Who Is Mallory Everton?
Mallory Everton, known for her sketch comedy on “Studio C” and JK! Studios, has some timeless advice to give in this episode of the Lemonade Stand podcast.
She sits down with our host Charan Prabhakar to discuss finding joy during trying times and how her path diverged from wanting to be in healthcare to becoming one of the best sketch comedians of our time.
Find out what some of her mottos on life are and what drives her to do what she does in life.
The Creation of “Studio C”
Mallory was a key individual in the creation of “Studio C,” now a hit YouTube show in its ten seasons. Mallory has spoken a lot about how difficult it was to put together a comedy show that was originally designed for a religious station in Utah. This was an innovative idea as the station had never completed anything that was scripted. Mallory has worked with her team to create something completely fresh, new and exciting.
Despite the incredible success of “Studio C,” Mallory still finds it difficult to see herself as a professional. She has struggled with issues of self-doubt and confidence but has slowly found a way to come to terms with these issues and let her comedy lead the way. This is just one of the struggles Mallory has found with her pursuit of comedy.
Mallory was also known in the group as having quite a dark and wild sense of humor. She was often seen as the wild card and would put forward sketches that may not have been completely suitable for the channel. She would then work with the team to get the tone right and ensure that it was a hit.
Today “Studio C” has garnered over one billion views on YouTube.
Finding the Faith
A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mallory initially struggled with how to justify being involved in a comedy sketch show. Originally, Mallory wanted to pursue a career in art and ensure that she was constantly fighting for success. Making a comedy show for a small station with no resources or roots in comedy seemed redundant and pointless to her. However, on a trip to London, Mallory had an incredible experience that made her realize the value of being happy and that this was far more important than being successful. She has come to the key realization that she would rather be someone who spreads happiness in the world than an individual who is constantly hungry for new levels of success.
Of course, for Mallory, the gospel of Jesus Christ is also a huge part of her comedy endeavors. When she worked with her team at Studio C—and continues to work with her new production team at JK! Studios—she finds the gospel is common ground. She believes that everyone involved is trying to write things that unify, and the gospel is key. Mallory believes that the gospel keeps the comedy kind and ensures that the team remains humble.
A Wonderful Future Ahead
In interviews, Mallory has mentioned her ambitions to write a screenplay over the next few years. She is eager to create either a sitcom or even a drama. Mallory has also claimed that she is never certain about where she’s going in her career but believes that her background in comedy could help her with a number of creative projects. She is a firm believer that even dramas benefit from a little comedy. Mallory is also a talented musician, as evidenced by some of her best sketches. So there are definitely a lot of doors open and available for this particular rising star.
Mallory Everton Interview Transcript
Charan: All right, we’re rolling right now, we’re rolling with Mallory Everton. Thank you, Mallory, so much for coming and being a part of this incredibly impromptu interview session that I’ve been doing for the last couple of days.
Charan: But, I don’t know. I was feeling the need to go and reach out and talk to people. I think— I don’t know why. I’ve just been feeling prompted to say, “Hey, you know what? There’s some cool people out there doing some really cool stuff. During this time, when we’re all kind of going through weird struggles of uncertainty and unknown, it’d be awesome to just talk to different people.”
Charan: Mallory, I’ve been a huge fan of you for some time, and the thing is we’ve never actually worked together. We’ve [crosstalk 00:01:43], we’ve had lunches together, but—
Mallory: Someday though, we will someday.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:01:51].
Mallory: It’s inevitable.
Charan: It’s inevitable. Maybe this is our first go on camera [inaudible 00:01:57].
Mallory: We’re beautiful together on the screen.
Charan: We’re so beautiful together.
Mallory: It’s a love [inaudible 00:02:03].
Charan: But, I know, it’s great. It’s been awesome to see you guys do a lot of— Mallory, you do a lot of sketch comedy, and people know you probably mostly from “Studio C” and JK! Studios. We’ll kind of get into a little bit about how you got involved in all that stuff.
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:02:24].
Charan: [crosstalk 00:02:24] talk a little bit about your transition from that to more of the traditional acting space in terms of the long form content, movies and whatnot. I know you’re working on a feature right now. [crosstalk 00:02:36].
Mallory: We stopped right in the middle.
Charan: I know, it’s kind of [crosstalk 00:02:41] for a feature. Then we can also talk about just how comedy is so important in your life in general.
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:02:50].
Mallory Everton Talks About How She Got Started
Charan: But let’s kind of first chat a little bit about how you even got into, I guess, acting and sketch comedy and all that stuff. But, what’s your story?
