Comedy As A Second Act For Women In Their 40s: Lynn Harris

Comedy isn’t reserved for the loudest person at the party, and it’s definitely not something you have to “be born with.” We sit down with Lynn Harris, creator of Gold Comedy and a longtime journalist, to break down what being professionally funny really takes and why so many capable people talk themselves out of trying it. The big takeaway: comedy is learnable, and the work is often less about forcing jokes and more about finding what’s already true and funny about you. 

We get into the hidden value of stand-up for women in their 40s and beyond, especially if you’re craving a creative reset, a side hustle, or a full career pivot. Lynn explains how comedy mechanics build real-world skills like writing sharper, thinking faster, reading the room, and staying calm when things go sideways. We also talk about the underrated power of the stand-up “social contract” where the room actually listens, and how that experience can reshape confidence in everyday life and public speaking. 

Then we zoom in on storytelling versus anecdotes, why a real story requires choice and change, and how you can turn an everyday moment like an airport layover into strong material by leaning into specificity and point of view. We also explore modern formats like Zoom comedy and digital sketch, plus why community matters so much when you’re learning in a space that avoids the typical comedy “bro vibe.” If you’ve been waiting for a sign to try something new, this is it. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a laugh, and leave a review with the funniest thing you’ve learned about yourself lately.

Transcript

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Meet Lynn Harris And Gold Comedy

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You're listening to Diva Tonight with Carleen Humphrey, a relationship podcast with a focus on life, love, and friendship. Welcome to Diva Tonight.

Carlene 0:12

Hi, I'm Carleen, and this is Diva Tonight. I have with me on Zoom the lovely Lynn Harris. She is the creator of Gold Comedy. Um, she used to be a journalist, and we are going to be talking about all things comedy. So, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:33

I'm good. I'm ready to talk about all things comedy. I think we can, you know, let's it's, you know, we're in some in some dark times, so you know, let's lighten it up.

Carlene 0:41

Yeah, I feel like we are. It's it's kind of like I try not to watch the news too much, but the it's unavoidable in a way. But I I feel like this is this will be a good little break from the everyday.

Journalism Skills And Serious Humor

Carlene 0:52

So from what I I see, you have a background in journalism. So from journalism, which is like the serious side of things, you know, what got you into journalism?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

I have always been, I I've just always wanted to be some kind of writer and creator. And that, you know, that that can take and has taken many forms. And I think, you know, journalism for sure requires serious skills, which I was fortunate to be able to develop over time. But it doesn't mean that everything you do is serious, or it doesn't mean that you always have to be serious in the sense of like boring. I was fortunate enough to, you know, get the chance to do it for long. I was I did it for about 25 years, and I still do, you know, when I, you know, I never officially quit. I just moved on from that being my full-time job. If you're fortunate and you work hard, you get opportunities to develop your own voice, which is great. Although I will say that it's also a super important skill to develop the capacity to write in other people's voices, you know, write one way for one magazine, one way for one newspaper, incredibly helpful skill. So it's not all about, you know, self-expression, you know, but I I was also able to and encouraged to actually bring my own voice and even bring a humorous voice to issues that are not funny, which is also sort of a serious undertaking, you know, figuring out like, why would I write about, you know, reproductive justice with some sarcastic humor? Or why would I write about um, you know, the culture that enables sexual sexual assault with humor? And what would that humor be? And how would that humor help to communicate about the issue? So you do you can really create opportunities to use humor in a way that still takes the job and the issue very seriously.

Who “Counts” As Funny

Carlene 2:43

Speaking of uh comedy, I guess there's the stereotype behind, like not the stereotype, but the typical person that would get into comedy, right? We have the naturally talented comedian, like, you know, one of my favorite comedians is Jim Carrey, because he's like so out of the box, right? But he's also known as a method actor, which I didn't know until later. And then you have J Dave Chappelle, Robin Williams. So as someone who runs a comedy school, do people feel like if they're going into comedy that there's this certain expectation?

SPEAKER_01 3:17

There is definitely a it's not the only notion, but there's definitely a prevailing notion or a common notion that people who are funny are the loud one. You know, people who are funny are the the one who gets to the joke first. People who are funny are the wacky one. People who are funny are the one who have who has like funny things happen to them. And it's not that those people aren't funny, it's that there are so many other ways to be funny. And there's also a difference between being funny with your friends or you know, being funny at work and being professionally funny. That you know, there's so many, there's always like that, you know that dude, the dude is always like probably a white dude, you know, who's probably just kind of like a just like loud and stupid and kind of funny, but okay. And they're always like, Bruce, you should do stand-up. Like, not necessarily, Bruce. I'm not saying you're not funny, but there's a difference between being like kind of the doofus who gets laughs in real life and the person who really works at it and hones their skill. Now, Bruce could totally work at it and hone his skill, but just because he's funny like at a party doesn't mean he's funny on stage.

