November 13, 2024 • 30 mins
Lynn Harris is a trailblazer in the comedy world, passionately addressing gender disparity through her transformative initiatives and perspectives. As the founder of Gold Comedy, Harris has created a nurturing platform that empowers women and underrepresented groups to pursue comedy careers, challenging the traditional male-dominated narrative. She highlights the systemic gender biases in the industry, noting the unequal representation of women in leading roles and the significant power dynamics where humor dictates societal structures. Through her work with Gold Comedy and Persisticon, Harris combines her journalistic acumen and comedic flair to advocate for gender equality, using humor as a catalyst for social change and empowerment. Lynn Harris, a comedian, writer, and founder of Gold Comedy, has a diverse career that merges journalism and comedy, using humor to advocate for social change and gender justice. Gold Comedy amplifies underrepresented voices in the comedy industry, promoting inclusivity and diversity, and aiming to normalize the notion that anyone, regardless of gender or background, can be recognized simply as a comedian. Harris emphasizes the importance of using statistics to address gender inequality in comedy and challenges the notion that male comics are the default standard. Through Gold Comedy, she provides a supportive community, mentorship, and educational opportunities for aspiring comedians worldwide, offering classes in stand-up, sketch, improv, and more. By fostering a global network of support and collaboration, Gold Comedy empowers individuals to thrive in the comedy industry on their own terms. (00:00:11) Championing Diversity and Inclusivity in Comedy (00:02:46) Humor-infused Journalism: Lynn Harris' Impact (00:10:55) Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Comedy (00:12:51) Empowering Comedy: Breaking Gender-Based Norms (00:25:02) Inclusive Comedy School Fostering Global Connections (00:29:08) Celebrity-Led Comedy Mentorship Network
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lynn Harris (00:01):
Welcome to Conversations with Aaliyah Le. Tune
in for inspiration, information and upliftment as
creatives and entrepreneurs share their journeys, challenges
and successes.
Alya Lei (00:11):
First of all, I just want to
say thank you to Lynn Harris to
be my guest here and I'm going
to just tell you a little bit
about her. Lynn is a comedian, award
winning writer and producer and founder of
Gold Comedy, the comedy school, creative network
and content studio where women and other
others amp up their comedy careers, build
(00:34):
powerful communities and make funny stuff. Prior
to that, Lynn's 25 plus year journalism
career included writing on gender, culture and
social issues for the New York Times
and New York Times Magazine, Salon, Glamour,
NPR and a million other publications and
anthologies. Her work has changed laws and
(00:55):
lives. Lynn co created one of the
Internet's earliest success stories, the award winning
Breakup girl hero who saves your love
life, who appeared online, on tv, in
books and on stage. She is the
author of six books including Death by
Chick lit and Breakup Girl to the
Rescue. As VP of communications for the
(01:17):
global human rights group Breakthrough, Lynn brought
her blend of humor and advocacy to
create high impact programming including Be that
Guy animations screened at NASCAR and Indy
500 events and dudes against Violence against
Women comedy shows reaching 38 million. An
(01:38):
experienced comedy performer, teacher, producer, she's a
co founder of the wildly popular comedy
event series Persisticon which raises money to
elect women. She's also a former Tanya
Harding lookalike, which is a long story.
So thank you, thank you, thank you
so much Lynn for joining us here
(01:59):
today.
Lynn Harris (02:00):
Thanks for having me.
Alya Lei (02:01):
That is.
Lynn Harris (02:02):
If only we had some women to
elect right now, you know.
Alya Lei (02:05):
Oh, I don't know.
Lynn Harris (02:08):
We gotta go find some, we gotta
go find some.
Alya Lei (02:11):
Oh, fingers crossed. I don't, I don't,
I'm not into politics. But you're journalism
so you probably go into that kind
of stuff or you were in journalism.
But I, I, that would be really
cool if first woman president for me,
you know. Anyway. Yep, yep. So Lynn,
(02:33):
thank you for being here. Can you
tell us how you first started getting
into like how you transitioned from journalism
to comedy first, I guess is what
my first question would be.
Lynn Harris (02:46):
I never really had a dramatic transition
from one to the other because I
always cared about both and always tried
to blend both. You know, when you
first start out in journalism, you definitely.
And when you continue to go to
be in journalism, you can't always write
(03:09):
about what you want to and you
can't always write in the voice that
you want to. And that's fine. It's
a craft it's not necessarily your job
to express your personal opinion in your
personal voice, that's fine. But as I
developed as I was sort of journalist
by day and comedian by night, I
worked at journalism for so long and
(03:31):
worked at comedy for so long that
I got into. I was fortunate enough
and worked hard enough that I got
into the level where, yes, I could
write about what I wanted to, and
yes, I could write in the voice
that I wanted to, which was my
own and which was funny. So that
once you're, to some degree the name
(03:54):
recognition, or I should say more, better
put the trust of your editors and
your publications and once you've honed the
skill of being able to write about
even serious issues, in using humor in
a way that actually forwards. Forwards the
(04:15):
conversation and doesn't just make light of
something that is not funny, then you
get to a place where you really
can. I don't think you can change
people's minds. I don't think you can
make people do a 180, but you
can use humor or snark or whatever
your style is to make people go,
(04:38):
huh? In a way that they might
not have before when they're just reading
straight up reporting. So that's all to
say, I never really made a transition.
What I was able to do was
develop the two at the same time
so that more and more. And as
I was more and more experienced, I
(04:59):
was more and more able to blend
the two to really try and really
try and make a difference around issues
that are not funny at all, but
that need to, that really do require
a change.
Alya Lei (05:13):
Right? Right. Oh, I love that so
much. What I'm hearing is that, is
that you, you didn't switch over. You
had been working parallel with both comedy
and your journalism at the same time.
And as a result of your experience
and the trust of your editors, they
allowed you, once you got more experience
and they trusted you to speak your
(05:34):
own voice and then you incorporated humor
to make people to be more open
to hearing about different changes that are
serious and that can help move progress
in a way forward a little bit.
Is that correct?
Lynn Harris (05:50):
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, then you
get, then you get to where, you
know, journalism was a lot easier to,
I don't want to like, throw myself
under the bus, but journalism was a
lot easier to succeed in back then.
There were, there were, for reasons, you
know, there, there weren't as there wasn't
as much competition from bloggers who work
for free. You know, there wasn't as
(06:11):
much. It was just a different market
And I. It was easier. Again, I
don't mean to say it didn't take
a ton of work, but it was
easier to land your own column. I
had a column at the Daily News.
I had advice columns at five or
six different magazines. I had again. Oh,
and I was around at Salon when
(06:31):
they launched a blog that was focused
in particular on issues of concern to
women and non CIS dudes. So I
was already on the team there when
that happened. So I became a big
part of that team. So it wasn't
just kind of me finding my own
way by myself. It was establishing the
(06:54):
relationships and the longevity with different publications
that then allowed me to be in
the right place at the right time
with the right level of experience and
trust.
