Author: Marilyn Anne Michaels

Brooke Allen is a Chicago-based playwright that I had the pleasure of working with for an entire summer at a regional theater company about fifteen years ago. Brooke has been an Artist In Residence with The Ruckus since 2012 and was the 2013 Playwright in Residence at Red Tape Theatre. She is definitely a playwright to keep your eye on and she even recently had an article appear in The Chicago Sun-Times about “processing the loss of her brother by penning a play”. We are lucky to have her answer a few questions below. Enjoy and be inspired! How did…

In February there was a bit of controversy on Twitter surrounding “The Summit” at Arena Stage and the comments and generalizations that had been made about women playwrights and their work. It was this that inspired me to start interviewing female writers for the screen and stage. Robin Bradford is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter based in San Francisco. Like many others in this business she has worn many other hats over the years, including directing and producing. She was even the CEO of a successful Bay Area staffing company for twenty-five years before transitioning into independent film production.  I…

Allison Weber has been doing stand-up comedy since 2008. I wanted to interview her because she is truly a ray of light (on stage and off). Her dream has always has been to make people happy. Since she could walk and talk, Allison knew that all she wanted to do was entertain people and make them smile. She has been blessed with the gift of pure silliness and a sparkling charisma. When you watch Allison on stage, you feel like she is your friend.  Her start in comedy… A very fateful fluke. I’ve been playing guitar since I was…

Jodi Miller is a Los Angeles based stand-up comedienne and comedy writer. She has been on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Other credits include being the host of Newsbusted, a weekly online comedy news show and a writer on the Cinemax series Co-Ed Confidential. Also seen on Playboy’s Foursome Walk Of Shame and GSN’s Mind Of A Man. Jodi is also the co-author of the WTF Series (WTF College, WTF Work & WTF Women, WTF America and OMG: GUYS) in stores and online now. If that’s not enough, Jodi was just named one of the…

Rachel McDowell is a lovely and inspiring comedienne. I first saw her perform at Sardo’s about 6 months ago and I was blown away by her charm, her humor and her story. Rachel was kind enough to take some time to answer some of my questions below. Enjoy and be inspired! You worked at a corporate job for 10 years and then decided to quit to become a full-time comedienne. Do you have any other income? Or do you support yourself just through comedy? Quitting my job was a HUGE decision for me. I had a full-blown career and made…

It’s no secret that many comedians have been turning to YouTube to share their comic voice and build their fan base – whether it’s through sketches, Vlogs, web series, spoofs and parodies, or simply posting videos of their stand-up sets. I wanted to get some tips for you about starting your own comedy web channel, so I reached out to YouTube celeb comedian, actor and filmmaker Shane Dawson for some pointers. So here we go… Hey Shane! If a friend of yours comes up to you and asks for advice on starting a YouTube channel, what would be the first…

Why are you doing stand-up comedy? Let’s say that you are using stand-up comedy as a vehicle to procure work as a television actor… You are going to need a “theatrical” headshot that you can submit to agents and casting directors. Todd Rohrbacher is the owner and founder of Actors Comedy Studio in Hollywood. I asked him to let me pick his brain about comedy headshots because not only does he teach at a studio dedicated to comedy (specifically, scripted comedy), but he also offers a headshot consultation service called Smart Headshots and reviews thousands of headshots a year in…

What do managers and casting directors want to see in a comedian’s headshot? How can a comedian avoid shooting a clichéd headshot that people will just simply roll their eyes at and then toss in the trash? BRUCE SMITH is the president of Omnipop Talent Group and is head of the west coast office. Omnipop manages many comedians such as Maria Bamford, Doug Benson, Andy Kindler and many more. CAROLINE LIEM is a casting director that has worked on over 50 feature films, television shows and pilots. She also served as Head of Casting for the award winning late night…

The open mic at The Laugh Factory is often considered an audition because it is the first step in getting noticed by the people in charge. From their official website: If your 2-3 minute open mic performance goes well, you will move on to showcase. Showcasers perform for six minutes and are not restricted to G-rated material. Showcasers can move on to become a Laugh Factory regular.  WATCHING THE OPEN MIC: 06/18/13 I’m neurotic and always aspire to have as much information as possible… So, I went down to watch the open mic to get an idea of what to…

Having your friends see your stand-up comedy shows is awesome! But now it’s time to start making more fans! Create a name for yourself so that bookers and clubs will be confident in the fact that they can fill up the audience simply by putting your name on the flyer (or even better, the marquee). So how do you do it? How can you use social media platforms to build your fan base? (I want to know too! So I set out to find some answers!) As comedians, we are responsible for promoting ourselves. From my research, the general consensus…

You don’t even have to be funny. You just have to have lots of friends. I say that with my tongue in my cheek. Now that you’ve written some jokes and worked them out at lots of open mics, you’re going to start feeling the itch to perform in front of a “real” audience! The good news is <insert drumroll> that during your first six months or so of doing stand-up comedy it’s actually super easy to get booked on shows. In fact, when you first start doing stand-up, “bringer” bookers are going to be all over you like a…

Once you have three to five minutes of stand-up comedy material (aka jokes) to perform – get up on stage and try out your stuff! Start going to open mics. Most open mics have a five minute time limit. Some open mics are free, some you have to pay for. I officially started going to open mics in July of 2012. I went constantly. Most open mics can be rough because you are performing in front of an audience full of comics. Sometimes these comics pay attention, and sometimes they are looking at their notes and thinking about their own…

My mom always encouraged me to do stand-up comedy. I laughed and said “No way, my life has been way too awesome. I’m not messed up enough to be a comedienne.” I was incorrect. I’m not an expert in anything, much less stand-up comedy. This is not a blog written by an expert. This is a blog about my experience trying to get into stand-up comedy. When I started doing stand-up seven months ago, I was fortunate enough to have a close friend who has been producing and performing stand-up comedy for ten years. Having a friend in the biz…