Carlene 4:33

Whoa. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

But the other way around is also true that if you don't fit that like common notion of, and this is particularly true for women, because we don't have, I mean, sure, and thank God there are tons of visible, well-known, hilarious women in comedy, whether they're whether they're in stand-up or sketch or whatever it is. But I think but weirdly, I think still people still think that like, but I've got to be the loud, wacky one, even though like I'm like, have you met a Parnanun Sherla? You know, she's one of my favorite comedians, and she's shy and anxious and talks about how shy and anxious she is. I'm like, girl, if you if she can do it, you know, it's you you like, did you see her? You don't have to be, you know, you don't have to be the loud, you don't have to be Bruce, you know? So um so the difference is honestly the work. People always ask me, like, can you teach someone to be funny? I'm like, yes, because it's not teaching someone to be funny, it's teaching someone to figure out what's funny about themselves, and then encouraging them to practice and practice and practice and practice and learn the mechanics and get the genre and understand. And of course, some people are like naturally better than others at certain things the way some people are better athletes and some people are better cooks, like of course. But at the same time, that's because they do know how much they practice, and do you know how like how how much coaching they get? You know, so I I just like to encourage people that if they're curious about comedy, that whoever they already are is ready to try it out. And also if they don't necessarily see themselves as performers, but they're still curious about comedy, do you know how many people it takes to make some comedy stuff? In other words, if you really don't see yourself as performing, but you want to be around comedy and like helping create comedy, do you know how much they how how in demand people who know how to edit video for comedy are, or people who know how to do lighting and sound and and like production and all those things for like, you know, comedy shorts. Like those are people who are who are cre who are comedy creators. They're just not the ones performing, but they're still um they're equally important to creating comedy. So I always like to say, like, do you have an idea that you're already ready now? And also how many different paths you can take.

Carlene 6:53

Right. I guess the main thing is like a lot of people think people who work in comedy are mainly like who want to pursue it are gonna be doing stand-up, but there's other facets of it. Obviously, just like just like with film, you know, there's many different roles in film. And as an English major myself, we get typecasts as like, well, why don't you go to teachers' college? You could have been a teacher, and I'm like, Well, you know what? Teaching is not the only thing that you can do with an English major, but I get what they're saying because most people think that, oh, well, you're studying literature, so you could be a teacher. But that aside, so we're talking about like relationships and the relationships that women have. Like, you know, a lot of my guests are in their 40s, and you know, sometimes people are starting a new career path or maybe looking to expand their knowledge. So I think you said this in our previous conversation that stand-up is not the only thing you can focus on with comedy, like it could help with other things as well. Can you like elaborate

Comedy Paths Beyond Stand-Up

Carlene 7:53

on that? Like you were saying, like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Oh, like all the ways that doing stand-up can also can help you do things in addition to stand-up.

Carlene 7:59

Yeah, like maybe being like a public speaker and I or like you said, people in the medical field or like yes, I guess other other industries, right? Where you can use the skill. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

You know, this is true for anyone, you know, when they're starting out and they're, you know, this is true for anyone of any age, but I love to sort of situate this in the context of women in their 40s, 50s, whatever. Yeah. Because it's so much more available to us, and I mean us, because I think 40s is young and adorable. So let's just let's just leave it at that. Because like more and more we are less nervous about how we show like what we look like. We're less nervous about failing. And by failing in comedy, I mean failing light. I mean L-I-T-E light. Like failing in comedy is like a joke doesn't land, we don't care. We move on. We don't care. We don't care. So the practicing and learning is easy. And what you learn from that is from studying, you know, as using stand-up as an example. You learn to write sharper, think faster, read a room, land a punch, and like listen. And you get the fabulous experience of having, are you ready? Are you ready? Wait for it, wait for it. People listen to you, you know, because that's the thing with stand-up. Like, that's you know, look, sure, margin of error, there are hecklers, but not really. Like, they're not as common as people think. They're just not that common, you know. Like, yeah, sometimes there are drunk tourists, but like it's not that big a deal. Like it's just it's sort of like a car crash. Like, do you know how many stand-ups are doing comic comedy all day, every day without being heckled? You know, like it, you know, it's it's not a big deal. But but the the social contract is that when you're doing stand-up, you're talking and they're listening. Like, and when I was in my you know 20s doing stand-up, like I didn't realize what a big deal that was. You know, for people to be quiet and listen to the woman, are you kidding me? Yeah. Oh. And I mean, not just quiet, we hope they laugh. But I mean, seriously, just the social contract, that's a lot. You know, and it's also great, you know, just to compare. And, you know, when I, as you said earlier, when when we're talking about comedy, we're talking about all the things stand-up, sketch, writers' rooms, you know, for sitcoms or dramedies. We're talking about people who write funny branded content, people who write funny to do social, you know, for brands, because people want their brands to be funny, which is a whole other conversation that's really interesting. But but specifically with stand-up, you know, you like there's really no other format in which people are expected to like shut the F up and listen to a woman, or listen to a person of color, or listen to a trans person, or like that's pretty amazing. And so it's not only what you learn, what the skills you've developed for yourself, it's the experience you finally get of being listened to.

