareness for animal rescue.

(gentle music) Hello, hello, hello.

(audience clapping) Thank you all so much for being here.

Make some noise if you have been to a Must Love Dogs And Comedy Show before.

(audience cheering and clapping) Oh, wow.

The dog, I heard a dog say, "Whoop, me!"

And so Must Love Dogs And Comedy, a little bit about us.

We produce comedy events that you can bring your dogs to that also raise money and awareness for animal rescue.

So in our short tenure, about a year and a half, we've been able to raise over $18,000 for animal rescue.

(audience cheering and clapping) Nick went over the rules, so if your dog goes to the bathroom, just let us know.

It's okay.

We'll clean it up.

If you pee on the floor, we're doing our jobs.

(audience laughing) Make 'em laugh, right?

If you're ready for a great show, I wanna hear you say, "Aw whoo!"

(audience howling) Yes!

You might know her from the New York Comedy Fest.

Start clapping your paws for, Divya Gunasekaran!

(audience cheering and clapping) - I think people know that dogs are better than people 'cause men will always put a profile pick with a dog.

Right?

Yeah, is anyone, clap it up if you're on the dating apps.

(audience laughing) Okay.

Do you have a picture with your dog?

- I do.

(audience laughing) With a dog.

- And it works really well!

Yeah, but that works, right?

Here's the thing, like I'm glad you actually have a dog.

Half the time, the men do not even have a dog.

(audience laughing) I would rather you lie about being married.

(audience laughing) Than lie about having a dog.

Okay?

- We've worked with Divya a few times.

She's awesome.

She's so sweet.

There's a lot of factors that you have to kind of roll with the punches 'cause you just don't know what to expect and don't know how dogs might react.

- That's why I think the real icon for single women is, Lady Liberty.

(audience laughing) We have the same dating mantra.

Give me you're poor, you're tired.

Yeah.

I'll take anyone.

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

(dog barking) (audience laughing) I'll be honest, that wail was exactly how I felt inside at that moment.

- We're on a mission to challenge the status quo of comedy in a lot of different ways.

- Right, right.

- I am bisexual.

I told that to my father, always gets one woo and one bark.

(audience laughing) I told that to my father when I was 12 years old.

He told me, "Look, I love you no matter what you have to do, to not be bi."

And that.

(audience laughing) - Will Purpura.

Super, super nice guy and just funny, absolutely funny individual.

- Trying to get 10,000 laughs a day.

So every laugh counts, you know what I'm saying?

I'm trying to look for chuckles, chortles, giggles.

Guffaws, saw somebody yawn.

That counts.

Using the same muscles in your face.

And for tonight, I'm also counting barks.

I'm counting woof woofs.

I'm counting howls and growls and yips and yaps.

Everything counts as a laugh.

This is my new positive mindset.

Who's doing it with me?

Yes.

(audience cheering and clapping) Who woke up in a car this morning?

Come on.

Come on, we're doing it.

Yeah.

Whose therapist is taking three weeks off, and you told them it's okay, but it's not okay.

All right, come on, let's do it again.

Let's do it for the dogs now.

Okay.

Who's doing it, gang?

Who took a dump on the floor this morning?

Come on.

Come on.

We're doing it.

Who pretended that it wasn't them?

Come on.

(audience laughing) One big laugh in the back.

That counts as tens.

That counts as a laugh.

Boom.

Got it.

That counts as a laugh too.

- That's pretty much the vibe at our show.

Chaotic joy.

(audience clapping) - Well, thank you all so much for being here.

My partner Nick and I, co-founded Must Love Dogs and Comedy.

And this is our third team member.

This is, Knope.

(audience cheering and clapping) (gentle music) - [Nick] And we live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn here in New York City.

- But yeah, we work full time.

I work as a marketing content specialist in a tech startup.

- And I do cybersecurity sales here in New York City.

(gentle music) - Knope is a 7-year-old Cattle Dog mix.

K-N-O-P-E.

- Like Leslie Knope, from "Parks and Rec."

- Yes, and I used to live in Louisiana and I adopted her from an animal shelter down in Louisiana.

And then when I moved to New York, she came up to New York with me.

