Michelle Cohn doesn’t try to edit as she goes
MICHELLE COHN is a Brooklyn-based writer, actor, comedian, and pop culture enthusiast. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Vulture, Electric Literature, and McSweeney’s, as well at the Catalyst Film Festival and New York Comedy Festival. Good Press, her comedy pilot about the world of film publicity, was selected for a table reading series at the Upright Citizens Brigade. She also wrote and starred in the solo show, Hadid, which was an official selection at the PIT’s Solocom Festival and Limefest at The Tank theater. She is the host of Rejected Shorts, a comedy show where writers and comedians perform their rejected pieces. It’s very fun, she’d love to see you there.
What were you like as a teen?
I like to think I was always a little funny, but as a teen I was definitely more introverted. I did things like band and chorus and theater so I was deep in the arts but I hadn’t quite found my own voice yet (that would come later).
Did you have an un-sexy starter job?
Yes! I worked in market research for about six months out of college and then I worked in film publicity (which is admittedly very sexy). I think all comedians should have day jobs at some point because you need to know what the experience is like. You need to have the foundation of a base reality to be able to create comedy that people actually relate to. I remember sitting in improv classes where people would do office scenes and you could absolutely tell who had actually worked in an office versus who was just doing something they thought office people would be doing.
What is your biggest comedy achievement to date?
I ran a show at Caveat for about two years which was great! I met a lot of wonderful people and learned a lot about producing.
On your deathbed, what transcendent advice would you croak at a young comedian?
Writing your own material and carving out your own opportunities is exceptionally more difficult than being granted access by the gatekeepers. Do it anyway.
Best comedy advice you ever got?
Your writer brain and your editor brain are different. When you’re writing, don’t try to edit as you go. Write as much as you can and THEN go in later with editor brain.
Do you have a writing routine?
I do not have a good writing routine, sadly. But something that’s been working for me recently is writing joke ideas/weird things I’ve noticed/half-baked premises on a piece of paper and building them out there, then transferring all that to a big google doc and pulling from that when I feel stuck or don’t know where to start.
