Taylor Tomlinson
My dad's really funny.Collection: Dad
My mom passed away when she was 34 years old... And I think in addition to I have to be really good if I'm going to disappoint my parents, I also have that in the back of my head, which is... okay. I may only have until 34 because in addition, my mom's aunt also died, same cancer, 34. So there's a pattern.Collection: Good
Now that I have my dream job, my friends are less sympathetic to my dating troubles. I think it's easy to feel like one area of your life isn't going the way you want it to. And if another area of your life is going the way you want it to, you feel guilty for wanting the other area to go well, too.Collection: Dating
That's the thing that's so messed up about dating, is that you start hearing all these stories about how nuts their ex-girlfriend or -boyfriend or whoever was, and the longer that you date the more relatable those stories become - the more you realize it's just their account, and it's not necessarily what actually transpired.Collection: Dating
After a semester, I left Cal Poly to attend a local community college - Palomar in San Marcos. It was the best move. I worked, saved money and eventually transferred to a different state school. In all, I went to college for three years.Collection: Money
I know dead mom jokes make people uncomfortable.Collection: Mom
I didn't have a dream college. After graduation, I attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, majoring in communication.Collection: Graduation
I'm so desperate for all the wisdom that only comes with age. But I can't do anything except wait for it.Collection: Wisdom
Being bipolar is like not knowing how to swim. It might be embarrassing to tell people, and it might be hard to take you certain places. But they have arm floaties. And if you just take your arm floaties, you can go wherever the hell you want.
I hope if I'm going to do a dirty joke, it's at least clever and not cheap.
It sucks that I had to get engaged and then go through an excruciating breakup and let go of this future I had planned for myself with another person. But the hour that ended up being 'Quarter-Life Crisis' was different and, in my opinion, so much better than what it would have been if I hadn't gone through that right before.
Being in your 20s is like having a virus. You can't do anything. You just have to wait until you're better.
It's mostly fun to introduce someone to one of their superfans.
I am generally writing about things happening in my own life, in what I hope is a very relatable way.
I'm not really a risk-taker - being a standup comic to me is already risky enough.
The Internet has made it so much easier to find your specific audience.
Nobody is truly for everyone and now you don't have to be.
There's still, you still have to be careful nowadays, with cancel culture and whatnot, but it's nothing compared to what church cancel culture is.
People are tackling harder subjects now on stage. In part because, with the Internet, everything's been done. So if you're just doing observational comedy or political comedy, it is really hard to come up with a take or an angle that nobody else has done.
I had all this shame because when I was a kid, my parents were like, 'You don't get on medication. That's weak. That's not good for you.' So I think I felt weak for needing that.
I have friends who have bipolar. And you never judge your friends. You never felt like that was a big deal. But then when it's you, you somehow realize you have all this deeper stuff from when you were a kid.
I've always wanted to wear black lipstick, but I think you have to have like a really cool personality.
I'm such a loser.
God, I love TikTok.
I liked writing, I liked performing, but I couldn't sing or dance.
I took a class from a church comedian and I was squeaky-clean for five, six years of my career starting in churches, corporates and schools. That was a way to perform in front of a lot of people, more than open mics, which of course I had no business doing.
Nobody is a professional comedian for the first five, six years they're doing it.
I'm not super topical or political.
I'm a pretty personal comedian.
I think that's what comedians do: We're funny in the moment. We're just so self-reflective and narcissistic.
When I started doing standup, it was the first time I felt comfortable with myself. I think people I went to school with were surprised - I was kind of quiet and introverted.
Nothing replaces live shows.
A lot of people - myself included - get overwhelmed with the amount of content you have to produce now. But it's necessary unless you're super famous. And even then, you need an Instagram.
If I did act in something, my first thought would be, 'OK, great, people will watch this and come see me on tour.' Everything's there to serve stand-up, and make that bigger and better.
Something has to be really cool or funny... for me to think about wanting to do it. I think my agents would probably prefer that I audition for more things.
My mom never saw me funny, which is really sad. She was everything I wanted to be. She was gorgeous, magnetic, creative, flirtatious and interesting. I look nothing like her, though my grandma disagrees: 'I see your mom most in your expressions when you're performing.' That makes me very happy.
A big turning point was my first Neflix special, 'Quarter-Life Crisis,' in 2020. That led to more bookings, late night TV appearances and a second Netflix special.
There are certain things that I wrote jokes about that didn't make various specials because I was like, you know what? I don't want to actually put this out there. Or I processed it fully and realized I felt a different way about it.
People really want to laugh, and whatever resonates with them is good.
I started doing stand-up at 16 and I didn't have the life experience to talk about politics or social issues.
If I can write a joke about something that happened that was awful, it's like OK that happened and I have this money.
I just want to talk about darker subjects.
When I got diagnosed, they started listing names. They were like, 'You know who else is bipolar? Selena Gomez.' And I was like, 'That does make me feel better. She is very pretty. Okay, I'll be bipolar.'
It took me a long time to accept that I needed to figure out something that worked for me. Because I had tried getting on antidepressants a few times over the years and it didn't work and I would give up.
So much of religion is like, 'Well if you were praying about it, if you were good with God, that would fix everything.'
The way I started doing comedy is not a very cool, rock and roll story.
If you're going to work in churches, you have to stay very clean and really careful for the rest of your career. Otherwise, you know, a swear word could end it for you.
I like how much better being on the road makes you at comedy. I like how strong you get on it. What I don't like is how isolating it is and how hard it is on your brain and your body.
If there were a way to get great at headlining without going anywhere and sleeping in your own bed every night, I would absolutely do that.
I think the Internet has made it so that you have so much control over your own career - which I think is really important and cool.