# UpDating
**UpDating** is a New York City-based live dating and comedy show in which two singles go on blindfolded first dates on stage in front of a paying audience. It was created by comedian Brandon Berman and producer Harrison Forman, who host each roughly 90-minute performance, and it has toured more than 120 cities while building a large social media audience.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) • [2](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Two singles on a blindfolded date on stage; they answer revealing questions, vote on continuing before the blindfolds come off, and vote again on physical attraction afterward[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) |
| Creators and hosts | Comedian Brandon Berman (host) and producer Harrison Forman (co-host), both New York City-based[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) |
| Founded | Created in 2018; a 2024 podcast account says the live show started in New York City in 2019[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) • [3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191) |
| Reach | Over 6 million total followers across social media; more than 120 cities toured; the show's own site claims 4 billion total social views and 650 million-plus YouTube views[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) • [4](https://updatingshow.com/) |
| Television | Partnership with ITV America announced to adapt the show into a TV series; no release date announced[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) |
| Casting | Run by producer Ross Tyler Media LLC; applicants must be over 18, and cast members are drawn from applicants and randomly selected audience members[5](https://updatingshow.com/casting) • [1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
UpDating began in San Francisco around 2018, when Harrison Forman started broadcasting his own dates on Facebook Live, turning his love life into a public experiment.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences) The idea migrated to New York, where Forman teamed up with fellow comedian Brandon Berman, and the two turned the experiment into a stage show: two real singles, matched by the hosts, go on a first date in front of a packed room, blindfolded so they cannot see each other.[12](https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/nyc-singles-flock-to-the-updating-blind-dating-comedy-show/)
Each episode runs about 90 minutes. The daters, unable to see, answer dating questions from the hosts while the crowd reacts to every answer, every pause, and every dealbreaker.[4](https://updatingshow.com/) The blindfold strips away the swipe-first judgment of looks and forces the daters to talk, argue, flirt, and reveal themselves before they ever lay eyes on one another. In the second half of each show, audience members can shoot their shot with either of the daters, turning the crowd into a pool of potential suitors.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences)
**The moment the show is built around is the reveal: the blindfolds come off.** [Everything](https://www.edgepedia.org/everything) before it is voice, wit, and nerve; everything after it is faces, chemistry, and the crowd's verdict. The audience has spent the date forming opinions based purely on what the daters said, so the reveal plays as both punchline and judgment, sometimes a match made in heaven, sometimes a very public shrug. Berman and Forman milk it for all it is worth, and the crowd, often 100 or more people inside with as many as 50 more lined up outside hoping to get in, lets the daters know exactly how it landed.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences)
The show paused during COVID-19 and returned in April 2021 to enormous post-pandemic demand: within a month it had a 600-person waitlist of singles hoping to be cast, after an online casting process that involved submitting Instagram handles and a humorous account of their last first date.[12](https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/nyc-singles-flock-to-the-updating-blind-dating-comedy-show/) Berman and Forman went on to host more than 30 blind dates in sold-out Manhattan and Brooklyn venues before taking the show on the road, eventually touring more than 120 cities in over eight countries.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences) • [4](https://updatingshow.com/) The filmed stage shows became the weekly YouTube episodes, with the hosts producing every aspect of the show themselves, from casting on down.[13](https://deadline.com/2026/06/updating-show-tour-dates-2026-unveiled-1236939794/)
The official site keeps its own scorecard with a straight face: "2.5 success stories," "millions of makeouts," and a "100% rate of couples realizing the grass is not greener."[4](https://updatingshow.com/) Berman's own claim about the show's real outcome is that 99 percent of people leave and approach dating differently.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences)
### Characters
- **Brandon Berman** (as himself) is the co-creator, co-host, and producer of every part of the show, from casting to the stage. He plays the quick, crowd-working half of the hosting duo and is the one who insists the show changes how daters approach dating afterward.[13](https://deadline.com/2026/06/updating-show-tour-dates-2026-unveiled-1236939794/)
- **Harrison Forman** (as himself) is the co-creator who started it all by broadcasting his own dates on Facebook Live in San Francisco. Onstage he is the other half of the double act, steering the blindfolded daters through their questions.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences)
- **The daters** are real singles, cast through an online process involving Instagram handles and funny stories about their last first dates. They are the episode's protagonists: blindfolded, unscripted, and at the mercy of a live crowd.[12](https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/nyc-singles-flock-to-the-updating-blind-dating-comedy-show/)
### Interpretations and controversies
No major controversies are attached to the show. The running debate, embraced by the show itself, is whether any of these dates actually work: the official site's own tally of "2.5 success stories" is a joke, while the hosts argue the show's value is not couples but the way it changes how people date.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences) • [4](https://updatingshow.com/)
### Sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations
UpDating began as a Facebook Live experiment with Forman's own dates before becoming the stage and YouTube series.[11](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences) In 2026 it was announced that the show will be developed into a television series with ITV America Nashville, led by executive producer [Adam Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-reed), with Berman and Forman developing alongside it.[14](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/updating-live-dating-youtube-tv-show-1236627659/) • [15](https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/the-creators-making-a-tv-series-with-love-island)
## Format
Each performance begins with two casted singles on a blindfolded date. The hosts, Berman and Forman, prompt the daters to answer raunchy and revealing questions about their preferences and behavior before the daters decide whether they want to continue. After the blindfolds come off, they vote again based on physical attraction to one another.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/)
