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Serious Lady Business is the podcast where we dive into the serious—and sometimes not-so-serious—realities of being a female business owner. Host Leslie Youngblood keeps it real about entrepreneurship as we dive into the hard lessons no one warns you about to the surprising wins that make it all worth it. Tune in for honest conversations, unfiltered insights, and stories that prove you’re not in this alone.
LESLIE YOUNGBLOOD (00:01)
Hey there, I'm Leslie Youngblood and this is Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a business as a woman today. From late night Google searches and client curveballs to the wins that make it all worth it, I'm talking about the stuff no one puts in the highlight reel. Each week, I'm bringing you honest conversations, lessons learned and stories from women who are out here doing the work. Messy, meaningful and unapologetically bold.
Whether you're just dreaming about starting a business or deep in the grind, this podcast is your space to feel seen, supported, and fired up. Because let's be honest, this journey is hard, hilarious, and absolutely worth it. So let's dive in.
Leslie Youngblood (00:45)
Welcome to Serious Lady Business. I'm Leslie Youngblood, your host, feminist and founder of Youngblood MMC, a marketing media and content agency. Today we are joined by Lynn Harris. Lynn is a multi award winning journalist, author, culture change strategist, performer and founder of Gold Comedy. Gold is the comedy school, professional network and content studio where women, non-binary creators and other others build comedy careers and creative side hustles.
join a powerful community and make funny stuff that gets seen on all kinds of stages and screens. Lynn, welcome to Serious Lady Business.
Lynn Harris (01:22)
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Leslie Youngblood (01:24)
thank you for joining us. I cannot wait to dive into this conversation about power, permission, and taking up space in comedy. We spoke previously, and you said that women shouldn't even be called female comedians. Why does that language matter, Yeah, big, big one to start.
Lynn Harris (01:37)
Yes.
I mean, if it's necessary for some reason, know, sure. I don't know why it would be necessary, sure. But typically, and I know not everyone differentiates women comedians with any malice. sometimes you need to say these are some women comedians. I get it.
Leslie Youngblood (01:43)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (01:58)
the problem is that there are persistent assumptions, baked into attaching gender to a comic. until we kind of explode those, because no one ever calls male comics, male comics.
Leslie Youngblood (02:14)
Should we? Should we start doing that?
Lynn Harris (02:16)
Maybe,
maybe. mean, if there's a reason to, sure. Like if you need to describe a thing, like in some literal way, sure. But the reason that I bristle at female comics or women comics is when you're not being careful, what you're doing is supporting the norm of that comics are men and women comics are another kind of comic.
Leslie Youngblood (02:19)
I mean.
Mmm.
Right.
Lynn Harris (02:39)
And again, like I'm not saying that anyone, I'm not like policing individual speech. I'm just saying that that's what we're invoking is that persistent norm. And so I just would like to live in a world where, if it's necessary to describe a comedian's gender, sure, For example, if you're trying to make sure that your lineup has an even number or.
Leslie Youngblood (02:46)
Brownian.
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (03:01)
maybe even a majority of women comics versus men. Sure, you can use it then. So I'm not saying you can't use the term. I'm just saying that we still live in a world where comics means men I asked AI to make me an illustration of a standup comic and it immediately drew a white dude. Right.
Leslie Youngblood (03:05)
Yeah.
Of course. Of course.
Lynn Harris (03:21)
So it's just because I want to live in a world where as funny as this sounds, it's no longer interesting that we're women. Like it still makes us sound like a novelty act, even though we certainly are not. It makes us sound like we are the women's auxiliary to the real comics.
Leslie Youngblood (03:28)
Yeah.
I'm
Right.
Lynn Harris (03:38)
And
that's what I'm pushing up. I'm not pushing up against, pushing back against people's individual use of gender to define a comic. I'm pushing back against the persistent norms that make women secondary, lesser than, and other in the world of comedy.
Leslie Youngblood (03:54)
Yes, I totally agree. Right.
Lynn Harris (03:55)
as successful as so many of us are. mean, that, you know,
so I'm sure people, know, whenever I say that, I hear people saying in their head, what about all the famous lady comics? And like, of course, things are so much better than they were even in the nineties when I did stand up. but we are grownups, so we can handle two conflicting truths at once. And those two conflicting truths are, yes, things are
universes better than they were even just in the 90s for comparison. And at the same time, you would be amazed to find out exactly how many things that need to change have not. still hear in 2026 women and here is an appropriate use of women comics women complaining that they are the only woman on an entire lineup. Which is I mean, if you do like there are so many of us now
Leslie Youngblood (04:37)
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (04:40)
I'm sorry if you say, but nobody asked or, we didn't have any requests. Well, first of all, they're not coming to you because they think all your lineups are all men and they're not interested so they're not coming to you because they think you're not interested in them. So whose problem, you who needs to fix that? Number one. Number two, if then you're not looking. We're right here.
