This week, we’re highlighting 25 talented writers and performers for Vulture’s annual list “The Comedians You Should and Will Know.†Our goal is to introduce a wider audience to the talent that has the comedy community and industry buzzing. (You can read more about our methodology at the link above.) We asked the comedians on the list to answer a series of questions about their work, performing, goals for the future, and more. Next up is Sophie Buddle.
Tell us a story from your childhood you think explains why you ended up becoming a comedian.
It’s difficult to pick a story that isn’t morbid, but if we are going in the non-morbid direction … 😋 😋
I think I became a comic when my mom showed me live stand-up. When I was 14, my mom won tickets to a comedy show in town, and we went and had a great time. We started going every week to the amateur night. The big drama in our town was basically that, because I was going with my mom, nobody thought to card me, so we would always go and drink (alcohol). A lot of the staff at the club were comics, so we got to know a lot of them through being regulars and then when I decided to start doing sets, everyone thought I was older still. For the first year or so of doing stand-up, everyone thought I was much older than I was, so I did a lot of jokes about having sex, which I was not yet doing. So it was pretty weird and bad.
There’s a lot of crazy lore from my early comedy years, but I imagine that’s pretty common for comics. It’s a weird job to pursue, and I’d imagine it takes a lot of personal flaws to commit to for a lifetime. I couldn’t be more pleased to be in comedy, and I can’t imagine a life without it.
What unscripted or reality series do you think you’d excel at? What archetype do you think you’d be?
I’ve felt strongly for years that I would excel on Survivor. Please send this link to the Survivor casting people, because I am ready. I have many schemes prepared. One thing that I feel has been a gross oversight in strategy in past seasons is the use of pre-seasoning swallowing. I would swallow so many seeds — an amount of seeds you could not fathom. And then, when dropped on the island, I would poop in a hole; cover the poop with dirt, water, and tend to it; and then would have delicious produce that would sustain me throughout the season. Jeff Probst, please contact me. I am easy to find.
What’s your proudest achievement of your comedy career so far?
Trigger warning: I am going to answer this question honestly!!! True pride incoming — feel free to look away.
I moved to America a little over a year ago (from Canada). It was a very challenging and expensive process. It’s actually a very difficult process to move to America, even without a wall on our border. Since moving here, I’ve done The Late Late Show, The Tonight Show, and Comedy Central. As a Canadian comic, these things can be really hard to imagine doing.
I think the highlight was getting passed at the Comedy Cellar in New York. Every comic I’ve looked up to has been a Cellar comic. It feels like the center of stand-up comedy in the world. I’m still scared every time I step in the club, which is a great feeling. Love to feel alive.
What have you learned about your own joke-writing process that you didn’t know when you started?
Learning about your own process is crazy!!!! The creative mind can be so illogical. I know for myself if I’m not going for long walks, I am not thinking. Walking is the only thing that keeps my brain moving. Also, spending time with freaks. All my close friends are freaks that cannot be helped by modern science. May God have mercy on their souls.
Tell us everything about your worst show ever. (This can involve venue, audience, other comedians on the lineup — anything!)
One that sticks out is a gig I did in northern British Columbia once. It was at a hockey-sports bar, and they agreed to turn off the TV screens during the show, but they didn’t turn off the buzzer thing that went off automatically when a goal was scored. So several times during my set, a scary light show and sirens would go off and everyone would check their phone to see who scored.
Let’s say we live in a “Kings of Catchphrase Comedy†alternate dimension where every single comedian is required to have a hit catchphrase. What’s yours and why?
I was actually trying to get a catchphrase going. I really wanted “That’s too damn bad†to be my phrase, but it’s tough because that’s not really how I talk. So I kept waiting till the very end of my sets, and I’d just shoehorn in a lot of “That’s too damn badâ€s.
Nominate one comedian you don’t know personally you think is overdue for wider recognition and why you’re a fan of their work.
Mayce Galoni! He’s my boyfriend, but I don’t know him personally. Hoping to meet him one day.
When it comes to your comedy opinions — about material, performing, audience, trends you want to kill/revive, the industry, etc. — what hill will you die on?
I think stand-up comedy as an art form is so pure because honesty always resonates the most with people. If you’re being honest, you’re sure to connect with people, even if it’s just disturbed people like us :).
If you had to come onstage to just one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be and why?
Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,†because that’s always the mission.
What is the best comedy advice, and then the worst comedy advice, you’ve ever received, either when you were starting out or more recently?
Best: Only listen to advice from people you admire. Why would you want advice from someone whose life isn’t how you’d want yours to be?
I’ve gotten lots of bad advice, but I think it’s easy to ignore it when you have people in your life that you look up to. When you find people you trust in life or art or otherwise, ask them about everything. Picking the right people is way more important than picking the right advice.
More From This Series
- 2023’s Comedians You Should Know Reflect on a Big Year
- Zach Zucker Dares to Say Comedy Is About Being Funny
- Sophie Zucker Is Sick of the Irony
- We Promise Zach Zimmerman Was Invited