Carlene 10:38

Yeah. So your whole mission is for like, you know, that comedy is a lifestyle, right? And so the art of storytelling, do you feel like that's an important component? Because I I feel like I've learned to tell a story, but like I feel like it's easier said than done. Some people are naturally good at it, like telling you a story and like you feel like you're right there with them. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

So I think story, I mean, storytelling, if you want to talk about it sort of as a you know, skill slash art, storytelling and stand-up are related but very different. And and let's

Stand-Up As Confidence Training

SPEAKER_01 11:10

break it down for a second. Okay. You could have you could have someone who tells a story that is very funny, and you could have someone who does stand-up that kind of has the shape of a story, but they're still different. I actually came to prefer later in my career as a stand-up, I came to prefer storytelling, actually, just because for whatever reason. Not for not like not because one's better than the other, but because just for me, I you know, where my where I found my groove. But stories basically always have to have a beginning, middle, and an end. Always. And the in the end, the there has to be something different. In other words, um, Dorothy, beginning, Kansas, middle, Oz, and Kansas. But something has changed. It's not just that she's back at the beginning, something has shifted and didn't something didn't shift that was out of her power, right? Things shifted because of choices that she made. So people often um mistake stories for anecdotes. An anecdote is when something happens to you and it's you're like, wow, that was weird, or wow, that was funny, or wow, that was random. That's an anecdote. Anecdotes are great, they're not stories. Stories exist only when you make a choice. Something happens to you and you decide what to do about it. Then you have a story that gives you the middle and the end. Stand-up, we don't have a sure, everyone like a well-constructed set has a beginning, middle, and an end. Sure, but it's not a it's not a narrative beginning and middle and an end. It's it's just kind of an artful beginning, middle. It's just kind of, you know, maybe there's a callback at the end that sounds like the beginning, or maybe they do easy jokes first to kind of build some trust and rapport, and then they get into more complex stuff and then they come back to something that's beginning and middle and end, but it's not a story structure, it's a good stand-up set. So I I do think that people confuse anecdotes for stories, and which is again, anecdotes are fine. There's nothing wrong with an anecdote, but that storytelling is is more specific than people think it is, and also like, wow, that's such a buzzword now. Like brands are all like, it's all about storytelling. A brand strategy is all about storytelling, it's all about storytelling, and they, which is, you know, really just capitalism. It's honestly just capitalism. It's honestly just if if if brands are about storytelling, it's

Storytelling Versus Anecdotes

SPEAKER_01 13:18

all about like the hero's journey, and the main character is the consumer and they buy things. That's pretty much it. It's kind of made up. It's not bad, it's just kind of made up. But real stories are like when you go to a show that's like the moth or whatever, and you're like, nobody can see me. I know I'm on video now, but I'm like, the video thing I'm doing on Zoom is like riveted. You're like, what? What's gonna happen next? And it doesn't even have to be a suspenseful story, you just have to care. And the and the storyteller is kind of bringing you along on their own personal journey and their own change. And no matter how different the story, no matter how different the person or the circumstances are from your own experience, you find something relatable because it's about something primal. You know, it's about like the search for meaning, or it's about loneliness, or it's about, you know, feeling like you know, feeling like a fish out of water, or like all those things are something that everybody can relate to, no matter where we're from or who we are or how we were raised or whatever. There's that primal stuff. And storytelling really gets to that.

Carlene 14:14

See, there's two things you said that I want to ask you, but you said the meaning of life. And I think of the meaning of life, part one, you know, Monty Python for those huge fans there and everyone of the nerds listening. Yes, for all the nerds looking listening. I mean, my one of my exes, he's the reason, he's the reason I even know about Monty Python, but Monty Python is so funny.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

But absolutely no women though, weirdly, but that's fine.

Carlene 14:38

Mm-hmm. Right? They were playing women too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

I never noticed that. When I was growing up, it's so funny. I never, it never occurred to me. I was like, where are the women? I wasn't like that because, but also, do you know what? I grew up at the same time. I grew up with, you know, obviously Monty Python, but also Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Ruth Buzzy, Lily Tomlin, the mom on the Jeffersons, you know, like, and the Phyllis Diller, they were and they were all completely normal to me. And no one ever called them female to me in my in that time in the 70s and early 80s, like no one, I mean, not no one, but I didn't hear them being called women comics. Nobody told me, Oh, do you like the female comics? You know, we were just like, Miss Piggy's amazing, like, you know, like there was no, yeah, and so and so there was I was so surrounded by hilarious women who for me that was just comedy, not ladies' comedy. That like once in a blue moon, you watch Monty Python, you're not gonna be like, Where are the women? Because you have so many other women that are just there doing equally good quality comedy, just different.

