Comedian Janel Hamster chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her comedic inspirations, winning the popular vote of a local comedy contest and she shared her future plans.
How did it feel to win the popular vote of the Dan Romano comedy contest?
I feel so many things. I was the winner of the popular vote, as well as the Runner-Up overall, which I consider significant achievements and honors. When I entered the contest, I had no expectations to advance, let alone be so well-received in the finals.
I am very grateful for the experience of competing, for the opportunity to showcase my comedy to professionals and fans via live audience and pay-per-view streaming, and for the reception of the judges and voting viewers.
What inspires your comedy routine?
My current comedy routine is inspired by my life. I have been writing my own material for barely four months and performing for even less time than that. What has inspired my comedy in that short time are the corners and stories of my life, particularly over the past few years, that have directly culminated in me finally forcing myself on stage to perform stand-up- something I couldn’t fathom ever actually trying about one year ago.
In my current routines, I’ve tried to span some light, dark, and mundane aspects of my life and balance them against each other. I don’t want to treat any subject as off-limits or limit myself to focus on one niche of experience. I don’t want to take my life that seriously.
Can you tell us about the December 2nd event in Massapequa?
The December 2nd comedy night at McCann’s in Massapequa is shaping up to be such a great show. You can expect a well-deserved night out where you can enjoy food, drinks, and a great show with a quality lineup of comics with unique styles, including Jenn Feldy, Pat Marone, Frank Failla, Tugboat Manny, and a true star of a Headliner who I am excited to work with, Eric Tartaglione.
You can expect to see me perform as a newcomer. I can promise you that I’ll use my desperation for your approval as fuel to keep up with the pros. You can also expect to be etched in my long-term memory as part of one of my earliest comedy milestones.
What do your plans for the future include?
I’ve made it a point to make fewer plans for the future. I get in my own way when I plan too far ahead. Since starting with comedy, my plan has been to take every opportunity I can get, to continue working on improving my material and style to gain comfort and confidence in performing and to keep showing up.
Embracing new opportunities and continually putting myself out there has already gotten me so much further and has opened more doors than I could have dreamed of or anticipated at this point when I first started. My plan is to remain open and see where I can go if I don’t limit myself with ideas of where I’m supposed to be.
Who were your biggest influences growing up?
I wish I could give a less cliché answer, but my biggest influences were and likely still are my parents. I have grown into a very different person from either of them, but they are in or have informed every part of who I am.
Even more significant than personal characteristics, their support has been essential to me in guiding my life, making choices, and taking risks. I’ve pushed myself further because I’m less afraid to fail to know that failure has no bearing on their love, pride, or how they see me.
What does the word success mean to you?
This is a loaded question. The short answer is: it depends. “Success” can mean so many things, even to me, that I can’t even begin to touch upon here. I’ll spare you the full analysis and stick to one meaning of “success” that I jump out as important.
Success is not a thing you can achieve and keep, or a goal or status you reach. Success is not found in the doing or achieving of a thing, but in the feeling of satisfaction or meaning that results from that thing– the value that achievement culminates in.
It’s easy to play it fast and loose with the words “achievement” and “success”. Mere achievement doesn’t necessarily amount to success unless the sacrifices and efforts made to achieve that goal was worth it. Completing a task is an achievement, but it is not “success” in the way that matters.
To that end, I would characterize failing to achieve set goals as a success if, through the effort and experience of setting out to achieve that goal, you nonetheless derived legitimate value. On a small-scale, success may be when you take a taxi somewhere and, upon exiting the vehicle, managing to not say “bye, love you” to the driver. But, if my awkward slip to the driver makes him laugh, then my failure to achieve my goal of being normal for once offered you (and the driver) more value, which, I would argue, is nonetheless a successful interaction.
If you look up the actual definition of “success”, you’ll get “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” I suppose my “aim or purpose” is that, in the aggregate, my life was a life worth living. Ultimately, I think I might have lived a successful life if I look back on my achievements and experiences and can say that the value and experience of living my life was worth the effort and sacrifice I put into it.
This has all been too deep. I promise that my comedy routine includes no academic lectures at this point.
To learn more about Janel Hamster, visit her website, and follow her on Instagram.