Alya Lei (07:05):
Right, right. And so can you tell
us now, like, are you no longer
doing journalism and are you just doing
comedy? Only at this point.
Lynn Harris (07:15):
I do a little. I definitely, you
know. Right. To get paid sometimes, like
when I have an opinion about something
and.
Alya Lei (07:23):
But is that journalism? That's not right.
Lynn Harris (07:25):
Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It still
is. I mean. Oh, sure. Yeah. Oh,
sure. It's the. It's, you know, journalism
almost never doesn't have an opinion behind
it because a human being is writing
it. You know, it. The expectation. I
think what matters is that there's expectations
(07:45):
about what you're reading that deserve to
be met. So in other words, you
can never have a fully objective piece
of journalism, even from AI. Right. Because
AI is still pulling from stuff that
humans wrote. Right. But I don't mean
to be like, gotcha. It's never not
biased. That's not what I mean. I
just mean it's a product of humans.
(08:06):
Like, how can it possibly be? At
some point humans are making choices about
what words are on the page. Is
that good or bad? It's neither. It's
just true. Right. Even if the choices
got made by humans before AI, you
know, turned it into pound cake, like,
I don't know. But I think what
matters is the expectation. So generally, when
(08:28):
you read just straight up news, your
expectation is that the journalist who wrote
it has followed the rules of the
trade, such that you have a reasonable
expectation that it is generally objective versus
when you read something that's labeled advertorial.
(08:48):
There was something in the Times today
that was about kissing me. Florida, which
I'm curious about. It's in the Everglades.
It's in central Florida, but it was
clearly labeled, labeled advertorial. So I clicked
on it because I'm curious about. I
want to take My, I've been to
the Everglades, but I want to take
my husband to the Everglades before. There
are no Everglades. So I was like,
oh, that's. I've never thought about going
(09:09):
to that area of Florida. Let me
find out. But I fully knew it
was an article style advertisement for that
religion of religion, that region of Florida.
So that's fine because they told me
that, you know, and so the same
thing with opinion. Yeah, I've written a
bunch of opinion pieces that are part
of my wheelhouse these days. Like about
(09:30):
why Louis CK's exploits show us that
we just need more women in comedy.
You know, stuff that are kind of
in my wheelhouse. But that's journalism. But
they tell you at the top, it
literally says opinion, you know, so it's
not the opinion of the LA Times.
It's not the opinion of the editorial
board. It's my opinion, but they paid
me to express it. So it's, it's,
it's. I think it's the packaging that
(09:51):
makes the most. That makes the most.
That is the most important. And so
that's why. Yes, that's journalism. It's just
one kind of journalism.
Alya Lei (10:00):
Oh, okay. Oh, so I do it.
Lynn Harris (10:01):
I do it occasionally. Yeah, I do
it occasionally when something comes up either
that I'm on fire to write about
or that someone asked me to write
about because of my various wheelhouses.
Alya Lei (10:11):
Okay, all right, cool. Thank you for
clarifying. Because I, growing up, I was
told journalism was the first one, as
objective as possible, and that, you know,
opinion. I didn't. I know. I never
thought of that. I never thought of
that as journalism. But based on what
you said, it's just that setting up
the box, the expectation. But it's still
(10:31):
considerationalism and it still.
Lynn Harris (10:33):
Has to be accurate. Like if I'm
writing. If I'm like, fired up and
pissed off and writing an opinion piece
about Louis CK and why the entire
comedy industry is set up to be
unfair to women. I also have to
do some journalism because I have to
check my facts. I have to report
it out. I can't just be like,
I think it's unfair. I have to
actually, you know, throw in some stats
(10:55):
about.
Alya Lei (10:55):
Right.
Lynn Harris (10:56):
You know, how many women are in
our leading comedy shows versus men, how
many women are TV shows, how many
women are generally on stage any given
night versus men, et cetera. Like, you
have to. You still have to do
journalism to back up your, to shore
up your opinion. They're still not. The
(11:16):
lines are not super. The Lines are
porous, but they're there.
Alya Lei (11:22):
Okay, got it. Oh, that's so cool.
I never knew that. And speaking about
this, with females in comedy, which, by
the way, I love improv and I
do love comedy. Yes, 100%. I mean,
I don't even know if you really
need to. I guess you have to
put down stats, but it's so obvious
to me that you can just see
(11:42):
it, that it's uneven.
Lynn Harris (11:44):
Look at our faces. We're miserable, we're
exhausted. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, I mean,
it's, you know, and it also depends
on your audience. Right. Like, if I'm
writing that article for the New York
Times, I gotta back it up. If
I'm writing it for a blog that's
read by women, you know exactly what
I'm talking about. Or not. You know,
(12:05):
just non cishet dudes who know exactly
what I'm talking about. And then the
expectations are different. They're not going to
be like, I'm sorry, where are your
statistics? You know, like, it super depends
on the audience in those cases. You
don't need them. We all know.
Alya Lei (12:20):
Yeah, it's so. It's, it's, it's like
in your face, you know?
Lynn Harris (12:24):
Yeah.
Alya Lei (12:24):
Because you have this desire to bring
issues to the forefront, but in a
way that can make a positive difference
rather than shutting people down. How did
you start getting gold comedy together? First
of all, what is gold comedy and
how did you start it? And then
(12:45):
what? Ultimately, why do you care so
much?
Lynn Harris (12:51):
So I'll start with why I care.
I care with. I care because I've
been, you know, just a huge feminist
my entire life, so I care. And
all the ways that that term has.
And in all the ways that term
has evolved, you know, I care about
gender justice and I love comedy. Now,
(13:15):
is comedy the only place that you
can kind of forward gender justice? Wow.
No. You know, we have everything from,
you know, the UN to corporate boardrooms
to community organizations. Like, but comedy is
my lane. And I do think comedy,
(13:38):
it's also not random comedy matters because
who. Because when you make people laugh,
you make people listen. So that's what.
Comedy is powerful. So how come only
some people get that power? I think
it matters as long as we live
in a world where male comics. And
(14:00):
again, I'm going to like oversimplify binaries
here just for ease, but in a
world where male comics are comics and
women comics are female comics or women
comics, we're not there yet. It still
means that the norm is a dude.
Alya Lei (14:15):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:16):
And you Know, some of our best
friends are dudes, and they're very funny,
and we love them. They're great comics.
But I'm talking about the norms that,
like, we're always considered female comics. And
you never get. A dude never gets
called a male comic. He's just a
comic.
Alya Lei (14:28):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:29):
So. And the same thing. Like. And
it's. It's because you don't. Someone said
this, and I wish I remembered who,
because she should get credit, but someone
was like, you don't call your lawyer
a lawyer at. Or your doctor a
doctoress. I mean, in fairness, you do
say, like, female doctor. Like, you still
do make it weird, you know? So
I want comedy to be the lane
where I help normalize the idea of
(14:52):
anyone but a straight white dude in
comedy so that we're all just comics.