Leslie Youngblood (04:51)
right?
Right. Right.
Lynn Harris (04:59)
right here. I could spend the whole podcast listing women comics by name. so they're not trying hard enough. And this is a problem not just in comedy, obviously, but in so many industries, We all know about all male panels and stuff like that. in any case, I think I made my point.
Leslie Youngblood (05:11)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (05:18)
⁓ That's why I just want to live in a world where, of course, if it's relevant to describe our gender the way it's relevant to describe our style or whatever it is in terms of creating diversity. Sure, of course you can, but I want to live in a world where it doesn't matter. There's no assumption made about the quality or type.
of our comedy based on our gender and there's no assumption made about how we should be paid based on our gender and there's no assumption about how funny we are or how successful we should be based on our gender. And that's the world I want to live in.
Leslie Youngblood (05:46)
Right, yeah.
Yeah, and I think that this initial, this topic in general, that what we're talking about, but comedy too, it seems so light and fun, but it's truly a cultural power force for all these things that you were just talking about, as well as things that you can talk about as a comedian. So I'd love for you to kind of unpack your perspective on that too, Lynn.
Lynn Harris (06:07)
Sure.
Great. So everything I was saying before matters as it would in any industry because comedy is a job and women are people. But it also matters because comedy, as you just said, comedy is a cultural force. And so it matters who makes it.
Leslie Youngblood (06:22)
Right.
Lynn Harris (06:22)
And what do I mean by cultural force? I
mean that, and it's not the only cultural force, but pop culture in general, including comedy, and perhaps in some ways, especially comedy, does so much work. It does so much work that we don't always feel because it's fun, Which is kind of why it works. ⁓ Work to enshrine new norms or push forward new norms in terms of like,
Leslie Youngblood (06:38)
Yes!
Lynn Harris (06:46)
Who do you picture when you picture an American family? Well, we just saw when they rebooted One Day at a Time, it was a family of immigrants, you know? And that was part of the point. That's why they rebooted it that way, to take the normiest American sitcom, and one thing about it, or a few things about it, and all of a sudden we have a new norm. that's an American family. Mm-mm.
Leslie Youngblood (06:55)
Mmm. ⁓
Right.
Okay.
Lynn Harris (07:07)
but the same is true whether the comedy that you do could be standup, could be a TV show, could be sketch, whether or not it actively kind of addresses a social issue, it might, it might not. It might be that you are just a person who is not a straight white dude on stage telling jokes. ⁓
Leslie Youngblood (07:23)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (07:24)
Even then, the social contract that people enter into with you is that they paid money and they listened to you.
Leslie Youngblood (07:31)
Right, yeah, 100%.
Lynn Harris (07:33)
So even if you're just talking
about your dumb job and your weird family, just like everybody else and not talking about social issues, if you're a person of color, if you're queer, if you're someone who is not typically automatically listened to, it's pretty major that in the comedy space you are. And that's transformative. one comic at a time, one joke at a time as they like to say. So it really matters who's seen as a creator and someone you should listen to. then for that reason,
Leslie Youngblood (07:47)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (08:00)
and it also matters who has power, who's making the decisions about who gets to be seen, who gets to be heard.
Leslie Youngblood (08:01)
Mmm. Mmm.
Definitely. even in talking about cultural impact and this power force, just look at dictatorships across the world. What's the first thing that they take away when they get into power is comedies and critics because comedy has the ability to really point out the egregious things in a way that people can understand and see. And you think of Saturday Night Live during the Palin era and how it torpedoed a lot of that campaign.
Lynn Harris (08:33)
Pretty, yeah,
yeah.
Leslie Youngblood (08:34)
because
it's just poking fun and getting through to people in a totally different way. What is more fun than laughing with a group of people and getting it and relating to each other from that way and it just builds and builds. And so, like you said, it's like such a force for, as a cultural touchstone and for change and for bringing things to light. which is a...
a really amazing dichotomy because it's fun, it's comedy, haha, but it's like, no, this has power to it. And I love, love that. That is a thing. And that's what you cultivate to at Gold Comedy. That's so cool. I love that. And you said, you get on stage, there's this social contract that somebody gets on that you have to listen to them. I mean, you can leave, but you are, you have this, okay, we're going to listen to this person on this stage. Why is that, that dynamic so powerful for women, especially Lynn?
