Meet Mac Cherny | Comedian and Playwright

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

Hi Mac, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think about risk quite a bit because my entire artist career has been one! Being an artist is a risk to begin within. It’s unstable, subjective, and breeds insecurity. However, I am my best self when I am creating and performing so that’s why I do it. Something I have prided myself on is the fact that I really listen to my inner compass and let that navigate me and my decision making. This is regardless of how scary and risky those decisions may be.

Initially I sought out to be a musical theater actor. After graduating school and working a few contracts I realized something was wrong and that wasn’t the dream I thought it would be. I then went back to the drawing board and reassessed what exactly I wanted. Through my theater degree and puppetry minor, I realized what I loved to do was creating live theater from scratch, specifically comedy. With a little researched I learned that Chicago is where I needed to be if I wanted to really learn about Comedy. So I packed up my life on the east coast and moved to Chicago to learn and grow as a comedian.

With musical theater and even comedy there are multiple paths you can take. I tried them all, didn’t find them to be a fit, and then created my own. I learned quickly that the “sexy” stuff wasn’t really fulfilling and that if I was really going to do this, I needed my work to drive me. I took the risk of staying true to that and now I tour the country as America’s Favorite Drag Bubbie, Merriam Levkowitz. A 65-year old Jewish grandmother who is destined for stardom. The act is a mix of stand up, live musical parodies, and improv based crowd games. When I started performing as Merriam people thought I had lost it. However I created her as a love note to my culture and the women I grew up around. That kind of a care creates great art. Once people got over the fact that I was doing drag, it wasn’t “Drag Race” drag, and that it was an unapologetic celebration of my Judaism and queerness, Merriam really started to gain traction. I don’t do bar gigs or prioritize the typical hustle. I put on immersive ticketed shows, I do large private events, and focus on community impact opportunities. I haven’t known anyone who has taken this path, and sometimes it’s really hard, but I absolutely love it and know I am staying true to me.

There are so many moments when I have thought, “What am I doing?” “Maybe I should be doing ‘x’ instead,” or follow a specific path that clearly has worked with others. Then opportunities specific to me arise that give me experiences that reaffirm my choices and why I love being an artist.

My other big entity as an artist is my play No Outlet. The show is a risk on many levels. It’s an autobiographical solo piece where I tell my story ages 16-19. The show’s three central themes are mental health, queer acceptance, and domestic violence. Each performance I partner with local organizations that specialize in one of the themes in order to provide resources and education to my audiences. The show is risky by being so vulnerable and tapping into stories and themes that we as a society hide away from. It’s also risky personally because I am revisiting a story that is incredibly painful. However that risk pays off each time I do it. It heals me and I have seen how it directly has impacted and changed lives of audience members who have experienced it.

These two parts of my life are not remotely what I dreamed of as a kid but the outcome is a reward that I would never have thought possible. All of which was thanks to risk.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is a strong reflection of me with a priority of creating strong visibility for Jewish and queer culture. I’m proud that I’m running my own race while cheering on my fellow artists beside me. The work that I am creating is personal to me and is inspired from a genuine place within me. When you come to one of my shows you are guaranteed to have a unique experience, whether it be attending the “Drag Bubbie’s” immersive and interactive show or seeing my solo show about my experience with mental health, queer acceptance, and domestic violence. Even though all of these projects are very different from each other on paper, their through line is me!

My road to where I am now has been interesting to say the least. As a kid, I dreamed of being a Broadway performer. I am incredibly nerdy for musical theater. I went to the UConn and studied in the BA Theater Studies program with a focus in writing and minored in Puppet Arts. There I gained a major appreciation for the book end of theater. I was also introduced to one of my hero’s work, John Leguizamo (I left that particular unit saying, “I’m going to be the next Jewish gay John Leguizamo). During school I was also paying for dance and vocal lessons nearby to prepare for the career I truly wanted. I was fortunate to work in summerstock as a performer during summer breaks. It wasn’t until I graduated, working back-to-back contracts, that I realized my dream wasn’t actually what I wanted. I missed creating from scratch as I had grown used to in college. I also realized what I loved most about performing was comedy! So I did a little researched and learned that Chicago was the place to be if I wanted to learn and get good at comedy. So that’s where I went. When I moved to Chicago I thought SNL was my dream. I dove in classes at all the major schools, said yes to doing every show, and did one to many indie improv troops. I once again learned that my original dream of SNL was not actually what I wanted either, but the experienced reaffirmed my love for comedy and creating from scratch.

That’s when I decided to start carving out my own path. There have been a lot of struggles for sure however the wins have far outshined whatever I had to go through to get me to where I’m at now.

Biggest Lessons:
– You gotta be the President of your own fan club, if you’re not the President, why would anyone else want to join?
– Be patient. Your time will come.
– What’s noise and what’s actually important?
– If it doesn’t excite you, don’t do it.
– There is no such thing as over prepping.
– Being kind gets you the furthest.

I hope my legacy is bringing unique and special theatrical experiences to audiences all over. That I provided a safe and inviting space for you to laugh, learn, cry, and celebrate. That I showed people the importance of being proud of who you are and learning how to love yourself and know you’re worth it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love when people visit me in Chicago. I tell them to wear comfortable shoes and pants with an elastic waistband.

We will start the date with a big breakfast at Bang Bang Pie Shop. I’ve been going there every Friday for ‘Pie-Day-Friday’ since I moved to Chicago in 2017. It’s a Mac must for anyone who visits. After we eat our share in biscuits and pie we will take a walk on the Logan Square Boulevards and down to Humbdolt Park! I love this park and I always take people there to see the “Turtle Bridge.” If it’s a Sunday we will head to Boystown. I’ll take my guest to each of the bars and clubs and we will dance all afternoon, bouncing around to each venue (gotta have the full tour!). After that we will take the Belmont bus down to Zacatecana. They’re my favorite taqueria in city. We will grab steak burritos to go. Walk down to the west side river walk and then have a picnic on the Chicago boat house doc.

Finally we will finish off by going to Alice’s for some end of day karaoke!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A typical answer from a Jewish boy… my Mom! As I get older, grow, and develop as a human and as an artist I see more and more how fortunate I am to have such a spectacular, loving, and passionate mother. For better or for worse, I am her. Ask any of my siblings, a frequent statement from them is, “Ugh, it’s like mom’s here.” What a compliment!

My mom is the brightest light I know. She exudes joy, theatrically, love, and passion in every aspect of her life. From being an iconic fourth grade teacher, to celebrating and providing a platform for global culture in our town, and the fact that anywhere and everywhere can be a stage.

She is not perfect and that almost makes her perfect. I’ve seen her grow, develop, and evolve while always staying true to herself. That’s inspiring.

I keep mentioning how passionate she is and that is probably the thing I am most grateful I inherited, even if sometimes she wishes I would be a little less risky with my choices. When I believe in something, especially myself, I go for it! As long as there is a fire within me to pursue it, I’m putting my full self into it 110% without feeling self conscious about what I look like or how others may perceive me. I could only be that kind of a human because I had a role model that showed me daily how possible that was.

Website: https://www.sidewalklilyproductions.com/

Instagram: @merriamshow @maccherny

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mac-cherny-he-him-8a07791aa

Image Credits
Adam Ouahmane, Alec Iacovelli, Kathleen Hinkel