PML Talks About: WRITING COMEDY
POINT TALKS ABOUT:
WRITING COMEDY
Una conversación con Joanna Hausmann
What was your earliest comedy memory?
When I was five years old I went to Disney world and met Snow White. (And by “met Snow White” I mean I took a picture with some underpaid teenager in a costume.) When we got back to the hotel room my mom noticed I was despondent … not something she was expecting after spending the whole day in adult hell for the joy of her child. When she asked what was going on I responded “I’m so angry. How does no one talk about Snow White being super dumb. Why would a girl be like ‘oh yeah let me take this apple from a complete stranger who just happens to look like a witch?’ What idiot does that?” And then I imitated dumb Snow White in my Mickey Mouse pajamas. I didn’t realize in the moment but that was my first stand-up set. I reflected upon society and used jokes to criticize it… My audience (just my mom) still raves about that “set” every day. That may have been when I peaked.
Had you not done comedy what do you think you would have done?
I love explaining things through comedy. People think being a comedian is just making people laugh. But it’s also about teaching, reflecting and making people think so… I think I would have been a teacher. Maybe history, maybe literature… definitely not math. Considering my penchant for curse words, I would likely need to teach older students.
How do you find balance between all your creative practices?
I think the word “balance” is an interesting choice considering to be creative you have to live in the discomfort of imbalance. Sometimes you feel inspired, sometimes you feel completely stuck, sometimes you’re somewhere in between. The key to finding some semblance of balance in an unbalanced career is work ethic. Just doing the work without waiting for a muse to come inspire you cause she’s usually busy anyways…
At this point, do you know when a particular comedy routine is going to work?
I’d say I can guess a jokes success 50% of the time. There have been times I have been completely consumed for weeks creating a video I was convinced was going to hit… but then falls flat. Other times I get a fleeting idea in the shower, shoot it in 10 minutes, upload and have it go viral. I think many times I make the mistake of thinking that the harder I work on a joke, the better it should be. I’ve come to the conclusion that the ideas that come to me the easiest tend to be the strongest. More work doesn’t necessarily mean better in the creative world.
How do you know something is a good idea?
When I feel that something that exists only in my head will be understood by other people.
Which living person do you most admire?
My collaborators. I’m really lucky to have found incredibly talented friends I work with. I think one of the things I am best at is finding brilliant creatives and then figuring out a way to make them be part of my life (It’s usually beers… ) My work is always better when I have their brains in the room too and they inspire me every day.
Am I a habitual worker?
Absolutely. Practice makes perfect. Most of my time is spent working on projects that will never see the light of day. I know it will help me perfect my craft for the projects that do. Also, my work distracts me from my perpetually imminent existential crises!
¿Cómo comenzaste a vivir de la comedia?
El momento que empecé a crear comedia ligada a mi identidad. Por años estaba tratando de imitar la comedia de mis héroes y de mis compañeros. Pero todo cambio cuando empecé a crear contenido que solo yo podía lograr en FLAMA. Cuando empecé a escribir sobre los clashes culturales, la inmigración, el idioma, los acentos… ahí logré carrera porque venía de un lugar genuinamente y únicamente mío.
Opinión pública y comedia.
La relación entre la opinión pública y la comedia es bilateral. Son una pareja que se aman, se odian y se necesitan mutuamente. La comedia sin opinión publica no tiene punto de embarque. La opinión publica sin comedia no tiene auto-reflexión.
¿Qué piensas que significa ser real en estos días?
En un mundo donde todo se filtra, donde le gente solo postea los resultados positivos, donde hasta Emily freaking Ratajkowski edita sus fotos… hay que acordarse que todo el mundo está proyectando el super-ego; la versión de sí misma que quisiera ser. Creo que ser real es estar abiertos a enseñar las cicatrices de los fracasos, las dificultades, las imperfecciones de la vida. Esos puntos vulnerables no son puntos débiles, son puntos de crecimiento y tierra fértil para la comedia.
¿Qué te motiva hacer lo que haces?
Me gusta sentir que puedo conectar con la gente a través del humor. Reflejar la realidad de alguien que quizás no tiene las palabras. Hacer reír a alguien que se ve representada en mi comedia. Me motiva compartir con los demás…desde un venezolano viviendo en Escocia hasta una coreana aprendiendo español en el colegio. Esa conexión humana es de lo que pienso cada vez que escribo algo.
¿Qué consejo le darías a Joanna de 16 años?
Todo el mundo se está dudando de la misma manera que dudas de ti misma. No dejes que eso te limite. Ah, y esas mini faldas te quedan fatal y porfa empieza a usar cremas para la cara desde ya.
Is there a particular creative pursuit you happen to enjoy the most?
Writing. It’s where anything is possible. Once you have to start producing a script that’s when reality, budget, equipment limits possibilities.
¿Tienes nuevos hobbies durante la cuarentena?
¿Playstation y comer cuentan cómo hobby?
¿Qué crees que la gente puede aprender durante la pandemia?
Estamos viviendo una realidad en el que estamos totalmente limitados. Pero las limitaciones son amigos de la creatividad. Cuando tienes pinceles de todos los colores, escoger y ejecutar lo que quieres pintar se puede sentir abrumador. Pero si solo tienes tres pinceles, uno averigua el objeto que puede lograr. No hay que tenerles miedo a las limitaciones. No dejen que lo perfecto sea enemigo de lo bueno.