Lynn Harris (09:05)
Yeah. Yeah, it is. Thanks.
Since when do we get to talk for eight minutes without being interrupted?
Leslie Youngblood (09:25)
know right now maybe but this most podcast no audience
Lynn Harris (09:27)
Now, like, you know,
in a, you know, mixed public venue. mean, it's just, I don't mean to, I'm making it into a lot, but it is. It is. It just is. So it really can shift little by little the people sense of.
Leslie Youngblood (09:33)
Thank
It is. It's huge. Huge.
Lynn Harris (09:48)
people's like experience of and honestly like practice like they're getting their reps in of listening to women. And it's a real easy and fun way to do it. And so that's I you know, one of the things I go around saying is, when you make people laugh, you make people listen. So by by by supporting the visibility and success of women in comedy careers, we're helping helping build a world that listens to women.
Leslie Youngblood (10:11)
Mm, I love that. When you make someone laugh, you make them listen. I love that quote. Put it on the pillows and the posters and all the things. think that...
Lynn Harris (10:17)
The needle point and
the bumper sticker and the...
Leslie Youngblood (10:21)
Yeah, all
the things, all the things. happens? Tell us more about what happens psychologically when we see women commanding that silence and attention, because the audience has that contract too from their perspective. But as the woman up there that's commanding that silence and attention, tell us too about that
Lynn Harris (10:39)
I mean, it tells us the way things should be, right?
But people talk about how it builds confidence and all those things, which it does. Like, let's just say like table stakes. It does. Sure. Sure. The practice of, getting up in front of people and talking and having them listen and doing it over and over again and honing and feeling more and more comfortable. Like, of course it does. But I I'm going to go a step farther. And that's great. No shade. No shame. That's great. But I'm to go a step farther and say, would people still just please stop talking about building women's confidence? Because
Leslie Youngblood (11:08)
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (11:09)
We are not those saboteurs of our confidence. We are not. It is not our problem alone to fix. We lack, we feel unconfident sometimes because we walk around in spaces that were not built for us. We don't feel like we fit. That's what they call call it imposter syndrome, but we feel, we don't feel like we fit because that space was not built for us.
Leslie Youngblood (11:12)
Mmm. ⁓
Mm-hmm.
I just got goosebumps. That's so true. So true.
Lynn Harris (11:36)
Right? Can
people please stop, I know people mean well when they say this, but I'm just gonna be real here when people, even talk about gold. And again, I know they mean well. I know they mean well and their language is coming from the same place that I'm kind of complaining about and they don't mean it, but.
when people say ⁓ your work must be so empowering and you must give women so much confidence. And basically I'm saying I can't instill confidence with an eyedropper and empowerment is like my least favorite word because where we get our power is when other people back up.
Leslie Youngblood (12:06)
Mmm... Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (12:08)
We can't just have it. We can, we do have it. We, we, I mean, we have it. I mean, what I mean, we can't just generate it. we have it. We have it. It's just being talked down and overshadowed and, and, and, and, and interrupted by.
Leslie Youngblood (12:10)
Right, right. Wouldn't that be nice? It's just, yeah, that's true. Mm-hmm, we do. We do.
Yes. It's innate. Yes.
Lynn Harris (12:27)
Patriarchy, know, by systems that aren't built to listen to us or step back or be quiet when we have something to say, whether it's a joke or a speech or anything. ⁓ but to go back to your question, I do think that there is something because we don't often have that experience of being on stage, commanding the stage, landing the punch, all those things that come and I'm specifically
Leslie Youngblood (12:28)
I'm done.
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (12:51)
talking about stand up, but also as a metaphor, because there are many other ways that women do comedy. When you have that experience, it's a reminder of how things should be and could be. of course you're building confidence, yes, yes, yes, we said that, but it's actually just right. And this feels great, you know? This feels great. That's why one of the reasons that getting a laugh feels so good, you know?
Leslie Youngblood (13:06)
Yes! Right! Mmm!
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (13:13)
I mean, we love to get laughs. We love it. It's the best, right? Of course, that's why we do this. But it's because all these people were listening and came along with you around the bend of your joke.
Leslie Youngblood (13:23)
Yeah, yeah, it was a journey. It wasn't just a line. It was what it took and all the everything leading up to that joke.
Lynn Harris (13:25)
It was great!
Leslie Youngblood (13:31)
man, and I've never thought about imposter syndrome before from that perspective of like, well, duh, of course, not going to walk into a boardroom sometimes. I mean, some women do and think I belong here because that boardroom concept was created by men who created this work structure and other things. It's like, oh my God, duh. No wonder that doesn't feel right. Even the most confident person with all the clarity in the world may feel like, why do I feel weird about this? Because it wasn't built. These spaces weren't built. But when these we specific
build spaces by women for women again or with the inclusive mindset of including everybody it feels better from the get-go that's amazing I think that's so so important.
