Cartoon Network comedian and associate writer and producer Cherith Fuller, a 2015 University of Georgia alumna, tells a joke at one of her shows at Dynamic El Dorado Theatre on Jan. 18. Fuller was planning to tour around the United States for the majority of the year but it was canceled due to the spread and rise of COVID-19. “(My) tour got canceled. (My) tour at the end of April is probably canceled too. All comedy shows have stopped,” Fuller said. “(I was supposed to tour in the) Midwest (this month). Texas and Louisiana and that kind of stuff in April and May and then back up to the Midwest in July.” Photo Courtesy of Cherith Fuller
Stand-up comic and Cartoon Network associate writer and producer Cherith Fuller discusses her journey of becoming a comedian and the challenges she has faced.
Writing Coach Elena Webber: Tell me a little about yourself.
Stand-up comic and Cartoon Network associate writer and producer Cherith Fuller: I went to Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, GA, and then I went to the University of Georgia, and I graduated in 2015. I majored in mass media arts with a double minor in English and theater. (In my comedy), I usually talk about dating, sexuality, relationships, intimacy and then online dating, that kind of stuff.
EW: How did you find yourself going into comedy and this type of career?
CF: It’s a complicated story, kind of. So I wanted to be a comedy writer, essentially, like I wanted to be Tina Fey, and so I tried out for the improv troupe at UGA. I did not make it in, and so I was like, ‘Okay, well, I guess I don’t know what I’m going to do now,’ because that was kind of what I was planning on doing. But I knew there was an open mic in Athens, and a couple of my friends had done it and stuff, but I was just too afraid to do it for a long time. I also worked on Tuesdays, which is when open mic was. Eventually, there was a summer where I was living in Athens, but I wasn’t working, and I wasn’t taking classes, so I was like, ‘Okay, well, now’s the time to do it.’ So I decided to just go for it, and I signed up for the open mic.
“Eventually, there was a summer where I was living in Athens, but I wasn’t working, and I wasn’t taking classes, so I was like, ‘Okay, well, now’s the time to do it.’ So I decided to just go for it, and I signed up for the open mic.”
EW: From that first open mic experience, how did you take the steps to get where you are now?
CF: It’s kind of like a snowball effect where I would do open mics. You do open mics with people who run shows, and then they see you do the open mic and they think you’re funny, and then they book you to do the show, and then someone else is on the show and they book you to do their show and then that keeps happening. Sometimes it takes a lot longer for certain people, sometimes it happens really quickly for some people. I’ve been doing comedy for eight years now, and that’s been my trajectory of slowly (building).
EW: You tend to talk about very specific, realistic experiences and topics. How did you discover your “niche” of what your comedy is based around?
CF: A couple years ago, I just kind of started talking more about relationships and intimacy and that kind of stuff, and it started really resonating with people in a way that some of my other jokes, not necessarily hadn’t, but it just was striking more of a chord with people in a way where I was like, ‘Oh, I think this is really something.’ And I know that specifically with writers in general, people a lot of times tend to talk about niching down and stuff, and that’s really how you can find success — when you can kind of niche down, and so you’re not talking about literally anything, but if you can find specifics that you’re really good at talking about. So I was like, ‘OK I’m really good at talking about sexuality, then that’s going to be really powerful. So there’s this quote from Salvador Dali, ‘Freedom is the enemy of creativity,’ which I really believe in, which is like, if you have too much freedom, then there’s no incentive to really dive deeply into any one thing, and if you have constraints on yourself, then it gives you the ability to really dive deeply into your niche.
EW: Do you have any role models that inspire your work?
CF: A couple of my favorite comedians, (one of them is) Rory Scovel — seeing him live was always really great for me, because he does lots of improvised, stand up comedy. A lot of times you can get really jaded as a comedian because you’re just doing the same open mics with the same people, and sometimes you’re not getting opportunities that you want to get and it can make you kind of bitter sometimes, and seeing him live just kind of makes you feel like a kid again sometimes. That always makes me feel really good, so he’s definitely one of my favorites that builds me up.
