Comedian Amber Wallin and Viewpoints staffer Daniel García-Pozo (left to right) talk over a Zoom call on May 12. Wallin graduated from the University of Georgia and worked as a teacher before getting started as a comedian. “After I left teaching high school, I would see an audition (for improv or comedy) and be like ‘what do I have to lose? I don’t really have a resumé. So, let me just put myself out there,’” Wallin said. Photo by Daniel García-Pozo
Viewpoints staffer Daniel García-Pozo talks with Amber Wallin, a 2009 CCHS alumna, a former ODYSSEY staffer and a social media personality today, about what led her to become a comedian.
Viewpoints staffer Daniel García-Pozo: Coming out of Clarke Central, what were your initial career prospects? What were you looking to do and how did you go about getting there?
Comedian Amber Wallin: Coming out of high school, I was a good ODYSSEY writer for the Viewpoints section. I was like, “I should just be a journalist,” because that would make the most sense. When I went to UGA, I studied journalism and I really did enjoy it. I think I enjoyed writing and having a written voice more than the actual digging up of interviews and things like that. I slowly started discovering that journalism really wasn’t my path, (and) after senior year of college, I got a little bit nervous about finding a career in the journalism field. I needed to make money because I had all this college debt. So, senior year at (the University of Georgia), I decided to apply to this program called Teach For America. It’s basically a teacher service program, and when you apply, you get to pick ten major U.S. cities that you would like to work in.
Comedian Amber Wallin, a 2009 Clarke Central High School graduate, poses for a photo in the 2009 edition of the Gladius Yearbook. While at CCHS, Wallin was a Viewpoints staffer for the ODYSSEY Media Group, which allowed her to develop a voice as a writer and speaker. “(Writing an editorial) is like storytelling. At the time, journalism was a great medium for that,” Wallin said. Photo courtesy of the Gladius Yearbook
DGP: What can you tell me about your career as an educator?
AW: I was a special education teacher for two years. I co-taught geometry. I did two years of diverse learning teaching and then I taught geometry for two years. My fifth year of teaching, which was my last year, I was a college counselor. I kept moving departments because I knew what I wanted to do was perform and be an entertainer. I kept thinking, “Maybe if I switch up my role at the school, I’ll be more fulfilled.” Eventually, I was like, “I just don’t want to teach,” but I was good at it. Your best teachers are your most entertaining teachers, your improvisers, your comedy queens.
DGP: And is that what made you transition from education to comedy?
AW: I was so invested in things that did not have to do with teaching. I finally decided, “I probably should just listen to my instinct and try to actually pursue my dreams.” That (interest) was always there — it was in my written voice, it was in my teaching style, but it’s really hard to be a working actor or a working comedian. I needed some money, and then I got married. So, pro-tip: get married.
DGP: What about Chicago makes it a good place for comedians like yourself?
AW: There are so many theaters and so many communities here. Even when I first started trying to do comedy in Chicago, I met someone and they were like, “Let me add you to all of the Facebook groups.” There’s women in comedy Facebook groups, and then there’s (groups for) Black people doing comedy, artists of color and queer artists. It was a lot easier for me to navigate because of those communities that have already been founded. I think it would be really hard to do, honestly, in Athens or something, (but) if you want to do comedy in Chicago, it’s not hard to find those groups. Second City is in Chicago, and a lot of the working comedians now have done a stint in Chicago. In the (time before the pandemic), there were three major hubs in Chicago: Second City, Improv Olympics and the Annoyance Theater & Bar. A lot of the people that you currently see on (Saturday Night Live) or with their own shows and content came through there. If you want to see storefront theater that’s really high quality and if you want to see comedians, everything from stand-up to sketches to improv, Chicago is a really great city for that.
DGP: Was there something that inspired your comedic mindset and your style of comedy?
AW: There are so many things. I was the kind of kid who was just always very animated. When I was in college, I saw the series “Awkward Black Girl” that Issa Rae created. Everybody loves “Insecure” now, but this was “Awkward Black Girl” and it was just a YouTube web series. That (told)me that I didn’t need to wait on a production company to discover me like that, (so) that was sort of the tipping point for me. We have these ideas in our minds that in order to be a performer, we have to sort of wait in line to be on the stage. Whereas now, (social media) is the stage. I can just make a video and post it to TikTok. The gears in my mind started turning about (the fact that) I could just make a career (for myself by) posting videos online. Our generations are sort of creating those outlets because of the proliferation of technology.
DGP: What made you choose TikTok as your social media platform?
