Chrissie Mayr is an anomaly in a profession where she should be the standard. Comedy is supposed to be a source of happiness where people can find realizations about reality through the lens of humor, but in today’s world plagued with the demands that you please a “modern audience,” too many comedians are willing to forego the hilarious truth for egregiously unfunny political correctness.
But not Mayr. The red-headed woman is quickly becoming a firebrand for having the ability to do something most comedians are unwilling to do; tell the truth, especially in the face of those who really don’t want to hear it.
You’ve likely seen Mayr a couple of times in the news lately. Firstly, in a story concerning American Airlines where Mayr and her friend Keanu Thompson were forced by American Airlines staff to change their clothes at the gate, but Mayr would reappear on your phone screens shortly after, this time for not holding back against a group of social justice-obsessed women during one of her shows. The viral video caught the attention of the nation and made Mayr something of an overnight hero.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Mayr told a joke about transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney, prompting some women just off to the right of the stage to become angry and storm out, throwing a parting shot at Mayr by calling her a “transphobe.” Mayr expertly used the moment to create comedy with a devestating return.
It’s the long awaited TRANS JOKE walk out moment from my show in Dallas last week!!
— Chrissie Mayr🇺🇸 (@ChrissieMayr) May 11, 2023
Enjoy! 🐘🐘🐘 pic.twitter.com/WgiMSZrmZC
“I had a year’s worth of viral moments in just a couple of weeks,” joked Mayr.
While Mayr lamented her comedy won’t reach people like those women, she believes it can reach the “people in the middle who feel politically homeless.” Considering that most people are considered evil right-wingers for falling somewhere to the right of Marx, there are a lot of ideological vagabonds. Mayr confessed that she used to be a leftist as well, but now finds herself being labeled “alt-right” for merely wanting basic things like a secure border.
But hecklers like the women at her comedy show do have their uses. In fact, Mayr welcomes people just like them.
“Hecklers can honestly be a blessing sometimes during a show because it can unite the whole room together,” she told RedState.
Mayr said it was her job to charm everybody in the room and win them over and she finds that if people are getting disruptive, throwing them out is a last resort.
“I love crowd work,” she continued. “It’s maybe 30 to 40 percent of my set sometimes. Most comedians will have people thrown out. I never like to throw anybody out. Even these women, I wouldn’t have thrown them out.”
Mayr is willing to have a conversation in the midst of her set, a comedic one, but a conversation nonetheless. This is a risky move with stand-up comedy because any interaction with the crowd carries a heavy risk of bombing. Mayr is one of those comedians willing to take that risk with no punchline in mind because she knows the secret to get a laugh in these situations.
“Comedy is just saying the honest thing at the moment,” said Mayr.
Some of that know-how and confidence is due to her five-year-long background in improv comedy work before she ever did stand-up. In fact, Mayr has a history in comedy that goes back to interning on Conan O’Brien’s late night show and after originally planning on a career in journalism, she found it too boring for her taste and realized that her no-holds barred personality was better suited for the comedy world.
However, not every comedian is willing to go all-in like Mayr, a fact that surprised her during the pandemic.
“Everyone gets into standup for different reasons, and that was made so clear to me over the pandemic,” Mayr told RedState. “I thought I’d have so many comedians joining me and saying ‘f*** this, we’re not going to perform anywhere that has a mandate,’ and speaking out against this required mandated medical experiment.”
Sadly, many comedians backed down from standing up against the vaccine mandates, leaving Mayr the first of a few to actually boycott venues that upheld ridiculous Covid rules. Eventually, she’d be joined by bigger names in comedy like Jim Breuer, but as Mayr lamented “It was me and crickets for a long time.”
Mayr pointed out that many comedians in the business agreed with her in private but didn’t want to rock the boat for fear of losing out on opportunities that could lead to mainstream success or, like Mayr, be saddled with a ridiculous label.