Mallory: I always— people— I’ve been asked this question a lot, and I always feel like my answer’s kind of disappointing for people. Not disappointing, but it’s just like, it’s not like I knew what I wanted to do since I was a little kid. I’ve always really liked making things, and I loved books and movies and all that stuff when I was young. But I didn’t go to school knowing I wanted to do, go to college knowing I wanted to do comedy or even film at first. But I kind of got in through the back door, and because I was planning— I’m sorry, that’s my phone.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:03:39].
Mallory: I was planning on— Actually I went to school, I went to BYU in Utah. I was planning on majoring in medicine, and so I went and started taking all of the— Because I worked so hard in high school, and I took all the AP classes, and was like, “I’m going to be a doctor. I want to help people.”
Mallory: I got to school and I took a film class, and I went and saw my friend Whitney audition for the sketch comedy group that was on campus my first week of school, my first week of college as a freshman.
Charan: I believe that was Divine Comedy, right? Was that Divine Comedy?
Mallory: Yeah, it’s called Divine Comedy.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:04:12], that’s right.
Mallory: I saw her audition and thought, “Oh, they need a videographer,” and I did video stuff in high school, like broadcast journalism, like the morning announcements and stuff like that. I was like, “I could do that, and I don’t have any friends, and I’m in this new place.” I felt really out of place at BYU. It’s a religious institution, and I wasn’t accustomed to being around that many religious people at the same time. I just felt like I didn’t fit in.
Mallory: Becoming a part of that group really saved me. It made me feel like we could make fun of a lot of the weird cultural things that I thought were really— they were really different from my experience of being Mormon, which I am. It was wonderful for me to be able to laugh about it, and I have friends who could laugh about it, and we could just not take it too seriously and not take ourselves too seriously. That was really helpful for me.
Mallory: It kind of got me— it completely changed my life path. I was gung ho— the best way I can help people is by literally saving their lives, to, “Maybe I’ll help more people if I’m happy.” This stuff makes me so happy, and I love making other people happy. That maybe I might do more good just by making stuff, and being creative, and trying to just brighten people’s day.
Mallory: I kind of fell in love with comedy that way, and I made a promise to myself that I would still volunteer and do what I could in the community. Because I love people and I love— That’s why I wanted to do medicine so badly, [inaudible 00:05:50] hoping to help people face to face. That’s still what I hope I’m kind of doing in a way. I hope that I’m making stuff that makes people feel better. That reminds them that they’re going to be okay, that there’s hope. I think laughter does that a lot.
Mallory: What basically happened is I got involved in that sketch comedy group, and I changed my major from nursing to film. Then by the time I was graduating from college, that sketch comedy group got lifted and put onto BYUtv, which was a local network that was connected to the university but was on cable, and it was on TV. It felt like a big opportunity. We made nine seasons of sketch comedy on that show.
Mallory: I just started as a senior in college, and I had that job until about a year ago. I just did a ton of sketch comedy for about six years, and then—
Charan: That’s called “Studio C,” correct? [crosstalk 00:06:52]
Mallory: Yes, it was called “Studio C.” It’s just family-friendly SNL kind of a thing. It was such a fun experience, but I never really even thought that I was going to be doing sketch comedy. I wasn’t a kid who dreamed about being on SNL. In fact, I was probably more of the person who— I think probably my biggest— the person I look up to— one of the people I look up to [inaudible 00:07:15] SNL is Andy Samberg. Because it was, like, the people putting the stuff together that I was like, “That’s so cool, and these videos are so cool.”
Mallory: I still kind of see myself as a behind-the-camera person, but I really enjoy the on-camera stuff too. I’m kind of finding the balance between the two more.
Charan: Well, it’s interesting, because one of the things you were saying was, you’re hoping to make a difference through laughter and happiness and all that stuff, and you definitely have. That’s one of the things I wanted to do, and that’s one of the reasons why I even got [inaudible 00:07:46] to begin with. I do a little bit of different path than you, but I think the end goal was the same, right?
Mallory: Yeah.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:07:53] “Hey, how do we create more joy in the world, and hope and laughter and, and all that stuff?” I think you’re talking about medicine, well, I really believe laughter is the best medicine. I think it’s really great for the immune system, to have a good laugh. I know there were— even though I’ve never really done— because I know “Studio C,” which is very popular on YouTube. I never really focused my energy on creating a YouTube channel or anything like that. But some of the stuff that I have done, that’s been a little bit more short form that I have put on YouTube. I remember a friend of mine was saying that her dad watched one of my videos, and she’s like, “I have never seen him laugh the way he did.” I’m like, “Are you serious?”
Charan: It was such a silly, ridiculous vide. But for whatever reason, she’s like, “It just hit him, and he was laughing and laughing.” It was just, there’s something about creating very innocent and clean humor that can— you can laugh without feeling guilty.
Mallory: Yes.
