We were lucky to catch up with Dannielle Wornall recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dannielle, 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.
A stand-up comedian works solo most of the time, we are on stage alone, write alone, travel to gigs solo. With that said, I really do consider it a team sport. It isn’t just about me on stage, it is about making sure the audience has a great show.
Right now i am pursuing a goal that is pretty selfish- but it isn’t something I can do alone. In 2013, a comedian, Sammy Obeid, set a record for the most consecutive days performing stand-up. He performed for a thousand and one straight days. I am currently attempting to break that record by more than a year. I am going for 1500 days. My streak started on June 19TH, 2024 and will be going through July 28TH, 2028. I am coming up on day 200 which will be January 4TH, 2025.
The timeframe wasn’t an arbitrary choice. I started this just before my dad’s 65TH Birthday and will be finishing just after my 40TH Birthday. My dad raised me on his own, and has always been an incredible source of inspiration and support. He taught me that you can have anything you want in this life if you are willing to sacrifice everything else for it and work harder than anyone else for it.
Creative and performance jobs do not always have a ton of structure. You don’t clock in, there is a lot that needs to happen to do the work, but not specific methods on the when, where or how. One thing that this streak is providing me is structure. There has to be progress made every day. But it also forces me to write and try out new material constantly because you get tired of your material so quickly. Consistent reworking, rewriting, creating new set progressions, finding connections in the way you think about things. It also helps me to stay loose in the material and present with the crowds in front of me.
My ultimate goal by doing this is to just push myself to be undeniably great at what I do. Making people laugh on stage. Connecting with them.
But it still isn’t a solo venture to me. The other people in comedy are what makes this possible. The other comics that I meet and perform with. They share contacts, make recommendations, ask me to perform with them, write with me, rework ideas with me. They become family. The bookers and show producers that give me spots and opportunities to perform. The audiences who respond and react to the material teaching me to push boundaries and find the funny. They are all essential in helping me to reach this goal.
It is hard, but it is so worth it and I am still in the beginning.
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.
With a unique blend of observational humor, word play, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating charm, Dannielle Wornall is a standup comic from the Bluegrass State with a mouth that wouldn’t know appropriate if she tripped over it in a church parking lot. Her standup is a cocktail of southern charm, hot takes, and family mishaps. Turns out “happily ever after” comes with a lifetime subscription to Buffalo Trace and a good lawyer on speed dial.
Dannielle was a finalist at Louisville’s, 2024 Caravan Comedy Contest, is performing on the Don’t Tell Comedy Circuit, and a featured performer at the 2024 Bricky’s World Record Comedy Festival in Ohio. She was also a semi-finalist for Next Top Comic in Memphis, TN and named one of the funniest women in the country by the Good Vibes Comedy Festival. Dannielle has shared the stage with Sherrod Small, Mike Cannon, Sean Patton, Sam Tripoli, Sharief Johnson, Tony Woods and many more. She is an advocate of Comedians Who Care and produces Lex Laughs Enlisted- a comedy showcase that supports local veterans and their families.
Dannielle currently spits her time between her home in Kentucky and New York, as well as being on the road. To keep up with her antics and causes, follow Dannielle on Instagram at @DannielleWornallComic. She might make you question your life choices, but at least you’ll be laughing..
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
This past summer, I was only maybe 40 or so days into the streak. I was in New York, living in Harlem, and I went to bed with some pretty bad back pain. Well pretty bad back pain turned into unbearable back pain. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the emergency room.
They asked me all sorts of questions on the initial intake, including questions around my activities. I was doing some dog walking in the morning, and some open mics then a show at night. Nothing crazy.
Turns out I had a really bad kidney infection and a kidney stone. They called my back pain, flank pain. I had to get two rounds of IV antibiotics, and IV fluids, was dehydrated from the infection. They also gave me some non-opioid pain meds. I needed to keep my mind clear.
After several hours in the hospital on that Saturday, I was released about an hour before I had to go perform in a show that night. I made it to the show and the streak continued. You can’t phone it in on stage either, the crowd will know. You have to leave anything at the door that is going on physically or mentally.
Pushing through when I was that ill, was great for me though. That happening that early on showed me that even when I get a curve ball, I can make it work. I can show up, and leave it at the door and make people laugh, I can also find a way to make it work for the streak.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The first way society can support is by coming to shows. We need and love you all! Stand-Up Comedy is meant to be experienced live. It is our job to make you laugh, but it is also our job to connect with you.
Stand-Up isn’t the same as a play, or a tv series. We don’t have a script in that way. Every show, every performance is unique because we are also responding to you. It is great to watch reels and specials of comedians, but that is just the record of the performance for that crowd in that moment. It is truly meant to be experienced live. So please come to shows.
One thing that does get looked at a lot for our bookings though, is followers. Clubs Bookers and Show Producers look at followers on Instagram and other social media as an indicator to your experience level and the number of people who connect and resonate with your material. For them, this equals ticket sales, and in many cases that is true. I just started an Instagram last year, so I am behind the times. But it doesn’t cost anything to follow, like, comment on, and share clips, show flyers or photos of comedians you like. This leads to us getting more paid work. In an area of social media, the value of you supporting digitally can not be understated.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://DWcomedy.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danniellewornallcomic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@danniellewornallcomic
- Other: https://linktr.ee/danniellewornallcomic?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=de092766-12c2-4737-b300-3c2f2fb9179d
Image Credits
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