Lynn Harris (14:10)
Right, and it's not a zero sum game, but it kind of is.
mean, we get more confidence when people give us space, And we get more power when people give us space. They're not empowering us. mean, sorry, but they're sort of depowering themselves. But at the end of the day, they don't really suffer. Let's take the example of...
Leslie Youngblood (14:29)
right?
Lynn Harris (14:32)
This is sort of a simplistic example, Let's say that there's a bunch of very funny white dude comics all in a lineup. Whole bunch of white dudes. it happens all the time. they're all very funny and whatever, but it's a whole bunch of white dudes. And then there's one woman of color. Again, this happens. when you see that show, no matter how,
Leslie Youngblood (14:44)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (14:48)
how much attention you're paying and no matter how talented all the comedians are, the white dudes are gonna blur together. You're gonna leave and be like, yeah, I like that white dude. What was his name? Dave, Josh, you know? Right, and it's not their fault either, But if you're on it, if you go to a really diverse show, each person, even the white dude who was talking about white dude things is all of a sudden gonna seem just as original as the others. ⁓ And so...
Leslie Youngblood (14:55)
you
See you, Chris.
out. Sure.
Lynn Harris (15:15)
And so the other guys can be on another show. they didn't lose anything, spread it out. So it's not necessarily a zero sum game that handing you some of your space over to someone else means you have fully irretrievably lost a piece of your power. It just means you pick it up somewhere else.
Leslie Youngblood (15:30)
Right.
Right. like you said, there's enough for everybody. There's enough power. There's enough spare time. There's lineup for everybody. it's not giving something up. You're not losing anything by creating diverse spaces or wanting to be involved in that.
Lynn Harris (15:37)
There's enough airtime. airtime.
Leslie Youngblood (15:46)
You'll stand out more because you're with others who are not like you. You will be more memorable. And in a space where whether you're trying to become a comic or a business person, you need to stand out more than ever we're in a constant barrage of information and content constantly. So how are you going to stand out? And it just seems like it makes perfect sense I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people for some crazy reason, which is why we're still,
hitting up some of, against some of the barriers and the things that we're seeing today. it's just so.
fascinating and I hope everybody listening takes away that piece of the imposter syndrome and also that it's not that zero-sum game to keep that in mind and and also too whether you're looking to make a career pivot or whether you're looking to get into comedy specifically it doesn't matter what age you are too right because you may think oh everybody's young young dudes or these young people I'm a stay-at-home mom or I'm retired and I've always wanted to do this but at gold and in your experience Lynn you see a lot of women
Lynn Harris (16:35)
⁓ yeah.
Leslie Youngblood (16:46)
in midlife finally saying, fuck it, I'm doing this. Why do you think that is?
Lynn Harris (16:49)
⁓ Totally.
love this topic and I love this question because it's so true. if your image of someone in comedy, even a woman in comedy, is someone young, someone loud, someone who is whatever we call confident in quotes, we don't really know what that is because we're all just overcoming it all the if that's your image, that makes it really easy for you to not...
Leslie Youngblood (17:05)
I'm
Lynn Harris (17:10)
try comedy if you don't fit, right? And so this is why I love to answer this question because I know from ample experience that plenty of members of GOLD who are for sure in their 20s and 30s absolutely. So that's not wrong. But we do have so many members who start,
Leslie Youngblood (17:11)
writing.
Lynn Harris (17:29)
in their 40s and for sure on up because they, bunch of reasons, because simple one, empty nest. ⁓ Another is they're kind of secure enough in whatever their profession is that they're still doing it. They're not quitting their day jobs, but they're not sort of on the grind. So they have a little more time and head space. Another is that...
Leslie Youngblood (17:38)
And...
Right.
Lynn Harris (17:50)
Maybe with the pandemic, maybe not. They've just reached this age of being like, is this all there is? what am I waiting for?
⁓ I've got this idea for a TV show in my head that's been sitting there, rent free for decades. but I don't know anything about Hollywood. So what am I supposed to do with it? So I keep putting it off and it's in my notes app. And what am I doing here? why am I not doing this? And often in that case, they don't know how, which we help them figure out. Well, what do you do with an idea that you want to make into show film, web series, whatever it is, we can answer that. But it's those things. It's that kind
of like reaching that point of having the time, having the headspace, having the energy and just and the whole why not if not now when vibe.
