84 - Lynn Harris teaches you how to be funny and why comedy matters - Sideline Sisters

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Hey ladies, my name is Jenny Chaffetz and I am the host of
Sideline Sisters. Are you a busy mom, powerhouse
professional or high achieving go getter?
This show is for no BS women whowant to be inspired to get off
the sidelines of their lives. Ever feel like you're playing
small or safe or just on autopilot?

(00:23):
My guests are relatable women who've gone on a journey,
overcome challenges, and live toshare the lessons that we want
to hear. These conversations will be
funny, sad, scary, wise, encouraging, and most of all,
real. So whether you're driving, doing
chores, exercising, walking the dog, or just laying on the

(00:45):
couch, settle in and enjoy. I want to invite you to take
back your power, reignite your passions, and step off the
sidelines. Let's go.
Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of Sideline
Sisters. I am your host Jenny Chaffetz,
and I am so grateful that you found your way here to this
show. Whether you're listening on a

(01:07):
podcast app or on YouTube, I thank you for tuning in.
And I would be even more honoredif you would be so kind as to
give this show a five star rating and review those both
help other listeners find this show and help the whole thing
grow, which is really the point.The women that I interview on

(01:29):
this show have amazing stories of resilience, strength,
confidence, growth, dedication to their cause, and overall
empowerment. And so my job here is to promote
my guests and spread their messages far and wide.
So please help me do that by telling your friends about this

(01:51):
show, sharing the specific episodes that you have found
most helpful, most encouraging, and let's just make Sideline
Sisters the go to show for midlife support.
Let's do that. And today's guest is going to
help us with insight into comedyand how we can and bring humor
into our lives and share it withothers.

(02:14):
Lynn Harris is a culture shifting producer, award-winning
journalist and author and co-author.
Of six books whose. Comedy and campaigns for social
justice and gender equity have changed laws and conversations
from Capitol Hill to NASCAR. She is founder and CEO of Gold
Comedy, the comedy school professional network and content

(02:34):
studio where women and non binary folks grow their comedy
careers, build powerful communities and make funny
stuff. Harris Co created breakup.
Girl. Which was acquired by Oxygen,
one of the first multi platform Internet success stories, and
served as the first VP of communications at global human
rights group Breakthrough, whereher blend of humor and advocacy

(02:56):
powered some of the team's most effective US campaigns.
She has also worked as a Tonya Harding look alike, which is a
long story and unfortunately I did not get that story in this
conversation. So perhaps you will want to
reach out to her on your own to find out what that's all about.
Lynn and I have an engaging, funny of course conversation

(03:17):
about why comedy is such an important force in moving big
issues forward. She also shares valuable tips on
how to incorporate comedy into day-to-day life and how to find
your inner comic even if you aren't pursuing a professional
career. But just how to appreciate daily

(03:38):
humor. Because honestly, don't we all
need a few more laughs to balance out all the crap that we
have to deal with, Am I right? Now, before I get into the
conversation with Lynn, I want to make sure you know where to
go for breath work and that is, to me, gentle coaching.
Simply check the show notes and you will see a link to the

(04:01):
Sideline Sisters Facebook group,which is where I post free
breath work sessions. And you will also see a link to
a specific breath work session that you can access.
It's quick and intended to help you connect with your body.
This is something thing we busy women don't typically do and we
don't typically make time to do.But in just 15 minutes, you can

(04:25):
experience the power and shift that breath work offers.
And if you are a fan and want toget more of it, just send me an
e-mail Jenny at gentlecoaching.com and I can let
you know how we can do more of it together.
Breath work has been an incredibly useful tool for me.
And if you have no idea what I'mtalking about, let me just tell

(04:46):
you what you do is breathe purposefully, using specific
patterns that the facilitator will guide and you focus on an
intention. Maybe it's to feel more joyful,
more calm. Maybe you're working through
grief. An intention can be anything,
really, and by focusing on your breath and keeping the intention

(05:07):
in mind, your body does this internal housekeeping.
It moves stuck energy the same way a feather duster moves dust
that has collected on a shelf, the same way a vacuum moves lint
that has collected in corners. And when we move stuck energy,
we're able to feel and process emotions that we have ignored,

(05:31):
bored, or suppressed in some wayand then make space inside for
the intention that we desire. When we do that housekeeping, we
make space for peace, joy, abundance, gratitude, love, all
of it. So this sounds like something
that interests you. Click on the link in the show

(05:53):
notes and give it a try. Now let's get into the
conversation with Lynn. I am particularly excited for
this conversation today because while I am incredibly late to
the party, I am finally in the middle of The Marvelous Misses
Maisel. So it just seems really apropos

(06:14):
that I am here today now with Lynn Harris to talk about
comedy. So, Lynn, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Let's do it, let's do it.
And I have a if I may jump rightin with some unsolicited TV
recommendations. Yes please for your up next
queue when you finish Missus Maisel and and when you buy all
the clothes then. Nobody has the budget for.

(06:37):
That no, I am. Then your next watch, if you're
still interested in the theme should be half because for a
couple of reasons, in my opinion, love missus Maisel,
love the show, etcetera. It's not necessarily it's
illuminating about fashion and many other things.

(06:59):
It's not necessarily illuminating nor does it set out
to be really. And this is fine about like the
reality of women in comedy. Like it's very, very much sort
of a made-up thing what she does.
And that's fine, totally fine. No shade.
But if it leaves you curious about like to watch a show that
is about women in comedy and really in just like the current

(07:22):
now, especially because the theme, like the engine of the
story, no spoilers, is about UN quote, UN quote older woman
who's been around comedy for a long time.
How does she maintain her careerand stay relevant?
And so it's about women of a certain age and, and then the
set up is that they bring her a younger writer to, you know, to

(07:45):
as a partner, sort of a right. And so, you know, what's that
about? Does that, how does that work?
What's that really, how does their relationship evolve?
But it's all in the context of, I mean, of course it wouldn't
work without the the depth of their personal relationship and
how it evolves and changes and, you know, for better and for
worse. But it's it's in the context of

(08:06):
the challenges and obstacles in the comedy business for women.
And so without being like Messagy, it shows, not tells.
But like, that's the show that like, that's the show that will
illuminate for you. Like that piece that Misses
Maisel doesn't try to do, you know?
Right, right, right, yeah, so great.
I'll I will check it out and I'll link it in the show notes

(08:28):
for sure. Yeah, it's great.
Like, oh, it's a, it's a, it's awild romp through ageism.
Nice, nice. That's always fun.
Yeah, yeah. And it it is interesting to me.
I mean, just on that show to like you said, non comedy
aspects of how the fact that she's in her mid 20s and talking
about marriage and motherhood and, and these life things that

(08:54):
at her age, as it's portrayed onthe show, I was not in that
world yet. I was not looking to have three
under 30 and go to my little exercise class with my best
friend and then, you know, come back to my parents' house and
hang out with them every afternoon and live in this very
insulated world like she does, which maybe she's trying to get

(09:18):
out of and maybe that's part of her journey.
But it is. It's just funny that I'm finally
getting to that show just as I'mtalking to you in this context,
so. And it's super fun.
Oh God, it's super fun. I mean, the clothes are insane.
It's like watching, you know, 1950s Sex and the City.
It's ridiculous. I know, I know not to be a like

(09:40):
a, a not to bring down the party, but I recently like
cleaned out all of my mom, my late mom's clothes and she had
those things and I had to and I had to give them away with like
a very careful note. I gave them away on like
Facebook marketplace and and I was like, please no that these
clothes will fit no one right. Like I mean.