Charan: Which I think is a very important thing. You’ve been— It’s awesome, and of course I’ve seen some of your sketches, and you’re a huge fan of my sister, she loves [inaudible 00:09:11]. I think that you guys have done some great stuff out there.
Charan: Now you transitioned from doing “Studio C” to JK! Studios, which is kind of your own thing, with the same group of people that you did “Studio C” with. What was the reason for the transition or all that stuff?
Mallory: Well, I feel like I had a lot of personal reasons in each group. There are 10 of us total in the sketch comedy group called Studio C that it originated at Studio C, I mean. But for me, I was— We did it for six years, so I would say for about the last two, two-and-a-half years, I was thinking, “Oh, it might be time for me to go.” I went back and forth a lot about it, and I was hoping to maybe— I just wanted to learn how to do— I wanted to get into movies and TV. That’s the best— I think that’s the real answer.
Mallory: Because for me, I was like, “I think I got kind of about all I can get out of this sketch comedy experience.” It’s been really— A lot of people ask me, “Why don’t you go and do SNL?” It’s because I have zero desire to do SNL.
Charan: [inaudible 00:10:18].
Mallory: I did sketch comedy for six years. I know it wasn’t at a level that high—people would obviously think I was way more legit if I ever did anything on SNL—but I don’t actually really care about being [inaudible 00:10:31]. I love working and I love making stuff, and I don’t really want to make sketches all the time anymore.
Mallory: They’re so fun, and I hope I can make some sketches forever. It’s just a short form comedy, so fun, I hope I do that forever. But I also really wanted to learn how to write longer-form stuff, how to direct and act in longer-form stuff, how to help produce that stuff. I was kind of headed to LA anyway, and then the group kind of got this opportunity. We met the right person at the right time who kind of inspired us to— and made us really see a vision of being able to start a company on our own, and how we might be able to make money doing that. Or at least enough money to make the content.
Mallory: We ended up— Right now, it’s sort of functioned as a web series company. We’ve made three fairly large web series, like ten episodes, eight to ten episodes of web series that are eight to 20 minutes long. It’s been great experience for me.
Mallory: It’s been very difficult, and we’ve had a lot of lessons, some really expensive lessons, really, really hard lessons, and a fair amount of failure. But, I don’t know, I would never trade it, and I’m so grateful for my friends and for them being brave. For us trying this thing. What else is it all about other than just taking risks and continuing to try and grow and hopefully make— get better and better at making things that will make people happy?
Charan: I love that you’re saying that. The thing is, you’re going for it. You’re going for it, and you’re creating some stuff that’s awesome. I [inaudible 00:12:15] tell you how many times I try to go for things and I’m like, “Holy cow, that did not work out the way I expected it to work out.”
Charan: I remember the end of 2007, I was an executive producer on a film with a couple of partners. We were raising all this money, and all of this stuff, and it was going to be a couple of million dollar thing. It was just this huge thing. There was this huge vision painted of what it was going to look like. I was going to be an actor in it, and I’m like, “Oh, my gosh.”
Charan: I was so naive at the time, I really was, and I quit my regular job because I’m like, “Okay, well, this is happening; the investor [crosstalk 00:12:56] agreed to it.
Mallory: Totally. [crosstalk 00:12:57] your boats!
Charan: The investor has agreed, let’s do this thing, it’s going to be awesome. Well, before it even started, everything completely fell apart, just fell apart. I remember looking at 2008 so bleakly thinking, “Oh, my gosh, this year is going to be horrific. What am I going to do?”
Charan: Well, that year, even though it looked totally terrible, I ended up booking three features. Two of the three I was a lead in, and the last one, the rest of the cast, except for me, were all out of LA. They’re like, “Dude, why are you in Utah? You need to be [inaudible 00:13:40], and we will help you if you come to LA.” I never had thought I’m going to go to LA, but after that movie, I’m like, “You know what? I think I’m going to go to LA.”
Charan: I went to LA, and again, it felt like I was totally starting over from scratch. I had a couple of friends there, of course.
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:13:56].
Charan: It’s scary, it’s unknown, you’re like [crosstalk 00:13:59].
Mallory: It’s lonely too.
Charan: It’s very lonely.
Mallory: Honestly, it’s very lonely.
Charan: It’s very lonely. When I first moved to LA, I was living not even in LA. I was living in Rancho Cucamonga, which is an hour away from LA.
Mallory: That’s brutal.
Charan: But I had a friend that was there, and so he gave me a really good discount, so I’m like, “You know what? I’m just going to stay here for a bit, and maybe commute to LA to audition and stuff.” It was— so many times I’m like, “I feel like I should be here [crosstalk 00:14:28], but what am I doing?” I had no– And then, but sure enough, you just kept putting stuff out there, putting stuff out there.