Leslie Youngblood (18:30)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (18:31)
And we have
people who, have ⁓ a woman named Rocky who is in her young 50s. She's a grandmother. She also cares for her adult son who has special medical needs. And she started with us a couple of years ago. She was a retired high school art teacher. And she said, I know I'm funny. I just don't know how to write a joke. And... ⁓
Leslie Youngblood (18:51)
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (18:52)
She still has a lot of demands on her time, but she wasn't working full time anymore. And so we said, okay. And now she's hold the record for the number of times taking our standup bootcamp class, which is designed so you can take it over and over for the structure. And she lives in not a comedy city. She lives outside of Durham. And.
Leslie Youngblood (19:06)
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (19:13)
I mean, not a comedy city in terms of not Boston, Chicago, LA. All our stuff is online. I should say that. All our stuff is online. So, cut to, I finally met her this past fall because she took our solo show class and developed her standup into a 40 minute piece and was in a solo show festival in New York City. And now is developing that show two web series as a full-time, sketch writer for a sketch team in Durham. that's what she did.
Leslie Youngblood (19:16)
Sure.
Lynn Harris (19:37)
And she started at around, you know, 47, something like that.
Leslie Youngblood (19:42)
you.
Lynn Harris (19:42)
There's another member named Miriam whose kids are younger, but she's joined Gold now because I'm going to be an empty nester in five years. And I want to set up my next hustle and my next ⁓ passion project, et cetera, et cetera now. So that when I'm like rocking and rolling by the time I have all the time to myself. So.
Leslie Youngblood (19:53)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Yes!
Lynn Harris (20:02)
been there yet and she's doing it. and she's working, she's, she's working on stand up also. She just had her first paid gig. she runs a writer's room for us for sketch, comedy, she's off to the races. So yeah, there's, that's just two of them. have a million. I could spend the whole time. Yeah.
Leslie Youngblood (20:08)
Sweet!
That's so great. I would also, I'm sure, which
I love so much. And I would also argue, maybe this is my personal opinion, but.
when you are older and you've gone through life, you probably have better material or a more deeper well of material in life lessons to pull from all sorts of different things that people can relate to and that are hilarious. I mean, if it's life anything, but if not a hilarious joke, like in some semblance, right. And so I think we get caught up in the youth obsessed culture that we are in and think, I can't do that. But you are never too old to do it.
Lynn Harris (20:42)
Yep. Right.
Leslie Youngblood (20:51)
And so if you have this, this notes in your phone, which I know anybody listening and everybody I know probably does, that you can still pursue this. And I love too that GOLD provides these online courses. So like you said, you're not in a comedy city like LA or New York or Chicago. You still have these expert.
teachers and guides that can help you cultivate all those notes and what you have inside you, all those thoughts milling around your head into something that could become a paid opportunity for you if that's what you decided to pursue. I just think that is so cool and so amazing.
Lynn Harris (21:21)
Totally. Totally. Yeah, it's
a funny example of that life experience as material thing is we have the, I have this idea that how do I turn it into a show or whatever, you know, whatever it needs to be.
We have a class, we have a fancy class with the producer from Broad City Search Party, Insight English. Yeah. her name is Ryan Cunningham and she teaches a class that we call Develop and Pitch Any Idea.
Leslie Youngblood (21:41)
Yay!
Lynn Harris (21:49)
there are a lot of pitching classes for different industries. And really you could, you sort of start with those classes. You kind of dive in with like, okay, so here are your ideal 10 slides for your slick slide deck, which is fine if that's where you're at. But this class, you don't even get to think about your pitch deck until you have spent probably six or seven weeks developing your idea to the point that it is in your soul. It is in your veins. You are in love with it all over again.
Leslie Youngblood (22:00)
I'm not doing anything.
Lynn Harris (22:15)
everything about the characters, everything about the why now in a deep way, not just to get it on a canvas slide way. and then you come out with...
a fully formed idea that you may have started with just like, I don't know, dentists and zombies. I'm not sure what, but you may have, you know, that's you may have come from that or you may have a whole web series treatment. You may have a pilot written. you can come in at any stage.
Leslie Youngblood (22:28)
I... Yeah.
Lynn Harris (22:36)
and you leave with this fully developed idea and then also yes, a slick deck and a practice polished industry standard pitch that translates the idea that is in your soul into the language of the people who have money and power. So we have so many people in that class who fit the sort of psychographic that I was telling you about before and Ryan always laughs because she developed the class actually at RISD, Rhode Island School of Design, and then she became a trustee there so she couldn't teach it there anymore.
blah, blah, blah, and she brought it to us, which is amazing. And she always says she loves teaching the class no matter what. And she loved the younger students that she had at RISD, but she always laughs lovingly, but she always says all the pitches were about fantasy, future, other planets, sci-fi, brilliant, great.
