In a career that has already run the gamut from Survivor to Shrinking, writer/comedian Bill Posley is no stranger to vulnerability—or to making people laugh.
Following his acclaimed solo play, The Day I Became Black, Posley turns inward again—this time to confront his experience as a soldier in Iraq during the War on Terror. In The Day I Accidentally Went to War, he traces a deeply personal journey from childhood through basic training, his unexpected deployment, and eventual homecoming, blending irreverence with emotional truth. After its New York debut last winter, the show returns to Soho Playhouse August 6–30 before heading to London’s Soho Theatre for a UK run, September 2–13.
Here, Posley reflects on the long path to writing the piece, the powerful audience responses it has received, and his efforts to bridge the political and cultural divide around the military—one punchline at a time.
(© Lore Photography)
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
At what point did you sit down and say, I’m gonna turn like my experiences in Iraq into a show?
I had done my first one-man show, The Day I Became Black, and after that, I was like, I’m just gonna do The Day I Accidentally Went to War. Here it comes! And then I couldn’t write it. I was scared to write it. I didn’t know how to make some of the stuff I was talking about funny. I didn’t wanna misrepresent my experience or the men and women I served with’s experience. It was such a daunting task that I felt paralyzed. I ended up just not doing it.
Last year, as I was growing increasingly frustrated with how veterans continue to be underserved in our country and in our society, I said “You know what? Now it’s time.”
I wrote it for the Hollywood Fringe in June 2024, before the election, before veteran services and the SNAP program started getting cut. You know, 1.7 million veterans are reliant on things like food assistance. I did not know that it was gonna be so timely.
Did you have particular goals in mind?
My goal with this show is to take people who are anti-military, and take people who are super pro-military, and bring them together. I want to tear down the stereotypes around the army and the type of people who join, and then make the people who are so pro-military question the military industrial complex and how the government treats their soldiers. I hoped we would bring people together and meet somewhere in the middle. I secretly call the show a purple show. It’s a red show done by a blue comedian.
The show is obviously a tightrope between comedy, poignancy, fear. You served in the National Guard, which you liken to Howie of the Backstreet Boys — always in the background — and then, in the same breath, you talk about losing friends or describe the metal hooks on tanks designed to keep gunners from being decapitated by wires on the road. Tell me about the process of putting it all together.
One of the things I realized in writing it was that it was going to be therapeutic. The process of turning trauma into comedy allows you to confront and process it. It was going to be cathartic. It took me so long to do because I didn’t know if I was ready for it. When I sat down to write it, I was like “Let’s relive some of that stuff and talk about how to find a comedic take on it.” I wound up calling men and women I served with and said “Hey, do you remember it this way? Was it accurate?” I didn’t want any stolen valor. If there’s something I’m missing, remind me.
I think my background in writing on Shrinking and these other shows — most of my creativity comes from finding comedy in the darkness. Stylistically, that’s who I am as a comedian. This expression is well-tread, but you’ve got to tickle the ribs before you deliver the medicine, you know? I try to write with that as my guiding light.
(© Lore Photography)
Did you beta test jokes with your veteran friends? Were there things where they were like, “too soon?”
Unsurprisingly, around a group of veterans, the more blue and R-rated stuff, the better. If anything, I had to be like, “If you guys love it, I should maybe check with another source.” They were pitching jokes, trying to be like “You should talk about this.” And I’m like, “I only have so much time.”
What ended up being the most difficult part of creating the show?
Other than exploring my personal stories, it was how to deliver a show to a civilian audience that doesn’t alienate them because they don’t know anything about the military. How do you make it relatable if you know nothing? It took a while to get that balance. I needed to introduce them to me and my family. And then they needed to join up with me. It took me a minute to realize that if I opened with me in basic training, they wouldn’t care about it in the same way.
Can I ask you a terrible question?
Bring it.
My wife told me to read the room about this one. So, you were on Survivor: One World in Samoa. What was tougher, Survivor or Iraq?
[Laughs] It was definitely the war! But Survivor was a special time. It was the catalyst for the life I live right now. I was at rock bottom, trying to figure out how to take the next step. I had not dealt with PTSD. I was in a toxic relationship. Survivor plucked me out of my life and sent me away to a place where I could actually think. When I came back, I hit the ground running. I started doing comedy full time. I started working all these day jobs to support my career. Four years after Survivor, I got my first big break. It was really, really cool to utilize that platform and help launch the career that I have today.
Tell me about the reactions you’ve gotten from your fellow veterans.
One really cool story: I performed the show and afterwards, I see these two guys standing together waiting for me. They go, “Dude, we were in Iraq while you were there, the same year. And check this out: I came here today, and unbeknownst to me, he came here today. We served together 20 years ago and have not seen each other since.” I stopped there and watched these two veterans connect for the first time in 20 years.
I’ve had veterans in tears while I’m doing this show. I’ve had veterans come up on stage to volunteer. I wish I had a video. This woman came up and I said, “Why are you crying?” She goes, “This is the first time I’ve heard my experience.” It was a moment, you know? It has been extremely cathartic for people who have seen it because they get to process their experience.
I’ve had people come up to me and say “I disagree with you” or “I didn’t know about that, and it’s completely changed my perspective.” There’s been this really cool discource. I think, because I’m a veteran, they feel the need to be respectful, so we can actually talk. And I’ve had some great conversations.
(© Lore Photography)