“We have different stand-up styles, but we bounce ideas off each other a lot. We’re both learning how to have our own identity on stage rather than trying to be anyone else.”
WHO: Malia Simon and Caroline Hanes
WHAT: “In this mixed-media comedic play, two young New York City comedians pull back the curtain on the dark side of comedy. Through satirical stand-up and painfully accurate reenactments of moments with egocentric comedians, they grapple with the ever-present question: is it time to quit comedy?”
WHERE: PBH’s Free Fringe @ Legends – Upstairs (Venue 96)
WHEN: 19:20 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Caroline: I went to Edinburgh last year to act in a play written by some friends who are also New York comedians. I also did a ton of stand-up throughout the month in various showcases. Malia came to visit me for a week, so she got to see the festival but neither of us has produced before.
Malia: Caroline can probably speak more on this more than I can, but even in the week I was at Fringe, the exposure to so many talented people from all over the world was amazing–I really hadn’t been a part of something like that before.
Caroline: We always describe it to other American comics as “summer camp for comedians.”
Malia: And really inspiring too. As artists, I think we sometimes discount how important it is to see good art to make your own work better. Before I got there, Caroline was messaging me like, “You’re going to be so inspired, it’s going to breathe life into your stand-up again!” and it definitely did.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Caroline: I think for both of us, in terms of our stand-up, we’ve learned a lot about being yourself on stage and speaking in your own natural tone. We have different stand-up styles, but we bounce ideas off each other a lot. We’re both learning how to have our own identity on stage rather than trying to be anyone else.
Malia: Yeah, for sure. I always try to think of it like, at the end of the day, it’s just comedy. There’s all the stress and the business and putting on a great show and all that, but like… you know, it’s comedy we’re talking about here. It’s not that serious!
Tell us about your show.
Caroline: We wrote it together. Typically, we’d sit down and block out the plot of the show, then break it up and say, “You go draft this scene, and I’ll draft this scene,” and then we’d edit together. So it’s very 50/50 in terms of our voices. Which worked! Our voices felt very consistent when we put everything together, which I’m proud of.
Malia: The play, in many ways, tracks our relationship, our different perspectives on being women in comedy, feminism, comedy in general. It merges our two perspectives. We came up with this idea while I was visiting Caroline at the Fringe last year. It was a fantasy at first, like, “Would anyone care about this?” because it’s so specific to our world, right? But then we realized that a lot of the material is more broadly relatable and even people who don’t do comedy can get something from it.
Caroline: Yeah, it came very naturally because a lot of the plot is based directly on our own lives. I’m constantly ranting on the phone to Malia about various things, and some of those rants went straight into the script.
Malia: Yeah, there’s a lot of shit we deal with. Pursuing a career in the entertainment industry is hard. Sometimes you feel helpless, as if there’s nothing you can do about it. But as a comic, you write about it. That’s what you can do about it.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Caroline: I want to highlight two of the cast members in our play who are bringing their own shows. Eve Ellenbogen is bringing a one-woman show called “Dead Mom Stuff,” which she wrote about losing her mom as a teenager. It’s hilarious despite the dark subject matter.
Malia: Yeah, she’s totally unfiltered and wild onstage. You’ll just fall in love with her as an audience member.
Caroline: She was initially only in one scene of our show, but she was so great that we wrote new scenes for her because we love her character so much. She will be such a highlight in the show.
Malia: We love our cast. We got so lucky.
Caroline: Mark Row is a British comic in our cast, and he’s also bringing his own show called “A * in the Making.” It’s about a teacher pursuing comedy, and the progression from hating his day job to ultimately finding a new appreciation for it.
Malia: Mark’s show is somewhat similar to ours in the sense that it touches on balancing being a normal person with being a stand-up comedian. He’s dry and witty and a fantastic actor and comedian, perfect for our role.
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