We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Max Walter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Max, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

As a comedian, one of the most sought-after bookings is a five-minute spot on a late night talk show. After months of persistent emailing, sending tapes, and stating my case, I was given the opportunity to travel to New York City to audition for a spot on Late Night with Seth Meyers. A talent booker came to see me at Caroline’s on Broadway, where I performed an eight-minute set and, much to my relief, “killed” (comedy term for “did well”).

After the show I was sure I had just secured a way to deliver my act on a national stage. I was so wired and excited that I did not sleep for one second, instead lying in my friend’s bed playing the set and its response over and over in my head before leaving early for the airport. I had surely just accelerated my career towards new heights! After a week of desperately waiting to hear from the booker, I finally received an encouraging email expressing his satisfaction with my performance and I was certain that a booking was on the horizon.

Alas, I left out a critical detail of my audition: its date. I went up at Caroline’s on February 18th, 2020. COVID-19 officially came to the United States in early March of 2020, and we all know what happened next. All shows shut down and hopes of my booking were put on an indefinite hold. Since then, I have been in sporadic content with the new talent booker, but I have not been invited to perform on the show.

While this wasn’t a failure in the traditional sense, it was a major letdown and I do consider it a failure on my part that despite the great opportunity, I have not yet capitalized. The pandemic is a sensible and easy excuse, but it is a momentum setback from which I feel as if I have not fully recovered, and that is where I feel I have failed.

Max, 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?

I knew from a young age that I had the ability to make others laugh while performing, and that knowledge was validated during my time in high school theater and a college sketch comedy group. I moved to Chicago after college to pursue standup comedy as a springboard into the world of comedy at-large. I spent years grinding at open mics and local showcases before getting passed at Zanies. I have featured at Zanies numerous times and headlining it in 2022 is probably my proudest moment in comedy.

I think I approach my joke-writing and delivery in an idiosyncratic yet accessible manner that is truly unique in the world of standup. I want people to be fully engrossed in my act and leave the club thinking that they just saw an approach to comedy they’ve never seen before and will never see again (unless they come to another show of mine!)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Earlier this year I came to the realization that despite the success I have achieved in comedy, there’s a distinct possibility that it will never be my full-time income source. I have had to come to peace with this while still maintaining my ambition in the field and simultaneously looking for more of a reliable career, which I have found in teaching. It’s not easy to swallow your pride and admit your perceived shortcomings, but I also didn’t want to put myself in a situation where a lack of income or the lack of a steady career was compounding my frustration with my comedy aspirations.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Writing and performing comedy requires a great deal of vulnerability, and to have a crowd of people laugh at what you innately thought was funny and crafted into a presentable joke rewards whatever part of you it is that found that humor while also connecting you to a community as we all laugh at truths of the human experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: maxwaltermax.com
• Instagram: @maxwaltermax