Carlene 15:38

Yeah. I think I think the reason why maybe it they changed a little bit is when you had like Richard Pryor and that come out to the scene and like those that came after him, too, right? I guess. I don't know if that changed it.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah, yeah.

Carlene 15:53

No, he was. I yeah, he was huge. And I remember watching what's the name of the show? Very old show, late night TV, and like he was well known. And Richard Pryor came on the show and it was funny.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Johnny Carson?

Carlene 16:04

Johnny Carson, yeah. Yes, and so watching that, I think that's the thing with YouTube now that makes it so amazing to go back and watch old comedy skits or watch old interviews like that. But I think what I wanted to ask you too is like you said with comedy, they don't have to necessarily tell a story, but you mentioned anecdotes. So what do you mean when you say that?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

I mean like um the time you locked yourself out of the house and you were barefoot, you know. I'm making this up. Like silly things, just like silly things that happen, and there's no they don't mean anything, but everyone's like, oh my god, that's so weird, you know, or the time you, you know, the time you missed your flight, but then you, you know, met a celebrity at in the lounge. You know, like those are just like things that happen in life, you know, they're not stories because you don't make a decision about it. It's just like a thing that happens to you, and it doesn't really it gives you a good a good like like entertaining thing to tell your friends, but it's not like a it's not a journey, you know, like it's not a journey. You don't you don't have to make a tough decision, you don't have to like like decide something about yourself that like you don't have a tough call to make, you don't have a and that's again it's fine, but anecdotes aren't like I'm not gonna pay you know $25 and and and and a two-drink minimum to hear someone tell me about like I got locked out of my house and it was so weird and it was also cold. But then someone let me in. That's an anecdote because they didn't do anything. Right? Like, but then someone let me in and it was fine. Like, you didn't do anything, it's fine. That's funny if I'm your friend, and that's cute if you like are a person who loves shoes and you get locked out of your house and and and you you don't have your shoes on.

Carlene 17:49

I don't know why I made that up, but but like you didn't you're like impersonating a comedian actually by doing that. There's someone that has that similar style where he's so monotone, but it's funny. Like it's the way that he does. I don't think he's doing an anecdote because he tells like some stories, but I get your reference point where it's like you're not elaborating, like whereas Wanda Psych, when I listen to her stand up, it's like as a woman, she's like, you know, sometimes as a woman, it's like we never, we never shut up, you know? It's like I should go to sleep right now, but oh, I should have told her this. And like, you know what I mean? She goes on and on, but it's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

But that's stand-up, so that's totally fine. And also we love Wanda Sykes, but I'm just but like, but in terms of storytelling, right? If someone says, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna get on stage and tell you a story, you don't want to hear about something that that happened to them that they had no control over, and then it and then and it created a problem, and then they and then it was solved without them doing anything. Like my flight was canceled, but then it got rescheduled. It's not a story, it's a thing that happened. You could probably do some hilarious stand-up about that.

Carlene 18:52

Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

But it's not a story, you know. Uh my flight got canceled on the way to my uh you know, to my to my uh step parents' wedding, and I had to decide what to do about it. And I did, and I made a very tough decision, whatever. I mean, I'm you know, I'm just making something up that has some stakes, and then you do it, you and you make a decision that you're gonna like zoom in from the airport and it was terrible, but you felt good, like you made a choice, and then there's some drama, and there's some, you know, that you know, that's I don't I just made that up. I don't know if it's a good story, but it is it at least has the ingredients of a story as opposed to something happened to me and then something else happened

Using Personal Truth For Laughs

SPEAKER_01 19:29

to me, and that was the end.

Carlene 19:30

So if I give you the story, are you gonna be able to teach me in a few minutes how to make it a comedy? So, like, okay, so we're talking about airport stories, so I'll tell you a story. I went to this was like year, I went to Trinidad and Tobago, and I had a layover, and I brought all this stuff with me, and I brought like my iPad thinking, you know, I'm gonna um rest during the layover. But I didn't, I I stayed up all night, Lynn, because I was so worried that someone would take one of my electronics, right? So I and then mind you, there was like a wedding the the same day. So I literally when I got to the Airbnb, that's when I had like a power nap. But like I literally stayed all n up all night thinking like I don't know if anything would have happened to me, right? But I you know what I mean? It's it's kind of one of those because I was by myself. So it's like no, if I went to the bathroom, no one can watch my stuff for me. So it's like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