Alya Lei (14:57):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:57):
And I think it matters because, again,
if you have the power to make
people laugh, you have power, and you
define what's funny. You also help define
what's not funny. You also help define
who's in power. Who do we get
to laugh at? When are we punching
up and when are we punching down?
(15:18):
And how does that help us define
all the power structures? And now, have
I made comedy unfunny for you? Probably.
But, like, that stuff all matters to
me. And it all came from. To
go to your earliest question, it all
came from. And we all know this.
I was not unique. We all had,
like, you know, what I did stand
(15:38):
up in the 90s fully was not
unique. And this still happens. You're the
only woman on a lineup. So the
host is. Now we got a lady
coming up. Now we got a lady
coming to the stage. And then they
forget your name, and then they just
assume that you work at Lifetime, which
happened to me all the time. And
you're just like, bro, we can write
(16:02):
the feminist essay about what's wrong with
that? But also, you're bad at your
job. Your job is to get the
crowd psyched for the next comic. And
if you're. And I've had dudes be
like, now we got a lady. And
what's her name? What's your name? What's
your name again? Oh, Linda. My name's
not Linda. And where do you work?
(16:23):
Oxygen. Okay. Lifetime. Anyway, here she is,
like, dude, you're bad at your job.
Alya Lei (16:29):
Wow.
Lynn Harris (16:29):
If you don't get the audience as
psyched for me as you did for
Jake and Bruce, who went before me
and Spad and whatever doofus goes after
me, you're bad at your job. You
know? So until that. And by the
way, that was Jeff Ross. I said
it anyway. But also, it happened a
(16:52):
whole bunch of times. It happened. I
mean, it happened all the time. We
all know this. It happened all the
time. So. So it was. I didn't
have. Thank goodness. I didn't have, like,
the worst experience. Like, I didn't have,
like. I mean, I probably did because
it was the water I swam in,
but I didn't have, like, one horrific
God forbid, like, you know, sexual harassment
(17:12):
or assault moment or. I. But I
truly believe that, as with everyone else
in my gang at that time, that
we were underestimated. Under booked, undervalued, you
know, and for working twice as hard,
you know, and the dudes worked. Half
is not just individual dudes, because comedy
is hard for everyone. And it was
hard for dudes, too. It is. But,
(17:33):
like, I. Of course we were overlooked
and underestimated. Of course they talked about
what we were wearing. Of course they
told us that, like, we should talk
more about sex, but we should talk
about less. Less about sex. Of course
we should talk more about dating, but
we should also talk less about dating.
Of course we should talk more about
politics, but we should also be hot.
(17:53):
Like, you know, like, come on. So
it was all of those frustrations which,
of course have their echoes in pretty
much any job in our society in
general, overall.
Alya Lei (18:05):
Yeah, right.
Lynn Harris (18:07):
In general. That were more like, you
know, just kind of like rage by
A Thousand Cuts, you know, And I
didn't quit because of that. I quit
just because I really kind of stopped
being able to stay up past 10,
15. But. But. And. And there is
actually one other, like, origin story which
really true, that kind of put the
(18:28):
bee in my bonnet when I was
a teenager, which was I was at
a Jewish youth group ski trip in
New Hampshire and it was like the
event of the year and always was.
And it was a sleepover at the
basement of a synagogue in Manchester. It
was, like, the funnest. It was always
the funnest. And we were, you know,
(18:48):
came home tired from skiing, whatever, and
a bunch of dudes, one of whom
was, in fact, Adam Sandler. And I
say that just for the name check
because he is not particularly at fault
here. But just to give you the
scene, a bunch of dudes got a
hold of, like, our, like, some flannel
nightgowns and God knows where, but, like,
(19:09):
grapefruit, and did this impromptu drag sketch.
And P.S. i love drag, but this
was just like, dudes putting grapefruits. Making.
If you put a grapefruit in it
makes a boob. Like that level of
dragon. And they did this kind of,
like, not offensive, but just like, frickin
(19:29):
slapstick goofball dokey thing on the stage,
which brought the house down. And probably
it was legitimately silly and funny. And
I was like, in the realm of
goofball girls also. And of course, my
first thought is, like, all right, what
do we do? What do we do?
What do we do? What do we
do? What should we do now? What
should we do now? How do we.
How do we respond?
Alya Lei (19:49):
Cucumber in our pants. I don't know.
Lynn Harris (19:51):
Exactly. Exactly. What do we do? And
even at age 16 or whatever it
was, I knew. And this is like
1983, you know, I knew there's nothing
we can do. Like, and it's not
that women aren't funny, it's that audiences
don't think women are as funny. We.
(20:12):
There's nothing we could do that would
make people go like, yes. Unless we,
like, took off our clothes. Like, it
just. It was just. There was no
space for us to. To kind of.
To meet that level of probably legitimate
hilarity. It just be. Not again, not
because of women not being funny, but
(20:35):
because people didn't think women were funny.
And we would have had to, like,
could we have done something hilarious? Sure.
But we would have had to spend
two days writing the sketch and, you
know, unveiled it two days later as
the big finale, blah, blah, blah. You
know, it just. I. My spider sense
was that this isn't going to work
and, like, right or wrong, and I
was right, that stuck with me as
(20:55):
just like, no fair. And that's kind
of where. Where it all did. I
vow then to start a company and,
you know, in. You know, in 2022,
I did not. But, like, that's where
my kind of like, God damn it
feeling of inequality started.
Alya Lei (21:12):
Yeah. Yeah. So it's your personal experience
of inequality that really, like, like, fanned
your flame of, like, being aware that
the inequality is there and what can
you do to make it more equal?
Because it's not fair.
Lynn Harris (21:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, I
didn't. Other people had way worse experiences
than me, but, like, it was relentless.
Alya Lei (21:33):
Yeah, but you stuck with it. You
stuck with it until you. Until. Until
it's. And you would still stay with
it if comedy was an earlier scene,
it sounds like, but it's a late.
Lynn Harris (21:44):
Yeah, I know. We just. We just
talked to. I. One thing, I am
sort of flattered to think I have
in common with Maria Bamford, who I
adore. Is that we just had an
interview, like a live zoom conversation with
her at Gold Comedy. And one thing
she also said is just like, girl,
I can't stay up late. And she
was like, I just did the best
show at like 8am on a Saturday
(22:05):
at the local clown school. And I
was like, that sounds like about my
speed.
Alya Lei (22:10):
You persevered through all the unfairness and
continued to do comedy anyways. And the
only reason you kind of, you're still
doing comedy but you're not doing the
standup because of the late night, that's
all.
Lynn Harris (22:21):
Well, I mean, it's a little broader
than that. Yes, it's a little. What
I really care about most. I really
do like being on stage. I really
do like the give and take. I
really do like reading a room. I
actually moved even more into storytelling, which
I liked a lot because. And just
for, you know, for similar reasons. But
(22:41):
I never stop doing things that were
comedy adjacent. So I've always been in
producing or creating some sort of comedy
that may or may not require me
to be alone on the stage at
11:00pm But I, you know, I, you
know, produce comedy stuff for, in my
old job, produce comedy stuff that helped
(23:02):
make human rights issues real and relevant
and actionable and, you know, things that
are always just, you know, using comedy
as a muscle to make change, but
at more reasonable hours usually.
