Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hayden Fredriksen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hayden, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve loved comedy since as far back as I can remember. I would be at school quoting Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy because my dad would have it on at night in the living room – I didn’t even know what the jokes meant I just knew how they said the words made my parents laugh. I’ve always found being funny – even when you’re not supposed to – to be such an effective tool for getting your point across or defusing a bad situation and I’ve always leaned into that. That “pop” and release feeling that a laugh can give in a tense situation is such a unique feeling and being able to do that for people but as a job really intrigued me. I remember wanting to try standup a while back but I just kept bringing it up and not doing anything about it until one night my friends who owned a brewery had an afterparty once it closed, set up a mic, and threw me up there and told me to do standup. I am forever grateful no one has video evidence of that night. I tried my first open mic not long after and that’s when I was hooked. Looking back now I don’t know why I was so excited because that set was awful. I mean awful awful. I wore skinny jeans and Timb boots and tried to do a fat joke about myself, it was a mess. I still cringe thinking about it. When I get a little too big for my britches I put that on and let myself get humbled real quick. Things are good though.

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.

I got into comedy for the merch, mostly. I’m kidding. I’m Hayden Fredriksen, I’m a comic out of the Midwest on the road pretty regularly. Selfishly, I got into comedy because it feels good to make other people feel good. More importantly, I got into comedy because I can’t play an instrument or sing. I think like most straight white dudes I had big “class clown” energy but I often found that it was never at anyone’s expense like it usually is, I just wanted everyone to have a good time.

When I first started doing comedy I think I probably veered away from that and thought I had to be gross or edgy or whatever to get laughs, but I realized I like talking way more about being lowkey anxious as hell. Not only is it funnier, but it’s true. Almost everyone has these little tiny insecurities and thoughts or things they don’t like about themselves and I think it’s so fun and freeing to just turn that into something funny and say it out loud. I’m not recommending everyone go in public and be like “I cum fast!” but I subscribe to the thought that “whatever you’re okay with about yourself is another thing people can’t use against you” and that’s the basis of my act at this point. I think its funny too because certain areas are more comfortable with themselves than others, I do a lot of up north bars, and let me tell you they do not enjoy a dude comfortable enough to admit he doesn’t know how to use power tools. I think there’s something funny about a 6’2, 270 pound cowardly lion on stage admitting it.

I think my act has alot about me in it, but I try to convey it in a way where people can be like “YES! Finally someone knows what I’m talking about” because that’s always been my favorite type of comedy. I do think a good joke wins 10/10 times though, so I’ll always try to just write jokes.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think my favorite misunderstanding with comedy is when people just assume you can perform on any show you want. My dad will often call me when he sees my website and say “that’s too small of a venue, why don’t you go do this theatre” oh sure Dad let me just call Mr. Show Business up and make it happen.

For better or worse I think there are steps you have to take to get to the good stuff. As crappy as they can be, sometimes you’ve gotta do a year straight of bar shows with 11 people for just 1 really nice club or theatre spot. It’s all about staying in the race because eventually the scales will tip and you’re doing 20 good spots for every 1 bar show with 11 people. I think people just assume you can turn a key and “release an album” or make yourself headliner and that’s just not the case.

Bonus – I don’t think the average person realizes how many crazy people attempt comedy every week. I have met some of the most unhinged people i’ve ever seen in my entire life in the past 3 years at open mics, bookers, you name it. You really learn how to deal with people, or not deal with people, just by existing in a facebook comedy scene.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think it’s every comics/artist’s dream whether they admit it or not to be able to make a living solely on their work. Waking up and knowing your only job is to do your favorite thing and do it well is such an enticing thought. No more spreadsheets or budgets, or even if there are, they are yours. I think that having small missions helps too though, like “I want to do an hour on stage and not feel panicked about it” or “I want to headline or work X club or Y club”. Every year I do a stupid bulletin board where I lay out what i’d like to do for the year, and I think that alone helps me not just get bogged down with not being “full time”. You’d be surprised how much can happen in one year.

Contact Info:

• Website: haydenfcomedy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haydenfcomedy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haydenfcomedy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@haydenfcomedy