That's funny. See, that is hilarious to me as stand-up because because what that's telling me, there's not really a beginning, middle, and an end, because nothing, there's not like a moment, there's not a before and after, right? But it could be hilarious as stand-up because it's a way of telling us about you, right? That you that you're like nervous, that you're a nervous traveler, that you're that you don't trust people around you, that like I'm just making things up. I don't know if you're not gonna be able to do that. Okay, okay. Yeah. I'm just saying I'm just saying things that that could be about, right? So like you could be like, guys, listen to how weird I am. Listen to how I planned, I planned so well to get some sleep and I got no sleep. Here's what happened. And then you and then you kind of yourself, you know, being like, I was ready for the layover, I was so ready, and here's how I spent my layover, like this, you know, like wide awake, lying on the floor of the airport, you know, because that's painting a picture. It's not it's just because that's really funny stand-up. I don't know. Um because it tells us because the best stand-up I think is personal, right? So you're telling us about you. It's not sp it's not technically a story, but you're painting a picture and you're telling us like a bunch of other people could tell that same, could have the same thing happen, but they have a different, they'd bring a different perspective or a different lens, and they and they they'd have different jokes about it. You know, like your joke could be like, here's what a you know, here's how weird I am. And yeah, you know, it could be very funny, you know. It's it it doesn't have to be a story to be funny. It t it could totally be stand up.

Carlene 21:49

Yeah, I guess I could have elaborated with that story, but I was like thinking about what you said about being at the airport and like all the things that can happen at the airport, right? Where you're like layover, then you get stuck. stuck and then you're like you almost don't make it back in time. Totally happened. But it's funnier told the airport.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Right. But it's funnier told it's it's because the reason why that's funny to me what you set up is that it's not some random generic someone complaining about getting stuck at an airport. Like airlines are terrible. They're so late. They're blankety blank. Like blah blah blah blah. Like that could be anybody. But like you were giving me an example of a story of a like of like jokes in a situation that are the way you would experience that. And someone else would have a totally different experience of the layover or you know someone I don't know someone who needs to sleep and is super trusting would have been like so I left all of my electronics with a five year old who promised that he would take care of the you know whatever. I don't know. Yeah yeah yeah and um and you were like nope I'm gonna lie awake next to my iPad because I trust no one like I don't know but it's just funny to me because it's about you not airlines. Like airline lateness isn't funny. Your experience and your take is funny.

Carlene 23:02

Diva

Comedy Roots And Family Influence

Carlene 23:03

tonight glamour for your ears let's backtrack a bit because um you brought up something interesting how you grew up with comedy watching Carol Burnett and you know all the things. So do you feel like you know sometimes I say it's not where you're going where you came from do you think that those people influenced where you are now you know 100%.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Like I think it just I think and this just occurred to me right now as many times as I've talked about this like I just had a moment like in my head of like it was comfort for me. Like it was being home. It was I was an only child my parent you know I like I you know sorry I had a like my parent I had sort of you know not normal childhood but like I fent felt fundamentally loved and it was fundamentally stable, which I am grateful for and I know it's a great privilege. But but the the times that I felt at home and and and and like like this is what it means to be cozy at home were when I was with my parents watching Carol Burnett or the Muppet Show. Like my my parents were funny but they weren't like wacky you know and we just they loved a good laugh. My dad was more of a joker than my mom but still my mother was a great crowd you know so it was just lots of laughter and and it was just like good old good old fashioned comedy like good just jokes you know vaudeville style jokes and it just that's where I felt comfortable. You know I felt it was like my blanket. I was just always drawn to it especially not only but especially that kind of old fashioned like sort of timeless style of humor. I like other styles too but like that to me is is like just will never that style of old fashioned comedy will never die for me. It's good old jokes. When when you say the style are you talking about the style of show where it's like the Carol Burnett show it's like she has multiple skits like it's not just you know yeah and also just like vaudeville style or just good old fashioned just like set up punch like just you know the nothing avant garde nothing weird you know just kind of old fashioned like we taught my kids when we were when they were little to like do the vaudeville style of like you know our kids are named B and Sam like hey B and we taught B to go yeah daddy um what's you know uh why did the chicken cross the road I don't know daddy why did the chicken cross the road together to the other side na na na na na na na you know just like just that's what she would do. Yeah I've seen some of it is it is funny yeah yep what did your parents do they weren't professional they weren't in entertainment no I'm I'm just curious I always I always find it interesting to find out from people I see they were very nerdy my mom was um English language arts book editor and writer um and then but my and my dad was and this is very like arcane but my dad was a very famous linguist but not in a way not in a household name but only like a household name if you know his area if you knew his area of linguist of linguistics he was one of the reasons he was like part of the whole all those guys that founded the linguistics department and MIT and like Noam Chomsky and all those guys that was his circle although me Noam and my dad did different kinds of linguistics whatever but they were still the same z era Noam Chomsky era and everyone has their Noam Chomsky era I guess right yeah and so he was my dad was a big deal in that in that time but then specifically about my dad's stuff was more about um sounds and and like in this in the in like Spanish and like related languages. So anyway very nerdy but they just like my parents were just like a good time. They just liked a good time. They could be they could and they were both um serious musicians. So they could like super nerd out about language and linguistics and my mom how they met actually was that even though she wound up editing um like ELA books for schools she edited Gnome's big deal like biggest deal book like the book that made him famous she was the editor on that so she also had to bring had subject knowledge in linguistics such that she could edit it. And the joke about that book is it's his most famous book and the joke is still no one has ever found a typo and she predicted my mom. So um I can't speak to the content but I know that there's no typos.