Alya Lei (23:14):
Right, right. So it's not like you've
given. It's more just that you've swerved,
that's all.
Lynn Harris (23:19):
But it's just not as much stand
up and also stand up like, as
a wicked commitment. Like there's so many
ways to do stand, sorry, comedy, or
be involved in comedy or be creating
comedy or love comedy or just be
part of comedy that don't require the
level of commitment of stand up. I'm
not trying to convince people not to
do stand up. Please, for the love
(23:39):
of God, do stand. That is not
what I'm saying. I'm just saying that
if you're going to do stand up,
please know it takes a lot of
repetition, most of it at night.
Alya Lei (23:48):
Yeah. I just listened to this audiobook.
I think it's called Someday I'll Talk
Funny. Or have you heard of it?
Lynn Harris (23:55):
Oh, yes. What is that?
Alya Lei (23:56):
Super good. Yeah.
Lynn Harris (23:57):
This Will be Funny Someday by Katie
Henry.
Alya Lei (23:59):
That's it. That's the one. That's one.
Super good.
Lynn Harris (24:01):
And purely out of my brain.
Alya Lei (24:06):
Amazing. So good. Yeah, I bring that
up because it's a fictional book, but
she gets, you know, into standup comedy
by accident as a high School aged
girl. But I think it ties in
a lot to some of the, some
of the themes you're saying and it
makes it really interesting and funny but
(24:27):
also giving a good point.
Lynn Harris (24:29):
So why There's a few books out
now that involve teenager teenage girls doing
standup or improv that are actually pretty
good. Ooh, yeah, Good.
Alya Lei (24:39):
I'll get you.
Lynn Harris (24:40):
We'll put them in the show notes.
Yeah, they're good.
Alya Lei (24:42):
Yes. What would help most right now?
Lynn Harris (24:44):
Let's talk about gold a little bit
because it's unique and it's not hard
to understand, but it's a new model,
so sometimes it takes a little detail
work. Yes.
Alya Lei (24:57):
So what is gold? Comedy. And how
did you start it and then tell
us all more about it?
Lynn Harris (25:02):
Well, thank you. I started gold because
of all this stuff I just told
you like that. I wanted to make
sure that it. As I said, comedy
is hard for everyone. I wanted to
make it as easier for the people
for whom it is hardest, for women,
other others, Anyone outside the sort of
straight white dude comedy. Norm, who is
often a straight white dude named Norm.
(25:23):
We love those guys, but no shade
to the individuals. It's just the scene
is hard and whatever scene it is,
stand up, sketch, improv, writing for tv,
whatever it is, it's hard. There's a
lot of great places where you can
learn comedy. There's a lot of great
places out there that can give you
a leg up. Gold is the only
one that combines a comedy school that
(25:44):
works at many levels where novices and
intermediate and advanced can intermingle comfortably. That
includes stand up, sketch, improv, web series,
pitching your TV show. We combine that
with community and that's the most important
thing. You can take a great class
anywhere, including gold. But we don't sell
generally, we don't sell our classes individually.
(26:06):
We work on a subscription basis. And
I say that not to just like
be a nerd and tell you like.
So sign up now. But I. Of
course you should. But you should because
we work on a subscription basis. Because
that. For an annual subscription. Because that
underscores not. That isn't just our business
model. That's our value. That's like you're
(26:26):
part of a community. We are your
crew. We are solving for not just
the skill building that you want, but
we are your friends, your professional network,
the people you ask if you need
a certain kind of camera or mic
to shoot your sketch. We're the people
that you ask if you're going to
open mic in a new city and
who's there we're your built in crew
(26:47):
and we also. Yeah, and we also
make content. So our classes and our
programs, including our, our selective sketch teams
program, we have 13, 12 selective teams
who make comedy shorts compare and contrast.
SNL has two and they're all dudes.
So we have 12. And we help
(27:10):
with the resources that you need, including
putting your team together in the first
place, either in the city where you
live or virtually so that now you
have a bunch of people to make
comedy shorts with. And we give you
resources, we give you guidance from a
quadruple Emmy nominated producer. We give you
and we showcase your work on our
platforms and you own it, we license
(27:31):
it. And some of the work that
we've helped produce is now on its
way to being picked up by a
fast channel. Some of the work that
gets produced in our classes has gone
on to turn into pilots that win
awards. People get representation, people win festivals,
people win pitch competitions. We put you
on the real professional track to success.
And so all of our, it's all
(27:52):
this nice sort of virtuous cycle where
the members learn together at whatever level
they start, they collaborate together and then
they support each other's success out in
the real world in the kind of
comedy that they want to succeed in.
Alya Lei (28:07):
That's fantastic. And this is online, so
it's not like local to any particular
region. Anybody worldwide?
Lynn Harris (28:15):
Anybody? Yeah, worldwide. We do have mostly
worldwide. We have people all over the
world. The class schedules are a little
funky for them sometimes, but we have
a ton, ton of on demand content
that they can access. And then we
do have certain place based groups and
teams like in the obvious places, la,
Chicago, but also Austin, Boston, North Carolina,
(28:38):
Colorado. Like people are all over the
place and they find each other. But
the point is you don't have to
be in a certain place to access
what we have. You can also find
people near you who are part of
our community.
Alya Lei (28:52):
Right. And I love that. I didn't
know that the community aspect was so
huge with gold comedy. So it's really
like a place of like mentorship, right?
Like yeah, it's like a community, but
also mentorship.
Lynn Harris (29:08):
Yeah, there's always people who are whom
like you can mentor. There's always people
at your level and then there's always
people who are a little more advanced
than you. Even if there are celebrities
and pros who come do. Our weekly
Q and A is with celebrities and
pros where we just had Maria Bamford,
we've had Margaret Cho, Rachel Dratch is
an advisor, we've had Patti Harrison Ashley
(29:29):
Black. You know, lots of people who
really dispense insanely actionable advice and write
in a zoom room with you.
Alya Lei (29:37):
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. That is
so good. I love Maria. Maria Bamford.
I just saw one of her sets
and I was like, so good. My
husband's from Minnesota, so. And I love
Margaret Cho. Oh, my God. And Rachel
Drudge. So, yeah. Okay, cool. We have
about one more minute left. Is there
anything else that you would like to
promote? And one last little question is,
(30:00):
is there, like a favorite food that
you like or the worst food?
Lynn Harris (30:05):
So there's really only one food that
I really don't like and that sea
urchin, but it just doesn't come up
very often. But I will. My favorite
foods in general are truffle popcorn and
truffle potato chips. But my current. My
favorite food right now in the summer
that I think I eat every day
just like Harry at the Spy, is
(30:26):
a tomato sandwich has to be on
white bread with mayonnaise and a little
salt. Obsessed.