(10:03):
I'm right there with you. I mean, my, my mother passed
when I was 18, so I went throughher closet when I was still, I
had didn't have, you know, the child bearing hips yet.
And right. And I, she had stuff in her
closet from her mother. And I remember seeing my

(10:23):
grandmother in these, in photos with these beautiful gowns and
little, little like applique sweaters with them.
And I went to put some of these on as an 1819 year old girl and
it was like, I don't know if they'd fit my cabbage patch kit.
Well, that's the thing, right? But it's not even like, oh,

(10:45):
skinny Bioch. It's not that.
It's not, they're not like the same as us, but skinnier.
They're just, they're just, it'slike the same species.
It's like taking my, my camera when I have a photo and like
dragging from the corner and it,it did the whole thing, the
whole thing. I was just like, how does a
human wear this sweater? How is it that I'm looking at a

(11:07):
picture of a woman who was in her 50s or 60s at the time
wearing this sweater? I I think it would fit a toddler
anyway. Yeah, Yeah.
So I hope, I hope people do enjoy your mother's clothes and.
And maybe. Someone is someone out there I
don't know find. Someone who has a stunted

(11:27):
stature. I gave them to a very
experienced vintage dealer and said just, you know, do what you
do what you must because yeah. So I hope someone's enjoying
them. They are beautiful.
Yeah, maybe there's a 12 year old girl who loves.
Yeah, in a cartoon. Yes, yes, yes.
Who's been drawn, you know, as astick figure?
Yes. OK, so love that you are in the

(11:51):
comedy world because again, I mean, as much as Misses Maisel
is not about the industry, it does give me a a shred of
perspective on the balls that ittakes to get up on stage and and
attempt to be funny. I mean, I think I'm a fairly
humorous person. Again, like if my kids were

(12:14):
listening to this, they would strongly disagree.
They're not your audience. It's right.
Exactly. But I don't know, I feel like I
can make my friends laugh here and there.
So if that's any indication of my level of humor, then great.
But yeah, I can't fathom what itwhat the the courage and

(12:34):
confidence and the knowing that this is going to make people
laugh. So where did it even begin for
you getting into the world of professional comedy?
I'm happy to tell that, but before I forget, I also one of
the things that Pete that our, you know, mentors, advisors,
instructors say all the time andI echo is that, you know, not

(12:57):
that comedy isn't hard and not being able to work on it and
learn the mechanics and practiceand practice and practice.
But kind of a go to idea is it'snot about making people laugh.
It's about saying things that you think are funny, like if it
cracks you up and you can sell it that way, like that's where
you start. It's not about the result to I

(13:18):
mean, of course you need to havethat result.
Of course, it's not just like your own like monologue in your
clock yet, but. Right.
If you, if you want people to pay you for it, yeah.
Right. But like, you can't sell it
unless you think it's funny. So that's where you need to
start, you know? And so that's where you know,
mostly people, that's what we encourage, you know, equal
comedy is, is to just sort of not take yourself out of it just

(13:39):
because if you position the goalis I must make people laugh.
That makes it very hard to get started.
Whereas if you if you position the goal as what cracks me up,
then you have that you are less likely to be staring at a blank
page. And honestly, the same thing can
be said for coaching and, and you know, in the spiritual world

(14:00):
is it's not focusing on you, theclients result or, or
transformation reaction. It's me professing what I know
to be true and what I believe. So it, you know, there's a
little bit of similarity, you know, I can't focus on are you
going to react to this? Are you going to have some big
breakthrough after I speak on this topic?

(14:23):
I don't know. I did.
So that's up to you now. Very, yeah.
Very good comp, Totally. But yeah, how did I get into it?
Well, I was fortunate enough to kind of be steeped in comedy
growing up with around the dinner table with my parents.
Again, I'm Jen X so around the table and my parents had good

(14:44):
taste in comedy. So and came from like generally
funny, but very different style backgrounds.
Comedy was had currency in our house and so, you know, laughing
mash, The Jeffersons, the MuppetShow, Carol Burnett, even those
goofy variety shows were vaudeville, you know, like the

(15:05):
captain and Tennille, the Osmond, the Osmond family, even
like the Brady bunch variety hour.
They all had that like but a bump kind of comedy, which is
like where it all where it all began And and I and even and at
the time I didn't notice that I wasn't like Oh, well, I like
those feet. Oh, and obviously I Love Lucy.

(15:26):
Obviously the Lucille bomb and also the Brady bunch holds up.
It's like much funnier than we remember because it's really
just old school shtick. But in any case, I never thought
about it. Did not.
Occur to me. I wasn't like Lucille Paul is a
funny female comic. I didn't think about it.
Carol Burnett is a funny female comic.
But I did. They were just all funny.

(15:46):
And I'm like, that is the magical bubble that I would like
to get us back to. You know, where we I'm skipping
ahead now, but wouldn't it be nice?
You know, this is kind of my wayto talk about my mission where
we could live in a world where it's where it's like that, in
other words. And by the way, not to erase the
obstacles that they faced at thetime where they were getting,
you know, get working twice the charge to get paid to happen

(16:07):
much like of course, of course. But now it's like, you know, I
still have people say to me, oh,so you're a comedian.
I'm sorry, comedian. I'm like, can you?
Not like just. Call your doctor or doctorate
like you don't know. And that's funny, but I think
it's someone else's joke that wesaid in conversation, and I
can't remember who's. So it's not a joke.
I hope to credit them someday. But in any case, she also said,

(16:31):
do you call your lawyer a lawyerette?
So I would like to live in a world where no one calls us
female comics, no one calls us women comics, where we're just
comics and. Sorry to interrupt you, but I I
feel like that that tide is turning because if you if you
notice in Hollywood, actor is becoming the.

(16:53):
The norm. I'm working on that one.
I'm trying to like speak that into reality.
Like I always say actor, I neversay actress and I.
Feel like they do like like you'll see Reese Witherspoon get
an award and it's like, you know, as an actor in in today's
world, blah, blah, blah. So.
They referred themselves. That way and I feel like maybe
that's that's the point is it's.That's the bellwether.

(17:17):
Yeah, that's the bellwether for sure.
But in any case, I you know, so I just, I didn't have like a
thing about it. I was just like, OK, I love this
and I want I want to do this. And I didn't even have like a
big dream or a specific goal. I was like, I was never like,
that's going to be me on SNL like I did.
I was either not that ambitious or it was just kind of obvious

(17:38):
to me that in some way I would be doing some funny things.
And, and the same as a writer, Iwas also a journalist for many
years and, and, and very successful and won awards and
made a lot of impact. But the two things were very
much combined. So anyway, I just kind of, you
know, as it turns out, mostly got the like the funny roles in

(17:59):
the musicals, you know, like theEdo Annie, you know, not the
romantic lead, but the funny friend.
I, you know, in, in college I was in an acapella group and I,
and I wasn't the only one, but Imasterminded all of the like
sketches we did between songs. Like it was just, it was just
natural. And then after college I moved
to Boston, which is where I'm back to Boston, which is where

(18:19):
I'm from. And me too.
I was just like, no way. However, you don't cover that.
Let's do it. I don't know.
Let's do it real quick. All right, I grew up South of
Boston and Sharon. Oh, sure, I'm from, I was born
in Boston, but I grew up in Lexington.
So like, sure, yeah, I. Lived in Brookline when I first
got married and and then we madeour way up to New Hampshire but.

