Founder, Comedian, Actress, Singer
photo credit: Denise Winters
Current City: Brooklyn, NY
Current Job and Entrepreneurial Focus: I’m the founder and CEO of GOLD Comedy, GOLD Comedy is the comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women and non-binary folks grow their comedy careers, join a powerful community, and make funny stuff. Through our classes, celebrity speaker series, sketch teams, shows, and more, our members build skills, rack up laurels, and nail their showbiz goals.
Rachel Dratch is an advisor, and our guests and mentors have included Margaret Cho, Paula Pell, Judy Gold, Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Bloom, Ashley Nicole Black, Patti Harrison, Paula Pell, Bridget Everett, and staffers from The Daily Show, SNL, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Broad City, Search Party, Insider Amy Schumer, and more. We are the comedy talent/content/power pipeline for women and other “others.”
So I’ve essentially gone from performing comedy to helping others succeed in comedy and entertainment. The hours are still long, but now at least I can stop being funny by like 6:30 PM.
Notable Prior Jobs: My 25+-year journalism career included writing on gender, culture, and social issues for the NYT and NYT Magazine, Salon, Glamour, NPR, and a million other publications and anthologies. I wrote regular columns for the Daily News, Cosmo Girl, New York Magazine, and more; my work changed laws and lives.
I co-created one of the internet's earliest success stories: the award-winning Breakup Girl—the superhero who can bend steel bars AND mend broken hears—who appeared online, on TV, in books, and on stage, and was acquired by Oxygen.
I’m a long time comedy performer and storyteller, instructor, and producer, touring the U.S. with Tablet Magazine and co-founding the wildly popular comedy series Persisticon, which raises money to elect women up and down the ballot.
I’m author of 6 books, including Death By Chick Lit and Breakup Girl to the Rescue!, and my humorous essays appear in a zillion anthologies.
As VP of Communications for the global human rights group Breakthrough, I brought my signature blend of humor and advocacy to develop and distribute high-impact programming including “Be That Guy” anti-domestic violence animations screened at NASCAR and Indy 500 events, and Dudes Against Violence Against Women: Because DUH—live comedy shows reaching 38M.
I am also a former Tonya Harding lookalike, which is a long story.
When I Started Performing: As an only child and Louise May Alcott nerd, I gathered the children and put on shows in the barn! Plus the whole rest of the world cloud: summer theater camp, Glee Club, madrigals, piano (middling), Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, all the school plays and musicals, college a cappella, etc
Performing Arts Background: After college, I did standup and storytelling for about 10 years, performing around NY and LA and in between, at storied venues including 92StY, Joe’s Pub, the Belly Room. In addition to the roles/jobs described above, I starred as Tonya Harding in a goofy NYC West Village musical, and also on Ricki Lake AND a Geraldo lookalike contest. (I won.) Told you, long story.
How did your performing arts background supercharge your entrepreneurship?
I spent decades performing and producing humor and comedy designed to humanize and connect—and even power change. All this dedication and practice helped boost my skills as an entrepreneur. Such as!
Read the room. Like a standup following another on stage, I can feel the vibe in a room when I walk in—and, just as important, speak to it. Whether the people in a room—potential investors, partners, or customers—are excited, nervous, tired, or a mix of all—I’m comfortable sensing it and naming it. Whether it’s simply saying “Thank goodness for A/C!” or “I know I’m the last in a long Zoomathon—thanks for your patience!” it’s a micro-moment that puts us all on the same page and helps warm up a cold open.
Build a team like a producer. A producer’s key skill is pulling in the right people for the right job, long-term or short. I also love to rock a clipboard and headset. Know you can bomb and survive. It’s just one show, one crowd, one joke, one growth experiment, one pitch. If you’re not bombing, you’re not trying. Or learning.
Build a clear brand. As a comic, you can’t just be like, “Dating, am I right?” Or, you can, but you won’t build a clear brand. Successful comedians—and entrepreneurs—cultivate a unique brand, value prop, style, and point of view that differentiates them in a crowded field; likewise, it helps the audience know—and come back for, and PAY for—what they’re getting.
Start with an MVP. As a standup, your first move is to develop and rely on your “tight five.” Call it your Minimum Comedy Product: it’s your reliable, go-to five minute signature set that almost always works and tells people exactly who you are. THEN you iterate and experiment and grow from there (ideally, to your first “1000 true fans”).
Not all people are your people! And THAT’S OK! Some people say a great comic can adapt to and delight any audience. Well, other people—like Maria Bamford, at a recent GOLD speaking event—says that if a given audience doesn’t adore you, “They’re wrong. You’re perfect.” Ha! From a target market perspective, I’ve learned The Bamford Way is right. Of COURSE you’re always learning from your audience/customer and tweaking and iterating as needed—but comics, just as products, CANNOT BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. Find yours, deliver what they love you for, and you will destroy. (In comedy, that’s good.)
Favorite Performer: Right now, Maria Bamford. All-time, Carol Burnett. 👑
Follow this Performer-Entrepreneur:
X/Twitter - x.com/harrislynn x.com/goldcomedy
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