Q&A with Sara Schaefer
Creator of Going Up
Written by Hannah Benson
Sara Schaefer is Going Up–at The Elysian, in big cities abroad, the comedy world and my list of the most lovely people I’ve ever had the chance to talk to. She is also giving us all a chance. Schaefer is giving comedians, comedy fans and “normies” an opportunity to look inward by looking outward. I do believe if we listen and act on what we learn, we will all be better for it.
HB: How do you describe your show?
SS: Going Up is a fake seminar on how to ‘make it’ in comedy and I am the teacher. But it’s bigger than that, because within that framework I am commenting on all the things that drive me crazy about the comedy business.
I’ve been describing it as a letter to my younger self when I was starting out, telling my younger self all the things I wish I had known when I started, because when I started I thought the only thing that mattered was figuring out how to be funny and that was it. I was very naive. It was prior to when there were a zillion podcasts with comedians talking about how they made it. And I wish I had known the things that have nothing to do with jokes that you have to overcome and encounter the unfairness, sometimes the toxic elements of the comedy business and it’s me reckoning with those things and commenting and criticizing, but also celebrating.
It’s also incredibly silly. It was this sharp, biting undercurrent but also a lot of light, joy and silliness to it, because I incorporate miniatures and dolls into the show as well as music. It’s pretty much everything I’m into and everything about me put into a show.
HB: The show’s name plays on the Scientology term, “Going Clear”. Tell more about that satirical aspect of the show.
SS: That’s the third piece of it, which is using the framework of a cult or even a pyramid scheme, multi-level marketing world, self-help guru-type to channel all of this stuff. This kind of came from a video I made that went kind of viral on Twitter in the past couple of years. It was an advertisement for comedy and treating it like a cult. I think comedy is a little culty as is a lot of things in American culture.
HB: You’ve been touring a bit. You’re on your world tour, you’re in Melbourne right now, are there bits that resonate more or less, culturally.
SS: I’ve done the show five times so far in Australia and I’ll be doing it twenty times total. I did some work before I got here. I was lucky to talk to an Australian comedian friend and go through my show and ask her about a lot of the themes and ask her what might not hit with this audience. I’ve had to make a couple of adjustments, but for the most part everything works with this audience. They have the same discussions about cancel culture. They love comedy. It is very American what I’m talking about, but because I’m teaching, anyone there is learning as they go.
Sometimes Australian, British and Scottish audiences are a little more reserved in a way that they’re gonna give up a laugh, but it doesn't mean they’re not enjoying it. Americans are just trained to be all, “HAHA, I liked it!” so they feel the need to go, “HAHAHA” aloud. We’re trained to make noises, so as an American comedian I rely on that. When you perform in England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia, it’s just a different rhythm, but they’re really listening, especially if you’re doing a solo show, because they have a different expectation. There’s a whole world of solo shows here. They come in and they’re smiling and leaning in and listening, ‘Let me learn about you. Oh this is wonderful.’ But they’re not laughing. I’ve learned to not take it as I am necessarily bombing. You have to have a core sense of self. It also allows you to really work on the show and fight for those laughs.
When I did Edinburgh the first time it was just a solo stand-up show, I came back to the States and I never felt more confident as a comedian. My shows were so good. I had a lot of career leaps after that experience, so I know this experience in Australia, as challenging as it can be to find your way through these audiences and the nuisances of the culture, it makes you better for the home audience. I’m very fortunate to have this experience as I’m crying through the streets of Melbourne, “I should quit!”
HB: I do need to note that before I knew you were in Melbourne, I had planned after this interview to go to Outback Steakhouse. The universe can be amazing sometimes.
SS: We’re both experiencing true, authentic Australian culture.
HB: If your loved ones were in charge of the promotion for your show, what would it look like?
SS: My sister’s would be violent, it would be along the lines of, “If you don’t come we will hunt you down and kill you.” They’re joking, but they like to threaten. My dad is the type–when my book came out for instance–was giving a copy to every person that he knew. He’s like a door-to-door salesman for me. My brother is not much of a social media person, but he is the type to pretend he doesn’t even know me and say to others, “This comedian is extremely talented,” to make it seem like he’s not biased.
My mom very sadly is not with us anymore, but she was my biggest cheerleader and she would be my one-man publicist and bodyguard and all that. She was like that in lo-fi days. I sent her a VHS tape of one of my first performances and she showed it to all of her church-lady friends. She said to me, “I told them that in order to be a comedian you have to use curse words.” I said, “Mom, don't show them! Don’t show them my jokes.” Then she said, “No, I explained to them that you have to do it, that’s what you must do.”
HB: You’re on your world tour, going to many theaters, what makes The Elysian the best part of the tour?
SS: I’m doing like seven European cities too, it’s crazy. They were the ones that really supported the development of the show, it’s where I developed it. They didn’t put pressure on me to sell out the theater every time and they let me really explore. They provided the kind of support that an artist really needs to try something new. This was a show that I wrote from scratch, not like stand-up where you’re constantly adding in new material to your old and it’s a rolling development. This was zero.
That first show wasn’t even fully written; I just felt so vulnerable and exposed. I cried the whole way home, I was so embarrassed. There was a guy in the audience who I greatly respect, a screenwriter that I just knew and I didn’t think that maybe I shouldn’t have invited everyone, and I thought, ‘No! Why are you here?!’ Then he sent me an email after and normally I would never want a man to send me a long email of feedback, but he wrote, “I very much enjoyed the show. I have some feedback below, you do not have to read it.” It was more a ‘if you want it, it’s there.’ He had these thoughts that were so helpful, that changed the trajectory of the show and it was very generous of him to even spend the time to write that email. I thank him so much.
The theater also has all the trappings of what I need physically and logistically to do this show. There are these little, creative touches–the little circular window built into the back of the stage that opens–was added while I was in development there. There’s a part of the show where the window works perfectly and when I go elsewhere I have to figure out how to do these things that The Elysian has built-in. I love performing there because of that and the audiences are always so wonderful and supportive.
HB: Marry. Fuck. Kill. Improv. Sketch. Stand-up.
SS: Oh shit. I don’t wanna hurt anyone’s feelings. I’ve done all three. I did six years of improv classes in New York while I was also doing sketch comedy. I was in a sketch duo. I was also doing stand-up. This is my personal preference of what I enjoy seeing and doing. So saying that I’d kill improv, fuck stand-up and marry sketch. I don’t know how to even explain the reasons why but that’s how I feel right now.
HB: The thing about ‘Marry. Fuck. Kill.’ is there’s no “why” it’s just there.
SS: It’s just a gut feeling!
Join the cult! See GOING UP on Thursday 4/27, Friday 4/28, and Saturday 4/29 at 7:30pm.
