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

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I am fortunate enough to have been part of many meaningful projects throughout my career, but the one I am currently most excited about is my upcoming first comedy special “DEMANDA”.

DEMANDA was the result of the desire to explore my comedy in a deeper way. Although I love performing 10-minute spots on shows, I wanted to create something longer-form that introduces who I am as a comedian and as a writer.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey! My name is Amanda Friedman and I am a 24 year old writer and comedian from Stamford, CT, currently based in Los Angeles.

I’ve wanted to be a comedian since I was in middle school. At the time, I really struggled to make friends (much of which was the result of my Autism Spectrum Disorder), but found that I could bond with people by making them laugh. This was also around the time I discovered Saturday Night Live and the term “comedy writer”, which led to me thinking, “Yeah, I wanna do that”.

I started taking writing and improv classes in high school and applied to NYU Tisch’s High School Summer Program in Dramatic Writing (Play/Screenwriting) in 2016, which I was selected to attend. That summer was so important to me because it solidified my passion, which later led to me applying to and attending NYU for my Undergrad in the same program. I spent my time at NYU continuing to grow as an artist (even during COVID) and, for my senior year, I decided to move out to Los Angeles, where I currently reside today.

Fun fact about me: I didn’t start doing stand-up comedy until I moved to Los Angeles. I wasn’t confident enough to put myself out there like that in New York, but found that I had grown a lot from moving across the country and, you know, surviving a pandemic. I started doing open mics at a developmental comedy club, which led me to start taking classes at the club and finding a medium for my comedy.

I have performed throughout LA, on both the East and West Coast, and at some really cool venues. In addition to stand-up, I was an Office PA on a network sitcom, a Writer’s Assistant for a comedian who is now my writing partner, and I’m going to be an Assistant Producer on an indie comedy feature in a couple of months (just to name a few). I am only at the start of my career, but it has already been quite the journey, and I like to remind myself how much I’ve already accomplished. And I know that releasing my first special “DEMANDA” will begin a new chapter in my career.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve already had to pivot several times, but a memorable time was when the world shut down in 2020. I was a sophomore in college at this point and had to grieve the fact that this was no longer going to be the case. Speaking of grieving, this was also when my seemingly healthy grandpa was diagnosed with a terminal illness (which, ironically, was not COVID). This was a crucial moment where I realized that life has no rules or structure and that I would have to create something for myself.

And I did: I developed a proof of concept for an adult animated series, took online acting classes, and wrote a comedy pilot inspired by an idea my grandpa had before his illness. This would lead to my decision to spend a semester in Los Angeles with NYU’s Study Away program, which then led to me deciding that I was going to complete my degree from Los Angeles. It was very difficult at the time, but ultimately a lot of good came out of that pivot.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the concept that, unlike myself, other people know what they’re doing. The thing is: no one does. I don’t have a particular instance where I figured this out, but it’s just a thing that I keep rediscovering every time I meet new people or enter a new project. No matter the level of the person or project, everything is on what I like to call the “shit show spectrum”: the things that on the outside seem the most glamorous are actually causing everyone to internally scream behind the scenes.

This concept is important to me because I’m typically very hard on myself and have a tendency to compare myself to others on professional and sometimes personal levels. But when I remind myself of the fact that everyone, just like me, is figuring it out as they go, I am comforted and motivated to continue doing the things that I’m passionate about.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @amandafriedman

Image Credits

Colin Sevely-Ortiz