Carlene 27:09

So yes yes and so that's related to how they met.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

But in any case so they could like be big serious nerds but they also just loved a big goofy good time.

Carlene 27:19

That is so interesting. I feel like there's still that cre like I mean you they're they're creative minds in in in uh in their own way and so I think like I can see like how the journalism is a little bit different but still like an influence in that way. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Like a little bit we're all curio like they cultivated in me I think you know curiosity and like artisticness in whatever form that meant and certainly a love of language you know whatever that means. So I really cared about writing and I cared about choosing your words and I cared about learning other languages and I you know I just cared about to me the funniest jokes were just the well that's not entirely true. I was gonna say it was like the words but that's not true because I also love physical comedy. So scratch that that wasn't true. I don't know I they definitely had a huge influence on me.

Carlene 28:09

Yeah. No that's important you know what I mean whether or not it it was like a contribution to that because I mean even um I don't feel like my my parents necessarily influenced like me as a podcaster or getting into radio and wanting to do that. But I think like you know for me when I used to when we used to clean the dance studio they used to play the radio all the time and then there was this show called Lovers and Other Strangers with Don Jackson and I loved his voice. And so for me I think that's where I go back to that moment where I'm like who is that? Like I love his voice. And you know maybe that might have been a contributing factor. Mind you there's other things but I think when you when I think back to certain things that may have like encouraged me a bit you know but with your story and like your parents influence and here you are now I think what you what you say is interesting about how comedy doesn't necessarily have to be stand up and so if someone wants to like is considering it maybe public speaking does comedy help yeah with public speaking or does how does comedy yeah oh my gosh yes.

Comedy Mechanics For Public Speaking

SPEAKER_01 29:14

And I know that people are so nervous yeah we're so linear. Like we're so yeah so I totally get it. It helps you think I think learning the mechanics of comedy and I mean that's so that so to be clear I don't mean like being funny helps you with public speaking. I mean specifically learning the mechanics of comedy helps you with public speaking because you it because one thing you learn in comedy is that you don't always have to be funny, which sounds crazy, I know. But it what I mean is you don't we always tell people to avoid trying to be funny. Yeah there's I mean of course I understand that comedy equals being funny. I get it. But the the the funniest comedy comes out of people not trying super hard to squeeze something funny that out of something that's not there and waiting for the joke.

Carlene 30:00

So I think it's like the punchline you mean but like we're waiting for that?

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Yeah like waiting for um not trying to make every moment funny. Letting it letting it breathe. You know for example when someone's doing crowd work right and they say to someone in the front in the front row um so what do you do? And they that person says I'm a lawyer. And so trying to be funny would be the comedian being like lawyer joke but it wouldn't be really funny because it would just be a lawyer joke. It wouldn't be organic to the room. And so that's what I mean by trying to be funny. Whereas the a better crowd work would be like oh really what kind of lawyer are you? Oh public interest lawyer so tell me more about that. And you have a conversation you get to the point where something organically funny is available to you. And so I think that kind of listening is really helpful with people for people with public speaking. It's so much of a comedy is listening and reading the room and feeling what the room needs and what the room wants. And it's not actually a conversation with the room because God forbid they're talking back to you. But like it is a conversation between the room's vibe and you and learning about that and waiting for the laugh and listening and just responding to things that that pop up you know if you're even doing comedy on Zoom, you know, it it gives you the capacity to like be in the practicing comedy gives you the capacity to be in the moment and not think that like a distraction is going to derail your entire talk, you know, or it gives you the the capacity to be like, you know, yeah right someone unmutes and maybe you don't make a joke you know maybe you just say like you know like we'll wait for your dog you know like or I whatever like that's not you know whatever it is. It's not hilarious, but it's just being able to roll with it, you know, and not giving yourself pressure to certainly not ignoring it because everyone else is going to be like oh there's a dog but also knowing that you don't have to be hilarious when you respond to it. You just need to respond to it. And I think just the practice of comedy can give you more comfort with responding to inputs from the room, choosing your words in ways that are succinct, just comfort with thinking on your feet, all of those things.

Carlene 32:04

Like improv, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

Yeah. And then yeah totally although it's improv of one, right? It's not improv on a team like that's that's a whole nother that's a whole nother art form that I'm not an expert in but I love I I love improv. I just I'm not good at it. Um I'm good at I'm good at responding to the room but I'm not good at like improv on a team you know yeah show kind of improv that yeah like whose line is it anyway like it's just oh my god yeah that's that's next level yeah we improve it's really although there are a lot of improvisers who are like I can never do stand-up stand-up is way too hard you know and I'm like what are you talking about like that's it's like a there are people who can do both right and then there are people then there's like improvisers who are like stand up is impossible and then there's standups who are like improv is impossible and then there's people in the middle and what can I say?