Alya Lei (30:31):
Really, really.
Lynn Harris (30:32):
The most delicious thing and the main
thing is I hope that people check
out gold comedy@club.goldcomedy.com or just goldcomedy.com and
no matter where you are in your
career, you can probably find a place
with us and, you know, write jokes,
make friends, and learn the rule of
three.
Alya Lei (30:52):
That sounds fantastic. Thank you so much,
Lynn, for being a guest here. This
has gone too short, I think. I
feel like I for way longer.
Lynn Harris (31:01):
I think I have to talk to
you about tomato sandwiches more, if anything,
but that's a different podcast.
Alya Lei (31:07):
Thank you so much for listening to
Conversations with Aaliyah Le. I'd love to
hear from you. Follow me on Instagram
aliyahlei A L Y A L E
I.
Welcome to Conversations with Aaliyah Le. Tune
in for inspiration, information and upliftment as
creatives and entrepreneurs share their journeys, challenges
and successes.
Alya Lei (00:11):
First of all, I just want to
say thank you to Lynn Harris to
be my guest here and I'm going
to just tell you a little bit
about her. Lynn is a comedian, award
winning writer and producer and founder of
Gold Comedy, the comedy school, creative network
and content studio where women and other
others amp up their comedy careers, build
(00:34):
powerful communities and make funny stuff. Prior
to that, Lynn's 25 plus year journalism
career included writing on gender, culture and
social issues for the New York Times
and New York Times Magazine, Salon, Glamour,
NPR and a million other publications and
anthologies. Her work has changed laws and
(00:55):
lives. Lynn co created one of the
Internet's earliest success stories, the award winning
Breakup girl hero who saves your love
life, who appeared online, on tv, in
books and on stage. She is the
author of six books including Death by
Chick lit and Breakup Girl to the
Rescue. As VP of communications for the
(01:17):
global human rights group Breakthrough, Lynn brought
her blend of humor and advocacy to
create high impact programming including Be that
Guy animations screened at NASCAR and Indy
500 events and dudes against Violence against
Women comedy shows reaching 38 million. An
(01:38):
experienced comedy performer, teacher, producer, she's a
co founder of the wildly popular comedy
event series Persisticon which raises money to
elect women. She's also a former Tanya
Harding lookalike, which is a long story.
So thank you, thank you, thank you
so much Lynn for joining us here
(01:59):
today.
Lynn Harris (02:00):
Thanks for having me.
Alya Lei (02:01):
That is.
Lynn Harris (02:02):
If only we had some women to
elect right now, you know.
Alya Lei (02:05):
Oh, I don't know.
Lynn Harris (02:08):
We gotta go find some, we gotta
go find some.
Alya Lei (02:11):
Oh, fingers crossed. I don't, I don't,
I'm not into politics. But you're journalism
so you probably go into that kind
of stuff or you were in journalism.
But I, I, that would be really
cool if first woman president for me,
you know. Anyway. Yep, yep. So Lynn,
(02:33):
thank you for being here. Can you
tell us how you first started getting
into like how you transitioned from journalism
to comedy first, I guess is what
my first question would be.
Lynn Harris (02:46):
I never really had a dramatic transition
from one to the other because I
always cared about both and always tried
to blend both. You know, when you
first start out in journalism, you definitely.
And when you continue to go to
be in journalism, you can't always write
(03:09):
about what you want to and you
can't always write in the voice that
you want to. And that's fine. It's
a craft it's not necessarily your job
to express your personal opinion in your
personal voice, that's fine. But as I
developed as I was sort of journalist
by day and comedian by night, I
worked at journalism for so long and
(03:31):
worked at comedy for so long that
I got into. I was fortunate enough
and worked hard enough that I got
into the level where, yes, I could
write about what I wanted to, and
yes, I could write in the voice
that I wanted to, which was my
own and which was funny. So that
once you're, to some degree the name
(03:54):
recognition, or I should say more, better
put the trust of your editors and
your publications and once you've honed the
skill of being able to write about
even serious issues, in using humor in
a way that actually forwards. Forwards the
(04:15):
conversation and doesn't just make light of
something that is not funny, then you
get to a place where you really
can. I don't think you can change
people's minds. I don't think you can
make people do a 180, but you
can use humor or snark or whatever
your style is to make people go,
(04:38):
huh? In a way that they might
not have before when they're just reading
straight up reporting. So that's all to
say, I never really made a transition.
What I was able to do was
develop the two at the same time
so that more and more. And as
I was more and more experienced, I
(04:59):
was more and more able to blend
the two to really try and really
try and make a difference around issues
that are not funny at all, but
that need to, that really do require
a change.
Alya Lei (05:13):
Right? Right. Oh, I love that so
much. What I'm hearing is that, is
that you, you didn't switch over. You
had been working parallel with both comedy
and your journalism at the same time.
And as a result of your experience
and the trust of your editors, they
allowed you, once you got more experience
and they trusted you to speak your
(05:34):
own voice and then you incorporated humor
to make people to be more open
to hearing about different changes that are
serious and that can help move progress
in a way forward a little bit.
Is that correct?
Lynn Harris (05:50):
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, then you
get, then you get to where, you
know, journalism was a lot easier to,
I don't want to like, throw myself
under the bus, but journalism was a
lot easier to succeed in back then.
There were, there were, for reasons, you
know, there, there weren't as there wasn't
as much competition from bloggers who work
for free. You know, there wasn't as
(06:11):
much. It was just a different market
And I. It was easier. Again, I
don't mean to say it didn't take
a ton of work, but it was
easier to land your own column. I
had a column at the Daily News.
I had advice columns at five or
six different magazines. I had again. Oh,
and I was around at Salon when
(06:31):
they launched a blog that was focused
in particular on issues of concern to
women and non CIS dudes. So I
was already on the team there when
that happened. So I became a big
part of that team. So it wasn't
just kind of me finding my own
way by myself. It was establishing the
(06:54):
relationships and the longevity with different publications
that then allowed me to be in
the right place at the right time
with the right level of experience and
trust.
Alya Lei (07:05):
Right, right. And so can you tell
us now, like, are you no longer
doing journalism and are you just doing
comedy? Only at this point.
Lynn Harris (07:15):
I do a little. I definitely, you
know. Right. To get paid sometimes, like
when I have an opinion about something
and.
Alya Lei (07:23):
But is that journalism? That's not right.
Lynn Harris (07:25):
Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It still
is. I mean. Oh, sure. Yeah. Oh,
sure. It's the. It's, you know, journalism
almost never doesn't have an opinion behind
it because a human being is writing
it. You know, it. The expectation. I
think what matters is that there's expectations
(07:45):
about what you're reading that deserve to
be met. So in other words, you
can never have a fully objective piece
of journalism, even from AI. Right. Because
AI is still pulling from stuff that
humans wrote. Right. But I don't mean
to be like, gotcha. It's never not
biased. That's not what I mean. I
just mean it's a product of humans.
