We were lucky to catch up with Julie Drake recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I started my creative pursuits later in life, it was right before my 39th birthday. I was definitely burned out with day to day life & the monotony that it brings. Every day was the same for the most part, i’d go to work, take care of the house/kids and sometimes i’d go to a second job. Every day was merely an exercise in survival and necessary functions. There was no fun, creativity, excitement, nothing just one responsibility to the next. A co worker was going to an open mic & told me i should perform with her. It was the most excited i’d been about anything in awhile but she had to back out & i was disappointed. The idea of going to the mic lingered & finally i thought why not? So i went one night by myself and I did well, the audience really liked me. Doing the mic brought some fun back into my life so i just kept going!
I am so glad i started later, if i had started when i was younger i wouldn’t have lasted because i was really immature & the comedy world can be a bumpy one. Comedy also works better when you have a good sense of self & the amount of life experiences i’ve had gives me alot of material to work with.

Julie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a stand up comedian. It is something i wanted to pursue as a child but had a baby as a teenager so that definitely shelved my dreams for awhile. I honestly thought it was going to be a permanent derailment but once my kids were grown I decided to just give it a try and just never stopped. I’m most proud of being able to work with comics that i’ve always looked up to such as Dave Attell, Taylor Tomlinson, Brian Regan and Craig Ferguson to name a few. Never in my wildest dreams did i ever think i’d ever share a stage with any of the comics that i used to sit and watch!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I spent 2016-2019 really hustling and had so much upward momentum in comedy. At the beginning of 2020, i had gigs lined out for months and alot of them were in new venues that i worked really hard to get into. And then of course Covid happened and i’d estimate 98% of the connections i had made got wiped out. Venues closed, comics/bookers moved away or moved on from comedy. Everything i had just spent 3 years working for got wiped out and i had to start from ground zero. It was extremely demoralizing and i considered just quitting. But, i thought if i could build it once i can do it again & started the process all over. Not an easy task, but i’m glad i didn’t give up because what has happened since covid has been better than anything i could have imagined.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me after a show & said something along the lines of “they were having a bad day, just lost a loved one, going through a depression…” and how my comedy made them laugh and how much they needed it. One lady in particular right after everything opened up after covid came up to me and gave me the biggest hug. She said it was the first time she had laughed in months and was the first time she felt like everything was going to be okay. It feels so good to take people away from their problems, even if for just a short time and give them a reprieve!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: JulieComedy
• Facebook: Julie Drake
• Other: Tik Tok: juliecomedy1