Making Zoom Comedy Actually Work

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Yeah comedy on Zoom hilarious the key about comedy on Zoom is to use the Zoom. So if like we have someone um who's a member of Gold who's also a dancer and she does these hilarious things where she'll like she'll go back you know she won't have a fake background grap background back and like use her whole space and it's hilarious for her to like be like really really close and then really really far and then really and like it's so much funnier on in the funny little zoom rectangle than it would be on stage because the perspective doesn't change that much when you're on a tiny stand up stage, right? But in her room she's like all the way back there and she's tiny and then she comes up and do so like so she's really using the the technology or there was someone who did this whole someone in in a gold show who did who did this whole bit about different dates she was on with different dudes and she changed she had all of these like cafe backgrounds lined up and so for for each dude she had a different cafe background. But then if if she came back to the like the original dude she would use the same cafe background. So she had this whole choreography of the cafe backgrounds it was so funny. And that's the point is that's using Zoom. Like it was so funny. And also you can use props on Zoom in a way that you cannot like props on stage is lame but like props on Zoom suddenly have glasses. It's funny you know um for those of you listening I just put on glasses but like it's funny it's like not dorky on Zoom to like suddenly have a prop. Whereas prop comedy is generally not seen as funny on stage because it's like trying too hard.

Carlene 34:17

You know but on Zoom it's like you know like listening to you talk about that is like you know like influencers and content creators like who who take on a different persona like how gold comedy could help with that too.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Like yeah totally presence and yeah we that's a really good point because in our I didn't think about that until you just mentioned it.

Carlene 34:38

I was like oh wow yeah because I mean at the end of the day we you're you're talking about Zoom but we're going from like I don't know I think slowly we'll get back to in person because we have we have we have yeah we have you have both but I mean like the fact that you can make comedy like you can make a sketch with Zoom totally your upper hand there.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Like if you're totally we teach entire sketch classes on Zoom and people do sketches like we I mean we have people who do digital sketches that are separate that they're shot in a place. We also have people who do sketches where the people in the sketch have actually are not in the same place. Like we have a new sketch dropping next week that's about Zoom therapy and there's a there's the therapist and there's the patient and there's another character but they're never in the same room together. It's just edited so that it looks like they're talking to each other. But when you if you think about it like they all shot it themselves and then it was edited together. So you can do all sorts of movie magic like that.

A No Bro Vibe Comedy Community

Carlene 35:37

So I mean for the woman out there in her 40s who's like ah I want to take something I want to take a new course I want to try something new do you just offer like courses per se like if I just want to take one course and like see how that goes like you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 35:52

We do, but the way we work is that as it turns out people learn best in community. And as it turns out the thing that's hardest for people to find when they're starting out and when they're continuing in any kind of comedy is finding nice warm space warm friendly supportive collaborative spaces that have no bro vibe. And as much as comedy has changed for the better it's still dominated by a bro vibe. It just is and in all sorts of ways whether it's implicit or explicit. And so we emphasize the role of community by having a structure where you pay for the year. And when you pay for the year you have all of the classes that we offer in what we call the club they're included. So you what you pay for the year is basically what you pay for like one and a half classes somewhere else. But what you get are you keep seeing the same people you can collaborate with those people. You have other you have two open mics available to you every week you have QA's with comedy celebrities and pros. You have works other workshops you have all basically everything except our premium classes are free to you. And so we structure it that way. So like sure you could just take one class and it would it would still be a good deal it'll be fine but people tend to not do that. People tend to take a class and then they take the next class or they take the class again or they do other things you know they explore they took stand-ups so they're gonna explore sketch and so it really enables you to immerse yourself deeply but still in a low pressure and supportive environment and then really get to those people and the people who are naked you know community is important now.

Carlene 37:26

I think it's true like you know what I mean and then you get you are up to them. I I remember you said you're like improv's not your thing but I I I remember there's this little where um they had classes in this um mall that I used to go to and it was improv and it was so much fun. Lynn I think that was the best time I had like just doing improv every week you know what I mean I remember it. Well they stop offering the program but I think if I were to take away because I've always been in the arts like I dance and and stuff but I remember those improv classes because like just they give you an idea and then you just like run with it. But like when you're doing it with people that you're comfortable with I think it's easier to break the ice as opposed to like yeah yeah budget 21 year old white dudes you know like who I'm sorry they I'm sorry I'm sorry yes I totally get that they might be very nice they might be really very nice but I it's not about the individual people it's just like those might not be your people though you know yeah yeah no definitely for sure so because we're talking to women in their 40s to give a little boost what comedian do you think women should listen to now someone who's in her 40s or you know what I mean that would give you that like for me like tonight like who like if I wanted to watch you know like a comedian that you think would help like comedy is like your your breakaway your break from like reality and you know to help you like with life now

Comedians To Watch And Next Steps

Carlene 38:53

right?

