Name: Olivia Gilmore
Year: Senior
Hometown: Simsbury, Conn.
Major: International Affairs
It takes a significant amount of courage for one to get up in front of a crowd of people and perform, let alone perform standup comedy with the fear that no one will laugh at your jokes. Olivia Gilmore has developed a passion for performing stand-up comedy over the years and has fabricated both her own style and sense of confidence along the way.
“I started improv [comedy] in high school,” Gilmore said. “I was a part of a teen group in Hartford and we took a trip to Chicago in a big van for a convention. We took a class and had a performance at the end. I knew from that experience that I really loved the idea of standup comedy and performing in front of people.”
Gilmore studied abroad in London her freshman year of college, where she really got her feet wet in the comedy world and had further planted her seed. She would join groups on Facebook that included comedians around London and would provide information on different gigs that people could sign up for. “I probably performed about ten times,” Gilmore said. “There are so many comics in London and people that… think they’re funny. I regularly went to a place that was close to my apartment because it would usually have a good crowd.”
When she arrived at Florida State her sophomore year for her remaining undergraduate years, Gilmore took a two-year hiatus from comedy. While she was not actively performing in front of crowds, she would constantly be writing little notes on her phone that she could use in a set. Last November, she became proactive and decided to write out a set that she then presented at Standup Downunder at Club Downunder, an open-mic night for students that occurs on the first Friday of every month. There was a good crowd, people laughed and she was back in her element.
According to Gilmore, Tallahassee has an unexpectedly booming comedy scene; places such as LOL Nachos, Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack and several small locales throughout Railroad Square feature showcases monthly or even two to three times per week. Among all of these places that Gilmore has traveled to for her standup, Club Downunder remains her favorite – its location in the Union on campus makes it an ideal venue because it is both free and accessible to students.
“As far as my humor goes, for the most part, it’s all real experiences I’ve had,” Gilmore said. “Sometimes I do jokes about religion, but I don’t have one set theme. I always try to do something specific to the place I am at or what is happening in the world. I try to open with something relevant.” Some of Gilmore’s greatest comedic inspirations include Hannibal Buress, Demetri Martin, Louis C.K. and America’s dynamic duo: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. She also derives part of her comedic style from The Office and The Mindy Project.
In hopes of following in the footsteps of some of her comedic role models, Gilmore plans to move to Chicago post-graduation to attend Second City or ImprovOlympics, two prestigious enterprises that specialize in improvisational comedy and theatre. The most reputable of comedians have trained here, including several of those from Saturday Night Live. “This year I hope to broaden my range as a comedian because I just started doing improv again, with a group called ‘No Bears Allowed,’” Gilmore said. “I also hope to make comic videos and I would like to be featured or headlined at one of the places here in Tallahassee. If you are featured, you get a 10-minute set. If you are headlined, you get 15 minutes. My sets are now about five minutes long and in reality, as a comedian, I would be performing for a minimum of 30 minutes.”
A common setback for women wishing to pursue comedy is the idea that it is a male-dominated field. While this is true from a numeric standpoint, Gilmore wants to emphasize the importance of getting yourself out there and leaving the doubts behind. “If you are a girl considering standup, a lot are super intimidated by it, but there are like no girls in the scene today in Tallahassee. Just got for it,” she said. “I am a very confident person but you just have to go into it expecting to bomb – you will a few times. You’ll tell your joke and the crowd will just be talking and not paying attention. It depends on the crowd but you just have to know in yourself that you’re doing your best job.”