Charan: Then, I was fortunate enough to book a really cool show called “Silicon Valley,” which was brand new at the time. [crosstalk 00:14:47].
Mallory: Very cool show, I’m a big fan of that show.
Charan: Very cool show, and that definitely got me a new agent, and that new agent got me a whole lot of other opportunities. Then I was on a bunch of other TV shows that just kind of came. But the truth of it is, you could not have planned that. All you’re doing is you’re putting your energy out there and hopefully something magical happens.
Mallory: It’s strange how much of life is just— There are just so many situations where I feel like, “I’m waiting for this thing, this thing that I’d really like to happen, but I don’t really have a ton of control over it.” In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about— Because the truth of the matter is that life is hard, and not everybody gets what they want all the time. There are a lot of people who would love to do something, and they don’t get to do it. Or who would love to not have this bad thing happen or this bad thing happen, and it happens anyway.
Mallory Everton Talks About Cultivating Hope
Mallory: I don’t necessarily— I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to figure out, “How can I cultivate hope?” Hope in a hopeful, positive perspective without feeling entitled? You know what I mean? I’m not entitled to getting a huge movie or something like that. A lot of really talented people don’t end up with the right opportunities at the right time.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:16:12].
Mallory: I’ve been trying to find that balance lately of basically approaching my life in a way where I’m happy with the way it is today. Anything else that I get is bonus. I love the idea that everything is bonus.
Charan: That’s awesome.
Mallory: Develop a genuine love for the small things in your life that you really love. The good music you love, the food you like to cook for yourself, or the nice run or walk you take in the morning, and everything else is bonus. That’s definitely I’m feeling right now [inaudible 00:16:46].
Charan: That is probably the best advice I’ve heard in a very long time, because it’s so true, that’s the thing. I love that. I call it the cherry on top. But basically it’s the same principle. It’s, like, enjoying the little things that we have right now, because we have so much.
Mallory: We truly do.
Charan: It’s very interesting. I took a trip— I was born in India; even though I grew up in the States, I was born in India. [inaudible 00:17:15] go back there. Every several years I do go back and visit my cousins and family and all that stuff.
Mallory: Cool.
Charan: I am so amazed at how joyous people are over there, despite just the crazy living conditions, I’d say.
Mallory: Sure.
Charan: There’s just so many people there and it gets so crazy. It’s super noisy, it’s dirty, and yet I see so many amazingly happy people. I was talking to a cousin of mine and I asked him, I said, “Hey dude, if you could live anywhere in the world, anywhere at all, where would it be?” Without even giving it a second thought, he’s like, “Pondicherry,” which is the hometown that he was in right at that moment. I’m like, “No, no, dude, let me rephrase [crosstalk 00:18:02].”
Mallory: Anywhere, you could live in Bali.
Charan: Anywhere. He’s like, “No, I go Pondicherry.” I said, “Why? Why would you pick Pondicherry?” He’s like, “I’m never lonely here.” I’m like, “Wow, that’s so interesting.” Because there’s such a great community of family, of friends, and you love each other, you care for each other. It doesn’t matter about what you don’t have or whatever, it’s like you have this [inaudible 00:18:29] loving, valuable relationships right here, right now, and that’s all it is. Because I was thinking, “Man, I feel I’ve got so many amazing conveniences in America.
Mallory: [inaudible 00:18:43].
Charan: And I’m lonely all the time. You know?
Mallory: Oh, yeah.
Mallory Everton Talks About Combating Loneliness
Charan: I guess, especially now, because we’re in quarantine, how do you combat this loneliness, this isolation? What have you done?
Mallory: Well, I’ve been working on— It’s funny because I was already feeling sort of isolated when this started, if I’m honest. I was on a movie, my first movie, which was really fun, but it was still kind of an isolating experience. I was staying somewhere where I didn’t live, in my aunt and uncle’s basement, and I never saw them. It was like, just go home at night and you’re by yourself, and you go to work every day.
Mallory: Prior to that, I had just moved to LA where I didn’t know a ton of people, and I was working from home and still doing work in Utah. I was honestly already trying to crack this nut, this isolation nut, before this started. I’m feeling really lucky actually, because I was already doing a little bit of work on this. It was me trying to figure out how I could kind of create the best and most grateful day I could, without having to have tons of other things. So I could really show up when I did have social experiences and stuff.
Mallory: It just for me has been about creating—this sounds like really nuts and bolts—but just creating a better morning routine.
Charan: I love that.
Mallory: I have worked really hard on it, and it’s been helping me a lot during the quarantine. I will wake up, and I have ADD, so I have to use timers and stuff to stay on task. I have a timer app that I use to get through my day, a lot of the time, or at least certain chunks of my day. I’ll wake up every day, and I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, and I try to drink a huge glass of water. That always makes me feel better.