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Yep I would recommend uh Maria Bamford. Maria Bamford okay yep I would recommend um Naomi Ekperigan she's on I don't know if you did ever watch vision vision quest she was on vision quest she was the HR person she was hilarious. But she stand up is amazing. I love her. And she's very much she's a very old soul you know like she always talks about how she just like wants to sit on her couch and watch procedurals wearing a fleece pant she's just she's great. So that's Naomi it's E K P E R I G I N apparently she's she's just great. So I love Maria I love her um I love Cameron Esposito.

Carlene 39:32

Oh Cameron Esposito her name sounds familiar I love her.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

Yeah she's a lot she has a bunch of good online specials that anything you'd find by her is is a guy I know who you're talking about like with Naomi you'll probably find a lot of like late night Naomi also had a good podcast with her partner. Or just watch Vision Quest because she's so amazing. She's hilarious on Vision Quest and Vision Quest is hilarious. And I also love a partner Nansherla um who I mentioned before also yes yeah and she's really because she's kind of blowing up so there's so many there's so many good people there's so many they are yeah the list goes on yeah yeah the list goes on so where can we find you like you said um it's a year long thing so I guess you can enroll and we also have premium classes we do have other we do have one off classes they're just more expensive but the premium classes are more like they last longer like our classes in the club are usually four to six weeks and then our premium classes tend to be longer and more like a a deeper dive into one topic like how to develop and pitch a TV show. Like so that's like a 12 week college level class. It's like a big deal and it's stopped by your producer a person who produced Broad City and Search Party. Her name is Ryan Cunningham she's amazing. So it's just a but that but those classes include membership into the club in the club so you can also take you up you got the whole year or more because people tend to renew. So so how does I mean I'm here in Canada like and we're in Toronto. It's all online I mean we do stuff face to face but like your core experience is online. Yeah.

Carlene 41:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

So you can be anywhere. We have lot we have lots of Canadians Carlene we have lots of yes yes I believe that for sure. So people can join from wherever and uh worldwide.

Carlene 41:12

It's it's amazing. You know what I mean? Um I think this is great obviously um something that who knows I don't know who like it it could pertain to someone else I know who's been acting a long time like if it it's gonna enhance your skill as an actor you know what I mean like it there's always something more that you can learn I think um it's always ongoing I find in in the actor studio right so Lynn Harris Gold Comedy where can we find you on socials you're on Instagram all the things or yeah the I would say our website gold comedy and our Instagram gold comedy yeah is there any anything you'd like to say like final thoughts as to you know someone who's branching out or changing careers in their 40s you know yes yeah yes we have so many honestly we I am not kidding we have so many people like that who are you know in their 40s or older who are just like I have more time my kids are older I'm con you know I'm I'm sort of secure in my career so I'm not like you know stressed about work all the time I I've I it's I I have time for a creative side hustle or I'm done I'm doing a pivot like I'm not doing what I was doing before um or I am but I don't really care about it.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

So I'm putting more time into um into into comedy we have people who have like launched their literally launched stand up careers in their 40s and 50s on gold um because I you know we have a woman who named Rocky who retired from she was a high school art teacher and she retired from that and now she's doing comedy full time um having started with us. So but also creative side hustles. We have people who you know haven't quit their day job but they finally wrote their pilot and they're and they're working on getting their pilots produced. You know so it it's it's not like oh you have to run off and join the circus. You know it can be just that you enjoy it and you do it on the for fun. It can be it's a side hustle you know that that pairs well with your other job or it can be like yeah I'm committing to this full time and we have women in their 40s and up who do that all the time every day with us.

Carlene 43:18

I think it's it's starting it. I think it's it's always harder when you're like okay well it didn't work out or I'm changing careers. So just that little push but I think what you're doing is great because it's online and it's it makes it so much easier. Yeah totally you know but you said in person too right there's both.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

So yeah we have some stuff in New York City.

Carlene 43:37

Yeah yeah well I'd like to thank you so much for sharing your knowledge it's like wow what a I'm there's so many I think there's so many things to comedy that we don't know about and I think it's like you can think outside the box with it too right so totally it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

Yeah than you think so exactly yeah I'm Carlene and this is Diva Tonight with Lynn

Where To Find Gold Comedy

SPEAKER_01 44:01

Harris.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

You can check out Gold Comedy Online or also on Instagram if you like this episode send us a text at BuzzSprout with going online at divatonight.buzzsprout dot com and thank you so much Lynn thank you thanks for listening to DivaTonight follow us on Instagram at diva on the radio that's diva with two eyes and don't forget to follow us on TikTok at diva on the radio for more clips and conversations you'll love want to share your thoughts or send us a message text us anytime at divatonite buzzsprout.com until next time stay fabulous