We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ALON ELIAN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi ALON, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
The earliest example I can think of is one of my parents asked me what instrument I wanted to play when I got older—I think I was about four years old—and I said “the microphone.” I think I took to performing in front of people really early on. If there was ever a family gathering or something I always wanted to sing a song or tell a joke, or something like that.
There is one moment that really sticks out in my mind, though.
We had a talent show at my high school every couple of months, and a bunch of people would come and watch. I was 15 at the time, and super into stand-up. I was obsessed with George Carlin. So I decided to try stand-up for the talent show.
I wrote out a bunch of jokes about growing up in an Iranian household, I think some reality TV stuff…I can’t remember the rest.
The crowd went pretty wild. I’m pretty sure it’s still the best set I’ve ever had, haha. And I felt like I was just being my true self on stage, which was a pretty incredible feeling. I was always kind of a weirdo-loner growing up, so I think there was a sense of feeling accepted in that moment.
Afterward, the head of the theatre dept.—who was kind of a mentor of mine—said, “Hey, this is something you should actually consider doing…you can be really good at this.”
That really meant a lot to me, because honestly I was a pretty terrible student. I could never pay attention in class, and I never did my homework. (In the end, I almost didn’t graduate because my grades were so bad.)
The only things I’ve ever really been able to wrap my head around are performing for people and writing. I’m bad at so many things, but I know I’m good at those.
So I guess I figure that’s what I have to offer, and that’s what I want to do.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Well during the day I’m a copywriter, and that’s how I pay the bills. (If you are reading this and you want someone to write copy for you that is both persuasive and delicious, get at me.)
When I’m not doing that, I really try and dedicate my time to comedy. This could mean standup, doing characters on stage, playing funny songs, being funny on camera, voice acting—whatever.
You may have heard me play a bunch of characters on Audible’s “Heads Will Roll.” If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should—it’s a really funny show.
If you ever see comedy around NYC, you also may have seen my character Spenny Pugliano. He’s a middle-aged Italian man whose wife left him for his best friend, and now he’s trying to rebuild his life—but he’s very wholesome and he’s got a great attitude.
This past year I put on an hour long show called Spenny’s World about his life, and I’m really happy with how it went. I can’t wait to keep building out his world and then be able to share it with people.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I do not have a comprehensive understanding of what they are, but does anyone really?
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
If I’m being honest, I wasted a whole lot of time in my 20s. I think I was just trying to survive, and I was dealing with depression, so I didn’t feel compelled to do the things that made me happy or put myself out there in any real way.
I’m in my 30s now, and I do have the occasional moment where I’m like, “It’s kinda too late for you man, all your friends are getting married and having kids, all the people that are making it are like 24, maybe think about doing something else.”
But at the end of the day, I don’t think I’ve reached my full potential as an artist, I don’t think I’ve shown everything I have to offer quite yet, and I’m still genuinely excited to see what might happen if I keep putting myself out there—so I’m not giving up.
There’s all the time in the world for plan B.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alonelian.com
- Instagram: @this_is_alon
- Facebook: Alon Elian
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alon-elian-914252104/
- Twitter: @this_is_alon
Image Credits
Mindy Tucker Jordan Ashleigh