Mackenzie Jaquish

I would say success is something that I've had to change the definition of a lot in my life. What I thought success would look like has changed over the years, especially as I've gotten older. When I look at the projects that I consider successful, what made them work was the endurance and truly knowing in yourself that even if this doesn't work, I'm gonna consider it a success. And then if you do that, other people will also tag along, being like, this will be successful. I think you have to have the endurance to keep going, even when things are hard. There was a year where I was really, really bad at stand-up comedy, where I felt like I just couldn't do it anymore. And if I had quit then, I wouldn't have what I have now. But I think you have to have the endurance to be like, I'm gonna keep doing this, even if there are times I feel like I'm bad at it, even if I feel like there are times there isn't a successful moment in a year.

Professionally, there's a quote from Doug Kenny, who's the creator of the National Lampoon, where he said, just because it looks funny doesn't mean it is funny, and that's something that I hold very true when it comes to Pretty Funny Comedy. I think people want jokes to be big and gross and boyish, and I'm like, no, we absolutely can be hilarious and be wearing our cute little pajamas in the sleepover show. Both can be true, and I like to hold true to that. Personally, recently there's been a lot of changes going on, and my mom said, you just gotta know what you're doing when you go to bed at night. You gotta be okay with that person, yourself, that you're falling asleep with, because at the end of the day, that's all you have. And I've been thinking about that more and more lately.

The reason I created Pretty Funny Comedy is because I want women who are trying to crack into comedy to have a safe place to go and learn it, because this is a field that doesn't always feel safe, and there's lots of opportunities for things to go wrong in this field. So I think what I would say to a young girl who's about to start doing this is to know what you want out of it. And that answer needs to be truly just driven by your own goals and what you want. And as long as you always stay true to that, let it be your guiding light, then you will absolutely reach the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel's long and scary, and you need to find people along the way to hold your hand. It might not always be the same person holding your hand, but find your people, work really hard, and you'll find your way through that tunnel.

Right now, I feel like the biggest challenge is that we really do have a lot of everyone doing this. You go onto Instagram, there's a million stand-up reels, there's a million shows. We are at a time in the world where you can create things with your phone. You no longer need a whole production team. You no longer need a fancy camera or lighting. You can have that on your phone and make it look like a gorgeous movie within 5 seconds. But in a way that that sounds scary, like it sounds like, oh, well, they don't need us anymore, they can create what they want, I also see it as a good thing, because for the first time, we don't need to ask permission to create. So I'm a big believer in the cream always rises to the top. Everyone, if you have a story to tell, I want to hear it. But unfortunately, there is a lot of static right now. So I think the biggest challenge is trying to hear the voices through the static. The biggest opportunity is hearing those voices, and I think it's getting out and doing something you're not used to. Every time I've done that, I've discovered something new. In New York, there are so many different pockets of the world that you don't get to experience if you just stay within your own group, within your own self, within your own interests. You really have to go out there and explore the other things that are going on. I think really pushing yourself to hear different voices rather than just being your own echo chamber is very valuable.

Honestly, so many values cross over between my work and personal life, and you never think that they really would. Something that's so important to me is loyalty, and someone who has the backbone to be loyal, because there are so many opportunities in the world we currently live in to not be, and to just take the easier route, to just laugh at the joke at someone's expense, to just leave someone at a party. It's so easy to not stand by someone during every moment of what they're going through. And not every moment's going to be great, but whether we're together personally, or whether we're together professionally, I'm gonna stand by you during your dark moments, and I need you to stand by me during my dark moments. So that when there is a good moment, because there will be a good moment again, I know that you're there for me, and not just because the spotlight, the sunshine is finally shining on us.