(18:43):
Yeah, OK. Well.
My daughter's going to College in Boston, so that's.
Great. Mine is in Massachusetts, but
yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool.
All right. So Boston Strong.
So I just, you know, I was just like, well, I guess I'm going to
take a stand up class like it wasn't a big I was just like,
this will be next. And I took a perfectly good
stand up class and just started doing it and, you know, stayed

(19:07):
with it for about 10 years, morphed a little bit more into
storytelling, moved to New York somewhere in the middle.
And then, you know, as a journalist and a creator, you
know, my, my through line was always, you know, not everything
I did was about social change for for sure.
But I start, you know, I got my start writing for a sewing
newsletter. Like what?
You know, you got to do all the jobs.

(19:28):
But the through line for the whole thing was, you know, I
love social change and I love comedy.
How can I do them at the same time?
And I'm not the first person to think of that.
There are many, you know, academics and experts who really
dig into why comedy is a force in that way.
And I have my own thoughts, but that I always thought like,

(19:49):
well, yeah, let me just do both.So I was able to go go through
several different types of jobs and several different types of
projects where I could combine both of them.
And then I got where it finally got to was.
And I can go back and give you detail.
But where it finally got to was,what if I could, you know, now
that I'm too tired to stay up after 10.

(20:11):
What if I could bring it all together by especially as a
feminist and someone who really believes in culture change as it
as it as necessary for social change?
What if I could combine them by creating a company that helps
women, especially women and other others, Anyone outside the
comedy norm, which is basically a straights white dude.

(20:34):
Again, we love them. They should succeed too.
Comedy is hard for everyone, andsome of my best friends are very
funny straights as white dudes. But what if we could help?
What if we could make it easier for the people for whom it's
hardest? And why do we care?
Because there are many other ways to drive social change.
But you know, why do we care? Because comedy is a job and

(20:56):
because women are people just like anywhere else.
And also, as we just discussed, it's a a potent social force.
So it's not just about the content that people are
creating, but it's literally just what faces they see in
voices they hear. Because you know, when you're
doing comedy, you have authority.
And whether you're the, whether you're leading the writers room
or whether you're picking the sketches for the show or whether

(21:17):
you're literally the one on stage with the mic making
everyone listen, you have authority, you have power.
And so you know when when you make people laugh, you make
people listen. So what if we sort of flood the
zone with enough women and otherothers doing comedy, making
comedy, whatever it is they're making, so that it becomes just

(21:38):
less interesting that you're a woman doing comedy and more
powerful. Because there are just so many
of us that we are able to breakdown the barriers just by
showing up and help change the face of comedy, which, if I'm
not getting too grandiose, can help change the face of power.

(21:59):
Yeah, I mean, even again, like here was something from Misses
Maisel and, you know, not to getthe spoiler alert here if you
haven't seen it, you know, sorry.
But when they showed the in Sophie Lennon's house, they show
her room that ends up being like, the writers room, Like,
Ding, Ding, Ding. She doesn't write her own jokes.

(22:20):
It's a group of, you know, middle-aged white men sitting
around the table smoking and drinking and not knowing what
time it is. But then flash forward What?
I'll try to do the math. 40 to 50 years and you've got Liz
Lemon leading the table. So it is incredible how much the
old view of comedy versus there is.

(22:41):
There is a woman in the room now.
Yeah, did you have you seen the shows?
There's a really funny show thatneeded more seasons called
Reboot with Rachel Bloom, who welove, love, love and from Crazy
Ex-girlfriend. And it's about, you know, they
reboot a show and they bring in a new, they bring in a writers
room. And it's this hilarious mix of

(23:01):
like, frankly hilarious old white dudes who are like just,
you know, vaudeville style, old fashioned, you know, just like
Priors Club core jokes and then just sort of resolve their
difference, their staffing differences.
They also bring in like a bunch of Gen.
Z writers who are very, very funny, but also very earnest and

(23:21):
very kind of like forward-looking.
And this the the the 12 of them just sit around the table like
as if they're speaking a different language.
And I was just going to say funny.
Yeah, there's been like English and Greek like.
Yeah, it's so funny. And so we'll add that to the.
List. That's another one.
Yeah, reboot. It really needed a second
season. It's a brilliant show.

(23:43):
Yeah, it's really brilliant. Hey ladies, I'm interrupting the
show to tell you about Gentle Coaching.
Gentle coaching is my business. It is where ioffer life coaching
and breathwork services to midlife women and their young
adult daughters. And there are a few different.
Ways that you can stay in touch with me so you know everything
that's going on. The 1st is Instagram at Gentle

(24:05):
Coaching. The second is Facebook at Gentle
Coaching. The third is on my website,
gentlecoaching.com and those areall gentle with AJ, by the way.
And the 4th is my e-mail newsletter.
Are you on the list? You can grab the links to all of
those things in the show notes. Now, let's get back to the
episode. Now.

(24:26):
You brought up a couple of timesthe concept of social change,
social justice. Where did that originate again?
Was that like around the dinner table with your family?
Like, let's talk about the issues that matter to us.
Was that in college? Like where did you become this
crusader for issues? Yeah, everywhere.
I mean, I guess I was fortunate enough that I was raised by a

(24:49):
feminist mom. So being a feminist was thanks
to her, not a rebellion. My parents were like that.
Neither of them was from Massachusetts, but like they
were both kind of, you know, Massachusetts blue state
liberals. It was not a struggle.
Again, like the comedy. It was just the water that I
swam in. And they used to say you went to
an anti war March in your stroller and, you know, and that

(25:09):
was the Vietnam War Speaker and Korean.
She looks amazing. And yeah, there was, they
weren't like huge activists, butthey weren't not, you know, and
it was just my mother also came from a long line of Jewish

(25:32):
socialists, you know, in the oldcountry who were, you know, just
very focused on that flavor of social justice.
There was, of course, you know, Holocaust in the background,
which does, which in some ways predisposes you to thinking
about those matters moving forward.
You know, all that stuff. And then by the time I went to
high school in the 80s, there was a lot of stuff to be angry

(25:54):
about in the 80s. So I I was drawn to joining the
Boston chapter of the National Conversation for Women and wound
up being there vice president for public relations and doing a
lot, lot of work. That's really how I learned
about organizing, advocacy, PR, all that stuff for change.
And then again, but my style wasalways comedy.

