Meet Karan Menon

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karan Menon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Karan, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

When I started doing stand-up comedy in 2019, I was not very good, and I knew I was not very good, and that awareness of the gap between where I was and where I wanted to be was very intimidating. I was really self-critical, and that almost stopped me from getting into comedy before I had even begun. But a teacher gave me advice early on that really helped: she said that my goal shouldn’t be to be good now, but to be good in 5 years. That helped take a lot of the pressure off myself. I started going to open mics every night and pretty much bombing for a whole summer, but it didn’t matter because I was treating it as a numbers game. I was like a scientist. With each performance, I’d take note of what worked and what didn’t work, discard what didn’t work, tweak what worked, and try again the next day. And slowly, I started to watch myself improve.

More importantly, once I stopped comparing my current skill level to this idealistic vision of excellence I had in my head, I began to realize that where I was now was honestly pretty great. I began to find these unexpected things about myself which didn’t fit into that vision, but were getting laughs from the audience – the way I gestured with my hands, the way I awkwardly looked at the floor after delivering a punchline, etc – and I started to understand and appreciate the things that made me uniquely me. And I think that became a foundation on which I could start building a real feeling of confidence.

It’s now been more than 5 years since I started stand-up, and I have had some moderate success at it, but I think in many ways I’m still developing my confidence and self-esteem. Especially as I’ve branched into screenwriting, acting, and more recently directing, I’ve found similar feelings of self-doubt and “I know I’m not good, I have to be better” creep in. When that happens I keep trying to go back to that reminder that I don’t have to be good right now, or in fact, ever. And use that as a place to start appreciating the good in where I am. I try to ask myself things like, what if I never achieved any of these future goals I have planned for myself? What if this is the best I ever get? Could I still be okay with myself? It’s way easier said than done, but I think only in those moments where you slow down and accept where you are, do you actually gain the freedom to make real progress.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m an LA-based writer, comedian, actor, and filmmaker born and raised in New Jersey. I love adapting my ideas to whichever medium best serves them, but at the heart of everything I create is comedy as a tool for addressing real-world topics through an honest, personal lens. I got my start during the politically charged summer of 2020, creating internet sketches that broke down complex social issues using comedic analogies for a Gen Z audience. These sketches made heavy topics more entertaining and digestible, and I quickly realized the power of humor in delivering meaningful messages.

More recently, my work has shifted from political news toward more personal and nuanced topics, such as masculinity, online echo chambers, and the current loneliness epidemic. This progression has taken me from sketches into longer form media like TV pilots and features, and most recently my short film How to Make Friends, a multi-media documentary on the struggle of male friendship. Whether through a script or a stand-up set, my goal is to provoke thought while keeping audiences engaged. I aim to blend humor with deeper truths, leaving people entertained, informed, and maybe even a little uncomfortable about the state of things—because discomfort can be the spark that inspires change.

Info: You can find my videos on all platforms @thekaranmenon.

Events: You can also see me telling stories in SF Feb 27-28 for the Crushing showcase, catch my doc How to Make Friends at the Phoenix Film Festival this coming April, and watch me do some live sketches at the Elysian in LA in early May.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, three qualities have been the most impactful in my journey: trusting my gut, consistent work ethic, and collaboration. Trusting my gut seems to be the muscle that powers all my best art. It helps me create work that’s uniquely mine, but it can also be scary —especially in an era where there’s so much pressure to follow easy templates that might churn out more content but lack substance or personal perspective. Pairing that instinct with a strong work ethic is key; being willing to consistently set aside time and buckle down so that things actually get made. Collaboration may be the most important skill of all. I’m definitely guilty of trying to do everything solo, but there’s only so much you can do by yourself past a certain point. Learning to work with others is challenging, but I’ve found it humbles me, helps me grow, and forces me to rethink and refine my ideas in ways I couldn’t on my own.

I’m definitely still early in my own journey, but my best advice to anyone starting out is to find your group of like-minded people—folks you trust to give feedback on your ideas. This could be a weekly writer’s group, or even just a few friends who love brainstorming – any setup where you can share work regularly, so you become comfortable with the idea of showing people your stuff, getting notes, and applying them. Find collaborators who are not only kind and fun to work with but also willing to challenge your perspective rather than just agree with everything. Those kinds of relationships will help you grow both personally and creatively.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I’m currently working on a rewrite of my first feature, which has been both exciting and incredibly challenging. It’s a much more complex and lengthy format than my usual comedy sketches, stand-up, or even short films, but I know in my gut that if I can pull it off, it will be the most rewarding project I’ve ever worked on. It’s giving me the scope to explore bigger, more nuanced ideas that short-form comedy doesn’t allow for, but it’s also requiring me to develop an entirely new set of skills—like writing character, tactics, relationships, and scene and sequence structure. I’ve had to restart my writing and filmmaking education by diving into screenwriting books, taking extensive notes, and even joining acting classes to better understand how good actors approach the material. Sometimes, the goal of finishing feels daunting, like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, so I’m working on breaking it into smaller, manageable goals—daily exercises to build the foundational skills I need, like writing a scene a day. It’s a slow process, but I’m learning (hopefully) that every small step counts toward the bigger picture, and my writers group has been an incredible source of inspiration and support.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Vince Trupsin
More Perfect Union

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