We recently had the chance to connect with Sam Varela aka Naked Comedy Productions and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Sam, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Wow the first few HOURS are always a blur with ADHD. Every morning my body fights to keep me asleep in bed and my mind wonders why I don’t just keep sleeping. It isn’t until I take my ADHD medication that my mind starts to come online and usually jump right into social media promotion for my various shows.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Sam Varela, and I’ve been producing comedy events for the last 17+ years! I currently work mostly in LA & NY, but I’ve produced shows all over America and even Canada for various theaters and festivals! I started as a comedy fan who wanted to give back to the comedy economy as a non performer and I found that producing was a great way to help amplify my favorite performers! It is also important to me to make comedy more accessible to everyone through efforts like livestreaming, making accommodations for plus sized and disabled needs, and platforming a diverse array of performers from various backgrounds and gender identities. Currently I am trying to make my brand more of a person to person community by emphasizing the importance of coming together and supporting each other. One of these efforts has been incorporating mutual aid volunteering into one of my shows. It’s been wonderful to find a way to support my community beyond just providing space and time to escape the world into laughter and joy.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Growing up as an undiagnosed autistic child with complicated boomer parents that moved around a lot, I was alone and consumed with my thoughts for most of my childhood. Eventually I found a friend group in High School that introduced me to comedy as a genre via stand up comedy albums and most notably the TV show Mr. Show with Bob & David. Comedy was the first thing to fully rip me out of my head and bring me moments of pure joy, and soon I was hooked on stand up albums, comedy podcasts, and niche/cult favorite comedy television and movies. Through comedy I naturally found a path for my future, and it was based on making sure the emotional outlet of comedy would always be available to other lonely little kids to help inspire them to find what brings them joy worth living for.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Oh boy, well I think better understanding where my personal pain and trauma comes from helps me better understand my audiences. I don’t see my audiences as just ticket buying dollar signs, I see each follower and attendee as an extension of some part of myself. They are looking for joy and on some level to be with community, just like I was as a lonely child. When I see people connecting as strongly with the same stand up bits or show references as I do, I know we share some core views on life and that makes me feel less lonely. I think vulnerability and emotional connection are superpowers and I’m honored to say my audience is full of superheroes.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
It still surprises me that community is not as important to all people since we all rely on many communities every day. A core truth for me is that community is lifesaving, and that community only exists if everyone participates in the upkeep. Whether that is financially supporting local or small businesses, volunteering to help keep certain organizations alive, politically aligning with the greater good over individual success, or just making the effort to stay connected in a world that is getting better at isolating people every day.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that I am remembered as someone that tried to make progress for the greater good in the professional comedy community. I am very proud that I was part of the fights for comedy venues in LA to pay comedians in the early 2010’s, and that even on shows where no one makes more than $10 each I will continue to keep profit splits as equal as possible so no one feels exploited. I fought hard for all live comedy shows to diversify their lineups, and I will continue to produce diverse comedy shows even if many comedy institutions have taken the dismissal of DEI as an excuse to return to booking primarily white cis male lineups. And now that the world is being shaken to it’s core, I am working to keep our comedy community connected and supported, even as coastal housing prices and political fearmongering rip people physically out of their home bases. Whether someone agrees with my point of view or not, I hope that people can see that I always worked towards the goal of helping those around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nakedcomedy.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nakedcomedy
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/NakedComedy
- Other: Twitch.TV/NakedComedy
Tumblr.com/NakedComedyFollow some of my individual show accounts as well!
1) Picture This!, the ONLY live animated comedy show!
Live in Los Angeles, New York, and Livestreaming on Youtube!
PictureThisShow.com
Tumblr.com/PictureThisShow
Instagram.com/PictureThisComedy
Youtube.com/@PictureThisComedy2) Roomies, a weekly weird & queer’d comedy show!
Every Tuesday 8pm at The Elysian Theater & Livestreaming on Twitch!
Follow us on instagram.com/roomies.comedy
Image Credits
Photos by Tim Aarons, Andrew Levy, John Michael Bond and Mike Bryk
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
