“Let’s get this out of the way at the top: I am 52 years old and I’m SINGLE!”

That is the introduction for Bad Dates (“A One-Man Show About Many Men”), the smart, funny, and patently raunchy new show by popular New York City comedian Adam Sank. Bad Dates is now enjoying a four-show run at New York City’s iconic Stonewall Inn.  Sank, whose resume includes appearances on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and other shows,  an impressive number of live performances, and even a couple of recordings, is a highly animated and charismatic performer.  During Bad Dates, he doesn’t slow down his enviably high energy level or “phone in” a single minute of the show.  In fact, it’s astonishing how much Sank (ahem…) packs into Bad Dates‘ one hour running time.  For many of his single gay male peers, some of Sank’s hilariously honest observations will tread some familiar territory:  Early on, this Gen X’er brings up how so many people incessantly hit unattached, good-looking guys of a certain age with the accusation question, “Why are you still single? WHY ARE YOU STILL SINGLE?”   If Bad Dates solely held up a mirror for Sank’s fellow gay men to laugh at ourselves about such phenomena as Facetime sex, that would probably be funny enough. (I would have loved a show of hands at how many of the guys in the audience, like Adam, had encountered a guy with a dick shaped like a Christmas tree…)  But Sank’s dating adventures thorough the decades would rival even the most sexually adventurous himbos in the Gay Apple; this easy-on-the-eyes 50-something seemingly has enough unique anecdotes to fill two seasons of an TV MA-rated sitcom.  His stories range from being contacted by a high school hookup THIRTY YEARS LATER via Facebook, to the downside of dating the proverbial “hottest guy in the room”, to the challenges of being squeaky clean where it really matters (Be prepared to learn what a “butt bath” is, as well as learning “the three words you never want to hear when someone is inside of you”…).  But it would be hard to (ahem) top the anecdote about Adam’s experience with the cat who meowed gay slurs in Tagalog. (You have to hear Sank tell it live on stage to appreciate it.) It wasn’t just the guys who appreciated Sank’s stories: About 20% of the audience in attendance at Stonewall that evening were women, who were enjoying the dick and ass jokes as much as the men.

Speaking of Facebook: For anyone who thinks that the social media site is slowly dying, take note: There’s still a lot of power in “the Book of Face”. While the audience at Stonewall was really digging Bad Dates throughout, some of Sank’s most popular segments seemed to be his live retelling of his wildly popular “Daily Birthday Unfriendings” on Facebook; in fact, the first time the comedian merely brought the “Unfriendings” up in the show was enough to get applause.  It was similar to Michael Musto’s famous “blind items” in the Village Voice, where the eternally popular columnist would tell stories about certain celebs while tantalizingly letting the readers guess who they were. One of these stories was so “outré” that Sank admitted blocking his family from seeing it.  Whoa!

That said, Sank isn’t always so “blind” when recalling his many titular “bad dates”: One ill-fated relationship was with an ambitious future New York City politician (Spoiler: It didn’t end well…), and another subject in Sank’s show was actually, using Grindr talk, about “60 feet away” from the stage where Adam was performing that night! (Spoiler: They’re still friends….)

With (ahem…) loads of one-liners such as “Looking for your boyfriend on Grindr is like fishing for your dinner in the East River.  You might catch a fish, but you wouldn’t want to put it in your mouth.  It’s a toxic place!”  Sank’s Bad Dates is sexy, smart, and funny.  But it also has its very provocative moments. Early on the show, when the comedian spoke about coming of age in the 80’s (the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, FYI), Sank prophetically asked the audience, “After the progress that had been made in the 60’s and 70’s, there was this massive backlash against queer people.  I can’t imagine that happening now, can you?!…” The meaning was crystal clear. But the moment that brought the audience to a rare silence was when Sank shared about an ill-fated relationship plagued by addiction and mental illness which resulted in a tragic event in 2013.  Sank confessed that this was the first time he shared the story with anyone beyond close friends and family.  Adam Sank may have had his share of “Bad Dates”, but it’s the audience’s gain that he has turned it into a one-man show that’s not just hilarious but also more relevant than ever as we enter the second half of 2023.  Like one of his presumed inspirations, Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, let’s hope that Sank eventually finds his Mr. Big (without the Peleton….)  In the meantime, allow this fellow Gen X’er to (ahem) insert one Bad Dad Joke: “Sanks for the Memories!”

Bad Dates continues with three more Thursday night performances: July 27, Aug. 10, and Aug. 24 at the Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher Street, NYC, All performances start at 7:30PM sharp, doors open at 7:00. Running time is one hour. $10 Tickets + 2-Drink Minimum. Tickets on sale at the Official Website of the Adam Sank Show!