“Name calling is what weak people do instead of having a conversation,” Mayr told RedState. “F*** em. I’d rather be called alt-right and say what I want than be creatively stifled under the boot of woke Hollywood.”
“I wish comedians wouldn’t worry so much about their reputations and would just say what needs to be said,” she continued. “They’re so worried about being labeled alt-right for speaking out against anything. They’re either scared of losing work or they’re in lockstep with the mainstream media which if that’s the case, why do we need to hear your voice?”
It’s a solid question for other comedians to answer given the nature of comedy. You can often find the truth revealed through absurdity or humor, and avoiding saying true things while claiming to be funny makes for a pretty unfunny brand of comedy that can hardly be considered comedy at all. While comedy is there for everyone to have a good time, one of the byproducts of it is critical thought and the deconstruction of sacred cows. If you’re not willing to do that, then why get into comedy at all?
Comedy takes cajones, yet Mayr is one of the few who actually has them.
One thing that’s pretty incredible about Mayr is that she’s getting her name out there with one hand tied behind her back. Unlike many comedians, she doesn’t use any agencies that promote her or pair her with a bigger name to grow her brand whenever they’re contracted to do a venue. She’s climbing to public awareness through constant hard work.
When Mayr isn’t doing stand-up you can find her hosting or taking part in a myriad of online shows, many of which she hosts herself from her own YouTube Channel. This includes the “Chrissie Mayr Podcast,” where she features an asortment of guests and the popular “Simpcast” which gathers women influencers and talks about various topics. You’ll also find her on “Friday Night Tights” on Nerdrotic’s YouTube channel, which has become one of the most influential live shows surrounding pop-culture on the platform.
That’s not even mentioning her ever-growing Twitter and Instagram presence.
Mayr is hell bent on climbing the ranks through honest merit, which she points out is far more valuable than her getting gigs just for being a woman in comedy through diversity quotas which she wholeheartedly denounces.
“If you’re truly the best and great at what you do then people will know it,” said Mayr. “So you don’t need to have a token diversity quota or female quota, you need to bust your balls harder.”
Mayr pointed out that while there are clubs that will book a woman simply because they need one for diversity reasons, a comedianne can use that goodwill up quickly by not actually putting their best foot forward and resting on their identity.
“That runs out quickly,” she said. “If you suck, they’ll put another token woman on the show.”
Mayr noted that if you’re overly concerned with your image, then comedy probably isn’t the job for you and one should probably just try to get into acting.
“You can’t be a comic and be overly worried about everything you’re saying,” Mayr told RedState.
And in today’s day and age, comedians cannot be too concerned about the jokes they tell. As Mayr pointed out, anything you say can be thrown up on the internet for you to be judged by vs. the 80s and 90s when even the wildest jokes told in the moment were just there for that particular crowd and in that particular show.
But Mayr said she doesn’t have to tell wild jokes get laughter. Today, sometimes she just has to say the truth, and hearing it will get a laugh from the crowd.
“A laugh is a realization of truth,” said Mayr. “It’s a visceral acknowledgment of truth. It’s your bodies way of saying you’re onto something.”
And Mayr will make you laugh. The trouble is getting booked at venues. Since she’s not with a talent agency, Mayr does all of her booking herself. She often has to make the case to clubs, pointing out her following and showing her work. That said, Mayr told me how people can help get her, and comedians like her, booked in clubs.
“They won’t know they want me there unless people reach out to them and tell them,” said Mayr.
She advised that to get her booked in your area, message your local comedy club on social media and tag her along with the message or call or email them and tell them you want to see her perform live. Encourage your friends to do so as well. This will eventually result in an invite for Mayr to perform.
People like her definitely need to have a much wider reach. True comedy can be a rarity nowadays, especially in the mainstream, but it doesn’t mean it’s not out there. Mayr is a testament to this, and the more people like her who are storming the proverbial beaches that are local comedy clubs, the better.
The country could use a good laugh, and an honest laugh at that.
