Abbi Crutchfield

Today I am interviewing Abbi Crutchfield, a comedian from Indianapolis, IN who has been doing comedy for five years. To find out more about Abbi, please visit her website.



Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

Pinpointing my first time as a comic depends on whether you're a stickler about the definition of stand-up comedy. The first time I tried my hand at stand-up was at age 10. I played a game with my friend where we took turns standing on a bed goofily babbling into a hair brush. No audience, no microphone or jokes. The next attempt was at a talent show while I studied abroad in Italy when I was 20. I essentially recited a funny monologue about that trip. There was audience but still no microphone or jokes. Later, back on US soil, I started a stand-up comedy group on campus, and after months of trepidation, we performed outdoors to a crowded lawn. I had the audience, I had the microphone, and an inaccurate impression of Laura Bush.

The reason I started doing stand-up--the reason I wrote material to test on the stage of a real comedy club--was to prove that I could make people laugh by doing it "the right way". But it took me months after my first open mic to shed the idea that stand-up was just a funny speech you deliver while smiling.

What is the one thing you have learned from all your time doing stand-up?

Be funny. It's the first lesson you learn, and it's one you keep learning throughout your early years. It answers a lot of questions, even after you've mastered the basics of stand-up. Why isn't anyone laughing? How can I get away with joking about taboo subjects? How can I get booked on that popular show? What will it take to get respect from other comedians? How can I get more people to read my blog? How am I going to win this crowd over when I'm last on the lineup, and they just dropped the check? What will it take to get noticed by an agent/manager?

How do you deal with the fear of someone stealing your best material?

Every one of my performances has been recorded on a CD that is then copyrighted. It's costly, but I plan on winning the money back in lawsuits years from now. I don't fear that anyone will steal my material. Every now and then I hear a routine that covers a topic I cover, and I hold my breath and wait to hear some parallel thought. If that happens, I just tell myself the topic was not properly mined, and I challenge myself to write something better or more personal about it. New comics are often instructed to be honest and search specifically for what is funny about their lives. It increases the likelihood of being relatable, and lessens the chance of having their act duplicated.