As part of We Own The Laughs.com’s Comedian of the Day, have a few laughs and get to know comedian Melanie Baldonado. The Oxnard, CA native shares some of her favorite moments in stand-up comedy and lets us know how she always owns the laughs.
Name: Melanie Baldonado
Hometown: Oxnard/Los Angeles, CA (The Valley)
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat/Tik-Tok: @melaniebcomedy
Years in Comedy: 13
Haven’t we seen you somewhere before: Background in a lot of movies, but keep your eyes open because someday my face will be on billboards and movie posters.
Comedic Influences: Carol Burnette, John Leguizamo, Natasha Leggero, & Ali Wong
Favorite Comedy Album: Richard Jeni “Big Steaming Pile Of Me”
Favorite Comedy Special: Too many to name, but I think that the way Hassan Manaj’s “Homecoming King” was filmed was incredible.
Favorite Comedy Movie: The Sandlot
Favorite Comedy TV Show: I’ll divide this into eras: Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers, Scrubs, and currently I can’t get enough of Abbot Elementary.
Favorite Comedic Character: El Chavo because he made me laugh more than anyone as a kid.
Favorite City to Perform In: Home Sweet Home, specifically Levity Live in Oxnard. I’m always more nervous to come home and perform than anywhere else in the world, but it means the world to me to be there on a stage that belongs to The Improv family.
Favorite Topics to Joke About: Family
Favorite Type of Audience for a Comedy Show: An audience that claps,(and not snaps) when they agree. The snapping throws me off- It’s a comedy club, not a golf course.
Favorite Comedy Club: So far, The San Jose Improv and Standup Live in Phoenix are in my top two.
How did you discover your passion for comedy:
By Divine Intervention.
What do you remember most about your first time performing stand-up comedy:
That after dying for two minutes and getting that first laugh in the third minute, I knew that this was my calling.
How would you describe your comedic style:
Gymnastics with punchlines.
Describe your process for comedic writing:
Jotting down premises, overwriting, overthinking, then trimming down, then overthinking, then trimming down.
Describe the comedy scene in your area:
Competitive in terms of spots, not competitive in terms of energy. In the rare occassions I’ve felt someone’s competitive energy, it’s a turn-off. Success is a plateau, not a mountain, and I want to reside there with friends and not people who were trying to beat me to it.
How do you judge success in the world of comedy:
Subjective. Some people want stadiums, some want to be club regulars, some are happy to be on the road, doing what they love, and coming home and spending time with family and raising their kids.
Who are some of your comedic peers that you enjoy watching perform or inspire you personally and professionally:
Christine Little, because she is a good joke writer, a good performer, and has a style that is authentic to Christine. Steph Clark because she is funny and is a good show producer and one of the hardest working people I know.
What’s been your most memorable moment in comedy:
When I went on Kill Tony and Joe Rogan told me, “That was a good joke.”
What have you learned most from your failures in comedy:
That it takes a least 15x of you being consistently good to be trusted after a failure.
How do people react toward you when they realize that you can make people laugh:
The well-balanced people say things like, “That’s cool, what do you talk about onstage?” Then there’s the poorly socialized people who say, “I didn’t know women were funny…” … “Tell me a joke….” …. “Do you talk about periods? … “But why are so many female comedians so vulgar?…”
Describe building a career in stand-up comedy:
Difficult, but like everything else, I trust that God has me here for a reason so I’m not going to ever give up.
If you could change one thing in the world of comedy, what would it be:
TV credit comics who are funny 1/2 of the time get more stage time than comics who can kill for the entirety of their time onstage.
Best advice you’ve ever received from a comedian:
Speak your truth and make it funny.
If you were releasing a comedy special this week, what would it be called:
“Big Brother Issues”
Funniest encounter you’ve ever had with a celebrity:
Keanu Reeves. He came to my table and asked if I was using an empty chair, and I said, “You can have it, but aren’t you going to at least say hello first?” He was so familiar to me I thought I knew him. I didn’t.
Weirdest place you’ve ever performed any form of comedy:
A halfway home on Mother’s Day. It was for women who earned a day out of jail to see their kids, and most of them didn’t want to see anyone but their offspring.
A Melanie Baldonado Fun Fact:
I am a former rugby player.
Where would you like your laughs to take you:
Selling out The Hollywood Bowl for my one-person show at the same time that I have a top rated comedy special out.
What would you tell a potential comedian if they ask you how they can own the laughs:
Pray every day, and you won’t know if you like standup until you actually try it.
What are your thoughts on the future of comedy:
As long as stand-up comedians are holding the line America will always have free speech, and anyone who says “comedy is dead” probably had racist and misogynistic sets and is bothered that they have to write jokes that aren’t from the 1980’s.
If you could write one episode for one classic TV sitcom which show would it be and give a brief detailed sentence on the episode:
Cheers: Carla Meets Her Future Step-Mom; and it’s Sam’s Ex.
If you could choose 1 comedy club and 3 comedians to perform with on your perfect comedy show, how would it go:
You know this is a tough question, right? It would be The Comedy Store (Main Room), and the comics would be Alfred Robles, Taylor Tomlinson, and Aiko Tanaka.
What’s next for you:
Summer travel for comedy and hopefully getting on a show as a writer. (Prayers up!)
Why should a person always laugh at life:
Laughter is evidence that God wants his children to happy.
Follow Melanie Baldonado’s comedic journey on these social media websites:
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat/Tik-Tok: Melanie Baldonado
Youtube: Melanie Baldonado
Personal Website: Melanie Baldonado
