Theo Von: DHS Video, Charlie Kirk's Murder, and Going Off Meds Led to 'Choppy' Performance in NYC

      Comedian Theo Von discusses his "choppy" performances in New York City for an upcoming Netflix special on his latest podcast, which has gone viral, raising concerns about his well-being.

      Fans expressed worry after a video from the Beacon Theater taping this past weekend showed Von telling an audience member, “I’m having a long month, I’m trying not to take my own life.”

      The footage coincided with reports from attendees describing the taping as disjointed, with many walking out. The Daily Beast headline read, “MAGA Comedian Bombs Netflix Special: ‘Failure of Epic Proportions.’”

      In response to the criticisms and fears, Von addressed them in the latest episode of his podcast, aptly named This Past Weekend With Theo Von. He emphasized that concerns regarding self-harm are unfounded.

      “You know that if you’ve listened to this show before or seen anything, you know: I say stuff. I would never take my own life. I would never take my own life,” Von clarified. “Okay? You hear that Israel? I would never take my own life.”

      If you’re curious about his mention of Israel, welcome to the occasionally perplexing world of the Theo Von podcast. Some comedy fans have labeled him as pro-MAGA, given that he hosted Donald Trump and JD Vance on his podcast and attended Trump’s second inauguration.

      However, he has also featured notable liberals like Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna, voiced concerns about Israel's bombing of Palestinians, and stated he would have attended any president's inauguration.

      Theo Von on ‘Messier’ NYC Netflix Taping

      Theo Von on This Past Weekend.

      Von revealed that he had recently weaned himself off antidepressants in preparation for the taping.

      “I just kind of self-weaned myself off. And the reason why was because I wanted, like, during the comedy show, I wanted to have a little bit more emotion during it,” he explained on the podcast, which you can view here if you can't see it above.

      “I just wanted to have some more feelings. … If you ever take antidepressants, or if you haven’t, they kind of take away your feelings, so you just kind of stay in this space where you’re okay. And it’s nice, it’s a safe space, but… you’re like the astronaut that kind of stays on the ship sometimes.”

      That metaphor is the kind of insightful, poetic expression that draws many to Von’s work, regardless of their political alignment.

      Additionally, Von mentioned that he was shaken this month by the shooting of Charlie Kirk, as well as his unauthorized appearance in a Department of Homeland Security video that highlighted arrests and deportations. The video, shared on DHS’ X feed last week, began with Von saying, “Heard you got deported dude, bye,” and included trap-style beats.

      Von reacted on X: “Yooo DHS i didn’t approve to be used in this. I know you know my address so send a check.”

      He added, “And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos. When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!”

      During his podcast, he elaborated that he made the “heard you got deported” comment about a year and a half ago when a fan, in a parking lot, asked him to send a message to a friend who had recently been deported. He was unsure of its seriousness, explaining, “I didn’t know if it was real or not.”

      He shared that he has complex feelings about immigration, noting that his own father emigrated to the United States from Nicaragua. “One of my prized possessions is his immigration papers from when he came here, and I have them in a frame,” he said.

      He also expressed concerns that ICE crackdowns might signal a shift towards the U.S. becoming “a surveillance state”: “I feel like they’re doing a lot of bookkeeping in the country right now because we’re going to get into a surveillance state, and everyone is going to have to be on the books,” he stated.

      Von expressed that the shooting of Kirk, which occurred during a public event at Utah Valley University, made him uneasy about his own public engagements.

      “We get to do the job, right, which is performing, speaking in front of strangers,” he explained, adding that he and everyone had “just seen this thing with Charlie Kirk, right?”

      “Like, we all watched somebody get lit up. We all watched somebody get murdered casually on our phones, right?” he continued. “There’s no warning on a lot of videos you see.”

      He noted that witnessing such violence contributes to “a lot of stress” — “some of it I was aware of, and some of it you just don’t know you’re aware of.”

      In the days leading up to the taping, he received a startling call from “a high