Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Nasso.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Austin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I first stepped on stage in 2010 at a UCLA Film Camp talent competition when my friends convinced me to perform impressions. Three years later, I ended up going to UCLA where I started the “Shenanigans Comedy Club” at UCLA which to this day is the biggest stand-up, improv, and sketch student comedy group in Los Angeles. However, in college I didn’t pursue anything in entertainment officially – I was studying computer science. Upon graduating, I took a job as a software engineer for Microsoft in Seattle. In Seattle, I met several other like-minded, comedy-techie-entrepreneurs and co-founded Socially Inept, a tech roast show that mocks rich young tech people in major tech hubs. The show has been selling out in Seattle and San Francisco and has since spread to Los Angeles and New York (until the pandemic hit). Up until recently, we were traveling from city to city roasting techies.
During quarantine, things have shifted considerably. Since I cannot do live shows at the moment, I have poured my energy into TikTok. I experienced some fledgling success impersonating NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and was lucky enough to be asked to perform the impression live on the popular NY radio station Z100. Right now, I am just trying to build my TikTok following (currently at 8500) so that when I return to the stage, I can have a larger fan base to tap into. And yes, I am all the while still working remotely as a software engineer.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely could be smoother. It is very challenging to balance a full-time job, performing stand up comedy, taking improv classes, running a company, maintaining friendships, and maintaining a relationship. I only have a finite amount of energy and if too many elements of my life make a withdrawal at once it can be very challenging.
One particularly difficult thing I had to deal with was my mom having a mental breakdown in 2018. She had struggled with alcoholism and had been mixing it with her medication. On top of my already normally busy life, it took a lot to have daily phone calls with lawyers and make sure she’s ok. The United States has a very challenging mental healthcare infrastructure. If somebody does not want help and is an adult, there isn’t much you can do. Watching someone you care about wither away in front of you is extremely painful and can make you feel powerless. After two long years, I am happy to say that my mom has been doing a good job rehabilitating herself. I’m proud of her.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My thing is just performing stand up comedy, writing, and making sketches. I love to make people laugh. I think the big thing that differentiates me as a performer is my eclectic and exaggerated sense of humor and my ability to turn a celebrity impression into a fully-fledged character.
My company Socially Inept specializes in roasting the tech industry. We travel from city to city and roast techies. The main premise of the show is that we pre-select two roastees and gather “dirt” on them from their close friends and family so we can write roast jokes. The first half of the show is stand up comedy and the second half is the roast.
What were you like growing up?
I was just a weird chubby kid. I remember that in 5th grade, I weighed 160 lbs and was like 5′ 3″. I always thought that to make people like me, I had to make them laugh. In the early days of my elementary school career, I would make funny faces to make my friends laugh. I remember one day some kid told me, “you’re not actually funny – you just make funny faces.” That’s when I realized I had to get new material. I would go home and watch “Johnny Bravo”, “Spongebob”, and “Catdog” every day after school. I would always quote the shows and try to do impressions of the characters. At an early age, I found myself able to impressions of all my favorite characters in shows and movies I would watch.
Pricing:
- Impression Shout Out/Cameo – $24.99
Contact Info:
- Website: austinnasso.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/austinnasso
- Facebook: facebook.com/austinnasso
- Twitter: twitter.com/austinnasso
Image Credit:
Chris Tuite, Andy Perkovich
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