AW: Oh, TikTok! You know, I fought it for so long because I was told the average age is (around) sixteen and I’m thirty. I was like, “Why do people keep telling me I gotta get on TikTok?” So, I’ve only had it since December. I have been making videos of me, Ben (my husband) and my crazy life on the internet for the past couple years, though. I started doing them on Snapchat, and obviously (that content is) gone in twenty-four hours. Then people were like “you gotta save some of these, you gotta make a YouTube page,” so I started making a YouTube page with funny characters and things like that. That was when I was teaching, so that slowly went out because it’s hard to make long-form content when you have a full-time job. During the pandemic, everybody was like, “You gotta get on TikTok, we promise you.” So, I gave in (during) December of 2020, and it’s actually been really successful to be quite honest.
Click on the video to watch Comedian Amber Wallin talk about how she began using TikTok as a platform for her content. Video by Daniel García-Pozo
DGP: What are the benefits of using your chosen social media platform?
AW: I’m not a computer science person, but TikTok’s algorithm really supports it. It disseminates your videos to people outside of your contact bubble. I don’t understand how it works, but there’s something about it that gives you true, organic followers and viewership with people that do not know you. What the algorithm does is, if you create content and feed that beast, it’ll take one of your videos to the top. It rewards you for being on the app longer, and eventually it rewards you monetarily as well if you keep working at it. It really incentivizes you as a creator. It calls you a creator. There is a level of pride and ownership that you have in finally being called a creator, because no other app really calls you that. You’re like “I am a creator!” There’s something so powerful in being called what you have always felt like and that makes you want to stay on this app.
DGP: I’ve noticed that in much of the content you post, the comedy comes from your daily life. Is there something about your daily life that inspires you?
AW: The inspiration can be something so simple. At this point, I try to create a video for every inconvenience that I face in my life. That’s how I connect with people all the time. Earlier today, I couldn’t find my Airpods. I was like, “I gotta write a sketch about how annoying it is when you don’t have headphones.” Any little thing, any inconvenience that I face just moving through my day, I try to make that into a video. I really specialize in relatable content. In comedy there always has to be a level of truth to what you do. You can make a hyperbole out of something, right? What if the truth was that I lost my wallet? Then in my brain, I’ll raise the stakes. “What if I lost my car? What if I lost my baby? Okay, let’s go with that one.” The truth is that I lost something, but (losing a wallet) is what everybody did. And (the exaggeration) is what the video needs to be. There’s a level of relatability that gets (the audience) to watch the video, but there’s a level of “well I’m not as crazy as her” that makes them stay in it.
“At this point, I try to create a video for every inconvenience that I face in my life. That’s how I connect with people all the time.”
— Amber Wallin,
Comedian
DGP: How do you believe you interact with your audience through social media?
AW: Any content I make with me and Ben, I really try to do a good job of making people think that they are in (our) home with us. Maybe they’re the dog, or whatever this third party is, because there is that third medium. There’s you, me, and there’s how people interact with the content. I just try to do my best to make (the audience) feel a part of the scene in some way. Sometimes I’ll even start a video being like “y’all ain’t gonna believe this,” and then it’s the scene. They feel that “Amber is not talking to one thousand people, she’s talking to me.” That’s kind of the magic of TikTok, really. You feel like “this is my little feed and this is my little secret.” It’s interesting because sometimes people start arguing in the comments about something, and theyŕe going back and forth together. You kind of have to let them do that. You go to an art gallery, and the art that two people are arguing over would never talk back to them. I created relatable content that made you think you know me, so I can’t argue with you in the comments about how y’all don’t know who I actually am. I tried to tell a lot of creators who get on this app: do not respond to any hostile comments. When people argue, more people look at the video and (your response) has nothing to do with how the (the audience) interacts with your art. How (the audience) interacts with my art is none of my business.
DGP: What advice would you give to aspiring comedians, especially those who want to use social media platforms like yourself?
AW: I would say start creating now. Even if you don’t think it’s funny, just post it. What people, comedy people, do (say to me is), “I don’t know anything about you. How does it feel to be new to this?” I’ve been posting videos online in fifteen different places for the past ten years. You just met me because I’ve only been on this app for (a short amount of time). It feels really exciting to say, “I’ve been a comedian for ten years.” If you are a new creator, start the TikTok, start the YouTube, post it and detach from the comments. The more you post, the thicker your skin gets because acting and creating has so much rejection. If you put as many things out there as you can, even if it’s not a knee-slapper, then let it live and let it exist and build that portfolio as soon as possible. That would be my biggest piece of advice.