Leslie Youngblood (23:22)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (23:23)
But it was as if they didn't have enough life yet to base it on their own realities, not necessarily autobiographical, but just their own worlds somehow. And so there are always these elaborate, other world building sci-fi adventures. And not that we don't have that in this class. People do all sorts of wacky animations and things like that. But
Leslie Youngblood (23:26)
gonna go to bed. Bye.
Life, of course.
Lynn Harris (23:42)
Each of them had, all of them is with the older students, and by older, I mean, you 40s, 50s, 60s. Even if they aren't doing autobiographical projects, they all have some sort of tether to a sense of a life lived, and known stuff.
Leslie Youngblood (23:53)
you
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (23:58)
and
the way they're able to kind of fully develop fully realized characters of many ages. And that kind of thing is testament to not being 21. There's nothing wrong with being 21. I had a great time I wrote good things when I was 21. it's not that you can't, but there's just layers and complexities that emerge.
Leslie Youngblood (24:08)
Right?
Great time.
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (24:20)
you know, a year by year that get captured in these really brilliant shows and things that people develop that actually go on to, let's see, be fully completed web series, get into development, get talent attached, get representation, create proofs of concept. they all kind of move. Once they get to this step, people are really able to move their projects to the next step.
Leslie Youngblood (24:22)
Yeah.
It must be so fun to see that happen, especially because they're older and might have never thought that this would be a viable path for them. And I'm sure that there are women listening right now to this say, well, that's great for them. that one woman she always thought she was funny, but I'm shy. I'm awkward. I don't think I'm funny enough. What would you tell those women listeners?
Lynn Harris (24:45)
It's really fun.
Leslie Youngblood (25:08)
that are thinking those thoughts, Lynn.
Lynn Harris (25:10)
Shy,
awkward, not funny enough. Okay, first of all, okay, two words, Aparna Nancherla. She's one of my favorite standups. She is shy, she is awkward, she is anxious. She will tell you all about it in her standup.
and her standup really reflects who she is. ⁓ Obviously she's a polished professional, so it's not like she's sort of shyly awkwardly, you know, reading from her journal. she's a professional. She's great at what she does, but she doesn't change her persona to be funny. She finds her funny in who she already is. So you don't have to be the loud one or the jokey one or the things that the person who like weird things always happen to me.
Leslie Youngblood (25:27)
Yeah.
Mm.
Mm.
Lynn Harris (25:51)
because that's also not necessarily comedy. That's just anecdotes. And then not funny enough. I don't know. I I'm not good enough at making fancy pastries, but that's because I've never studied making fancy pastries. I don't know where that comes from. don't.
Leslie Youngblood (25:54)
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (26:10)
I mean, I understand. Yes, yes, yes. I don't mean to be naive. I understand that some people are more naturally gifted as athletes or more naturally gifted as cooks or more naturally gifted as singers, just musicians. of course I get it. But after a certain point, you don't know the thing because you haven't done the thing. I don't know how to take apart this computer.
Leslie Youngblood (26:26)
just like anything else.
Lynn Harris (26:29)
But maybe I could, nobody told me how, so that's not a reason for me not to learn how to do tech support. if I wanted to, if I was curious about it, I'm not, but if I was, I wouldn't be like, well, I don't know how to do tech. I don't know how to take apart a Mac. So I guess I shouldn't learn how to take apart a Mac. You know, that doesn't make sense to me.
Legit, there are people who don't see themselves as performers and that's fine. we had one person, Serena, who came into our standup class saying, Lynn, I don't want to do standup. And I was like, I know, just take the class.
And because we always tell people to take our standup class because of the skills are so transferable. Took the class. Now she hosts all of our shows and you know, standup still isn't her main thing. we were both right. still not her main jam, but she can host a show now. she has the skill now and the, writing skills are transferable. Now she's more of a humor writer, like, you know, satire,
Leslie Youngblood (27:03)
my god.
Lynn Harris (27:16)
But the point is that do you know how many jobs there are in comedy that don't involve performing? we need someone to edit. There's so much digital comedy, someone edits all of those, even if it's the comic themselves, someone's editing.
Leslie Youngblood (27:22)
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (27:28)
the shorts that you're seeing on social someone's editing the sketches that you're seeing on social someone's doing lighting someone's doing sound someone is the director of photography there's so many jobs and and there's ways to be around comedy and really part of the creation of comedy that don't involve you being alone on a stage with a mic if that's not what you want you don't have to it's okay it's really okay if you really really don't have to want to you don't have to but there are so many more ways for you to draft off
Leslie Youngblood (27:30)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lynn Harris (27:54)
of comedy in other roles.
