Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Anabel Brown.
Holly Anabel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I love making people laugh. My earliest memory of making someone laugh was when I was two or three. I would drink water out of muddy puddles in the backyard and it made my parents laugh so hard, so I just kept on doing it. Eventually they started to film me and called me “Holly Muddy Face” and soon enough everyone in the family knew about it. I had my first character! Obviously in retrospect, I’m very upset that my so called loving parents let me drink from disgusting groundwater for their amusement. I mean I’m very, and I repeat VERY lucky I didn’t get a waterborne disease or swallow a mosquito, but I still know how it felt to make them laugh so hard.
As I got older, I did theater in school and camp and always gravitated toward comedic roles, but I shifted away from acting when I discovered The Upright Citizens Brigade and ASSSCAT. In high school, I was a huge Amy Poehler fan and when UCB opened their Los Angeles location I was there every weekend, all night, watching shows, performing in midnight jams and obsessing over comedy. Eventually, I got the courage to start taking classes when I was 19 and after five years and thousands of dollars spent on pursuing my one and only dream of being a famous improviser raking in that free show cash, I quit. I did get a cool t-shirt for graduating two comedy schools, so at least the money was well spent.
Shortly after an improv friend introduced me to stand up and I immediately fell in love. I no longer had to rely on other people’s schedules to practice or perform or crush in a show. Stand up truly felt like an other worldly art-form and it’s the only future I can even think of for myself. I’ve been doing it for four years, run three shows and feel like the version of myself I’ve always wanted to be.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been exactly smooth. Prior to starting stand up my dad died and it halted my life for a while. He was the biggest supporter of any pathway to success I took and as an actor himself, was especially supportive of my theater and comedy. He even once told me I had “it” and was destined to be a star and after I claimed that he was my dad, he had to say that he immediately told me “well your sister doesn’t have “it” at all and I’m her dad too.” My dad died of cancer after battling it for eight long years, but through every change in his body and even when he was so ill he could barely speak or walk he found a way to be funny and I know that’s the cornerstone that defines me most in life. Knowing he will never see my do stand up or hear the many dead dad jokes I’ve written about him can be crippling, but boy has it made for some good material and I know he would love it.
Currently, I am constantly dealing with my Bipolar and Obsessive Compulsive disorder, but writing about that too has helped me cope and helped me shed the desire to want everyone to think I’m perfect.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Finding my comedic voice hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be. My first year or so of stand up I did a lot of celebrity impressions, voices and singing and that couldn’t be further from where I am as a performer and writer today. I was so scared to talk about extremely personal things, but I ripped that bandaid off by challenging myself to do an entire set on my dead dad by reading from his journal on stage, diving into his cancer, my secret twin brothers and other super fun stuff too. I also write about my own personal battles with mental illness and suicide, my multiple stints in mental hospitals and how I deal with my mental health today. Sounds hilarious, I know! Taking serious issues and making everyone as comfortable as I am to laugh at them is my main goal in comedy and the most fulfilling art I’ve ever done.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I’m a rare person that is actually from Los Angeles, so I love it here. I feel lucky to have started comedy here because I really feel like it pushed me to be a better comic faster. The best shows in LA are the alt shows at bizarre locations or peoples houses, etc. There’s no shortage of stage time and no shortage of amazing shows to see!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.HollyAnabelBrown.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @HollyAnaComedy
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/clapyourhandssayholly
Image Credit:
Lorenzo Hodges
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