Meet Kirstie Hayden | Comedian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kirstie Hayden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kirstie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I would say risk taking is one of the foundations of standup comedy. Getting up on stage and never knowing how the crowd is going to respond is incredibly risky in its self. At the beginning your biggest risk is simply not wanting to bomb. Further into the journey, however, several more risk pop up on a daily basis. A few of the risks i have taken so far: trying new jokes in front of large audiences, hours of driving just do an open mic for 4 minutes, going on the road, spending money to do a gig, choosing to work at a comedy club instead of an average day job, and hopping on stage while waiting tables. There’s many more risks i know im going to take, and they get bigger every year. All of these things have pushed me in ways I never imagined.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Every joke I write is based on truth. Yes, exaggerations are necessary, but they’re based off real things that happened in my life. I believe that if you approach standup that way you never have to worry about being a joke thief or blending in with other aspiring comics. The first step I took, was a standup writing class at what used to be Dallas Comedy House. I had no idea where to start with standup comedy. Little did I know, anyone can just hop on stage at an open mic and start doing it. In this class you spend once a week for 8 weeks working on your 5 minute set as a class. At the end of the 8 weeks you get to perform those 5 minutes in front of an audience. At the time I thought I did alright, I even posted the entire set to Facebook which is super cringe. I didn’t know that to get better you truly have to become obsessed. For the first 6 months after that showcase, I went up about once a month and would get frustrated that I was always at the bottom of the lineup at every open mic, going up at 1 in the morning. I wasn’t making any acquaintances and my sets were actually getting worse. Eventually, I realized I needed to hit up more open mics and when I hit my one year mark, people started offering me spots on their shows. At 2 years in I did my first 10 minute set at the Addison Improv and I will never forget that set. It was the first time I truly felt magic on stage, like my hard work was paying off. However, shortly after that I realized you can feel like that one day and then do the same set a week later and bomb miserably. I ended up getting hired at the Addison Improv, as a server, later on. That position gave me the opportunity to open for legends like, Dave Attell, Andrew Santino, Marlon Wayans, Doug Stanhope and many others. No part of standup is easy, I am constantly facing challenges. One of my biggest ones is comparing myself to others. No bomb or rejection will ever hurt me as much as I’ve hurt myself by focusing on the things I don’t have. I haven’t been able to fully overcome this challenge, but the ways I have gotten better is by focusing on what I truly want and constantly coming up with ways to make every set stronger. I never let myself be stagnant. If I catch my thoughts going to a dark place, I shut it down and revert back to things like: What’s my next joke idea? What’s my next clip going to be about? It’s hard to stay booked on shows all the time, so when I’m not booked as much, I constantly post funny videos on social media which keeps me busy and has given me another comedic- creative outlet and opened up more doors to reach a wide audience. Im really excited about where my set is going, I went from relying on cuss words, dirty and “hack-y” topics to now being able to do half an hour of truly creative, a little dark but clean and extraordinary material. I have made people laugh at things like the gym, bad therapy experiences, body image issues, my dysfunctional family and even death.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite activity to do is EAT. We would go to a different restaurant every night. I would first take them to Mí Día in Plano for some Mexican food and then we could walk around Plano Shops of Legacy. I would show them Downtown Dallas, specifically the Giant Eyeball and if they want a museum, The Dallas Museum of Art. At night, you can’t go wrong with bar hopping on Greenville Avenue, we would start the night on the rooftop of HG Supply Co. for a drink, delicious appetizers, and a view of the beautiful Dallas Skyline. During the day, we could get coffee at La La Land, then I would take them to Deep Ellum to see some art, interesting shops and have lunch at Tiki Loco. At night we could stay in Deep Ellum catch a show at either Art Co or Armoury or just go to Thunderbird Station for a drink and some karaoke. Lastly, we could stay around Addison where I live, and have dinner at Postino then catch a show at the Addison Improv.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My dad, sisters and friends for showing up to my shows and giving me endless support and encouragement. My mom, she’s no longer with us, but she always made sure to tell me she knew I’d be successful. My extended family and anyone else whose provided me a free place to stay when I needed it on the road. My whole Addison Improv family that I’ve had for almost 5 years now, especially Jay McClintock for believing in me, being a great general manager and always making sure hard working local comics get stage time. Billy Ansoff for being an amazing manager at the improv as well, a fantastic writing partner and always looking out for the under dogs. Sean Traynor for originally hiring me at the Improv and giving me plenty of feedback, and several anecdotes for success. Monna for being the founder of Claws Out Comedy, helping pave the way for comedians all over DFW and giving me so much stage time along the way. Nate Gordoni and Ryan Perrio at Hyenas for taking notice in me and letting me work the Hyena’s clubs. Britainy Goss for being so sweet every time I see her, allowing me to perform at Plano House of Comedy and being on the production team for Plano Comedy Festival as well. Linda Stogner for being a huge comedic inspiration and running Back Door Comedy Club which has always felt like a safe space for local comics. Steve Trevino for being one of the first national comedians to take me several places on the road, allowing me into his home and giving me advice on how to be a better comedian. Anyone whose ever put me on a show, especially as an out of towner, can’t name everyone but I never forget those people. Anyone whose ever said something nice to me after my set, bought merch, shared one of my clips online and believed in me!

Instagram: @kirstiecomedy

Youtube: @kirstiecomedy

Other: TikTok: @kirstiecomedy

Image Credits
Personal photo by Jubei Mercado @novaphotographystudio 1st- (b&w) taken by @dave_eubanks 2nd- (green shimmery background) taken by @patrickbstone 3rd-(Blackbackground) taken by @haus_of_muses 4th- (orange background) taken by @scenebyisabelle 5th- (Texas-Comedy background) taken by @arniediazphotography