Leslie Youngblood (27:59)
Yes,
I love that because
when it comes to comedy or lot of the things or industries that we don't know. We just think we see this one thing and I don't think that's right for me. I'm too scared to get on stage. I don't think that would be right for me. It's like, well, that's okay. You don't have to be on stage to be in comedy. You can do all these other things like you said and still have this part of your heart and soul be, exemplified through what you're doing and that you.
probably would be amazing at because you said editing like you if you have a great editor you're probably making that funny person that much funnier and how important is that it's all those pieces that you are just as important as the person on this stage telling the jokes it's the sum of all parts and you don't think about that necessarily that's just so so powerful
Lynn Harris (28:36)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, could be, yeah, you could develop TV shows, you could be a manager, you could be an agent, if you like the business
side, my God, there's so much for you to do in the business side, but it's the business side of comedy. I mean, it's endless, it's endless.
Leslie Youngblood (28:49)
I love that. What would it look like, Lynn, if more women allowed themselves to be publicly funny?
Lynn Harris (28:54)
Well, of course, it goes back to what we were saying before, which is what would it look like if people would just stop saying women aren't funny or had an issue at all with women being publicly funny or speaking or being in public? Because they still don't really like us to be in public at all. ⁓ So let me preface this by saying, with all due respect to your question, it's not all up to us.
Leslie Youngblood (29:06)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That was full. No. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (29:17)
it's all up us to fix this. It really isn't. ⁓ But wait, tell me again how you frame the question, just so I answer it properly.
Leslie Youngblood (29:20)
Amen.
What would the world look like if more women allowed themselves to be publicly funny? But you're right, it's not just up to us.
Lynn Harris (29:30)
Right, and what would the world look like
if more, if women were more allowed to be publicly funny?
Leslie Youngblood (29:35)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (29:37)
yeah, what if every standup booker made sure that every single...
set in every single show and every single club had more than one woman or was, diverse in some way or where, you could have a show that's all women and not call it ladies night. they don't call it men's night when it's all men, you know? It's like with the Supreme Court when Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said, how many women should be on the Supreme Court? And she was like, nine, you know, ⁓ what's, there was no, no one all dudes. what, so I think
Leslie Youngblood (29:48)
Hmm.
Bye! ⁓
Right? Quick question. Right.
Lynn Harris (30:08)
I, I do, setting aside how we get there, I was just sort of diving in on the word allowed, because it's not us who is not allowing ourselves. it is gate kept. We are kept out. And the degree to which, with massive exceptions, mean, massive, not just massive, not exceptions, but like.
Leslie Youngblood (30:13)
Mmm.
So true.
Lynn Harris (30:25)
many, many, many new paths have opened that weren't opened before because of technology, because of the accessibility that technology gives us, because of demand. People are demanding more diverse entertainment. like, that is all true. So don't at me, that is all true. ⁓ But the parts that are still gate-kept are gate-kept. So again, still one woman on a lineup.
Leslie Youngblood (30:28)
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (30:47)
or being told sorry, we keep hearing the sorry, we already have a woman. Improv teams that have the woman who then is always the waitress or the slut, or the mom. You know I'm saying? That's less and less, to be fair. so I'm just sort of highlighting but setting that aside, let's imagine a world where
Leslie Youngblood (30:57)
or any... ⁓
Lynn Harris (31:07)
the gates have, been opened and people are less stressed about, God forbid, women talking or being funny or being seen in public. I really think that it's a world where, as we said, I really think that that's a world where people are listening to women.
Leslie Youngblood (31:23)
Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (31:24)
And not extra, you know,
not because we're special. But because I think comedy offers a path to normalizing women talking, women having power.
Leslie Youngblood (31:30)
Yes.
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (31:41)
women
and some people are maybe less nervous about seeing a woman comic than a woman president. So, okay, we'll keep going with the comics while we also work on the president. It's normalizing women in power.
Leslie Youngblood (31:55)
Mm-hmm.
Lynn Harris (31:56)
It's a delivery system. It's a very fun delivery system for normalizing women in power. and I think when we get there, we're not going to call us women comics unless we have a legitimate reason to, and we're not going to call us comedians. And I think if we're in that world, then we're going to see parallel changes in other industries.
Leslie Youngblood (32:00)
so-
Right. Yeah.
Mmm, yes, I hope so.
Lynn Harris (32:16)
It won't happen
just in comedy. that's where I sit, you know?