- Yeah, so I was fortunate to get both a girlfriend and a dog when I met Jolie.

- [Jolie] Have you ever been to an animal shelter before?

- I've never been to an animal shelter, no.

Never, so I think it would be really interesting to see more or less what Knope's experience was, right?

Before you met her.

Before you got her at the shelter.

(cheerful music) - We've been doing Must Love Dogs And Comedy a little under two years.

And like a lot of people, our schedules drastically shifted.

- Yeah.

- During quarantine.

We're home all the time.

- So as things started to open up, you know, we started meeting our friends, my friends were telling me, "Nick, I can't really come out."

There's just too much anxiety.

I can't leave them alone.

So Jolie and I talked about it.

I'm like, "Hey, you know, we hear this a lot from our friends.

Why not find a venue that allows dogs and do comedy shows there?

(cheerful music) - So Boris and Horton is one of, if not the first dog friendly cafe, in New York City.

It's a cafe where they sell teas and coffees and beers and wines and snacks in a separate location that's connected with a corridor to a space where you can bring your dogs and they can play and stuff.

So you can get coffee, you can go there.

It's a nice space to work.

(gentle music) - So Jolie and Nick actually reached out to me, I think through our website, and they had this crazy idea for a dog comedy show.

And I said, "Sure, let's give it a try."

And it was pretty much a hit from the first show.

- Seriously, how does a Chinese mother and a White father make the world's tallest Mexican skateboarder?

Does anyone know?

(audience laughing) It's confusing.

The dog knows.

I don't know.

You know what, I am a skateboarder and like, skating is cool, but you know who doesn't like skaters?

It's freaking dogs, man.

(audience laughing) Every time I skate by dogs, and they act like I'm committing a war crime, like I feel really bad.

My favorite thing to do on a skateboard though is when I'm skating by a dog and they're like barking, I just try to do like a drive by pet.

That's what I try to do.

Just one of these.

Yeah.

This, yeah, we'll do one really quick.

Oh, okay.

(audience laughing) Bad move, bad move.

My bad, my bad, my bad.

(cheerful music) - It's important.

I think, you know, people get dogs to have joy in their lives, right?

People are always working, always hustling.

So having a dog in your life, it's about taking the time off to really take a walk, go outside for 20 minutes, and really enjoy that bond that you have with your dogs and your friends at the dog park.

What's going on?

- How are you?

- What's going on?

- [Lynn] Good.

How are you, guys?

- Good, like how are you?

- Doing good, doing good.

We're actually, you know, the ACC of New York, they invited us to tour their facilities.

- [Lynn] Yeah, they're doing amazing work.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I know they have like so many adoption events going on.

- Well then, they're gonna bring some of the dogs up for adoption on Sunday.

There's a big adoption event at Union Square.

- We live in the same building.

We're floor neighbors.

They're the sweetest people.

They have this comedy show called, Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

I bring my friends there all the time and they're just doing great work.

(audience cheering and clapping) - [Veronica] This is my son, Colin.

Everyone say, "Hi, Colin."

- [Audience Member] Hi, Colin!

- He's gotta go say hi to you.

That's right.

Up here.

You see him?

He's adorable.

And it's crazy, like I love living where I live in Brooklyn 'cause different people have different ideas about what he is.

You know, like I'm a Mexican woman.

A lot of Mexican men see him and they're like, "That's a chihuahua."

I'm like, "Okay."

You know, a lot of Puerto Ricans see him.

They're like, "Oh, he's probably part pit bull."

(audience laughing) And white people see him and y'all are all like, "He's such a blessing."

(audience laughing) He isn't a rescue actually.

I conceived him naturally.

(audience laughing) It's true.

Fun fact.

Two women cannot make a baby but they can make a very cute dog.

(audience laughing) That's you, son.

That's you.

I can sense the straight energy.

I forgive you.

(audience laughing) And now I'm gonna talk more about this guy 'cause my little guy's so cute.

And look how he's like ready to pose, right?

Like he's on it.

Fun fact, he actually is a former fashion model.

Yeah, he did.

He modeled a lot when he was a puppy, but then he gained a lot of weight.

