“For me, public speaking has always been interesting. I have chronic anxiety, and it is something I like to be open about with people. Sometimes I have no problem with public speaking, and other times it can be a challenge. So I always thought, I don’t know if I can do that (standup comedy),” said Longwood University alumna Rebecca “Becca” Lundberg.
Lundberg’s day job consists of being a fulltime product coordinator at US News and World Report, where she helps write content, enters data and works in public relations. But her “night job,” where she usually gets paid mostly in beer, consists of doing stand-up comedy.
She has always loved comedy. All through college, Lundberg watched stand-up comedy specials where she watched comedians stand for an hour straight and tell jokes. She was intimidated. Because of her anxiety, Lundberg though it was never something she could ever do. Although, she has always thought of herself as a “pretty funny person.”
But, after going to her first open mic night in Washington, D.C. last spring to watch other comedians tell jokes, she realized that amateur stand-up comedy is a lot different from what people see on television. She also realized that stand-up comedians just starting out tend to do short, five minute sets and of course, she thought she was a lot funnier than most stand-up comics in the D.C. area.
“I realized that it wasn’t that intimidating. I realized I am funnier than most of these people. I said to myself that I can do it. I decided to go for it after I finished up school, and I love the energy and decided it was something I wanted to start doing,” she said.
Almost a month after watching her first stand up show, she decided to reach out to comedians and bar owners in order to start performing herself. Lundberg sent email after email, made phone call after phone call and finally performed at her first comedy show in late July that she found through a man who helps new comics find shows.
“The number one thing I make fun of is myself. I think it helps with my confidence a lot because I am able to look at my flaws and quirks and acknowledge them,” said Lundberg.
Lundberg said that she only occasionally sits down and writes her own jokes before performances, but prefers to just take her own life experiences and inspirations in the moment when she goes up on stage.
“I typically take my own experiences and exaggerate them. All my jokes are based off real life experiences, but I like to take it a step forward and be overboard about it. I like to start with the truth and just kind of, go from there,” she said.
For now, Lundberg has been doing gigs mainly in D.C. dive bars, as well as in Arlington, Maryland and Virginia depending on the show. Her biggest supporters are her roommate's, family and college friends, whom she says are usually “easy to drag along with her” to different shows.
Since she began nine months ago, Lundberg has been paid for her comedy sets only a few times, but isn’t concerned about the money. For now, she says, she just wants to have fun with it. She also says that after actively performing for a significant amount of time, getting calls to perform have become easier because she usually gets asked from her comedy friends to do local shows.
Her main comedic inspirations are Amy Schumer, John Mulaney and Racheal Feinstein because of their self-deprecating humor that encourages people to laugh at themselves.
She recently came to the Fishin’ Pig to perform at the Fishin’ Pig Funnies show and hopes to continue to do comedy in order to explore her creative side and to simply just have some fun.
“When I started comedy, it was because I needed a creative outlet. I love my job, but I really wanted something a little more out of the box and creative,” said Lundberg.
As for making stand up a full time career, Lundberg is putting that on the back burner for now, but not ruling it out completely.
She said, “I think for now it is something that I will continue to do a few times a week. For now I am going to focus on my journalism career here (D.C.) and keep doing stand-up comedy and keep having fun. Right now I am not sure if I want to make it a career because I think I might not enjoy it as much. I think if I overwork myself with it, it might seem more like work than fun.”
Feb. 16, 2017, 6:06 p.m. - The Rotunda incorrectly called Rebecca Lundberg a Longwood "alumni," using the plural form of the word. It has been corrected to "alumna" to reflect that Lundberg is a female graduate of Longwood University.
A statement in the fourth paragraph of the article was also corrected. The paragraph previously stated, "She also realized that stand-up comedians just starting out tend to do short, five minute sets and of course, she realized that she was a lot funnier than most stand-up comics in the D.C. area." This has been changed to more accurately represent Lundberg's statement and now reads, "She also realized that stand-up comedians just starting out tend to do short, five minute sets and of course, she thought she was a lot funnier than most stand-up comics in the D.C. area."
