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

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

How did you learn to do what you do?:

As a Stand-up Comedian, the only way to learn how to perform stand-up comedy is to get on a stage and speak into the mic. That’s it.

It’s the same for performing Drag: you need to find a stage and just do it.

As an Artist, we already have an idea of what we’re going to do when we’re about to walk on to the stage and perform. We have a visual of what’s going to happen, and that’s part of our craft, but not all of it. The true craft comes in when there’s that moment of silence between a joke, a bit, a song, whatever medium it is, there will always be a moment for the artist to choose how they want to treat the moment of silence: will they give the audience a window into their performer’s personality and react to the silence? Will we feed into the silence and respond to how the audience reacts? It’s truly a raw moment that you never realize is going to happen… until it does. Those moments, when for a millisecond the performer veil drops, it’s that moment where you define your craft. I’ve been performing for over a decade now, and the only way my craft is as fine-tuned as it is, is because I’ve had so many authentic experiences with my audiences, that I’ve come to realize that the performance is not just about the bit, the jokes, the outfit, the sparkles, but those moments that I get to connect with my audience in those moments of silence. Craft is not just the material, but the overall experience. You can certainly learn the fundamentals of learning the craft by going to an educational institution that will train you, however, the only way you can create your own craft, is by doing something so much, your body and mind gives itself away to your art and allows the audience to not judge your performance, but by immersing themselves with you in your performance.

For me, the only way I learned my craft is by performing so much, that I don’t even give my material a second thought when I’m on my stage, it just has to flow naturally at that point. It’s the same for a dancer: they have to learn the choreography over, and over, and over again not just for the sake of knowing the dance, but for their moves to line up just right with the music’s tempo. And what happens when the music cuts out during a performance? The dancer keeps going. That’s how it is for me with Stand Up Comedy & Drag: even when there’s silence, the audience will still know I’m still dialed in to my performance. I trained at acting workshops, went to the summer acting camps, went to an prestigious acting school in NYC, I’ve done all the training, but the way I learned how to be a performer and actually own it, is to perform as much as I can, in front of various audiences with different demographics, cities with different political views, it all molds and exercises my crafting muscle.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?:
I previously mentioned that I received training for acting, dancing, etc., including going to an acting conservatory in NYC for acting. What could I have done to speed up my learning process? Taken class more seriously, but, being someone from Thornton, Colorado living in NYC, 18 years old, weed and the night life definitely distracted me. Big shrug, but, I had a lot of fun.

What skills do you think were most essential?:
Honestly, learning to listen to my breathing prior & during a performance helped me ground myself more as a performer. If you’re breathing fast, you’re rushing, and when you’re rushing, you’re not thinking of what the audience is hearing, and that’s not how the gig should go.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
The greatest advice I received from an acting instructor, was that it’s completely pointless to compare yourself to anyone else as an artist. Sure, you can be another pretty brunette in the casting room, but does the pretty brunette next to you know how to raise 10 Successful Generations of a Sims Legacy like you do? No, I didn’t think so.

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.

My name is Sarah Sawchuk, and I’m a Comedian, Drag King (“King Coach”!) and Twitch Streamer in Denver, Colorado.

I’ve been performing across the country for nearly a decade now, and nothing brings me more joy than to have an audience member come up to me after a show, and say, “I relate to you so much!” My material can be described as a millennial grieving their millennial woes, but as a Pansexual, Queer Artist, my number one priority is creating a safe space for my audience and giving them a reason for their woes to melt away for the night.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

With my creative journey, my main goal is to inspire those who have always been afraid to raise their hands in class in fear that people will judge their voice to raise their hand a little higher, to inspire anyone who thinks they’re too weird to pursue their creative journeys that we actually need their artistic minds more than ever.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist, is to be that an audience member’s relief from the world, for that night. If I can be someone’s reason to laugh after not being able to laugh for months because of whatever is going on in their life, my heart’s fulfilled.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingsarahs_/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kingsarahs
• Other: Twitch:
  https://www.twitch.tv/kingsarahs

Image Credits

Feature Photo & Wooden Wall Backdrop w/ Sarah & Mic: Photographer Nick Holmby