Charan: Awesome.
Mallory: Then I, like— I’ve been trying to meditate, so I’ve tried a bunch of different forms of meditation. Right now I’m just meditating for 10 minutes, and I do a little prayer. I usually read some kind of scripture or something like that, that makes the— I’ll do that for five minutes or so. If I have any thoughts, I’ll write them down. Then I start my day.
Mallory: I usually go and work out right after that, and that’s a huge thing for me too. It’s just, like, getting your blood pumping. I’ve tried to make it so that it’s modular—I sound like a nerd—but I can shorten it to a half an hour if I need to, or it can take as long as two and a half hours if I have the time.
Mallory: I’m really enjoying taking that time for sort of … I don’t know. I think it’s easy to think of spending time on yourself as selfish somehow, but I actually really feel like it’s more personal development. So that for the rest of the day, I’m 100% either creatively engaged in whatever it is that I’m working on—because I’m working on all kinds of brand and creative projects right now, just because my brain is like, “What do I do?”—
Mallory: Then also I’m just scheduling calls. I’m reaching out to people and I’m trying to schedule at least a call a day with somebody that I love. I have a big family and a lot of friends, and so I have had some kind of FaceTime interaction like this, with at least one person a day, and that’s been helping a lot, and I love Marco Polo too. That’s been another thing [crosstalk 00:22:12].
Charan: Yes.
Mallory: It’s good.
Charan: I love Marc Polo. Gosh, Mallory, you’ve just given incredible, infinite amounts of wisdom.
Mallory: Well, stop it.
Charan: Here’s the thing, I truly believe that creating that foundation for yourself before you go out, it’s so key, it’s so important.
Mallory: Yes.
Charan: Whatever that morning routine looks like for you. I’m also a very spiritual person, I’ve always been, and so the days that I remember to, “Hey, when I get up, I’m going to …”—whether it’s scriptures or prayer or meditation or listening to positive music, just whatever it is to get me in that mindset and make me feel loved—it’s kind of cliche, but it’s, like, honestly, if you can get to a point where you genuinely love yourself, [crosstalk 00:23:04].
Mallory: Love and accept yourself today, the way you are.
Charan: Yes, the way you are.
Mallory: You don’t need to be famous. You don’t need to be rich. Maybe even you don’t need tons of friends in your house today.
Charan: Yes.
Mallory: Which is what I would love every day, to have tons of friends in my house everyday.
Charan: I know, I know [crosstalk 00:23:21].
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:23:21].
Charan: That’s the thing, it’s like, I love people, I love hanging out with people, but I can also be like, “All right, you know what? I can enjoy this right now, right here without all of the craziness.”
Charan: I had this really funny— it was a really interesting insight. But I was in this acting class in LA and it was called The Acting Center, and I loved their methodology.
Mallory: Cool.
Charan: It was totally different than the other classes that I’ve been to. I guess I found out that it was actually based off of certain Scientology principles, but it really has [crosstalk 00:23:54] … it’s crazy. But it has to do with drills and practicing emotional connection and stuff. It was great; it was awesome. I really, really enjoyed it.
Charan: Funny enough, the first day I was there, we were doing these exercises with everybody. You do, like [inaudible 00:24:10] and stuff like that, where you’re mimicking each other. While I’m doing it, the very first day, there’s this guy in the corner that just was clapping. He’s like, “Good job, guys! You guys have been awesome.” They’re like, “What the? Who?”
Mallory: Like a hype man?
Charan: Yeah, like this hype man. I kept looking at him, and I realized it was Tom Cruise. I was like, “What in the world is Tom Cruise doing in this acting class?”
Mallory: Yeah, guys.
Charan: I’m like, “Is he teaching the class? What’s going on?” But it just so happened that Tom Cruise was taking his son around to an acting class. He was trying to figure it out what would be a good class for him, and he happened to show up that day.
Mallory: Oh, my gosh.
Charan: After the beginning exercises, we all went to orientation, and Tom Cruise was in this orientation with us. He was just like a regular participant listening—the teacher was saying some cool stuff about their methodology—and raised his hand, and of course, everyone was like, “Oh, my gosh, Tom [inaudible 00:25:07] just be quiet,” type of thing.
Charan: But I got to tell you, jokes aside or camera aside, all that stuff. He just seemed like the most gracious guy, he—
Mallory: That’s what I heard, I’ve heard no bad things about Tom Cruise.
Charan: He was just so [crosstalk 00:25:21].
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:25:21] personality.
Charan: He was so kind, he was so kind to everybody, and he was very gracious with everybody. That’s the way I could describe it. He was so gentle and he was kind to everybody. Even when he left, he left a little early because he had to take his son home. But he apologized in advance, he’s like, “Listen, I’m so sorry, guys. I have to leave early because I got to take my son home.”
