Have you ever been to a comedy show where your life is the main source of material for the comedian? Me either. Well, Paul Mecurio is bringing his one-of-a-kind comedy show to South Florida soon where guests are often in the spotlight. Deco sat down with the funny guy to find out what to expect. In Paul Mecurio’s “Permission to Speak,” the audience isn’t just watching the show — they are the show. After becoming a Broadway hit, the Emmy and Peabody winner has decided to take the show on the road. First stop: South Florida! Paul Mecurio: “We are going to be at the Broward Center for Performing Arts January 17, and it’s basically my stand-up, and I like talking to the audience, so we are going to get stories from the audience.” Paul, a former Wall Street lawyer turned comic, has a background of working with big names like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, but he says this show is personal and directed by Frank Oz, the man behind some iconic fictional characters. Paul Mecurio: “I’m being directed by Yoda. Do you know how intimidating that is? The guy is never wrong, and he never stops with the backward talking! Like, you take him out to dinner, ‘Steak, I will have.’ All right, I get it, you’re Frank Oz, you are Yoda, I get it.” Every show is different. Paul pulls audience members on stage and asks them about their lives, in real time. The results? Well… Paul Mecurio: “I had a woman say to me, I asked her what her name was, that’s all I said. She goes ‘Nydia.’ I said ‘How did you get the name?’ She said ‘Well, my father got my mother pregnant with me, but at the same time was having an affair with a woman named Nydia and then named me after the woman he was having an affair with.’ I swear to God.” The comedian says the outlandish tales actually bring people closer through laughter. Paul Mecurio: “We don’t have anywhere, sometimes, anybody to talk to, but if we get together and share stories, we realize we have more in common than we think, and maybe we don’t have to be so divisive.” It’s raw, funny and a reminder everyone has a story to tell, even if they shouldn’t. Paul Mecurio: “It’s like a stand-up comedy show, but different, too, so if you have been to stand-up and you like it, you are going to love this.” The show goes down Jan. 17 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. FOR MORE INFO:Paul Mecurio’s Permission to SpeakJan. 17 @7:30 p.m. Broward Center for the Performing Arts201 SW 5th Ave.Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312browardcenter.org/events/detail/paul-mecurio-2025