(audience laughing) You're not supposed to body shame your kids but your dog.

Yes!

But yeah, he's a former fashion model and you see him, he looks like a dog that's a former fashion model, right?

And then you see me and I look like the type of person that puts on the dating apps, "Fun fact about me, my dog is a former fashion model."

(audience laughing) All I'm saying is I'm single and it's pride, but out now.

I'm Veronica Garza.

This is Colin.

Thank you so much.

(audience cheering and clapping) (cheerful music) - [Jolie] One more time for Veronica and Colin!

(audience cheering and clapping) (cheerful music) - Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

We've had a great impact in the New York City community.

We've donated over $18,000 to animal rescue, animal shelters.

But most importantly, we're always putting the spotlight on the rescues and shelters that really need money.

Right.

That they really need to spread their mission on how folks can volunteer and become fosters.

(cheerful music) - [Jolie] I've never been here before.

Have you been here before?

- No, I've never been to the ACC center.

Even though I grew up 15 blocks from here.

- Oh, wow.

- I never really knew it was here that it existed.

But yeah, I mean, I'm really excited here where we are.

- Yeah, let's go.

- Let's go in.

Hello.

- Hey.

- Hi.

- Hey, we're Nick and Jolie with Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

- Hey, nice to meet you.

Been really excited waiting for you to get here.

- Likewise, likewise.

We met with Alec.

He gave us a rundown of the staff, the different sections and departments in the facility.

(gentle music) We walk through where the dogs are.

(gentle music) He told us that they're massively over capacity.

It's there, to my knowledge, 129.

- Yeah.

- Dogs in need of a home.

- Yeah.

- But they can, on a regular scenario, they can only hold 75 dogs.

So they're almost at double capacity, which was heartbreaking.

(somber music) Then we saw the cat.

- [Jolie] We saw the cats.

- Yeah.

- I bonded with Benny.

- What a baby.

We got to meet some of the fosters.

- Yes, some of the fosters.

- Some of the foster parents and some of the foster dogs that are actually gonna be at the Union Square adoption event.

- Is that your first time fostering?

- Yes.

- Marta?

- Yes, she is my first foster.

- How long have you had her?

- A little over a month.

- Okay.

- So it's been great.

- [Nick] Yeah, what inspired you to foster in the first place?

- I've always wanted to foster and so just randomly decided to do it.

Found the care center and did a foster orientation and now I have Jovi.

- Well, thank you so much.

- Yes.

- Looking forward to seeing you guys on Sunday.

- See you guys.

- Jovi will show up on Sunday.

- Jovi will stay on Sunday.

- Jovi.

- See you, Samantha.

- Many thanks.

- Jovi, thanks, see you in the city.

(gentle music) - [Dog Foster Mom] Okay, let's go, bud.

- How long have you and Juice's been together?

- We've been together for two and a half weeks.

- Two and a half weeks.

- [Jolie] This is not your first foster, right?

- This is not my first foster.

I have something for you, buddy.

I've been fostering for about 10 years, actually.

- 10 years.

- Not just in New York, but I've lived all over the country.

- Oh, wow, okay.

- This is actually my first ACC dog 'cause I'm fairly new to the city.

- Oh, there's a lot of excuses of as to like why and reasons why people don't wanna foster.

And I think one of the main ones is like, "Oh, what if I get too attached?"

- I love this dog, but I know that there's a home out there that's perfect for him.

And so seeing them make that transition, it's heartwarming and it's amazing.

- Partnering with Nick and Jolie at Must Love Dogs And Comedy brings so much to us because they have a community who love comedy and we have a community that love animals.

And you put them together and it just doubles the amount of attention that shelters are gonna get.

And they raise awareness, they raise money for the shelters.

And I think that we're gonna get some people who are gonna come and take a look at ACC.

They may come to the adoption event on Sunday.

It's just gonna really open up the eyes and hearts of so many people that ACC may not be reaching right now without this partnership.

(gentle music) - We are so excited tonight to partner with Must Love Dogs And Comedy.

You think you've seen it all in New York City.

There's a comedy show with dogs.

It's really awesome.

