Humor Me: Elon Comedian Maddy Gross Brings a Fresh Perspective to the Local Stand-Up Scene

For the readers out there who love to laugh, meet Maddy Gross. She has been the head writer for Elon tonight, a local sketch comedy show, for over a year now. Recently, she’s stepped out from behind the scenes and onto the stage as Elon’s newest stand-up comedian.

Gross described the transition from written comedy to stand-up as a natural progression. “Doing stand-up just felt like the next step,” she explained. The first time Gross performed at Elon was only this fall. “Sub had this ‘Last Comic Standing’ competition, and that was the first time I had performed stand-up for Elon kids,” she said. Gross took home the title of being the best comedian of the night. She claimed it was one of her best experiences with stand-up thus far.

“That was, to this day, probably the best show I’ve had. Elon kids get my jokes, thank god,” she remarked.

It is hard to believe that Gross has accomplished so much in the world of stand-up considering her first encounter with performing in front of an audience was less than a year ago. As Gross detailed, it all started when she was home in DC over the summer, “One of my friends from high school told me about an open-mic night at Mellow Mushroom and was like, ‘We’re going’.” said Gross “I got thrown into it and I was terrified, but it was so much fun.”

Since then, Gross has been performing in venues all over North Carolina. Her first performance in the state was at the Idiot Box in Greensboro, but she has made appearances in many other comedy clubs in North Carolina over the past few months.

As for Gross’s style of comedy, she described her sense of humor as “Usually a little darker.” She went on to say, “I just naturally don’t really know how to be professional or clean-cut, so my comedy is not like that. I was actually told I couldn’t open for Nick Swardson because I was ‘too dirty’.”

“I wear that like a badge of honor now,” said Gross. Although Gross describes her comedic style to be a bit off-kilter, she certainly has a method to her madness: “I have a note on my phone called ‘material’ and I’ve been adding to it for three years now. Anytime I have a funny conversation or someone says something that makes me laugh, I’ll write it down,” she explained.

Gross also recommended talking to oneself when coming up with routines: “I like to talk out loud during the writing process. I just find it easier.” However, this technique does come with a setback, “My roommate probably thinks I’m crazy at this point,” she said, laughing.

As with any other type of performer, Gross gets her inspiration from people who have experience in her field. Yet, not all of her inspirations are the famous comedians one would expect.

“Before I started performing, I would have named big comedians like John Mulaney, Louis C.K., Nikki Glaser, or Maria Bamford. Now that I do stand-up, though, I’m a lot more inspired by the people I do it with locally.”

It appears that local comedians inspire Gross due to their insight in dealing with smaller crowds.

“I do watch stand-up specials to see how the big names are using crowd work or timing, but they also have way bigger audiences. I now look to the people that I do comedy with locally because they’ve been doing it longer than I have. They know what to do when you’re performing a set and there are only five people in the audience.” said Gross.

So, what does Gross suggest for those who want to get into stand-up? Well, she recommends that “You just have to start showing up to stuff.”

Gross shared that her career in stand-up progressed as she became acquainted with the local comedy clubs. “When I first started coming to open-mic nights in Greensboro, people had no idea who I was and I wasn’t very good. But, the comedy community in North Carolina is really welcoming,” she said. “If you just start showing up at shows, even just to watch other people do open mic's, it can really help you get the hang of it. I’ll offer an open invitation to anyone who wants to go to shows with me.”

Gross also offered up some advice for those who struggle with stage fright “Don’t overthink it. Don’t get too stressed out and end up getting drunk before your set. I’ve seen that happen before and it doesn’t turn out too well.” she said. It comes to no surprise that Gross is already making arrangements for a future in comedy. “I know a lot of people say that you shouldn’t have comedy as a plan A, but it kind of is for me, honestly,” said Gross. As for the mode of comedy she wants to pursue, she is not sure yet. “I just want to write or tell jokes and get paid to do it.” Gross divulged.

In the meantime, Gross is working on fine-tuning her skills. “I’m going to New York this weekend to take a satire writing class with Reductress. One of my dream jobs is to write for them.” Gross also plans to perform at a few open-mic events while in New York.“ This is going to be my first time doing stand-up outside of North Carolina or DC, so I’m really excited."

Gross closed with a bright outlook on her future: “Even if I don’t end up being a stand-up comedian, if I just get to be funny somewhere, whether that’s in the form of writing articles for a comedy site or making sketches for a TV show, that would be amazing.”

With such a bold sense of humor and an optimistic attitude, those dreams are bound to become a reality. We’re rooting for you, Maddy!