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

Alright, Isabella thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

April 5th Comedy show at The Virgil- Women of Industry Present: The Next Big Things. 7:30pm.

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 started to get into standup because I was in the middle of Advanced Groundlings and I was told to “be more selfish on stage.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, really. And then, I kind of had this epiphany at the time: I was reading books by only female comedians, only watching/interested in women doing standup and was like “Wow, maybe I actually should do this” and took my 10 years of improv background solo on stage. Which was kind of horrifying. It’s way more comfortable to fail with people than alone… that could be said about s*x too. So I took Pretty Funny Women, a standup class hosted by Lisa Sunstedt which helps you learn how to write standup and also develop a point of view. I started in 2018 and really haven’t looked back. Well my skin was breaking out really bad in 2020 and I was too insecure and then the pandemic kind of held me back, but we’re back baby!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think the particular goal with Co-Producing a show with a like-minded funny female Christina Wiseman, was to empower each other and also empower people we think are funny. That hard part about doing standup, and although I’m grateful to be put on shows, if they’re “bringer” shows you have to force your friends to come and if it’s a show you’ve never done before, you have no idea what the audience/other comedians are like. I’ve been in rooms where the comedians can be crass and almost bully my friends that paid to be there and call them a “whore” and that didn’t feel good to me, knowing that I subjected them to that. I’m not tender about comedy because I think it loses it’s expression and nuance if we get too soft with it, but there are just things that aren’t funny. I’m excited to be co-producing something that I’m proud of and make it the environment of almost a house party. Come, drink, laugh, play and uber home feeling better than before.

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

I think the lesson I had to unlearn is detaching from the expectation. I had a whole version of how moving to LA from Iowa was gonna look in my head and SPOILER ALERT: we’re not there yet! But, because things haven’t “happened yet” so much has happened in the meantime. I’ve grown as a person, I’ve tried new things and new avenues, I’ve tried jobs that weren’t meant for me. When we’re 14 we pick these careers for ourselves before ever being an adult, ever having to make real money to survive, ever having to feel how a career is kind of attached to your worth. And then new jobs, like “content creators” which didn’t exist when I was 14 are a thing now, and it’s something great and viable and potentially consistent to explore. I’m at a point of having to balance the two- to detach from a concept a literal child made for me. I think there’s romance and magic in staying attached but I also think there’s a business aspect that comes in and has to take control. And I guess to me, that’s helping produce a show, and making content that amuses me and casting myself in my everyday life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ticketscandy.com/e/christina-and-isabellas-comedy-show-4314
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabellajeantaylor/

Image Credits
Headshots: Stephanie Girard with Hair and Makeup by Samuel Oscar Creative Shots: Thomas Lynch directed by Sean Muniz