portfolio: Interview with Comedian Emma Willmann(2015)

Written by Gary Miller, originally published at BestComedyTickets.com on Dec 1, 2015 Sometimes comedy comes from pain. For comedian Emma Willmann, it came from divorce specifically, her parents' divorce and the sweet relief of cable TV at her dad’s place.

Emma Wilmann

“My parents got divorced and I would watch TV at my dad’s place because he was the cool parent that had cable. I’d watch some comedy. I loved Bruce Bruce.”

Cable comedy became a comfort, and so began a life-long love for laughter. Emma grew up watching a wide variety of comics, she cites Brian Regan, Katt Williams, Cedric the Entertainer, Wanda Sykes, and Jerry Seinfeld as some of her favorites.

“I love Seinfeld. And I love urban comedy.”

From Small Town to Rising Star

In a relatively short time, Emma has built a stacked comedy resume:

• Just For Laughs (Montreal)

• The Glasgow International Comedy Festival

• SiriusXM South Beach Comedy Festival

• New York Comedy Festival

She’s also been:

• Named one of the “10 Funniest Comics in NYC” by Carolines

• Featured in TimeOutNY’s “10 Funniest Women in NYC”

• Included in GO Magazine’s “100 Women We Love”

But success didn’t come easy and Emma doesn’t pretend it did.

“I had a crazy stepmom. Growing up overweight is hard enough, and then add in being in the closet... Dealing with failure can be just as bad as stand-up. You have to be comfortable being an outsider of society at times.”

Making It Personal

Emma’s comedy tends to draw from her own life rather than staying observational.

“I admire people who can do observational humor. It’s incredible to me. I can’t offer the best observational jokes. A lot of my material is about my family. I try not to get too into gay material—mostly for the sake of relating to people. I got told once I looked ‘too gay.’ I try to overcome that by finding a way to connect. People can understand feelings of isolation and love, but not necessarily gender to gender.”

Comedy Wasn't the Plan

Believe it or not, Emma didn’t set out to be a comedian. She actually wanted to be an inventor.

“I had this product called Stop the Scuff—something to stop scuff marks. Everyone was asking me how it was going. When it didn’t work out, I was devastated.”

Then one night at a party, someone was doing stand-up.

“I thought it looked fun. I went to an open mic, got drunk, and it went great. The next ones... not as much.” (laughs)

From there, Emma started hitting the Boston comedy scene hard before eventually making the move to New York.

Just For Laughs and Letting Go

She auditioned for Just for Laughs once and didn’t get in. After a brief hiatus, she came back with a different attitude.

“The first time I looked at it like my big shot. It was a ton of pressure. The next time I didn’t look at it as a big deal, and that relieved the stress. A lot of comics look for the big break. It helps to think: nothing is everything, and everything is nothing.”

She landed the festival—and her rise has been non-stop ever since.

Laundry Rooms & Carly Confusion

With gigs across the country, Emma has picked up some strange stories along the way:

“I performed at a college in Pittsburgh and couldn’t find the building. They told me to go to ‘the building with bricks and vines.’ All the buildings had bricks and vines.”

“I did a show in a laundry room. They said no one would be doing laundry during the performance... they were. Some kids came down to do laundry and ended up staying to watch comedy. That was pretty funny.”

“One time I got introduced as Carly from Girl Code. I had toured with Carly, and they got us mixed up. The crowd was cheering and excited... until I got onstage and they were like, 'You're not Carly.'”

Beyond Stand-Up

Emma’s credits extend to web series, Lifetime, Oxygen, and projects like Dog Days and 2 Girls 1 Show. With a Master’s in Media Studies, she’s also building her acting chops.

“At first I was just playing myself. My first acting gig was a reenactment where they’d tell you exactly what to do—‘Be sad, now be mad.’ Later, you have to differentiate emotions on your own.”

That experience has helped her stand-up, especially when she’s not feeling it.

“You learn that when you're depressed, you still have to figure out how to perform. Sometimes you hate everything... but you’ve got to keep grinding.”

Emma Willmann is proof that resilience, originality, and real vulnerability can lead to something hilarious and meaningful. She didn’t take the traditional path and she’s all the better for it.

Follow her journey, watch her sets, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll catch her next show in a laundry room near you.