Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Singer.
Olivia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Westchester, New York right outside of Manhattan, so musical theater was a big deal for me growing up. I immersed in a lot of off Broadway shows throughout my childhood. The end of middle school and high school wasn’t great for me because I was excluded and bullied by a lot of my peers, which isn’t hugely uncommon, but I was so grateful for the community I had in theater – shout out to Random Farms!
With that said, I have always been surrounded by comedy. Every morning my Dad would have the “Carol Burnett Show” playing on the TV before I left for school. Now thinking about it, maybe that was why I hated going to school because I just wanted to watch reruns all day.
I remember the first play I had ever done, Grease The Musical. I had the choice to either play Sandy or Frenchie, well, because it was a 3rd-grade show. My parents wanted me to pick the lead role which was Sandy because she had more lines and more solos, but something drew me to the role of Frenchie. Frenchie wears fun colored wigs and is the comedic relief of the entire show. I have this one memory where the director had to teach me how to blow bubbles with gum to the song, “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee.” I never nailed it and got nervous that I would ruin the scene if I didn’t blow the right bubble. Fast-forward a few weeks, it was opening night. The part of the song where it was my time to shine had arrived, I chewed the gum as fierce as I could, I pushed and pushed in an attempt to make the bubble big, but to no avail, the audience witnessed spit and the gum flying out of my mouth.
At first, I was nervous, but then I heard something. Laughter!
From that moment on, I felt a sense of empowerment and accomplishment because it actually worked well for the scene and my character. There was a special sensation to know you could control the room with laughter and I had never experienced that before and from that point forward, I decided to never learn how to blow bubbles with gum, just kidding!
Every Saturday, SNL became a ritual for me- I also found this as commonality between me and my friends who love immersing into anything comedy or theater related. By the age of ten, I was taken to my first stand up comedy show, Kevin Hart. As my family and I navigated our way to our seats, I noticed the shock in people’s eyes to see a 10-year-old girl preparing to hear a mature comedy set. It wasn’t a feeling of disapproval on their behalf, but rather a sense of amusement and surprised look of admirability towards my parents. I believe that was the moment where I really became drawn to comedy and the audience it lures in because the unexpected is expected when you attend a comedy show. Isn’t that an element of comedy anyway? By the time junior year of high school came around, I knew I wanted to only go to one school and one school only: The University of Southern California. I wanted to pursue a career in acting and film and made sure I could set myself up in the best way possible. Now, I’m about to graduate from The University of Southern California and have lived in the epicenter of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. However, my path to getting to this point was not linear, nor easy.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t mind being vulnerable at all, so here we go!
Life is not shaped in a straight line or path. Sure, we have our routines, and we do them over and over again, repeating it just like a circle, but sometimes the cycle gets interrupted. With that said, my first year at USC actually took place with me studying abroad in Paris. I ended up living alone in an apartment because my roommate never showed up. I didn’t know French and for some reason, when I attempted to speak it, I had a Spanish accent. Within the first week of school, my three-year-old cousin passed away suddenly and I had to leave orientation to head back to New York for her funeral. Just two months after that, the Paris attacks occurred and during all of this, I realized I was struggling with a full-fledged eating disorder.
At the time, I had two choices: Live or die. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about the outcome as long as I stayed “small.” The eating disorder morphed my life into a demented game. The less I ate, the smaller I became, and the smaller I became, the more in control and confident I felt. The obsessive behaviors towards food took over my life. I didn’t care to be with friends because “anorexia” became my best pal. I lost my passion to create, learn and succeed in school and in theater. I knew I needed to improve, so I spent a year in a partial hospitalization program.
Treatment was brutal, which is a whole other story, but along the way, slowly, but surely, things began to click for me. I started to use comedy to help me cope and get through it. I would encounter characters every day and the irrational fears that came with anorexia and started to make light out of the dark. By 2017, I was back at school. I was not fully recovered yet, but eager enough to fully immerse and tap back into my passion. I tried things I never did before, but have always been around waiting for me, tempting me.
I do struggle with self-doubt, not in my ability to be myself or how others perceive me, but with my work and if it is ever “good enough.” It is similar to the mantra I had when I was anorexic, but this time it acts as a force to push me to work hard and be innovative with what I write, direct or act in. My takeaway from all of this, and my advice to everyone, is that you learn by doing and the joy is in the doing. And just like Will Smith says, “everything you want in life is on the other side of fear.” Just dive in and do it because failure does not equate to anything because life is trial and error. Also, don’t be an asshole, it is so much easier to be kind than it is to say something mean – and that’s coming from a comedian!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an actor, stand up comedian, writer and director. Right now, I write to supplement my acting, but I love being in this phase in my life because I am learning how to do it all. Being an actor is very entrepreneurial, so at this moment I am kind of playing all different roles in order to achieve my goal of creating content that has substance, which is actually how I met Zack Hosseini!
Almost everyone finds the same things sad: a lost child, a dying dog, COVID-19, you name it, but no one finds the same thing funny and I think that is why I am so drawn towards comedy because that is what makes it so challenging. I think, how can I get an audience, whether it is live or online, to laugh at my perception of a certain topic? And then my wheels just start turning and hopefully I get a good outcome.
This summer, I was supposed to be performing in Edinburgh. For two years now, I’ve been working on a one woman show, titled 82%, which is a dark comedy about my experience in treatment. I performed it at USC and was motivated to push it forward and bring it to other places. So, hopefully next summer I will have the chance! I have noticed that the more open and honest I am, the more people come forward who need help seeking treatment and it is so fulfilling to use my passion as a tool to help others. And that’s what film and performance is all about! Shedding light to what we all struggle with and what we all have in common. I am also collaborating on a spec script with some comedians at USC, which is a spin-off from a show on Comedy Central, which I am very excited about. I don’t know what the outcome will be because of what is happening in our current reality, but the process of creating is just too awesome to worry about.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think success is about not being afraid to fail. I think if you can acknowledge that fear is just a feeling and can push past it, you open up your bandwidth with what you are capable of doing. Having and showing empathy is an asset, along with emotional intelligence as well, especially in film and performance. Success is also a willingness to learn. I will always be a student throughout my life. I love to meet new people and work with anyone who isn’t afraid to just try something and put it out there. If it flops, who cares – we were taught a new lesson and can try again in the future. That’s also the mentality I have with auditioning, just keep doing it, commit and work hard.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I think I am officially a New Yorker turned Angelino. I love LA! The people are very open and the city itself is too. It really is sprawling and I like how each area of LA has its own niche.
Obviously, what I dislike about LA… is the TRAFFIC!
Contact Info:
- Phone: (914)262-9314
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://found.ee/TZ8U
- Other: https://found.ee/7CQy
Image Credit:
Black and White photo: Lalo Torres; Red costume with Tutu: “Sincerity Forever” USC Theater, Director Bob Bailey, PC: Emily Olmos; Picture of me alone on stage with a mic: Cade Huseby
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