(26:16):
So it was always interesting to me to see how can we combine the
advocacy techniques that I know with the comedy that I love.
You know, cuz especially this isnot the only reason, but
especially cuz sometimes, not always the comedy piece can
sugarcoat, you know, can, can, can make, you know, like no one
really wants to talk about abortion.
But if you get some good jokes in there that are appropriate,

(26:40):
that are not making fun of the people who are harmed, but, you
know, making fun of the, you know, culture around it, making
fun of the inconsistencies and hype and hypocrisy and blah,
blah, blah, then you can get people, you can get people to
loosen up and talk about it a little bit more, for example.
Yeah, because it is fascinating.It's come up for me so much in

(27:00):
my personal growth journey, as well as in therapy and my
discussions with other people inthat arena, that comedy,
specifically sarcasm, is a majordefense mechanism and, and
protective identity that allows people to avoid being, being

(27:26):
authentic or, or being vulnerable.
And so that it's, it's kind of afuzzy line or a tightrope to
walk of I want to be funny on this issue or in this situation,
but I also don't want to minimize my feelings or anyone
else's. Yeah, I guess it sort of
depends. That's true too, that both are
true at the same time, you know,and I guess it sort of depends

(27:47):
on, you know, sort of where you are in your process and, and
what your goals are. Because when we talk, we
actually have a whole class at Gold Comedy, for example, called
Comedy about Trauma, which whichwe're very careful to say, first
of all, your, your instructor isnot a therapist.
We're also and, and sort of certain, certain conditions must

(28:08):
be met before you can even kind of show up for that project, you
know, meaning you have to be like ready to talk about it and
ready to kind of like mess around with the topic.
It, it can't still be your like,you know, your same journal, you
know, another is, you know, being super careful.
This is true of a lot of types of comedy.
Being super careful of, as we said with abortion, being super

(28:29):
careful about who you're making who and what you're making fun
of and that. But what I've heard from
cognitive therapist and again, this is not, it's not a
substitute for cognitive therapy, but they say that there
are elements of writing jokes about hard stuff that have their
analog in cognitive therapy. And that is really any kind of

(28:50):
therapy where if you're able to kind of hold here, I'm doing it
with a lipstick because I was not watching.
If you're able to kind of hold the thing far enough away from
you that you could kind of flip it over and look at different
aspects of it and say, well, what about this is funny?
OK, not that part, you know, butlike, OK, but that's funny.

(29:12):
Like the way my, you know, the way my mom reacted was funny or
like, or the stupid thing I did that was actually hilarious to
try to avoid the other thing that was funny.
And then and so when you're ableto do that, it's and I'm giving
you this like visual. Yeah, no.
And I was just going to say I love the visual that you're

(29:34):
showing. So for anyone not watching, it's
like hold your arm. Out.
Straight, Yeah, and imagine twiddling something around.
Yeah. And then you.
But then when you're, when you're holding it away from you,
that means you have distance from it.
You have enough distance from itto observe it.
And it's something you have, butit's not running you that those
are sort of the conditions underwhich engaging in writing and

(29:56):
performing comedy about whether it's trauma or just things that
aren't funny at all. That's the, that's those are
the. That's the sort of framework for
it to be very powerful. And again, see here and there's
just so much depth to Misses Maisel.
I mean, the fact that she can get up and poke fun at her
divorce or the fact that she's on the road and her kids are at

(30:18):
home and, you know, doesn't see them.
And there's a humor there that if you were to extract the
humor, then it's very sensitive.It's like bullshit divorce like
that's big or or traveling away from your young children.
That's big. But it's also really funny the
way she talks about it, so. And it's super relatable, you

(30:39):
know? Yeah.
And the the weird paradox is that the more specific you are
about your own story, the more relatable it is to others.
I don't know why. It's just that somehow the more
specific you are, the more able you're kind of even just from
your own perspective to get at the thing that is primal about

(31:02):
whatever you're talking about, whether it's like fear of
abandonment or, you know, whatever, you know, like I don't
want to be a little like. I I mean, divorce is, is big and
vague, but when she talks about her husband cheating on her with
Penny the secretary, like that'sfunny and that's specific and
it's also funny the way she tells it.
And as an audience member, even if you aren't married or not

(31:22):
worried about divorce or whatever, you can still relate
to the primal thing of, you know, betrayal, aging.
I don't know, you know, there's still those themes that are
primal and and relatable no matter what, but you got to get
the specifics in order for them to attach themselves to other
people. That's so interesting.
So what if someone's listening and they're like, great, Lynn,

(31:45):
this all sounds awesome. There is nothing about me that's
funny. I've never been told I'm funny.
I don't know how to make a joke.I don't know how to make people
laugh. People think I'm boring, Like,
great. So how do I how do I live a
full, complete life when I'm notfunny?
Well. First, OK, first of all, I mean,
it is true at some. Let's just get this out of the
way. Let's just stipulate that it's

(32:05):
true that, like, some of the stuff just may come more
naturally to others, but that doesn't mean anything about
anything, really. First of all, there's no one way
to be funny. There's just no one way to be
funny. Or, you know, people might say
like, oh, I'd love to do comedy,but I'm too shy.
Do you know how shy comedians are?
Like they're completely like, why do you think they're on

(32:26):
stage? So they don't have to talk to
people, you know, like, so there's no one right way to be.
There's no one one way to be funny.
There's no one role. There's no, not even like
there's no one role for you in comedy.
If you're if you're kind of, it sounds like maybe you're talking
about someone who is, who somehow feel drawn to it because
they're asking the question in the first place.

(32:47):
Or maybe they feel intimidated by this conversation and they're
like, well, great. Like I, I don't have anything to
offer. I'm not funny.
Right. Again, there's no one way to be
funny. There's no one style or one set
of there's no one persona that'sfunny, there's no one topic
that's funny. And also there's no one genre

(33:08):
that someone has to see themselves doing.
Like maybe the person you're talking about has just binged
all of the and there are a lot of lot more women than there
used to be on Netflix. And I think and Hulu now has has
comedy and felt like I could never do that.
Do you know how long they've worked at that?
So like you can, you can like admire them, but like and
aspire, But like, that's not going to happen overnight.

(33:31):
It takes it's 10 years to be an overnight success.
So like don't directly. You can enjoy, but not compare.
And the other thing I'd say is that a lot of people come to
gold comedy my company because it actually is.
And if you can find somewhere else, that's great too.
But because it actually is a quote and I'm doing air quotes.
Safe space, although it is safe to like, first of all, not show

(33:55):
up in a comedy class where you're the only 45 year old
woman with a bunch of 22 year old white dudes, which
automatically is is more comfortable.
They may be very nice white dudes, but like this, you know,
second of all, we encourage you to write jokes and we're not the
only ones, but we encourage you to write jokes that only you
could tell. And we do that by starting with
helping you mine your life for things that that aren't jokes

(34:17):
yet, but could be funny, you know, like maybe you just
haven't noticed the water that you're swimming in.
Like, I remember someone saying,like, growing up with six
siblings, we, I, we had a house full of pets and I was the only
one who did not like animals. Now that's not a joke, but like,
that to me is hilarious, you know, So that to me is like, OK,

(34:37):
that's a conversation. What was that like?
Tell us more. What did you do with, you know,
with, but did the cats and dogs always there for sleep on your
bed? Did you what, how many lint
brushes did you have? Like, And so things that you
don't know are funny are just orjust because they're not jokes
yet, you know. And then the other thing is that
we have a lot of people come to us who with ideas for TV shows,

(35:01):
films, podcasts, unscripted shows, web series that entail
comedy but are not like necessarily like sitcoms.
So we have, and we have a pitching class where people
learn to develop those ideas into an industry standard pitch.
So they don't always start out as comedies or, or the the

(35:22):
genre. You might not, you might
describe it as a dramedy, you know, or, or just, or a, or a
drama, you know, but dramas havelike This Is Us was a drama, but
it was, it was also very full ofjokes, right?
Right, right. Sure, you.
Wouldn't even call it a dramedy,it's a drama.
Oh, for sure, for sure. Yeah, right.
But full of jokes, very funny. So if you don't have to, like
not everything has to be a laugha minute either.

