Meet Max Singer: Actor & Comedian

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

Hi Max, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
Being in the comedy world you consistently hear about the importance of “the grind” and “the hustle,” the notion that one’s artistic merit is rooted in constant endeavors and projects. There’s obviously a great deal of importance in making a name for yourself and getting your face out there, but all too often I find “the grind” rewards quantity of work over quality. As a result, show runners from the biggest clubs to the smallest indie venues too often use this quantity for making booking decisions and in part shrinking the community by cycling thru the same performers. Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to this, and for some people the grind suits them just fine. But as the comedy community reemerges and venue restrictions ease, I hope we learn to respect performers working at the pace that is best suited for them. I hope we as performers are putting in reps that are meaningful to our artistic growth. After a year of being limited to filming sketches on a phone, I’m incredibly excited to actually perform on stage again. Just don’t be offended if I kindly ask to take a rain check on your late night improv show.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
If I had to share a lesson I’ve learned along the way from my time in comedy it’s to be unapologetically yourself. Lean so far in to the things that you deeply care about, and then don’t be afraid to lean in even farther. That version of you is so much more interesting and entertaining than putting on airs.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’ll start the day at Griffith Park beginning our walk at the Fern Dell Nature Museum path. I’ll mention that this was where they filmed part of La La Land, you’ll tell me how much you love that movie, and I’ll quickly try and change the subject to The Nice Guys which is the movie Ryan Gosling deserved an Oscar nomination for. Lunch involves a taco crawl along Olympic Blvd. in Boyle Heights with back to back stops at El Ruso for insanely good carne asada followed by Mariscos Jalisco for shrimp dorados and aguachile. Come evening there’s a good chance you can find me at Tabula Rasa Bar in Thai Town if I don’t have a show that night. It’s the best wine bar in LA by a mile, and it’s been the best bottle shop the past year. But since this is my ideal itinerary, we’re sitting at the bar listening to vinyl and drinking chilled reds. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to give a shoutout to my fiancée Mary Kate for putting up with me shooting solo sketch comedy around the apartment while she was working from home over the past year. Hearing an unprompted “that one” from the other room after filming my third or fourth take are the best notes I could ask for.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxwellsing

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Image Credits
Joanna DeGeneres Photography