Charan: But then he really encouraged us and gave us a lot of hope. I thought, that’s so interesting. It’s, like, take all that stuff away and all that stuff, and really what it always boils back down to for me is extending grace, if you will, or extending kindness, if you will. Helping each other out.
Charan: Because we’re all fellow human beings, all going through life together. Crazy enough, I’ve never thought I’d live to be in a situation where the entire world was quarantined together, right?
Mallory: No, absolutely not.
Charan: It’s like, it’s just unfathomable. It’s not— it’s unheard of— you could ever think of something like this. But I also think this is the time for us to really self-reflect and see what’s most important. A lot of times the energy that we put towards the ladders that we’re building, the careers that we’re trying to go towards, is not the important thing. More important thing is reaching out to each other, and seeing how we’re doing and [inaudible 00:26:46] stuff.
Mallory: Well, and I really appreciate what you said about loving yourself, which I know always feels so corny to say out loud.
Charan: Sure.
Mallory: But so much of the— When you were talking about your family in India, and your friends in India, my dad always says something along those lines. He always says, “The happiest people I know were often the people who had the least amount of material possessions.”
Mallory: I think that so often what happens when we really don’t take the time to actually develop a love and acceptance for ourselves is that we feel like we need more in order to love ourselves. You know what I mean? “I’m not enough today. I’ll be enough when I’m— I have a fortune 500 company or when I’m a CEO. Or when I have— or when I make this amount of money, when I have this amount of followers,” [inaudible 00:27:44], “when I’m married, when I have children,” you know what I mean?
Mallory: These things that we don’t- frankly, we just don’t have control over. Sometimes you want to have children, but you can’t.
Charan: Of course.
Mallory: Or you’d like to adopt, but it’s too expensive. Or, there are all kinds of situations where even things that seem like, “Well, I’ve got a body, I should be able to use it,” well, doesn’t always work the way you want it to.
Mallory: If you actually love yourself and find a way to love yourself today, as you are now, however you can, I just feel like that’s the first rung, and then the ladders that you were talking about building from there can kind of just be like we talked about, the cherry on top.
Mallory: It’s, like, so fun if you get to have a fun career, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just fun and extra, it’s [inaudible 00:28:33].
Charan: Well, the other thing I’ve noticed is, people that have had— I guess they’re dependent on that career for their happiness and success— end up never being happy. They’re so stressed out and they’re so worried all the time. Whereas in reality, it’s, like, if you had the foundation to begin with of love and joy, and then you’re seeking after things, I found that for me as an actor, my career blossomed and bloomed or whatever. When I didn’t even care about it, I was more cared about [inaudible 00:29:07] love and the joy first, and then that was the byproduct. It’s an interesting thing.
Charan: Now, one of the things that I love about you, you have created such great comedy into the world. So many people have—
Mallory: Thank you.
Charan: Well, so many people have really attributed, have really enjoyed it. I know you guys have gotten messages from JJ Abrams, from Conan O’Brien.
Mallory: That’s true.
Charan: They love what you have done, and how—even though some of their content isn’t even meant for kids—their kids love your stuff. That’s—
Mallory: Conan in particular was the coolest experience. We ran into Conan in a pizza place in Santa Monica when we were here for some meetings. He was just, first of all, he came up to us, which was terrifying. We saw him across the room and somebody was like, “Oh, my gosh, that’s Conan O’Brien.” I immediately was like, “Oh, gosh, don’t look at him, don’t bother him.” Because he’s— I just don’t want to be— I love him so much.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:30:14].
Mallory: The last thing in the world I’d want to do is bother him. He walked right up to us and he was like, “Are you guys Studio C?” I was like, “Am I having a dream?” He was like, “Here, come on outside, my kids are freaking out. Can we take a picture?” He was just so kind. He didn’t need to be, first of all, but he also, he gave us some compliments that meant so much, but specifically coming from him.
Mallory: I remember feeling at the time, because I have to admit, there were times where I was like, “Oh, I’m just, like, a clown for children.”
Charan: [crosstalk 00:30:50].
Mallory: “I don’t like what I do. It’s not really working that much. It doesn’t …” I went through all kinds of emotions through that process. I think sometimes it’s easy to look at somebody’s situation from the outside and assume that, “Oh man, they’re so lucky,” or “They must be so happy,” or make assumptions.
Mallory: But it was often very hard, hard to figure out, like, “Man, I’m working so hard on this thing. Is this just dumb jokes at the end of the day? Am I doing anything that’s working?” He just was super complimentary of our structure, of the way we— our sketches had a beginning, middle and end. He talked about his experience on SNL and how that was often the hardest part. He felt like we were doing a good job.
