Meet Comedy Writers Amber Ruffin and Jenny Hagel
Without a doubt, comedy is one of the hardest things to do. Being ‘funny’ is simply not enough, it’s about timing, discipline and persistence. Given the fact that we are not comedians, we’re amazingly impressed when we talk to them in real life — especially badass women! The latest funny ladies to cross our paths are Amber Ruffin and Jenny Hagel, two of the brilliant writers from Late Night with Seth Meyers. Together, Amber and Jenny represent some much-needed diversity in the world of mainstream comedy; Amber is the first black woman to be hired as a staff writer on a network late night talk show, while Jenny is member of the LGBTQ+ community.
On the segment Jokes Seth Can’t Tell, Amber and Jenny perform some of the jokes written by his talented and diverse staff that would be difficult for him to deliver as a straight white male. We know you’re dying to watch the clip, so here it is.
We managed to catch up with Amber and Jenny to learn more about their backgrounds.
Smart Girls: What is one thing a teen could do today if they are interested in your field?
Amber: I think becoming an improviser was the biggest help to writing and performing. It’s good to belong to a group of people with the same goals. You inspire one another and talk about comedy and look at it from different angles. It’s really good for you.
Jenny: There are lots of places that have comedy performing and writing classes for young people. If you’re interested in comedy, take one of those! It would be a great way to start learning how comedy works — and a great way to meet other kids who are interested in the same things you are. If something like that doesn’t exist where you live, you could read a book about comedy writing and start trying it out yourself. Maybe see if you can find a friend or two who are into comedy writing and start a writing group with them. And watch lots of comedy!
SG: How has failure informed your success?
Jenny: Failing is the best thing — it shows you that you can mess up, and it doesn’t kill you. It never feels good at the time — whenever I’m in the middle of failing, I always think, “This is the worst and I will definitely die from this.” But then when I look back on it, it never seems like that big of a deal. Plus, it turns out failure is really fun to look back on. My comedy friends and I never sit around and talk about the things we did well. But we laugh a lot about the times we tried something that bombed. Those memories are never embarrassing — instead, they end up being great memories about a time you and your friends tried something together.
Amber: I honestly believe that before you crash and burn in a show, you will never truly be a fearless performer. You spend so long trying not to embarrass yourself. Once you have the worst show of your life and survive, you know it’s not that bad. Then, you become this fearless, shameless weirdo version of yourself that turns out to be who you really are.
SG: Who is your role model/mentor and why?
Amber: I am in love with Issa Rae. Everything she does is so honest. I feel like we have a lot of shared experiences and it makes me feel like she writes just for me. Also, she looks like a friggin’ princess.
Jenny: My parents are my role models. They both work really hard and they both have jobs that they love. I really admire both of those things.
SG: What’s your favorite piece of advice you have ever been given?
Jenny: A friend of mine told me once, “You need input to have output.” If you focus too much on writing, you run out of things to write about because you’re not having new experiences. So I try to remind myself not to spend too much time working. I try to make sure I make time for other life things, too — friends, family, going for a run. I feel better when my life is balanced — and my writing is better, too.
Amber: Do what makes you laugh! It took me so many years to do what I thought was funny. I spent forever writing what I thought people wanted me to write, doing characters I thought people wanted to see and I was wrong for so long. Once I started writing to make myself laugh, things were a lot funnier and easier to write.
SG: What’s your favorite piece of advice to give?
Amber: My favorite piece of advice to give is — be the person you would want to work with. Years from now, you might want to make your hobby your job and it will be the people who you practice with now looking to hire in the future. If you’re late, full of drama, or mean, you will ruin your chances. But, that’s not a nice way to end things. How about this piece of advice — Have fun! If you are having a good time, odds are the audience will be, too!
Jenny: My favorite piece of advice to give is, “When you pitch, you win.” It can be scary sometimes to pitch new ideas in a writers’ room. So, I think if you get up the courage to pitch a new idea, even if it fails, you’ve already won by putting yourself out there and taking a chance.
We look forward to tracking the careers of both Amber and Jenny, and thank them for participating in this interview.
Now let’s turn the tables around to you. Are you venturing into comedy? Got a story to tell? Reach out to us on Twitter, or leave a comment in the section below.
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Image: YouTube/Late Night with Seth Meyers