(35:44):
Yeah. It's just what's the story
that's on your heart to tell andwhat are you not noticing is not
a joke yet, but material. And so one thing I kind of came
up with on the fly the other daythat I have to really do make a
thing of is if people are curious, they could, you know,
like gratitude journals. We all know about gratitude
journals. It comes up a lot on this show.

(36:05):
Yeah, yeah. My idea was, well, I'm not sure
what to call it yet because it could like maybe it said this
could be funny journal and it's not.
Comedians have comedians have notebooks and for sure, but this
could be like the beginner version of that.
Comedians write everything down when they're on the subway, when
they're, you know, whatever, when they're on their mall walk,
whatever it is, you know, anything that occurs to them,

(36:27):
they write it down, whether it'sa notebook of those stuff on
their phone, voice memo, whatever it is.
And that's a must. But like, if you're not a comic
yet, but you're like, well, whatcould be funny about me is I
this is a new thing for me. Recommend keeping it.
That could be funny journal and where you just write down stuff
that again, isn't funny yet, butit's just in your life and you

(36:48):
didn't notice. Like this is not that original,
but there was just a cartoon in The New Yorker of like a giant
wall chart and this person probably a woman trying to cook.
And it was a giant wall chart ofall the different foods and
likes and dislikes that the IT was huge.
And. They're like, this is your like,
this is like your bummer every night, right?

(37:09):
But it's also kind of funny. Like so every night you're like
fork right now I have to cook dinner for 11 different
preferences and relatable. Right, 27 allergies and.
Right, not a joke yet, but like noticing that you're noticing
that this stuff is going on in your life that could be
material. And so you don't have to worry
about like, is it funny yet or am I funny yet?

(37:30):
It's just, I would start with mining your life for material
and you never know what it what it could turn into.
It could even just be a podcast where you're like, funny, off
the cuff, you know, like. Yeah.
There's no one goal. And I thought you were going
somewhere else with the keep a journal.
I thought you were going to say instead of gratitude how about
like the anti gratitude of like these are the shitty things that

(37:50):
happened today. Sure, if that speaks to you,
then great. Great.
Like right? Absolutely.
Like the bullshit Journal, you know, like.
I got a flat tire and then I spilled coffee on myself and
then yeah. Like the attitude journal
instead of the gratitude journal.
Boom, I drop. Thank you.
My work is done here. Yes, I'll be here all week.

(38:11):
So anything like that to just make to just help you notice and
help you notice that you're noticing and then you're gonna
be back like like, you know, licks, finger flip, page flips,
pages. Yeah, a lot of stuff I can work
with here. Not sure what I'm going to do
with it, but maybe I could go toGold Comedy and take their stand
up boot camp class and figure out in a nice safe, friendly
space what's my style? What would be everyone writes

(38:34):
about the same topics, so you know everyone, that's fine.
But like what? What's my unique persona, my
unique angle, my emotional flavor?
Am I angry? Am I just worn out?
Am I? What's my persona?
That's natural for me. You don't have to like be peppy
if your persona is is not. You know, right?
Yeah. Yeah, just really just working

(38:56):
with what you have, whether it'syour personality or your
material or all of that is like,trust me, you've got you've got
stuff. Trust me.
So what's your thought on I, I don't know, like what, what's
your perspective on comedy thesedays?
I mean, there's so much content on, like you said, on Netflix,
there's so many stand up shows. There are so many Great.

(39:19):
Comedies too, so many great female forward comedies.
It's including like, you know, like Girls 5 Eva, which is God
forbid, like hacks about older women and like specifically
about ageism. Never thought I'd live to see
the day. And I mean, golden girl, sure,
but this is different. This is classic.

(39:39):
Obviously. Yeah, we live in a golden age.
But yeah, sorry I interrupted you.
Yeah, no, no, no. I guess I do feel like I'm
predominantly watching male comedians.
I don't know why that is. I feel like a lot of the women
that I see are still, I don't know, too too crass or too like
they're, I don't know if it's like a try too hard.

(40:00):
I mean, they're getting on Netflix, so I guess they're
doing the right thing for them, but.
Well, just to push back on that though, do you know how many
crass dudes there are? Like, Oh yeah.
And I don't. Right, right.
Right. Right.
No, No, we're just talking, like, ratios.
Yes. Because yeah, yeah.
I don't. I don't prefer to watch those
guys. Like I'm a Nate Burgazi kind of
girl. Like, yeah.
Yeah. I, I like the fact that, you

(40:22):
know, the first time I saw him, he was like, you know, damn, as
I swear in my house growing up and you know, one time my dad
said it and like the roof caughtfire, like it was, he's a clean
guy. And not that I'm such a prude
that I can't handle naughty comedy, but it's just not my go
to. But I but I feel like a lot of

(40:43):
the the female stuff out there is the stand up stuff, but.
Keep at it. There are so many.
I mean, I could just, I could bore you with and it's OK.
Like not there's, there's a lid for every pot, but not every
comic is for every person. Like absolutely not.
Whether no matter what the gender, no matter what the you
know, it's just true. There's too many comics and

(41:03):
you're, you're, you're, you know, not too many comics.
I mean, more comic than you can love more comic than you can
love them all, but Maria Bamford, Cameron Esposito, Naomi
Eck, Paragon, Patty Harrison, like there's so, I mean, there's
so many people who are just so original.

(41:23):
Yeah. And and dudes too that are just
so original and just like I've never, you know, I've just never
seen anyone do comedy like that before.
It's just it's such a Bob the drag queen amazing, like just is
amazing at stand up. Speaking of comedy about trauma,
I just went to the best show that now you can see.
You can see me in the front row.He did.
He did a special. Bob the Drag Queen did a special

(41:46):
that he shot in a club near my house, tiny Little Club with
Christy Summers and Sydney Washington.
And the topic was it was called the Dead Moms Club.
And the topic was, you know, losing their moms.
And like this, the tagline was it'll be funny, we promise.
And and again, it was a master class in comedy about trauma
because they weren't. What can I say?

(42:06):
They were making fun of like, everything about the experience.
Yeah. Of and even like gently making
fun of their moms. But it was so illuminating and
original and fresh. And I didn't, you know, I
didn't, oh, I mean, I'm sure completely different from your
experiences. And I'm sure someone, someone
good, could make a joke out of the fact that, like, as my

(42:27):
mother lay dying in a hospital bed, the social worker of the
hospital pulled me out of the room as I'm about to spend my
last moments with her, pulled meout of the room to bring me down
the hall to like, ask how I was doing.
Well, girl, Yeah. Come on.
Nothing. Right, Right.
Yeah, right. Can I go back into the booth so
I can catch the last breath? Please see, that's funny.
It's not like a joke yet, but it's funny.

