Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa McQueen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
I think the biggest thing my parents got right they actually did unintentionally, and that was to have zero career expectations for me. I have friends whose parents *heaped* pressure on them to succeed academically and professionally, and that can limit your thinking. My parents loved me, but there was no discussion at all about what my future had to look like. As a result, I was open to every possibility, so when I discovered comedy there was no hesitation or feeling like they might push back. I was able to dive into it with 100% commitment.
Another unintentional “gift” my parents gave me was their eccentricity. My dad had a rough upbringing on a Kansas farm – real *Grapes of Wrath* kind of shit – so though he was sweet in many ways, there was an unpolished aspect to his character. My mother had epilepsy, and her seizures had the bizarre side effect of making her take her clothes off no matter where she happened to be at the time. She unwittingly got naked in the dining room of the El Mexico restaurant, at the supermarket, at the bank – it was surreal, especially for me as a grade-schooler. An unconscious lesson this instilled was a lack of pretense. I would forever be okay getting silly on the stand-up stage or in the writer’s room.
It helped, too, that my dad genuinely found me to be funny. I could make him laugh so hard he would choke on his dinner, and that was empowering to me. I had always felt powerless as a kid; I couldn’t help with the bills, or my mom’s health, but to make my dad laugh gave me a feeling of competency. As a child there were very few ways I could impact the adult word, but I could connect with my dad through laughter. That encouragement changed my life.
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’m a professional comedy writer and have been working in the entertainment industry since I got out of college. While studying journalism at the University of Kansas, I had an internship at a local radio station writing news for their morning show. It was when they started letting me contribute jokes that I had my moment of clarity – from then on, joke ideas were all I was thinking about all day, every day.
As soon as I graduated, I moved to Los Angeles and started doing stand-up comedy. I also did a lot of sketch work on stage at The Groundlings, ACME Comedy Theater and on TV, including shows on TBS, Comedy Central, BET and numerous unaired pilots. After years of doing stand-up, I started working more behind the camera. I’ve written on a couple ad campaigns, numerous celebrity roast shows, and in 2018 I got hired full-time on the TV game show *Funny You Should Ask*. As of today, I have written on almost 300 episodes of television.
I make a real point of enjoying what I do. There is no shortage of bullshit to deal with in the entertainment industry, so it’s easy to slip into cynicism, but there are no more interesting people in the world than comedians, and working with and among them is a rare-air experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. You’d probably have to work at NASA or something to be around people who are so engaging. I love it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
There is a desperation people in showbusiness often have that writer Seth Godin calls “the tyranny of being picked.” In other words, creative people wait to be chosen by a producer or a casting director in order to practice their craft. But what do I do if they say no? Do I just quit being creative because one person doesn’t see my talent, or do I strike my own path and work outside the system? Getting picked is great, but in between, I always keep my feet moving with my own projects. Sometimes it will be smaller things like stand-up comedy or Instagram sketches, and sometimes bigger things like an independent documentary my partners and I built from the ground up. If you wait around for someone to give you an opportunity, you might realize that day will never come. Sometimes you just need to be creative for creativity’s sake, and ironically, that leads to you being picked more often. Energy creates energy.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is doing right by my 12-year-old self. Would 7th grade Melissa approve? Would this job make her excited about her future? Hell yeah! The fact that I get to make a living writing jokes is nothing short of pure magic.
Contact Info:
- Website: MelissaMcQueen.com
- Instagram: melissamcqueencomedy