‘The Big D’ Delivers Divorced Dating Comedy Game Show Just in Time for Cuffing Season

“This is a roast-free zone,” clarifies Julie Golden, producer and host of “The Big D: A Comedy Matchmaking Show for Divorced Singles.” “It’s a fun, relaxed atmosphere where you might just meet the love of your life. But in the worst case scenario you will definitely laugh.”

Golden’s reality TV background and matchmaking acumen — she said she’s personally responsible for three successful marriages to date — underlie her new comedy show and divorced singles mixer debuting Saturday night at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica. As the annual tradition of “cuffing season” begins before the holidays, “I find that people of my generation don’t even know what that is. I try to explain it to them,” she says of the dating trend.

Golden, who describes himself as “former film studio executive turned screenwriter and reality TV producer,” has overseen series at Netflix, Discovery and TruTV. She has been on stage for a year and a half. “I think the most exciting thing about stand-up comedy is that there are no notes from the middle person. It’s you and the audience, and you get the notes right away.

She co-produces and co-hosts the monthly show ‘See You Next Tuesday’ with Dana Weddle Kookaburra Lounge in Hollywood. “A lot of what I talk about on stage is dating in the last half of my life and being a single divorced mother,” she says. “I’ve been out for eight years, so I’m an old pro now.”

A favorite part of this moment is being on the island of Misfit Toys with “some seriously souped-up dolls that are missing some pretty crucial parts.”

Golden started taking comedy classes when her mother died last December after a battle with cancer. She credits stand-up for helping her heal. Her overall goal with “The Big D” is “to make everyone in the audience feel less alone and cheer them up.”

Around the same time, Westside was looking for newly produced shows. She remembers seeing a lot of comedy dating shows on the local scene, but they were young and tended to be down-to-earth. “It’s not my kind of humor. So as a comic, I’m not even attracted to it.” Also: “This was a neglected demographic in the dreaded dating apps scene.” Golden’s No. 1 red flag on apps: If someone has a problem with her being a comedian.

To find eligible singles, Golden hit the streets of LA and worked with casting producer Naela Durrani of “America’s Got Talent” for “more curated” local options. “What reality TV and comedy have in common is that I like talking to people,” Golden says. “Even as a manager, I have always used humor as a way to disarm people in the best way possible. I know how to connect people.”

At “The Big D,” Golden and comics Shawn Pelofsky, Ismael Loutfi, Christie Campagna and Torrance Hill – all “in various stages of divorce” – invite twelve audience members who identify as, according to Golden’s description, “divorced, divorced, consciously uncoupled, teetering on the edge, divorce-curious, looking to date a divorced person, ‘on stage for an interview and speed dating coupling. (No drink minimum required.) Comics offers date clues, with the public’s vote for “Best Couple” winning $100 toward a future date. After the show, a half-hour mixer opens the floor for everyone in the room. The event is sponsored by the social group Los Angeles Fun Events.

“Comedy is the social lubricant that disarms the room in a good way,” Golden notes, “so this stuff can feel a little more natural as a dating environment. I almost wanted to create a salon or a dinner party that no longer exists, where you would show up and already know there are like-minded people there.”

Is sharing a similar sense of humor a requirement for a relationship? “You can tell about someone’s past relationships by what they find funny, or what they might not find funny,” Golden points out. ‘And then it’s also emotional intelligence, right? So if you can’t laugh at the same thing, I don’t think you speak the same language.”

Without a doubt, Golden emphasizes, divorce is the hardest thing she has yet to experience in her life. Sometimes she feels alone, and she knows others have felt the same way.

“That’s what I wrote about when I was on stage for the first time,” she says. “When I see people going through it in the beginning, like they just got disconnected in ‘The Matrix,’ you know they can’t avoid this pain. I love guiding someone through those early stages and talking about “Where are you in the process?” a lot, the process after marriage. It was something that came very naturally to me.

“It is a very lonely and scary time in the beginning. I wanted to try to make it a little less lonely and a little less scary. Especially now that there’s a lot going on in the world.”