We were lucky to catch up with Julia Germeroth recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

“The greater the risk, the greater the reward”. I read that from a fortune cookie once, but I’m almost positive someone wiser and more famous said it first. Pursuing art is a risk within itself, and taking risks within your art pushes you to become the artist you strive to be. Some of the riskiest choices I’ve made as an artist opened doors both professionally and personally for me. As a comedian, it was a risk to step on stage performing stand up for the first time. Did I bomb? No. Did I kill it? No. But the fear of the unknown was gone. Because now I knew. And when you know better, you do better. The confidence of taking a risk gave me confidence within myself, within my art. This led me to taking bigger chances with jokes, riskier topics to tackle. Or with directing, such as “Monster In the Closet” . I was approached with a script about a woman, a monster, and a puppet, with themes of manipulation and grooming. Risky combination. But I really believe in the ability to tell difficult stories through laughter and levity. It makes almost all subject matter more approachable to examine. We took the risk to talk about a difficult subject, such as grooming, with comedy. With laughter, people let their guards down and are able to examine what makes them uncomfortable. And the risk paid off.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I received my BFA in Acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts: Theatre Conservatory. Once graduated, I dove into the comedy sketch world, graduating the Second City Conservatory program and started performing sketch and improv comedy all over the city. I was also an Artistic Associate for a theatre company in Chicago, acting and directing in new works and blackbox theatre. In Chicago, I learned the hard-work of creating your own work, and the collaboration of all artists that help you along the way.

In 2020 after the world stopped, I packed up and moved to LA. With the same “make-it-yourself” mentality, I thrive in directing comedies with a bite, and bringing more theatre to film city. I currently am apart of Back Pocket Comedy, where we write/perform/produce a monthly comedy show. Performing stand up around the city, including The Comedy Store, Comedy Chateau, and The Ha Ha Comedy Club, talking about the importance of Shrek and the horrors of a woman when the battery dies.

The collaboration of artists is the core to the best work. I want a nice, big, round table with a seat for everyone around it. I believe in tackling difficult subjects through comedy, laughing at our problems to make them smaller, to make them solvable. And if anything, just bring a little laughter to your day.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

You hold the power. Starting out in this industry, there’s a lot of rejection. Not the right look, not enough credits, not enough recognition. All things out of your control, but it doesn’t feel that way at first. I put my validation as an artist into someone else’s hands. That they were the ones that could make me an actor, make me a comedian, make me a director. But it’s simply not true. You are and have always been an artist. You are the solution that fixes their problem. They’ve been waiting for exactly you. And all you do in the meantime is continue being you. Continue making work. Write the script. Step on the stage. Make a movie with your friends. Success is what you define it as, and that’s the most powerful thing. You hold the power.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Find your people. In every city there are people wanting to make something. For me, it was going to open mics, taking improv classes, joining writing groups and actor studios. If you put yourself in the right place, you’ll meet the right people. Your community is your biggest resource. Don’t be afraid. Also, as someone who never took a writing class, Final Draft is amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juliagermeroth.com
• Instagram: @swampy_gurl