Near Sex For Work at The Elysian Theater

From virginal dildo salesman to non-nude p*rn actor, Daniel Shar gives a voyeuristic look at his wild life as a sex-adjacent worker. Come get sucked into this unbelievable true story of a timid man getting bursts of confidence through his jobs helping other people get off.

Tastefully raunchy with a throbbing heart, Near Sex For Work takes audiences on a roller coaster of climactic twists and blue-balling turns as Shar chronicles his ridiculous resumé with support from the most sensational videos, audio clips, and images he has amassed along the way (and censored for this production).

Fans of comedy shows that go deeper will gush for this one’s potential to reduce the shame and stigma around sex and its industry while also highlighting the reality that, underneath humanity’s massive range of sexual preferences, everyone is ultimately just craving connection.

Allen Salkin’s review of the show for The Hollywood Reporter said, “I laughed so much I almost had an asthma attack… go see it” and The Comedy Bureau chose Near Sex For Work as one of 2024’s Best Things, calling it “one hell of a comedy gold mine.”

In addition to being nominated for Best Comedy & Variety Act at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival, NSFW was up against Stormy Daniels and several other adult industry luminaries for Mainstream Venture of The Year at the 2025 AVN Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars of p*rn, where Shar also received a nomination for Best Non-Sex Performance (for his portrayal of an incel OBGYN in the Adult Time feature film Birth).

CONTENT WARNING: this show is for adults only. It does not contain any visible nudity, but there will be censored adult content and sexually explicit language. Being weird or creepy about all this is strictly prohibited.

WRITER/PERFORMER BIO: Daniel Shar grew up eager to leave North Carolina, realized journalism wasn’t for him at the University of Missouri, devoted himself to sketch and improv in Chicago, and currently enjoys writing comedy in Los Angeles. Prior to becoming one of p*rn’s top/only exclusively non-nude non-sex extras, Shar wrote and directed the indie feature film SCRAPS (Amazon Prime Video). He also co-created and co-starred in a pilot presentation for the narrative/sketch hybrid Jonathanville TV, as well as the web series projects Pickle Pranks, We Have To Move, and Weird Copcept Album. Shar has sold jokes to The Onion and Funny Or Die, done a bit on Conan (TBS), and performed solo shows at Comedy Central Stage, SF Sketchfest, St. Louis Fringe Festival, and more. His other past points of pride include writing and performing topical pieces at The Paper Machete, writing and directing the one-act play Improvised Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and directing Dave Maher Coma Show (This American Life). Please visit www.danielshar.com to see some of his (non-xxx) work and say hi!

DIRECTOR BIO: Marlena Rodriguez is a first-generation Cuban, Puerto Rican writer, director, and comedian. She’s written for Lord Miller’s Clone High, Tina Fey’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, HBO’s Silicon Valley, and much more. Marlena’s performed stand up around the world, was named a Comic To Watch by Comedy Central, and was one of the first Latinas to do a set on Late Night television. Most recently, Marlena was Head Writer for Stephen Colbert’s PICKLED on CBS, where she worked with such talent as Emma Watson, Will Ferrell, and living legend, Kelly Rowland.