(08:06):
Like, how can it possibly be? At
some point humans are making choices about
what words are on the page. Is
that good or bad? It's neither. It's
just true. Right. Even if the choices
got made by humans before AI, you
know, turned it into pound cake, like,
I don't know. But I think what
matters is the expectation. So generally, when
(08:28):
you read just straight up news, your
expectation is that the journalist who wrote
it has followed the rules of the
trade, such that you have a reasonable
expectation that it is generally objective versus
when you read something that's labeled advertorial.
(08:48):
There was something in the Times today
that was about kissing me. Florida, which
I'm curious about. It's in the Everglades.
It's in central Florida, but it was
clearly labeled, labeled advertorial. So I clicked
on it because I'm curious about. I
want to take My, I've been to
the Everglades, but I want to take
my husband to the Everglades before. There
are no Everglades. So I was like,
oh, that's. I've never thought about going
(09:09):
to that area of Florida. Let me
find out. But I fully knew it
was an article style advertisement for that
religion of religion, that region of Florida.
So that's fine because they told me
that, you know, and so the same
thing with opinion. Yeah, I've written a
bunch of opinion pieces that are part
of my wheelhouse these days. Like about
(09:30):
why Louis CK's exploits show us that
we just need more women in comedy.
You know, stuff that are kind of
in my wheelhouse. But that's journalism. But
they tell you at the top, it
literally says opinion, you know, so it's
not the opinion of the LA Times.
It's not the opinion of the editorial
board. It's my opinion, but they paid
me to express it. So it's, it's,
it's. I think it's the packaging that
(09:51):
makes the most. That makes the most.
That is the most important. And so
that's why. Yes, that's journalism. It's just
one kind of journalism.
Alya Lei (10:00):
Oh, okay. Oh, so I do it.
Lynn Harris (10:01):
I do it occasionally. Yeah, I do
it occasionally when something comes up either
that I'm on fire to write about
or that someone asked me to write
about because of my various wheelhouses.
Alya Lei (10:11):
Okay, all right, cool. Thank you for
clarifying. Because I, growing up, I was
told journalism was the first one, as
objective as possible, and that, you know,
opinion. I didn't. I know. I never
thought of that. I never thought of
that as journalism. But based on what
you said, it's just that setting up
the box, the expectation. But it's still
(10:31):
considerationalism and it still.
Lynn Harris (10:33):
Has to be accurate. Like if I'm
writing. If I'm like, fired up and
pissed off and writing an opinion piece
about Louis CK and why the entire
comedy industry is set up to be
unfair to women. I also have to
do some journalism because I have to
check my facts. I have to report
it out. I can't just be like,
I think it's unfair. I have to
actually, you know, throw in some stats
(10:55):
about.
Alya Lei (10:55):
Right.
Lynn Harris (10:56):
You know, how many women are in
our leading comedy shows versus men, how
many women are TV shows, how many
women are generally on stage any given
night versus men, et cetera. Like, you
have to. You still have to do
journalism to back up your, to shore
up your opinion. They're still not. The
(11:16):
lines are not super. The Lines are
porous, but they're there.
Alya Lei (11:22):
Okay, got it. Oh, that's so cool.
I never knew that. And speaking about
this, with females in comedy, which, by
the way, I love improv and I
do love comedy. Yes, 100%. I mean,
I don't even know if you really
need to. I guess you have to
put down stats, but it's so obvious
to me that you can just see
(11:42):
it, that it's uneven.
Lynn Harris (11:44):
Look at our faces. We're miserable, we're
exhausted. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, I mean,
it's, you know, and it also depends
on your audience. Right. Like, if I'm
writing that article for the New York
Times, I gotta back it up. If
I'm writing it for a blog that's
read by women, you know exactly what
I'm talking about. Or not. You know,
(12:05):
just non cishet dudes who know exactly
what I'm talking about. And then the
expectations are different. They're not going to
be like, I'm sorry, where are your
statistics? You know, like, it super depends
on the audience in those cases. You
don't need them. We all know.
Alya Lei (12:20):
Yeah, it's so. It's, it's, it's like
in your face, you know?
Lynn Harris (12:24):
Yeah.
Alya Lei (12:24):
Because you have this desire to bring
issues to the forefront, but in a
way that can make a positive difference
rather than shutting people down. How did
you start getting gold comedy together? First
of all, what is gold comedy and
how did you start it? And then
(12:45):
what? Ultimately, why do you care so
much?
Lynn Harris (12:51):
So I'll start with why I care.
I care with. I care because I've
been, you know, just a huge feminist
my entire life, so I care. And
all the ways that that term has.
And in all the ways that term
has evolved, you know, I care about
gender justice and I love comedy. Now,
(13:15):
is comedy the only place that you
can kind of forward gender justice? Wow.
No. You know, we have everything from,
you know, the UN to corporate boardrooms
to community organizations. Like, but comedy is
my lane. And I do think comedy,
(13:38):
it's also not random comedy matters because
who. Because when you make people laugh,
you make people listen. So that's what.
Comedy is powerful. So how come only
some people get that power? I think
it matters as long as we live
in a world where male comics. And
(14:00):
again, I'm going to like oversimplify binaries
here just for ease, but in a
world where male comics are comics and
women comics are female comics or women
comics, we're not there yet. It still
means that the norm is a dude.
Alya Lei (14:15):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:16):
And you Know, some of our best
friends are dudes, and they're very funny,
and we love them. They're great comics.
But I'm talking about the norms that,
like, we're always considered female comics. And
you never get. A dude never gets
called a male comic. He's just a
comic.
Alya Lei (14:28):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:29):
So. And the same thing. Like. And
it's. It's because you don't. Someone said
this, and I wish I remembered who,
because she should get credit, but someone
was like, you don't call your lawyer
a lawyer at. Or your doctor a
doctoress. I mean, in fairness, you do
say, like, female doctor. Like, you still
do make it weird, you know? So
I want comedy to be the lane
where I help normalize the idea of
(14:52):
anyone but a straight white dude in
comedy so that we're all just comics.
Alya Lei (14:57):
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (14:57):
And I think it matters because, again,
if you have the power to make
people laugh, you have power, and you
define what's funny. You also help define
what's not funny. You also help define
who's in power. Who do we get
to laugh at? When are we punching
up and when are we punching down?
(15:18):
And how does that help us define
all the power structures? And now, have
I made comedy unfunny for you? Probably.
But, like, that stuff all matters to
me. And it all came from. To
go to your earliest question, it all
came from. And we all know this.
I was not unique. We all had,
like, you know, what I did stand
(15:38):
up in the 90s fully was not
unique. And this still happens. You're the
only woman on a lineup. So the
host is. Now we got a lady
coming up. Now we got a lady
coming to the stage. And then they
forget your name, and then they just
assume that you work at Lifetime, which
happened to me all the time. And
you're just like, bro, we can write
(16:02):
the feminist essay about what's wrong with
that? But also, you're bad at your
job. Your job is to get the
crowd psyched for the next comic. And
if you're. And I've had dudes be
like, now we got a lady. And
what's her name? What's your name? What's
your name again? Oh, Linda. My name's
not Linda. And where do you work?