“A lot of times you can get really jaded as a comedian because you’re just doing the same open mics with the same people, and sometimes you’re not getting opportunities that you want to get and it can make you kind of bitter sometimes, and seeing him live just kind of makes you feel like a kid again sometimes.”
EW: You tend to talk about more mature things. Who would you say your audience is?
CF: I would say my target audience is adults, probably (ages) 23 to 35. I used to think it was (more) women, but I more so think now it actually might be men, which is really interesting but I think (my audience is) kind of split half and half between men and women.
EW: You started a podcast this year. Can you talk a little bit about your process with that?
CF: It’s been really fun. I can’t exactly remember how I decided on the idea, but I knew that I had wanted to start a new podcast, and I wanted to do it by myself. So I decided I want to do it back in November, and then I kind of got all the equipment in December and January, and then sort of recorded everything in January and February, and it’s been very smooth sailing. I don’t have a network or anything, I’m just doing it all myself. It’s been super fun. (For my podcast,) I interview people about their first sexual experience and then, not only that, but then how they’ve grown as a person since then.
EW: What do you hope people gain from listening to your podcast? What is the purpose of it?
CF: People think that their (first sexual) experience is unique in a bad way, where they’re the only person that’s ever experienced it that way and they’re alone, and it’s like nothing like that has ever happened to anyone else. And the more people I talk to, the more I’ve realized that we all have very similar experiences, and no one has ever had an experience that hasn’t been had by many other people. We all are very similar and very alike in a lot of ways.
Comedian and associate writer/producer for Cartoon Network, Cherith Fuller’s cover for her album ‘Cool, Chill Girl’ is shown above. Fuller has been working on the album since August, and it recently came out March 5. “I want it to feel like a whole kind of piece of art. It was recorded by a local punk label, which is really fun, and they helped record it and all that kind of stuff. Then I had someone mix it and everything,” Fuller said. Art by character designer and animator Leigh Huddle. Photo courtesy of Cherith Fuller
EW: Along with your podcast, you recently had your album, ‘Cool, Chill Girl’ come out on March 5. Can you talk a little about that?
CF: I recorded it back in November, and I started putting it together in August, and I kind of started doing some touring, and I started doing out-of-town shows and stuff like that (during that time). I already had all the material that I wanted to (use), it was just a matter of like, ‘Let’s make sure that everything flows together,’ because I wanted a whole cohesive album and not just a bunch of jokes or whatever. I want it to feel like a whole kind of piece of art. It was recorded by a local punk label, which is really fun, and they helped record it and all that kind of stuff. Then I had someone mix it and everything. I’m very excited for it to be done because I’ve been working on it since August. It’s been a labor of love.
Cool, Chill Girl
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EW: What advice would you give younger people who want to do comedy or, like you, don’t know how to get started in whatever career they desire?
CF: I think the really good advice that I’ve always heard — I think it’s Marie Forleo who talks a lot about this — is that you’re never going to be ready. You’re never going to be ready. I knew that’s the way I felt about stand-up is like, ‘Oh, I’m not ready. I gotta wait, I’m not ready, I’m not ready.’ And then eventually I just signed up, and then kind of figured it out (from there) because you’re never going to be ready. No matter what it is, there’s never going to be a time where you’re like, ‘This is it. This is the time where I finally have it figured out,’ because when you start anything, it’s probably not going to be good. And that’s kind of what you want, because you want to start and not be good, so that you can keep going, and then eventually be really good. That’s what you want. That’s what everyone wants. So I think that my advice is always just start. Just wherever you’re at, just start.
*This interview was conducted on Feb. 16 and Fuller’s plans have since been affected by the spread of COVID-19. “(My) tour got canceled. (My) tour at the end of April is probably canceled too. All comedy shows have stopped,” Fuller said. “I’m doing OK because I do have a day job, but a lot of other people who solely depend on comedy are really out of luck.”