Leslie Youngblood (32:19)
Right, right, I agree. you've built this incredible career, you've built gold, you've done so much, had so much impact, Lynn. Were you always knowing that you wanted to do comedy? Or were you that shy, awkward kid? Tell us a little bit about how you came to find this incredible gift.
Lynn Harris (32:32)
⁓
I didn't have a plan, but I was just drawn to comedy, kind of like one of those cartoon magnets on the Roadrunner, you know? It's just where I was drawn. I was also drawn to writing. I consider myself a writer, and that's been a very serious, it was a very...
big deal journalists for 25 years. That's it. And they're not that different because I was added for so long that I had the chance to cultivate a voice where I was able to use humor to where appropriate to illuminate.
serious issues. so that became part of my brand as well. So, you know, it wasn't like by day, I'm a turtle is by night. I tell jokes. ⁓ ⁓ so I was just that was the that was the tractor beam. And I kind of improvised along the way. But that was the idea that I was just drawn to comedy, drawn to drawn to writing. And for whatever reason, think my parents drawn to social change. and feminism in particular, but not the only. ⁓ Although I do think it would fix everything.
Leslie Youngblood (33:05)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Thank
Lynn Harris (33:30)
⁓
Leslie Youngblood (33:31)
you.
Lynn Harris (33:33)
So those were the life forces that were pulling me. And so I was able to kind of improvise and find ways to do them all at once.
Leslie Youngblood (33:43)
I think that's incredible. I'm so grateful that you followed that path because you have made such an impact through your work, through your writing, and through gold, and just uplifting, I don't say empowering, like allowing others to be themselves and to step into that, who they are, because I to say, we are the magic, but we forget that. And we're all so unique and have these gifts and we get.
these external forces that aren't built for us. And so we allow that to dictate how we move through the world and to have a place that you've created to break those walls down. And you were saying life-changing for people, truly life-changing. So I think that's just incredible.
what's exciting you right now? Lynn about comedy or maybe hopefully, there's the world's crazy, but maybe we can look on the positive. You make it where you want.
Lynn Harris (34:32)
continue to be really excited about the good stuff, the paths that have opened up, the crumbling of some of the gates, the demand for lack of a more complex word, diverse.
Leslie Youngblood (34:39)
Mmm.
Lynn Harris (34:45)
creations by diverse creators. The rise of the web series, which is, know, they're not cheap to make, but they're in the realm of doable. The rise of the power of the creator to make what they want to make. Yes, some of that means working for free. it still takes 10 years to be an overnight success. But ⁓ it's just a shorter walk between
Leslie Youngblood (35:01)
Mm, that's good enough.
You know you can do
it.
Lynn Harris (35:06)
your own
creativity and visibility these days because of technology, because of evolving tastes, because of evolving demand. And I think that's great. And it's so much easier to just get online and see so many, new and different creators and what they're creating and the level of just brilliance and genius and hilarity is off the chart. in a way, like the old fashioned
And I mean old fashioned, not in a bad way, because my favorite kind of comedy is old fashioned. Like the Muppet Show is old fashioned. I love them. But it's like some of the old fashioned structures are just going to have to keep up. And I think they will. But that's exciting to me.
Leslie Youngblood (35:37)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm... Mm-hmm... Mm-hmm...
Mm-hmm. I love that and for everybody listening right now that wants to learn more about you about gold take some of these incredible online courses because I'm like, my gosh I have five friends and I'm immediately gonna send all this to tell us where they can find you Lynn
Lynn Harris (36:00)
Thank you. They can find us at goldcomedy.com and they can find us on Instagram at goldcomedy. We're also on YouTube and TikTok and all those things, but I would start with those and we're hard not to find basically. And people can find out how they can do stuff with us, of course, join as members, in which case all of our classes are included as you pay by the year, which we do it that way to emphasize the community and the ongoingness of the community.
which you take classes and do events and activities. Or you can come and watch our stuff. We have teams making digital sketches that are really, really funny. We just dropped a new one. a new web series coming out. We just dropped the trailer actually. So our members make content that we help produce and distribute. start at goldcomedy.com and you'll find it. So you can also come and just be entertained and enjoy being entertained by comedy that's...
more diverse than you might see elsewhere.
Leslie Youngblood (36:51)
I love that. And we'll also make sure to drop those links in the show notes for everybody interested in following up with Lynn in gold. Lynn, thank you so much for joining us today. Such a fun and important conversation too about comedy truly can change the world. You certainly have. Keep it up. We are such big fans. Thank you so much for chatting some Serious Lady business with us today.
Lynn Harris (37:11)
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Leslie Youngblood (37:13)
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