Mallory: To be told that by somebody who wrote on “The Simpsons,” I was like … I don’t know. So I learned a lot from that experience. I’ve also felt like I’ve learned a lot from— My roommate actually worked with Jared Hess for a really long time. He’s another, I’m just a huge fan of his. “Napoleon Dynamite” came out while I was in high school. I freaking love “Nacho Libre.” I’ve seen every film he’s ever made. I’m a huge fan.
Mallory: He is another example to me of a person who has achieved great success and is just gracious and real with people. My dream in the world is to be like that. Anyway, that’s a tangent from what you were asking, but the comedy stuff in general has been … well, actually, what was your question? Let me just make sure.
Mallory Everton Shares How Comedy Can Help People
Charan: Well, no, you were going right to that section. It’s just the whole idea of, how does comedy that you’re doing right now, why is it so important to have that type of comedy in your life, and how can it help other people?
Mallory: Why? I don’t know. I feel like at this point I’m like a preacher for comedy, I believe in it so much.
Charan: Sure.
Mallory: It’s not because I think the comedy needs to be a certain way; I love clean comedy and comedy that’s made for adults. Because I am an adult. I think that comedy has different audiences for different people. There’s some stuff that will only make sense in certain cultures. But there are also universal comedy things. We all laugh at physical humor; it’s just funny.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:33:04].
Mallory: We all laugh at funny, a lot of us laugh at funny facial features and stuff like that, or people with really amazing timing. I think it’s very unifying. I think that’s probably my very favorite thing, and my— I would say for me in my life, one of the things that has been the most important to me about comedy is the unifying factor. Then the fact that it gives you a scientific, actual chemical lift.
Charan: Yes.
Mallory: I think it’s just— I think it’s a choice too. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m thinking of … well, maybe not, it doesn’t sound crazy, but it just sounds, I don’t know, silly. I don’t always— I haven’t had an easy life, most people haven’t. I could go into lots of things that have happened to me or happened to people that I love. I feel like you could often choose to dwell on that stuff all the time. I think dwelling is different than dealing with things or facing things.
Mallory: I think it’s super important to acknowledge your emotions, to feel them and let them happen. But we also have a choice. We have a choice to decide, “I’m going to make something or I’m going to make somebody laugh today. I’m going to do something that brings me joy today. I’m going to focus on the stuff that is propelling me forward with positive energy instead of the stuff that makes me just want to lay in bed.”
Mallory: Because, frankly, there is a lot of stuff in the world that makes me just want to lay in bed all day.
Charan: Of course. I totally agree. I think, like you, I have had challenging experiences in my life as well. It’s interesting because I grew up very shy, I was very quiet, very [inaudible 00:34:56] and shy. Somehow or other, I broke out of all of that stuff, but there’s still elements of me that feel that way, that insecure way and introverted.
Charan: But, I think when it comes down to it, it has been— comedy and laughter has just been so healing, for me and for other people as well. I just think that, especially as we’re in this time of great uncertainty, when the whole world is facing a tremendous amount of uncertainty, I just think there is something so powerful about lifting people up with laughter.
Charan: I think, there is something that can be said about, “Hey, just by spreading just a little bit of joy and a little bit of laughter, you can really help people during very trying and tough circumstances.”
Charan: I personally haven’t built a huge empire or a company or a restaurant or anything like that, so I’m not feeling the weight of losing [crosstalk 00:36:02]. I know there’s a lot of people that are really struggling with [crosstalk 00:36:06].
Mallory: They’re grieving.
Charan: Grieving.
Mallory: It’s grief, a huge amount of grief. I think everyone’s feeling a certain level of grief, even just like, “Oh, I was planning on doing something in May, and I’m not going to do it.”
Charan: [crosstalk 00:36:16].
Mallory: But then there’re tons of other people who are losing jobs or businesses, full businesses. It’s a terribly difficult time. But there is something very unique about it being worldwide; you are not the only person. It’s not to say, you don’t get to feel bad, because [crosstalk 00:36:36] at all, it’s just like, just remember that there’s no shame in this. There’s zero shame in this; we’re all in this together.
Mallory: I think when, just like while we’re on the topic of comedy, I’ve been … I don’t know, there’ve been moments where I’ve just been delighted that meme culture still can— it conquers all. There was a part of me that’s like, “Oh, this is so serious, there aren’t going to be any memes about it.” But there’s no way. Memes are everything, memes are always, memes are forever.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:37:11], happy, it’s amazing. I made a fake movie trailer about the end of the world.
Mallory: Yes.
Charan: It was just ridiculous [crosstalk 00:37:18].
Mallory: Weird Al was like, “I’m not doing ‘My Corona,'” and then seven other people did it. They were like, “I’ll do it.” [crosstalk 00:37:25] I get that. Listen, the thing is, some of the jokes are probably going to offend some people. I know that. That’s just the way it is in general. I’ve definitely learned that.