(42:48):
You would write that down in your attitude journal.
Pardon the Interruption, but I have to tell you about my
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(43:11):
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You can book online or over the phone using code sideline to
save 10%. And now let's get back to the
show. But anyway, I just think, thank
goodness that the zone is more flooded than it used to be.

(43:33):
So there are so many different people that you can.
There's also even just a ton of podcasts that are just comedy
content. And there's so much that there's
gonna be something on the menu that you love and, and not
everyone's style is going to be your cup of tea, but like,
that's good. I mean, it's good.
I mean, that's fine. And I do think it's still very

(43:54):
hard for everyone to to break in.
It's just like the stories you hear about, like they discovered
me on Twitter and I was the headwriter the next day are based in
truth, but not actually true. They're based in truth.
Like we have gold has shows now we have 2 shows that we have one
show that and more in the works that's now streaming on Fox
Soul, which is one of Fox Fox's comedy streamers.

(44:15):
And we didn't have to go throughthe clunky old system because
we're we're benefiting. We're not happy that Hollywood
is is kind of struggling to figure itself out, especially
post strike per SE. But there is a lot of
democratization that's going on that we embrace.
And so in a lot of testing of new models like Fast channels,
which are these streamers that are ad revenue based, we still

(44:39):
had to be selected. But we worked with a partner
who's also sprung up to be part of this democratization process
to make it easier for FAST Channels and even the big
streamers and networks to find content.
And so by partnering with them, we kind of circumvented the
whole like, pitch in a scary Hollywood office, which we also

(44:59):
train you to do. We also can do that, but pitch
in the Hollywood office and thenwait a year and a half for the
pilot to be funded and then wait.
And then something happens at the, you know, with the top 4
assets out of your control and then your pilots delayed for
another 2 like we can to circumvent that.
So I think taking advantage all to say, there's so much, I mean,
there's so much content. It's crazy.
And a lot of it is really good. And it's, and it's easier now

(45:22):
than it was. It's still hard work, but it's
but there are fewer steps in some cases to getting your stuff
made, seen and distributed. That's fantastic.
So let's talk about comedy as a creative outlet.
Tell me. Yeah, talk about that and apply

(45:43):
it to a a kind of an ordinary person.
Well, there are at least when I last counted, there were at
least 2000 studies that this is not only about comedy as a
creative outlet, but but that kind of capture the idea of
comedy skills as life skills. And they all prove one aspect of
you know, that includes the following.

(46:04):
You know, that comedy helps you forge and and I just mean, I
don't mean comedy necessarily professional comedy, but jokes,
you know, making just making a joke for just connection builds
confidence, helps you think faster, write sharper, read a
room, listen better, all of those things.
And it's not even and like to goback to your, you know, your,

(46:25):
your kind of made-up, although realistic persona person who's
like, but I'm not funny. It doesn't mean one example I
like to give is that doesn't mean that you have to like walk
around the world dropping fully formed jokes in order to kind of
access the power of comedy. It's if you take the example of
reading a room and then being able to say what's so you're the

(46:48):
funny 1. So like you're in a meeting,
right? And everyone's like ignoring the
fact that it's everyone's uncomfortable because it's
freezing or everyone's uncomfortable because the
breakfast was, let's face it, terrible or whatever it was.
If you're the one to say, you know, is it me or is it is it me
or is it Antarctica in here? You know, like.

(47:10):
Right. Yeah.
Then, you know, it doesn't have to be that funny, but to read
the room kind of let's releases the and say what everyone else
is thinking relieves the pressure.
Like lets you start your meeting.
It just lets you start your meeting.
And it also, it's not like you're then connected as best
friends, but you're connected aspeople who are just on the same

(47:33):
page at that moment with their experience being said out loud.
So it's not that you have to be like the funniest person in the
room. It's just being the one who said
the thing that everyone was thinking, you know?
So even those tiny moments, you know, or even if the breakfast
is great, like, I'm sorry, I just have to say.

(47:53):
Can I move in here? Because if it's better here than
my own house, yeah. Right, right, like who made
these muffins, whatever it is, you know, like, you know, even
just moments like that, you know, 'cause these bring these
moments of, of interrelatedness and there's all these, you know,
there's all these stats about how like managers prefer to hire
people with a sense of humor, which you can, which sort of
isn't like is intuitively soundsright, but these are the reasons

(48:16):
why they can maybe, you know, ifeveryone's upset about
something, they can like take the pressure down with one
wisecrack. Then again, doesn't have to be
the joke of the century, but just something that accurately
reflects what is so at that moment.
And so I think the confidence has to come not just from like

(48:37):
this is going back to what we'resaying earlier, the confidence
to do that doesn't come from will I make them laugh and will
this be the funniest joke in theworld?
The confidence comes from just being the one to say it, like to
say the thing, but how much willpeople respect you if you're the
one to say the thing that everyone's thinking but was
afraid to say? Even if it's tiny, you know, and
it does not have to be hilarious.

(48:57):
It can be a gentle wisecrack. You know, that doesn't say much
about it being a creative outlet.
But these, which is what you asked, but this is, you know,
these are the ways in which, youknow, the littlest moments of
comedy can really have these have an effect on your day.
Yeah. And yes, of course, it's also a
creative outlet in the ways thatwe discussed, you know, just, I

(49:18):
don't know, being silly, like, you know, decorating a cake
poorly, you know, like being like, I can't decorate a cake.
I'm terrible at this. So I'm going to, you know, I'll
just make a big circle, you know, like.
Yeah #nailed it. Yep.
Right, nailed it. And then just like hand someone
the cake with a really nice car to be like, I can't decorate
cakes, but my feelings for you are like this cake.

(49:39):
This cake is like, you know, whatever.
So just stuff like that, that isis not comedy on a marquee, but
it's just funny ways to just tell the truth.
Yeah. So what would you say?
How is your life better because of comedy?
Or, you know, what are the What are the perks of having comedy

(50:00):
in your life? I definitely made the right
choice to marry a funny husband.And so one of the and also, but
even before that, I had the I had the good taste to choose
friends who are funny. Like I can't think of a friend,
one of my friends who is not funny like the dear friends, of
course. Yeah.
And the level just this is just like an end in itself, like the

(50:22):
level of delight that we have experienced in our various
groups, you know, whether it's my college friends or, you know,
the different subgroups, the level, the simply the level of
delight that we take and just cracking each other up.
Like the text groups are ridiculous.
Like the text groups are hilarious.
And where the humor comes is from our what you I think is,
you know, fancily called the background of relatedness.

(50:44):
You know, it's from our shared experiences, you know, and our
running, the jokes that we've had running since the 80s, you
know, like we have one group that has a running joke about a
trout sandwich. Don't even ask me where it came
from. But like, they're constantly,
you know, someone will be like in Cleveland and they take a
picture of a menu and be like, you guys, it's a trout sandwich,
you know, but you know, and so. Why are we still laughing about

(51:05):
that? Yeah, I don't.
Even know where it came from. And but it's sort of the delight
of as an end in itself is absolutely a thing.
And then it also makes us able to joke about.
I mean, we talk about and like we sort of, you know, nerd out
about humor and comedy all the time in the house, whether it's
like, when can you make jokes about the Holocaust, you know,

(51:26):
and and we've also dedicated a lot of time to sort of mostly
showing, not telling, but training our kids to be funny,
you know, just because again, I could I could list you 10
reasons. And we already have about like
the impact it can have in the world.
But what if it was just delight?You know, what if it was just
the satisfaction of getting a laugh?
I remember when, when our kids were little, they're 16 and 18

(51:49):
now, but they used to share a bunk bed or, you know, had a
bunk bed and the lights were off.
And one of them was like, let's say they were like 3 and 5 or,
you know, four and six something.
And the littler 1 Sam was, was, was telling a joke and it was
pitch black. So all you heard was the voices.
And Sam was like about to land the joke.
And B the older 1, you heard this voice from the upper bunk.