(16:23):
Oxygen. Okay. Lifetime. Anyway, here she is,
like, dude, you're bad at your job.
Alya Lei (16:29):
Wow.
Lynn Harris (16:29):
If you don't get the audience as
psyched for me as you did for
Jake and Bruce, who went before me
and Spad and whatever doofus goes after
me, you're bad at your job. You
know? So until that. And by the
way, that was Jeff Ross. I said
it anyway. But also, it happened a
(16:52):
whole bunch of times. It happened. I
mean, it happened all the time. We
all know this. It happened all the
time. So. So it was. I didn't
have. Thank goodness. I didn't have, like,
the worst experience. Like, I didn't have,
like. I mean, I probably did because
it was the water I swam in,
but I didn't have, like, one horrific
God forbid, like, you know, sexual harassment
(17:12):
or assault moment or. I. But I
truly believe that, as with everyone else
in my gang at that time, that
we were underestimated. Under booked, undervalued, you
know, and for working twice as hard,
you know, and the dudes worked. Half
is not just individual dudes, because comedy
is hard for everyone. And it was
hard for dudes, too. It is. But,
(17:33):
like, I. Of course we were overlooked
and underestimated. Of course they talked about
what we were wearing. Of course they
told us that, like, we should talk
more about sex, but we should talk
about less. Less about sex. Of course
we should talk more about dating, but
we should also talk less about dating.
Of course we should talk more about
politics, but we should also be hot.
(17:53):
Like, you know, like, come on. So
it was all of those frustrations which,
of course have their echoes in pretty
much any job in our society in
general, overall.
Alya Lei (18:05):
Yeah, right.
Lynn Harris (18:07):
In general. That were more like, you
know, just kind of like rage by
A Thousand Cuts, you know, And I
didn't quit because of that. I quit
just because I really kind of stopped
being able to stay up past 10,
15. But. But. And. And there is
actually one other, like, origin story which
really true, that kind of put the
(18:28):
bee in my bonnet when I was
a teenager, which was I was at
a Jewish youth group ski trip in
New Hampshire and it was like the
event of the year and always was.
And it was a sleepover at the
basement of a synagogue in Manchester. It
was, like, the funnest. It was always
the funnest. And we were, you know,
(18:48):
came home tired from skiing, whatever, and
a bunch of dudes, one of whom
was, in fact, Adam Sandler. And I
say that just for the name check
because he is not particularly at fault
here. But just to give you the
scene, a bunch of dudes got a
hold of, like, our, like, some flannel
nightgowns and God knows where, but, like,
(19:09):
grapefruit, and did this impromptu drag sketch.
And P.S. i love drag, but this
was just like, dudes putting grapefruits. Making.
If you put a grapefruit in it
makes a boob. Like that level of
dragon. And they did this kind of,
like, not offensive, but just like, frickin
(19:29):
slapstick goofball dokey thing on the stage,
which brought the house down. And probably
it was legitimately silly and funny. And
I was like, in the realm of
goofball girls also. And of course, my
first thought is, like, all right, what
do we do? What do we do?
What do we do? What do we
do? What should we do now? What
should we do now? How do we.
How do we respond?
Alya Lei (19:49):
Cucumber in our pants. I don't know.
Lynn Harris (19:51):
Exactly. Exactly. What do we do? And
even at age 16 or whatever it
was, I knew. And this is like
1983, you know, I knew there's nothing
we can do. Like, and it's not
that women aren't funny, it's that audiences
don't think women are as funny. We.
(20:12):
There's nothing we could do that would
make people go like, yes. Unless we,
like, took off our clothes. Like, it
just. It was just. There was no
space for us to. To kind of.
To meet that level of probably legitimate
hilarity. It just be. Not again, not
because of women not being funny, but
(20:35):
because people didn't think women were funny.
And we would have had to, like,
could we have done something hilarious? Sure.
But we would have had to spend
two days writing the sketch and, you
know, unveiled it two days later as
the big finale, blah, blah, blah. You
know, it just. I. My spider sense
was that this isn't going to work
and, like, right or wrong, and I
was right, that stuck with me as
(20:55):
just like, no fair. And that's kind
of where. Where it all did. I
vow then to start a company and,
you know, in. You know, in 2022,
I did not. But, like, that's where
my kind of like, God damn it
feeling of inequality started.
Alya Lei (21:12):
Yeah. Yeah. So it's your personal experience
of inequality that really, like, like, fanned
your flame of, like, being aware that
the inequality is there and what can
you do to make it more equal?
Because it's not fair.
Lynn Harris (21:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, I
didn't. Other people had way worse experiences
than me, but, like, it was relentless.
Alya Lei (21:33):
Yeah, but you stuck with it. You
stuck with it until you. Until. Until
it's. And you would still stay with
it if comedy was an earlier scene,
it sounds like, but it's a late.
Lynn Harris (21:44):
Yeah, I know. We just. We just
talked to. I. One thing, I am
sort of flattered to think I have
in common with Maria Bamford, who I
adore. Is that we just had an
interview, like a live zoom conversation with
her at Gold Comedy. And one thing
she also said is just like, girl,
I can't stay up late. And she
was like, I just did the best
show at like 8am on a Saturday
(22:05):
at the local clown school. And I
was like, that sounds like about my
speed.
Alya Lei (22:10):
You persevered through all the unfairness and
continued to do comedy anyways. And the
only reason you kind of, you're still
doing comedy but you're not doing the
standup because of the late night, that's
all.
Lynn Harris (22:21):
Well, I mean, it's a little broader
than that. Yes, it's a little. What
I really care about most. I really
do like being on stage. I really
do like the give and take. I
really do like reading a room. I
actually moved even more into storytelling, which
I liked a lot because. And just
for, you know, for similar reasons. But
(22:41):
I never stop doing things that were
comedy adjacent. So I've always been in
producing or creating some sort of comedy
that may or may not require me
to be alone on the stage at
11:00pm But I, you know, I, you
know, produce comedy stuff for, in my
old job, produce comedy stuff that helped
(23:02):
make human rights issues real and relevant
and actionable and, you know, things that
are always just, you know, using comedy
as a muscle to make change, but
at more reasonable hours usually.
Alya Lei (23:14):
Right, right. So it's not like you've
given. It's more just that you've swerved,
that's all.
Lynn Harris (23:19):
But it's just not as much stand
up and also stand up like, as
a wicked commitment. Like there's so many
ways to do stand, sorry, comedy, or
be involved in comedy or be creating
comedy or love comedy or just be
part of comedy that don't require the
level of commitment of stand up. I'm
not trying to convince people not to
do stand up. Please, for the love
(23:39):
of God, do stand. That is not
what I'm saying. I'm just saying that
if you're going to do stand up,
please know it takes a lot of
repetition, most of it at night.