So, we are the city's only open admission animal shelter, which means that we cannot turn animals away.

(audience cheering and clapping) And if anyone wants to get involved with ACC, we have such great programs, volunteer programs, foster programs.

Not only do we help animals in the shelter, but we have an extensive list of programs that help animals outside of the shelter.

Last year alone, we helped over 4,000 animals stay with families rather than.

(audience cheering and clapping) - Woo, woo, woo, indeed.

I'm Alex.

How are we feeling tonight?

(audience cheering and clapping) I also have a dog.

He's a pit bull and a wiener dog.

You can see him over there.

His name is Charlie.

Give it up for Charlie.

(audience cheering and clapping) Like you see him, he's a very chill little guy.

He's a little too cool for school.

When he goes to dog park, he's like, "Okay, I'm gonna get some sun, mom."

And I'm like, "Charlie, run around.

Catch the ball, do this.

You wanna play, you wanna track?

Wanna do this?"

(dogs barking) (audience clapping) Yeah.

And that's when he probably turns to the other dogs and he's like, "I'm so sorry.

She's a rescue, you know?

You know, we got her four years ago and it's been tough.

You know, COVID and she was just in the house with me, petting me, petting me, crying, petting me, crying again.

Drinking, crying."

Okay, you're my biggest fan.

I'm obsessed with you.

Hi.

Okay, are we gonna be good or are you gonna keep interrupting?

I told you to wait for me outside.

Chill.

Oh, my God.

Fans, what can I say?

They're everywhere.

Thank you so much.

(audience cheering and clapping) (cheerful music) - When we did the tour of the facility, we had a couple comics come through with us as well.

- Look what the cat dragged in.

- Aurea and Alex.

So it was really cool to have them come with us 'cause they can really see that other side of impact that we have with the shelters and the animal rescues as well.

- Hey.

That's a big old collar.

- What's his name?

- Max.

- Max.

- He's about seven years old.

Weighs a lot.

(group laughing) - Oh, yeah.

- We got to meet some of the dogs who are up to be adopted.

- He's like, "I've seen it all, kids."

(group laughing) - We tried to teach Happy how to sit.

Happy, sit.

Happy, sit.

Oh, oh.

- Oh!

- [Aurea] Yeah!

- And we found out that Happy speaks Spanish.

- Happy!

(Alex speaking Spanish) - Let's see, there was Honey Bee.

Oh my gosh.

(dog panting) I love it, I love it.

(group laughing) Cocopuff.

- Oh, of course.

What kind of dog is she?

- So we don't breed label at ACC.

We have a term called, Boroughbred.

So New York City is a big melting pot for its people.

Same thing for its dogs.

- I love that.

- She's a Boroughbred.

- Yeah, that you are.

- Boroughbred.

- How are y'all doing tonight?

Y'all good?

Y'all good?

Anybody wanna try to take a guess at how old?

I'm sorry if this offends you.

How old do y'all think my dog is?

- Five years?

- Five years.

We got five years.

Anybody else wanna take a guess?

- Nine.

- nine?

Nine?

- Seven.

- Seven?

Oh, yeah.

12.

Who said that?

Who said that?

You!

Are you some type.

You?

Oh, my God.

Are you like some type of dog whisper?

She's 12!

She is 12 years old.

Yes, yes.

Don't let this white fur fool you.

This is a proud black woman right here.

Okay?

(audience laughing) Okay, black don't crack.

Tell 'em, Ginger.

Yeah.

But no.

You know, I feel like dog moms and parents and cat parents.

Like, we need to come together, right?

We can come together.

Squash the beef and we can focus on the real enemy.

Okay?

Plant moms.

Get out.

(audience laughing) Respect it.

Do I respect plant moms?

No, absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

Because I don't know about y'all, but I don't know when the last time you've heard a cactus wake you up in the middle of the night 'cause they're going.

(Aurea coughs) (audience laughing) (Aurea shouting) No, absolutely not.

Okay.

(audience clapping) If I'm ever in a coma, just put the dog that's about to throw up in the room with me.

Watch me just pop right up.

Get that dog out of here.

(audience laughing) No, can't handle it.

Let's see.