(52:12):
Totally. Just swoop in and.
Finish the joke. Yeah, the punch line.
Yep. Yep.
And so and we hear, then we hearthis little voice in the dark,
which was Sam saying be you totally stepped on my punch
line. And we were like, and tonight we
win the parenting medal, you know?
We've got comedians in the house.

(52:33):
Yeah, but just being able to, you know, I'm not sure.
I'm kind of avoiding saying thatit's good to raise kids that way
or good to have that in your life because then you can see
like the lighter side of things.I'm not sure.
I'm not always sure it's the lighter side, but just the
because things are terrible. It's almost like the strip down,
like let's just laugh at the fact that you know, you got

(52:54):
kicked out of school or something like.
We can like what could be funny,you know, like what?
It's just like a right. It's just like a turning down
the pressure valve, you know, like this is a gross one, but
like we still laugh about this. Like literally.
And this was not long ago the night my dad died, I was there.
It was a whole, it was ghoulish,you know, and he was, it was

(53:15):
not. Let me just make it help your
audience. This is what you do when you do
comedy about uncomfortable things.
You have to put your audience atease.
So I will now put the audience at ease by saying he was not
suffering. It was fine, but it was still
terrible. And like the, the, the, the, the
Funeral Home came to get him. And one of the people, they're
always, they're so nice and theyrealize that you're like, at
your worst moment. Whatever.

(53:36):
Sure. Like one of the guys looked like
he had just walked out of an Anne Wright's novel.
Like he had like, long hair and a vest.
He was like very Victorian and he was very unctual.
And he like, got down on his knees and took my hands and
said, I just want you to know, I'm so sorry for your luck.
I'm bawling anyway. And he just had this look about
him and I was like, OK. And, and they went and did their

(53:58):
things. They trained professionally.
He was good at his job. It's fine.
No shade. But then he walked away and I
said to my husband, I'm literally heaving.
Like I'm crying so hard I'm heaving.
But I managed to say. I think he's a vampire.
Because it was all I could. Think about is that woman that's
I've got the picture, Yeah. And it's also like, it's

(54:20):
obviously it's practice. Like my husband and I just,
we've trained our brains to always be like, what's a joke?
What's a joke? And sometimes we have to
suppress it. Like it's not time for a joke
right now. But like, so it does come with
practice. But also and also knowing your
crowd, like I knew that my husband, like I knew that that
wasn't inappropriate because, you know, first of all, I can
say anything. But so it does come with

(54:40):
practice. Right.
It might not have worked as wellin the eulogy, but it was, you
know, good between the two of you.
Yeah, in the moment, it was the right moment.
It was the right. But so, you know, even as I
make, I'm making suggestions to you and your listeners for the
kind of like, getting started. And, you know, you might, that
joke might occur to you in the same awful moment, and you might
choose not to make it because you don't know if it's OK.

(55:02):
And that's fine, too. It's just that I, after years of
practice, I knew it was fine. And I wasn't even like trying to
make a joke, like to lighten themood.
No, it was like you said. Before it was the observation.
It was just, it fell. It just can't.
There was nothing. I mean, it had to be said
anyway. I still don't know if he I'm
not. I still don't know if he's not a
vampire. PS Fair.
I don't know. I didn't ask for his ID.

(55:24):
I didn't. I didn't tell him to look in the
mirror. I don't know.
That's good. Like there's there's something
about. The the unknown, the mystery
there. Kind of.
This. Yeah, but this is all accessible
to everyone, whatever you're like.
Any version of this is positively accessible to
everyone, no matter what your kind of self opinion is in terms

(55:45):
of being funny or doing comedy. It is accessible to everyone and
honestly, at worst, at worst. Let's think about what it means
to have a sense of humor. It just means you have a sense.
It doesn't mean you have a grasp.
It's just sense of humor. The word is sense of humor.
So even if you could just be a good audience, you know, and

(56:07):
just be open to laughing, that'shalf the, you know, like my mom
was, my mom was very funny, but she wasn't like a card, you
know, she was very witty. So she'd always be the ones to
write like the, you know, the funny limericks at the thank you
dinners, you know, about the like, she always wrote good
later, that kind of thing. But she wasn't like a like a
ham, but she was a great crowd. It was so easy to make her laugh

(56:31):
because she had a great what sense of humor?
She knew when humor was in the room and she responded
appropriately. So that's like, like that's a
great start. I felt so bad.
One time I was with a group and we were seeing, I don't know how
this this in and of itself. Maybe like I could set the stage
and it's funny, we were at a Chinese food restaurant.

(56:54):
This is this is as an adult, this was like, I'm, you know,
approaching 40 at the time and in a Chinese food restaurant in
New Hampshire in the basement. And there was a college comedy
troupe performing. OK, so they do their thing.
And I found them to be very funny or one of the guys in

(57:17):
particular. And so afterwards we did our
little like meet and greet with these 20 year olds.
It was very cute, like, you know, getting autographs and
stuff. And I was like, I didn't mean
for it to sound like this, but Iwas like, I was the one that was
laughing. I meant I was the one that was
laughing, like uproariously. Yes, right, right.
Making a scene. And I, yeah, but I it came out

(57:39):
as I was the one that was laughing.
And I was like, probably not what the comedian wanted to hear
after his show, but. Right, right.
What I meant was, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That like was snorting. Yeah.
But it was. Yeah, but but I probably was
like mainly the one that was laughing because my husband was

(58:00):
like, this was this. This was exactly how it sounds.
The Jewish comedy group from Brandeis that's performing in a
Chinese food basement. Yeah.
I know exactly the scene, yeah. And so many of them have
probably gone on to successful. Careers.
I sure hope so. Yeah, I hope so, but odds are
not in their favor. Maybe that one guy.

