Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Wilk.
Hi Amy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
First off, thank you, I am honored to share a bit about myself with the readers of VoyageLA. As someone who has made Los Angeles her home for the past ten years, I feel a connection to this community of local innovative artists on a variety of mediums.
So, how did I get here? Well, I always had a passion for creating real-world make-believe. I know that sounds a bit silly, but it’s true. Ever since I was a young girl, growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and even though today I have a deep fascination for playfully imitating characters with real-life personalities and celebrating their comedic quirks.
Like many kids, I used to play dress-up with my parent’s old glasses, hats, and clothes. Yet, my young imagination would take me beyond the usual game of trying on someone else’s clothes, and I would imagine what it’s really like to walk in their shoes. I would create elaborate backstories of the everyday people I’d encounter and mimic their behavior, their voice, and their facial expressions. I felt joy exploring what it was like to be another person and pull out the funny gems in their personality.
Further developing this interest, I attended Act One, an afterschool community theater program from 2nd to 12th grade. While there I was encouraged to embrace my unique perspective and further explore scripted and unscripted characters. While there I learned improvisation and acting. I fell in love with performing and simply making people laugh.
When I was 12 years old, my Dad got me a camera and brought my characters to life through funny videos created for my family and friends to enjoy. This was well before YouTube and easily editing software in Apps on our phones. Remember, when we were editing on computers hooked up to VCRs. Tracey Ullman is and always will be my comedic inspiration. I adore how she can embody her characters.
Following graduation from Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, I drove across the country to LA with no plan for a job or place to live. I was simply fueled by the desire to create.
Since then, I have been balancing my day job working in advertising and perusing my love of performing comedy and creating characters. By day I am developing campaigns and brand identities, and by night and on weekends, I dig into my wig collection and dress up as characters. I take my characters out in public to truly embody them in the real world, including their walk, mannerisms, and voice. My husband and I go out and film these interactions. It’s a challenge I’m sure many readers can relate to, I feel driven to create content, all while working my day job, and growing my skills by taking classes in improv and performing live sketch comedy shows.
This global pandemic has rocked us all, especially in the performance community. I have found there are incredible opportunities to pivot from performing live to creating short-form videos and sharing them with an even broader audience through apps such as TikTok and Instagram. The organic reach of TikTok and Instagram Reels has grown the audience for my characters exponentially. I’ve been able to leverage my background in filmmaking and comedy to produce engaging content and share my characters internationally through these interactive platforms. This expansive “virtual real-world” takes the interactive character experience to a new level.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In 2019, my Dad became very gravely ill. I quit my day job as a Creative Director, packed up my wigs, and went back to Pittsburgh to spend as much time with him as I could. I brought my characters to the hospital to keep him and the nurses laughing. But March 22nd of 2020, we lost him to congestive heart failure.
My Dad was an absolute legend. An extraordinary man with a love of life who had traveled to over 115 countries, meeting people and experiencing the world. He was my hero and inspiration to live unapologetically without fear. He would say do not be afraid and do not let anyone, including yourself, get in the way of your dream.
After my Dad passed, I was devastated. Not only had our lives been turned upside down because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, but I had been forever changed with the loss of an enormous part of my heart.
Without my Dad, I felt like I had lost my favorite laugh, my biggest supporter, and my greatest inspiration for creating characters.
After many months of feeling like I could not create again, as a form of therapy I started to put my wigs back on to make light-hearted comedic videos on Tiktok. Over time and healing, my content and connection with my audience has really taken off.
I am so thankful to have new friends all over the world who enjoy my content. Over 200k Tiktok and 50k Instagram new friends as of this interview and growing. People reach out to me to share how my videos I make bring them so much joy in the hardest times of their life. It means the world to me to share with them my struggle and loss as well. As I have shared through videos the loss of my Dad hundreds of people have shared their stories with me. I have found an amazingly supportive community online in a year of incredible loneliness and grief.
My hope is that we can all find the smallest bit of joy and silliness in our sadness and pain together. I hope that by living my weird, it might inspire you to live your weird too. Stop waiting for permission to follow your dreams.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a comedian, actress, writer in sketch comedy and improv. I studied with the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in and The Groundlings in Los Angeles, honing my skills in improv and character development. Training at The Groundlings has been a dream, where some of my hero’s studied, like Melisa McCarthy, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig. Since I can remember, I have been playing dress-up and creating characters. When I was young, I idolized Tracey Ullman, and loved how she could sink into the skin of her characters.
I love sharing my character sketch comedy videos on Tiktok and Instagram. One of my favorite videos is a parody with Paula Deen. One of my favorite series I made is “Creating Characters from Thrifted Finds.” where I find character inspiration from clothes I find at Goodwill. That content plays on my love of wondering who used to own these clothes. I like taking a sweater and seeing what character would go with the shirt. I love to think about what kind of person owned these clothes, what did they do, what are they like, what’s the backstory of this shirt.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I absolutely love the diversity in our city. I live in Leimert Park and am grateful for my neighborhood and community. LA’s parks are so easily accessible and provide such wonderful views of the city. I love to walk my dog Lucy in Baldwin Hills park, to look out over the park and feel gratitude for my journey and excitement for the opportunity to create something new.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: amywilk.com
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/amywilklikemilk - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/amywilklikemilk - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/ UCbFLwxMhpGWkP6fQasgDVLw - Other: https://www.tiktok.com/
@amywilklikemilk
Image Credits
Rachel Thurston