Alya Lei (23:48):
Yeah. I just listened to this audiobook.
I think it's called Someday I'll Talk
Funny. Or have you heard of it?
Lynn Harris (23:55):
Oh, yes. What is that?
Alya Lei (23:56):
Super good. Yeah.
Lynn Harris (23:57):
This Will be Funny Someday by Katie
Henry.
Alya Lei (23:59):
That's it. That's the one. That's one.
Super good.
Lynn Harris (24:01):
And purely out of my brain.
Alya Lei (24:06):
Amazing. So good. Yeah, I bring that
up because it's a fictional book, but
she gets, you know, into standup comedy
by accident as a high School aged
girl. But I think it ties in
a lot to some of the, some
of the themes you're saying and it
makes it really interesting and funny but
(24:27):
also giving a good point.
Lynn Harris (24:29):
So why There's a few books out
now that involve teenager teenage girls doing
standup or improv that are actually pretty
good. Ooh, yeah, Good.
Alya Lei (24:39):
I'll get you.
Lynn Harris (24:40):
We'll put them in the show notes.
Yeah, they're good.
Alya Lei (24:42):
Yes. What would help most right now?
Lynn Harris (24:44):
Let's talk about gold a little bit
because it's unique and it's not hard
to understand, but it's a new model,
so sometimes it takes a little detail
work. Yes.
Alya Lei (24:57):
So what is gold? Comedy. And how
did you start it and then tell
us all more about it?
Lynn Harris (25:02):
Well, thank you. I started gold because
of all this stuff I just told
you like that. I wanted to make
sure that it. As I said, comedy
is hard for everyone. I wanted to
make it as easier for the people
for whom it is hardest, for women,
other others, Anyone outside the sort of
straight white dude comedy. Norm, who is
often a straight white dude named Norm.
(25:23):
We love those guys, but no shade
to the individuals. It's just the scene
is hard and whatever scene it is,
stand up, sketch, improv, writing for tv,
whatever it is, it's hard. There's a
lot of great places where you can
learn comedy. There's a lot of great
places out there that can give you
a leg up. Gold is the only
one that combines a comedy school that
(25:44):
works at many levels where novices and
intermediate and advanced can intermingle comfortably. That
includes stand up, sketch, improv, web series,
pitching your TV show. We combine that
with community and that's the most important
thing. You can take a great class
anywhere, including gold. But we don't sell
generally, we don't sell our classes individually.
(26:06):
We work on a subscription basis. And
I say that not to just like
be a nerd and tell you like.
So sign up now. But I. Of
course you should. But you should because
we work on a subscription basis. Because
that. For an annual subscription. Because that
underscores not. That isn't just our business
model. That's our value. That's like you're
(26:26):
part of a community. We are your
crew. We are solving for not just
the skill building that you want, but
we are your friends, your professional network,
the people you ask if you need
a certain kind of camera or mic
to shoot your sketch. We're the people
that you ask if you're going to
open mic in a new city and
who's there we're your built in crew
(26:47):
and we also. Yeah, and we also
make content. So our classes and our
programs, including our, our selective sketch teams
program, we have 13, 12 selective teams
who make comedy shorts compare and contrast.
SNL has two and they're all dudes.
So we have 12. And we help
(27:10):
with the resources that you need, including
putting your team together in the first
place, either in the city where you
live or virtually so that now you
have a bunch of people to make
comedy shorts with. And we give you
resources, we give you guidance from a
quadruple Emmy nominated producer. We give you
and we showcase your work on our
platforms and you own it, we license
(27:31):
it. And some of the work that
we've helped produce is now on its
way to being picked up by a
fast channel. Some of the work that
gets produced in our classes has gone
on to turn into pilots that win
awards. People get representation, people win festivals,
people win pitch competitions. We put you
on the real professional track to success.
And so all of our, it's all
(27:52):
this nice sort of virtuous cycle where
the members learn together at whatever level
they start, they collaborate together and then
they support each other's success out in
the real world in the kind of
comedy that they want to succeed in.
Alya Lei (28:07):
That's fantastic. And this is online, so
it's not like local to any particular
region. Anybody worldwide?
Lynn Harris (28:15):
Anybody? Yeah, worldwide. We do have mostly
worldwide. We have people all over the
world. The class schedules are a little
funky for them sometimes, but we have
a ton, ton of on demand content
that they can access. And then we
do have certain place based groups and
teams like in the obvious places, la,
Chicago, but also Austin, Boston, North Carolina,
(28:38):
Colorado. Like people are all over the
place and they find each other. But
the point is you don't have to
be in a certain place to access
what we have. You can also find
people near you who are part of
our community.
Alya Lei (28:52):
Right. And I love that. I didn't
know that the community aspect was so
huge with gold comedy. So it's really
like a place of like mentorship, right?
Like yeah, it's like a community, but
also mentorship.
Lynn Harris (29:08):
Yeah, there's always people who are whom
like you can mentor. There's always people
at your level and then there's always
people who are a little more advanced
than you. Even if there are celebrities
and pros who come do. Our weekly
Q and A is with celebrities and
pros where we just had Maria Bamford,
we've had Margaret Cho, Rachel Dratch is
an advisor, we've had Patti Harrison Ashley
(29:29):
Black. You know, lots of people who
really dispense insanely actionable advice and write
in a zoom room with you.
Alya Lei (29:37):
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. That is
so good. I love Maria. Maria Bamford.
I just saw one of her sets
and I was like, so good. My
husband's from Minnesota, so. And I love
Margaret Cho. Oh, my God. And Rachel
Drudge. So, yeah. Okay, cool. We have
about one more minute left. Is there
anything else that you would like to
promote? And one last little question is,
(30:00):
is there, like a favorite food that
you like or the worst food?
Lynn Harris (30:05):
So there's really only one food that
I really don't like and that sea
urchin, but it just doesn't come up
very often. But I will. My favorite
foods in general are truffle popcorn and
truffle potato chips. But my current. My
favorite food right now in the summer
that I think I eat every day
just like Harry at the Spy, is
(30:26):
a tomato sandwich has to be on
white bread with mayonnaise and a little
salt. Obsessed.
Alya Lei (30:31):
Really, really.
Lynn Harris (30:32):
The most delicious thing and the main
thing is I hope that people check
out gold comedy@club.goldcomedy.com or just goldcomedy.com and
no matter where you are in your
career, you can probably find a place
with us and, you know, write jokes,
make friends, and learn the rule of
three.
Alya Lei (30:52):
That sounds fantastic. Thank you so much,
Lynn, for being a guest here. This
has gone too short, I think. I
feel like I for way longer.
Lynn Harris (31:01):
I think I have to talk to
you about tomato sandwiches more, if anything,
but that's a different podcast.
Alya Lei (31:07):
Thank you so much for listening to
Conversations with Aaliyah Le. I'd love to
hear from you. Follow me on Instagram
aliyahlei A L Y A L E
I.
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