The show is built around audience participation. Daters receive questions and topic suggestions from audience members, and in the show's early form audience members could crash the date once the blindfolds came off, voting at the conclusion on outcomes such as whether the participants hug or kiss.[6](https://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Movement_Sept2020_web_.pdf) A performance runs about 90 minutes, and the tour listing describes it as a live stage reality show with improvisational elements and humor around modern dating.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) • [2](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating)
The blindfold device is the show's stated point of contrast with dating apps. Forman argued in a 2020 interview that app users judge from a picture, while on a blind date "you're still judging, but it's by personality, vibe, energy."[7](https://epub.stripes.com/docs/MID_MID_050320/MID_MID_050320.pdf)
## Origins
The idea grew out of Forman's own experiments with live-streamed dating. A 2014 graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in Sport Management, Forman moved to New York to work at the tech company League Apps and had earlier live-streamed his dates on Facebook while living in San Francisco, giving what he called halftime reports during and after each date.[6](https://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Movement_Sept2020_web_.pdf) • [3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191) He connected with Berman, a standup comedian and former [Howard Stern](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-stern) show intern who wanted to translate those experiences to the stage; Forman drew on lessons from his sport management studies about the appeal of live events, aiming for an experience rather than a standard comedy set.[3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191) • [6](https://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Movement_Sept2020_web_.pdf)
Sources place the founding slightly differently. The Daily Illini says Berman and Forman created the show in 2018; a 2024 podcast interview says the pair successfully launched the live show in late 2018 and that UpDating started in New York City in 2019.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) • [3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191) By early 2020, the show had been attracting large New York crowds for about a year.[7](https://epub.stripes.com/docs/MID_MID_050320/MID_MID_050320.pdf) In 2021, UpDating and its creators signed with the talent agency WME for representation in all areas.[3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191)
## Growth and touring
The show spread through social media clips and full episodes posted weekly on its YouTube channel.[2](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating) A 2024 podcast profile credited the TikTok account with over 1 million followers and 45 million likes, and 275 million views across all platforms at that time.[3](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191) By 2026, the Daily Illini reported over six million total followers and more than 120 cities toured.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/) The show's own site claims 4 billion total social views, 650 million-plus YouTube views, 1 million YouTube subscribers, and over 100,000 attendees; a venue description puts views at over 2 billion, so the two published figures differ.[4](https://updatingshow.com/) • [2](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating)
Touring covers comedy clubs and theaters across the United States, with 2026 and 2027 dates listed in cities including Pittsburgh, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Toronto, plus listings for Europe, India, and Australia.[4](https://updatingshow.com/) Each show uses two local singles as daters, and casting applicants must hold a ticket to the show they hope to join.[2](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating) • [5](https://updatingshow.com/casting)
## Television adaptation
UpDating partnered with ITV America to be adapted into a TV series, announced in 2026, with no release date announced.[1](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/)
## Context in dating entertainment
UpDating belongs to a crowded field of dating formats. Broadcast and streaming dating shows range from studio formats such as E4's Love Triangle, in which six singles choose between two matches, to Netflix's Love Is Blind, which has spawned nearly a dozen international adaptations in five years.[8](https://www.channel4.com/press/news/e4-commissions-love-triangle-exciting-new-dating-show-unique-shock-twists-and-turns) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/fecb8349912fa1e47d412890644747de) UpDating's distinguishing feature is liveness: the dates are unscripted, unfold in real time before a ticket-buying audience, and depend on that audience's questions, votes, and reactions rather than on editing.[6](https://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Movement_Sept2020_web_.pdf) • [10](https://stamford.newyorkcomedyclub.com/shows/updating)
## References
1. [‘UpDating’ matches CU singles in vulgar comedy routine, The Daily Illini (Oct 23, 2026)](https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/arts-and-entertainment/2026/10/23/updating/)
2. [UpDating | Live in Denver, Comedy Works](https://comedyworks.com/comedians/updating)
3. [Episode 2 – UpDating With Harrison Forman & Brandon Berman, The David Noble Show (Apple Podcasts, June 11, 2024)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-updating-with-harrison-forman-brandon-berman/id1750259140?i=1000658610191)
4. [UpDating | Official Site](https://updatingshow.com/)
5. [Casting | UpDating](https://updatingshow.com/casting)
6. [Harrison Forman, Class of 2014, Movement (University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, Fall 2020)](https://www.kines.umich.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Movement_Sept2020_web_.pdf)
7. [Blind dating made literal, Stars and Stripes / The Washington Post (March 5, 2020)](https://epub.stripes.com/docs/MID_MID_050320/MID_MID_050320.pdf)
8. [E4 commissions ‘Love Triangle’, Channel 4 press release (Aug 21, 2023)](https://www.channel4.com/press/news/e4-commissions-love-triangle-exciting-new-dating-show-unique-shock-twists-and-turns)
9. [How 'Love is Blind' is reshaping global views on love, from Japan to Brazil, AP News (Oct 30, 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/fecb8349912fa1e47d412890644747de)
10. [UpDating, New York Comedy Club Stamford](https://stamford.newyorkcomedyclub.com/shows/updating)
11. [https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences](https://www.insidehook.com/sex-and-dating/updating-is-putting-real-people-on-blind-dates-in-front-of-live-audiences)
12. [https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/nyc-singles-flock-to-the-updating-blind-dating-comedy-show/](https://nypost.com/2021/05/26/nyc-singles-flock-to-the-updating-blind-dating-comedy-show/)
13. [https://deadline.com/2026/06/updating-show-tour-dates-2026-unveiled-1236939794/](https://deadline.com/2026/06/updating-show-tour-dates-2026-unveiled-1236939794/)
14. [https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/updating-live-dating-youtube-tv-show-1236627659/](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/updating-live-dating-youtube-tv-show-1236627659/)
15. [https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/the-creators-making-a-tv-series-with-love-island](https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/the-creators-making-a-tv-series-with-love-island)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Celebrity, family, lifestyle, and court reality series › Lifestyle, dating, and docusoaps › Dating and matchmaking series*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license