Photo Credit: Tina Servaes
Stand-up comedian, Taylor Tomlinson, roused a chorus of laughter on Feb. 27 in the HUB Hage Room. Audience members may have been surprised that the comedian, with five years of professional comedy experience, was only 21 years old. Others were surprised to find out Tomlinson was a girl, initially confused by her androgynous name.
Those weren’t the only surprises of the night. Tomlinson started her routine by picking on audience members and engaging them in conversation. Two of her victims were sophomore, Vianca Ramirez and her boyfriend, of whom she met in a class called “Spatial Organization of Everyday Life.” Tomlinson made jokes about the start of their relationship, assuming they just inserted themselves into the other’s space. “I thought it was amazing and extremely hilarious, considering we were part of the act,” said Ramirez.
Tomlinson has been performing comedy since she was 16 years old. She recently dropped out of community college, and now she performs at colleges and clubs trying to “clock as many hours as possible.” She wants to gain experience because in the comedy world, five years is not a long time. When asked about how she comes up with her jokes, some prepared and some ad-libbed, Tomlinson said, “just my life, just what I see.” That approach works great when her audience is made up of college kids. Sophomore Christina Lanfranchi agreed. “I liked how she’s our age, because it made her comedy more relatable,” Lanfranchi said.
The next step in Tomlinson’s career is to keep performing. Her next shows will take her to Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, Vermont and New York. For aspiring comedians who would love to be able to do that, Tomlinson’s advice is “Just get on stage as much as possible…the only way to get better is to do it in front of people.”
When asked if she had any special talents, Tomlinson admitted that comedy was usually her go-to answer to that question. “I can do that thing where you burrito your tongue,” she said, and demonstrated. But she’s pretty sure everyone can do that.
For information and videos of Taylor Tomlinson, visit her website www.ttomcomedy.com.