We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julia Austin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julia below.

Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

When I started standup comedy in 2013, I thought all I had to do to succeed was to get as good as possible and get on stage to showcase that skill as much as possible. It turns out that that is only a small (arguably very small) piece of the puzzle. Relationships are incredibly important. I was never kind to people because I wanted anything from them — I was just kind because I know how much it means to me when people just speak to me like a human being and take a genuine interest in how I’m doing so I’ve tried to do the same with everyone I met in comedy. And low and behold…many of those people went on to become bookers at some of the clubs and of some of the biggest shows. Moving forward does not just happen on stage. It very much happens off-stage, too. This wasn’t so much a problem for me so much as something I learned looking back and…I’m sure glad I was never a d*ck to anyone! LOL! Social media has introduced a new complexity, of course. You can be very skilled at standup (or really any performing artist’s role), but it’s very hard to move forward now without a large following. No matter how skilled a person is. Alternatively, a person with a large following who hasn’t built the skills in terms of actual performance yet can surpass people who’ve been in the game longer — in the blink of an eye. Social media is empowering in the way that gatekeepers have been de-emphasized, but it’s also left some of us not sure how to move forward.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a standup comedian. I have been doing standup since 2013. I tried standup on a whim, out of a love of making people laugh, and instantly fell in love. I like to think that the service I provide through my standup is shining light on some of the darker, harder experiences in life. I think if we can find the humor in the tough stuff, it ceases to have power over us. I do touch on a lot of light stuff, too. I do a lot of material about my marriage. And I’ve really loved to see how SO many different types of people from every background have related to me over the marriage stuff. Finding those little dynamics that arise for all of us, no matter who you are or what you come from, is unifying in a really nice and possibly important way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This question popped out at me right away. In January of 2020 (note that exact month and year) I was listed on Time Out LA’s Top 10 Comics to Watch list. That article sort of launched me into a new level of career opportunities. I was immediately booked on arguably THE biggest show in LA that everyone wants to be in, which is always swarming with industry. I was also booked for my first-weekend casino gig. Time Out magazine also scheduled a live show for those of us on their list, and the booker (at the time) of the Conan O’Brien show agreed to come to watch specifically me. Then the pandemic hit and…

That big, hot industry show was set for I believe it was March…14. Cancelled. The show the Conan booker was to come to, would be March 12. Cancelled. The casino gig would be in April. Cancelled. By the time the pandemic ended, the Conan O’Brien show didn’t exist. That big industry show was heavily focused on only booking famous comics while they tried to stay financially afloat, so I was waitlisted (still am lol). The casino I was set to perform at closed permanently in the pandemic. It’s only natural after all of that to wonder if you should just hang it up. And…I tried. But standup kept calling me back, and I clawed my way back into some good opportunities again. Looking back, it just wasn’t my time and something (the universe? god?) was protecting me.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I started, several well-meaning people who were already far along in their comedy careers really tried to convince me to pretend I was further along than I was. They told me to NEVER go to open mics, as I’d be seen as an “open mic” comic. They told me to hang out at big shows with big comics to network with them (and not with my real peers) and to lie about how long I’d been doing it. But the truth is….the only way to grow and get good is to be honest with yourself and others about where you are, and where you’re not. I did standup for about 2 years before finally throwing myself into the open mic scene. I wanted to be amongst my peers, people still figuring it out, like me. Those turned out to be valuable relationships. That is my “class” as we put it in standup (like in high school). Being new (and bad) and admitting I was new (and bad) was critical to getting good. Tell people exactly where you are, and where you’re not. They’ll respect you for it, and often jump to help (and immediately find you out if you lie anyway haha).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @JuliaAustinWasTaken
• Youtube: @JuliaAustinComedy

Image Credits

the black and white pic: Pic 2: Chris Garcia, IG: @Demeanor.Exposure
black blouse, white jeans pic: Pic 4: Zoe Zakson IG @ZoeZakson

Sitting down/contemplative pic: Kiel Phillips IG: @KBPCaptures

Pink flannel pic: Christine Casagrande IG @XTineBigHouse