Is anybody planning to adopt a dog?

Yeah, over here.

You are gonna do it?

I went to the ACC.

It's a really nice place.

It really is, it really is.

They have like a door person there.

All the dogs have like their own facility.

There's like a pool and all that stuff.

Me and Jolie, we about to move in.

I'm trying to find, is there a broker's fee?

Like what's going on?

Is there a wait list?

I would love to be adopted by a nice white family.

(audience laughing) Please, please.

You can't turn any animal away, right?

Humans either.

No.

(audience laughing) If I just show up like, "Hey, I need to put me in the cat wing.

It's fine, it's fine."

All right, you all have been so much fun.

So I'm gonna take my little pup.

Say bye, Ginger.

- [Audience] Bye, Ginger.

- [Aurea] Give it up for your host, Jolie!

(audience cheering and clapping) - We just wanna say thank you so, so much to everybody for coming and sticking with us and for being here.

We wanna say thank you so much to Boris and Horton as always, such a great partner.

Thank you to ACC.

Clap it up for all the good work that they're doing.

(audience cheering and clapping) - This was like super, like, almost like revitalizing.

After a long day of work, you come out and do something like this that's just so animal positive and animal friendly and just celebrating what ACC does as a whole.

It really just makes me like excited to get back and just do more work for the animals of New York City.

- And they're gonna keep doing shows here.

So that's the other thing.

It's like if you're walking on the street, you'll just notice a standup comedy show with dogs.

- Yeah.

- Just walk in and give a donation.

And then it's.

(gentle music) - Tonight was a big party.

It was a big celebration.

It was a celebration of pups, of humans, of comedy.

And especially like us getting to partner with ACC.

(gentle music) - And really just building that overall community that we've been striving for since the very first show.

(gentle music) A lot of the organizations, rescues, and shelters that were a part of the event today, we've actually worked with the majority of them.

And again, it's just beautiful to see that our efforts, our hard work, it's really paying off.

These organizations, these puppies are getting the resources that they need.

They're also getting the homes that ultimately they're gonna show them love right at the end of the day.

- And Nick was telling us that some of the dogs, or like, I think one of the dogs from the shelter that we saw on Thursday got adopted today.

So that's really exciting.

- What's going on over here?

- Jovi's getting adopted today.

- [Jolie] She's gonna get adopted.

- It'll probably hit me like when I'm home, but I'm like so happy that she got adopted because I wouldn't be able to adopt her.

So I'm glad that she's going, especially to someone with like a family.

- Beautiful.

- Okay, so whose bed is Jovi gonna sleep in?

(group laughing) Oh!

- We volunteer!

- Everybody.

That's all we can ask for, right?

At the end of the day, these dogs finding their forever home and just feeling that love.

Feeling that love once again.

- I mean, any borough you go to, whether it's the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, everywhere you go, people are dog obsessed in this town.

And so, I think that that's a real strong through line for everybody who's involved with Must Love Dogs And Comedy with this adoption event with the ACC.

And we all just want the dogs to, you know, find good home.

(gentle music) - I know in my heart that his forever is coming close.

We had people interested and a lot of people come up to him express interest.

He is such a love bug.

He is going to find his home soon and he is still adoptable through ACC.

He's the best.

Thank you so much.

- Yes.

- Keep your fingers crossed for Juice.

- Yes.

- Yes, absolutely.

- He's gonna have the best future?

And he's gonna make someone so happy.

- Look at that.

Look at that smile.

Look at that smile.

- I think it's a great event.

I'm happy that people get to see and hear about what Jolie and Nick are doing and kind of hopefully, being able to like tie in like the comedy to like the charity work that they're doing.

(audience cheering and clapping) - Okay, you can't say that on PBS.

It's hard work but it's important.

It's hard work but it's necessary.

It's hard work but it's so rewarding.

And one more time for every single comic we saw tonight.

- You know, just the love that we get from the community.

It makes it all worthwhile.

Right, Knope?

(gentle music) All right, let's go home.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) - Petco Love Lost.

A national lost and found pet database can help.

Using image recognition technology so every pet can be back where they belong, - Oh my baby - home with the families that love them.

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