The Living Room at the Arlo SoHo hotel is completely booked as people gather for a session of group therapy — sort of.
A new comedy show offering “therapy” for under $25 is selling out in New York City, hosted by “untrained professionals” Karolena Theresa and Melissa Rich.
“We fancy ourselves bootleg therapists,” Rich told The Post. “We think that we could get an office and open up shop any second.”
“Cheap Therapy By Hoes With Feelings” is a podcast-turned-comedy show where people share their problems on stage. The show, which debuted in January and occurs about twice a month, sees a rotation of comedians who sit down with Theresa and Rich after their sets for a five-minute “therapy session.”
“Sometimes you see a comedian and you’re like, ‘that was kind of crazy that they just talked about that’ and you have more questions for them,” Rich explained ahead of the next show slated for Friday. “You’re like, ‘Wait, you just glossed over this whole thing about you having a crush on your friend’s mom when you were little’ or something like that. So we wanted to try to delve into what’s behind their comedy.”
In between sets, audience members can also air their grievances in anonymous written submissions. However, so many enter that they don’t get to all of them during the show.
Theresa and Rich — who both “identify as 25 years old” — are in therapy themselves and realized it helps to share feelings with each other.
“We would have these conversations, and we’d be like, ‘Oh my God, this is like therapy. This is what we want our podcast to be about,’” Theresa said. “We wanted to build a community that was about having a place for people to come and check in with each other.”
People of all ages fill the crowd, from Gen Z to Boomers, “bringing the two communities together,” Theresa noted, adding that she thinks “the older generation enjoys seeing the drama of everyone else.”
The duo are also asked to give advice on a range of topics from dating, friendships, grief, family and more— and some of the submissions are pretty out there.
One entry was: “I’m in love with my married boss. I’ve met his wife. They have an open relationship, but I think I’m now in love with him.”
“That was a lot of elements, obviously,” Rich laughed.
Another was from a woman who got married and divorced at the age of 20 wanting advice on how to re-start her life.
“Go to Miami. Go hook up, go have fun,” Rich advised.
“Oftentimes the answer is Miami,” Theresa said.
One went on stage and shared that her friend planned to get engaged to a guy she had been dating for two months — and even the audience chimed in, screaming it was a red flag.
“You need to take her to Miami, get her out of here really fast,” Rich said.
The audience is pretty vocal, responding to questions, pushing back and giving different perspectives.
Initially, Theresa and Rich hoped more people would come on stage and do a live session, but the crowd enjoys being anonymous.
“I think people like to have the space for everyone to connect on their question without having to identify with it and get advice without having to get a reaction,” Rich shared.
Theresa added, “There’s that layer of anonymity and self-protection if they don’t want to get judged too harshly.”
However, some people do end up revealing themselves.
“Once a show we’ll get a reveal, and it’s only started happening in the past few shows,” Theresa said. “In the beginning, I think people were more shy, but I think the more that people keep coming back, the more they’re like, ‘It was me.’”
Rich added, “We love when people reveal themselves, but we respect if you don’t want to.”