(58:23):
So yeah, that was that was that.I do.
I do love a good comedy show andI highly recommend it.
It is very like soul nourishing.Yeah.
Yeah, nothing like a good laugh.And it's also because when you
when you laugh, especially in a group like this is the, you
know, shut up for comedy shows. It's because, you know, if you

(58:46):
found a comic that you are like of whom you are the audience,
you know, yes. Then every joke, strictly
speaking, not universally, but strictly speaking, it has a
setup and a punch, even if they're, whether they're
articulated or implicit. And where you travel between the
setup and the punch is that you have to be able to follow the

(59:06):
comedian through a misdirection,right?
That's like you at the setup andyou think they're going to,
they're going in this direction and the punch is right now
detour, right? So if you are able to follow the
comic through that misdirection and all the other people in the
room are too, that means you have a connection like you're

(59:29):
the ones who got that joke. Not everyone will be able, not
because they're like smart or stupid or whatever.
It's just like it's the content,right?
So if you're able to kind of follow the comic down that, down
that twisting Rd. that means that by definition that everyone
in the room has something in common.
And so it's a lap of recognitionand sort of satisfaction that

(59:49):
you follow the comic, but then in the context of a show you all
did, and there's something very,as you were saying, soul
nourishing about that. That's awesome.
All right, Lynn, Tell everybody where to find you, get more of
you, learn from you. Sure.
Thank you. So our website,
isgoldcomedy.com, there are lotsof free online resources just to

(01:00:11):
kind of read about all aspects of comedy.
And we have lots of profiles of people, mostly women, but not
all who work in comedy, whether on stage or behind the camera,
whatever you can learn from, we just it's a great, it's a great
place for a warm up. If you're curious about joining
to be part of our unlimited. Once you when you join our club,

(01:00:31):
you join year, you know, year byyear by year.
So once you're in the club, you have unlimited access to the
classes that we have in regular rotation.
Then we'll take our classes 5-6 times just for the
accountability and structure. We have, you know, weekly,
weekly conversations with celebrities and pros.
We have the world's most friendly open mic every Monday.

(01:00:52):
We, and this is all online, so wherever you are and, and then
we have opportunities to level up even more by being on our
sketch teams, which gets being distributed by, you know,
there's just, there's just, it's, it's easy to create your
own path depending on your goals.
And we do have that our, our pitching class, our high level
fancy pitching class starting upsoon, which really is the one.

(01:01:13):
That's the kind of the, the, theGen.
X women happy place that I was talking about where people
really go with ideas that they're serious about working to
get made and bringing their expertise and experience from
all the rest of their lives and,and putting them into the
pitches that they're developing.And they go on to get
representation, get their shows in development.
Like it works. So that's all you know, all that

(01:01:34):
info is, is gettable to from ourwebsite.
And if you DM me on Instagram atGold Comedy or my personal
Instagram, Lynn Harris, DM me and I'll send you 10% off code
for listeners for joining our club.
That's awesome. I mean, and the thing with with
Gen. X women is you talk about
material. I mean, yeah.

(01:01:55):
Exactly. It it actually is astounding
that a 20 year old dude could have.
That material, you know, withoutliving the life of the house.
Yeah. And I will say for those Gen.
Xers out there that we do, one of our sketches famously does
include a cameo from Janine Garofalo, who who is one of our
Gen. X goddesses.

(01:02:16):
So wow. Yeah, she's very funny.
She's very game. And we also have Rachel Dratch
as an advisor and she. Who is a fellow Bostonian?
We grew up in the same town. I know we were both just back
there for the 250th anniversary,which is very moving.
And if you love Revolutionary War we enacted, this is your
happy place. I mean, I do.

(01:02:38):
Well, I'm just more of a fan of the smart Pock commercial.
I mean that just. That commercial is so funny and.
Let me give you a little That was the best.
There is a stat out there, and this is one of the things we're
trying to change. It's a slightly old stat, but I
think it's still grounded in reality.
Not that old, that men are twiceas likely to be the funny one in

(01:02:59):
commercials. Like if you think of like
standard mainstream commercials,it's usually like the man like
screwing up the laundry and the woman going, oh, Bruce, you
know, whatever it is. So that's an example of like, I
mean, there's many more, but that's an example of just
complete hilarity that we need more of in ads too.

(01:03:19):
That was so good. This man pack, yeah.
I really think that that's that's up there as like one of
the best commercials ever. Right.
And like the oh, it's so well written.
It's like I got it. Even Rivia, like they even like
pick the names at the time. Exactly.
Yeah, I mean those guys, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I, I'm one of

(01:03:41):
those. And like Team Chris Evans can do
no wrong. So absolutely.
Totally, totally so. All right.
Well, as we wrap it up famously on this show, I would like to
invite you to raise a glass so that we can say smoothie.
I'll do or kombucha, whatever you've got.
Yeah, it's like a little bit of cranberry stuff going on, Yeah.

(01:04:02):
Let's say cheers to anyone can be funny in some way.
Yep, cheers to that. Absolutely.
Lynn, I thank you for coming on and just leveling comedy out for
us and making us feel like we all have an audience somewhere.
We all have an audience somewhere and you just met the

(01:04:25):
two drink minimum. So this has been great.
Awesome. Thank you Lynn, I am so grateful
to you and I wish you continued success.
Thank you. Same to you.
Thanks for having me. Wasn't that great?
I mean, yes, she talked about being a comedian and making a
professional career out of comedy, but really, we talked

(01:04:45):
about just fundamentally appreciating humor, being funny,
and understanding how comedy connects to the world at large
right now. Let me get into Lynn's Notes
from the sidelines #1 It's not about making people laugh, it's
about saying things you think are funny #2 Wouldn't it be

(01:05:07):
great to recognize comics as funny regardless of gender?
As in, not a funny female comic,but just a funny comic #3 Comedy
is a potent social force. So it's not just about the
content, it's about the faces and voices.
Because when you're doing comedy, you have authority #4

(01:05:32):
when you make people laugh, you make people listen.
And truthfully, that could be onstage in the boardroom or at
lunch with your friends #5 thereare ways to combine comedy and
trauma, if you can hold it far enough away from you that you
can look at it from all sides and have a bit of distance from

(01:05:55):
the intensity of the pain. Number six, the more specific
you are about your own story, the more relatable it is, and
this applies to comedy and just life in general #7 I just
thought this was hilarious. It takes 10 years to be an
overnight success, so stop comparing yourself to everyone

(01:06:15):
else and just enjoy the process again, whatever it is.
Number 8, if you can read a roomand say what everyone else is
thinking, it relieves the pressure and connects people #9
What if being funny was just forthe delight and satisfaction of
getting a laugh? And #10 comedy shows, I'm

(01:06:37):
talking live in person performances, allow the audience
to bond because if they all get the same joke, it means that
they share something. And if you've ever attended a
live comedy show, you know what Lynn is talking about.
You know that when you're laughing at that joke about the
washing machine breaking and yousee other people laughing at the

(01:06:58):
same joke, it's like you're in asecret society.
It bridges gaps between people. And frankly, we need as much of
that as possible in this world. So thank you, Lynn, for sharing
your personal story with comedy,the work that that you're doing
at Gold Comedy and just being a light presence.
And listeners, once again, I want to remind you about my

(01:07:20):
offer of free breath work. Just look at the show notes and
click the links. You can try this incredible
modality today. I will tell you from experience,
there is something so therapeutic and healing using
our breath and not just talkie, talkie, talkie like we typically
do when we've got stuff bubblinginside of us.

(01:07:43):
There is definitely a time and place for talk therapy and bitch
vests, but when we're talking about moving, the stuckness,
really processing emotions, trauma, stress, breath work is
where it's at. So I hope you will take
advantage of the links in the show notes.
And please, if you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone.

(01:08:07):
Maybe someone you already think is funny or someone you think
could use a little comedy in their life.
I will see you right back here next week for my fascinating
conversation with another beautiful, relatable soul.
Her name is Trinette Faint, She's doing really cool things
in the world, writing, acting, posting, retreats and so much

(01:08:28):
more. So until then, I wish you an
amazing week. And cheers to you.

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84 - Lynn Harris teaches you how to be funny and why comedy matters

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}84 - Lynn Harris teaches you how to be funny and why comedy matters