Mallory: I just had somebody ask me the other day, because they were talking to me about how, “Oh, you’ve made clean comedy, do you plan on continuing to do that?” I was like, “Clean is very subjective, and I’ll do what I feel good about, and that’s all I can really do.”
Mallory: But I feel like that with everybody, with their memes and stuff now, some people are probably going to say, “This one’s in poor taste,” or blah, blah, blah. But it’s just, like, this is people trying to get through this by laughing together. What else can you do? So often I find that when hard stuff has happened in my family, we laugh through it. Not immediately, not all the time, usually a little time passing makes it easier to laugh about, but hopefully this pandemic will be hilarious in five years. [crosstalk 00:38:25].
Charan: Oh, my gosh. [crosstalk 00:38:27].
Mallory: The deaths will never be hilarious, I’m not saying that.
Charan: That will never be hilarious. But man, I’m [inaudible 00:38:34] that crazy laugh right now where I’m just like, “Oh my gosh.” I wake up in the morning, I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, is this really our life right now?”
Mallory: There’s something very— The crazy laugh, I think that’s a very specific type of humor. It’s like, “I don’t know what else to do.”
Charan: “What else I’m I supposed to do?”
Mallory: I get it. There’s a lot of horrible, hard things happening right now. I’m not saying that people, like I said, should not feel what they’re feeling. I definitely have, I’ve been wowed by some of the heavy feelings that I felt about some of the losses I’ve had. Even just, like, emotions that I didn’t have time to feel before, but now I’m having to face. Because I just have too much time to think. But—
Charan: It’s interesting [inaudible 00:39:18], because it’s like things are— Because we have so much time to think, things are resurfacing. It is interesting, it’s an interesting time of life for all of us, for sure. But, I don’t know, I think it’s going to be really interesting as we move forward with life, and how … I don’t know if there’s ever a thing of, “Hey, let’s go back to the way things were.” I think we always have to progress and move forward.
Charan: But I really hope that together, all of us can find ways to laugh through it all. I think for me, I’ve just seen how laughter has helped so much, and I’ve seen what you’ve done through laughter night. I really believe that those things are super important, because sometimes that’s all you have, it’s all we can do.
Charan: It’s to cheer people up, and it’s to help him them, lift them up. Because there are the doctors and the nurses in the front lines that are doing some incredible stuff to save people’s lives. But hopefully we can create humor as well, so that there is something kind of very meaningful about laughing together and having joy together. I don’t know if that makes any sense? But in my mind [crosstalk 00:40:48].
Mallory: It does make sense. Because I’ve had some times where life is so hard for me that … I remember—this isn’t even comedy, actually—but I went through a period of time after one of my very good friends passed away, where I just, I was barely operating. One of the things I looked forward to every week was “Serial” coming out. “Serial” was- it was the first season of- it was a true crime podcast. I remember thinking for the whole week, on Wednesday, “Serial” will come out, and I can listen to that podcast, and I’ll get the next chapter in that story.
Mallory: I think that comedy in a lot of ways, comedy is usually stories too. It’s beginning, middle and end, it’s set-up and punchline. I think that often we just- we, I think that at times like this, I was never going to laugh about the fact that my friend had passed away, you know what I mean? That was never going to be a joke to me or something. I think in some ways, talking— That’s why I think that the meme culture around the pandemic is so interesting, because some people are not ever going to think this is funny, and I think that’s okay. But there’s so much to laugh about that isn’t this. You know what I mean?
Mallory: There’s so many stories, whether it’s a true crime story or it’s a joke about some, your favorite food or whatever, there are still reasons to laugh. I think finding those reasons and figuring out what they are for you, for your community, for your family, for your audience, whatever, I think is worth the effort. Because we’re just trying to get each other through the week. You know what I mean?
Charan: Yeah, exactly. I really believe that, that healthy laughter [crosstalk 00:42:39] already is going to also boost up your immune system.
Mallory: Yes.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:42:44] feel healthier.
Mallory: [inaudible 00:42:46] just reminds you like, “Hey, I can have a little hope. I laughed about something today. There might be more to laugh about tomorrow.”
Charan: Absolutely. Mallory, you’re the best, and I just love getting to know you even more. It’s interesting, because like you, when I do my shows or movies or whatever, people know me as a certain character doing a certain [crosstalk 00:43:10].
Mallory: [crosstalk 00:43:11].
Charan: So much of me is that character in that, but it’s always nice to get to really know people, and to talk to people and say, “Hey, this is really how I feel, and this is what I’m going through,” and stuff. As people can relate to that.
Charan: I appreciate you taking the time and opening up, and sharing some of these thoughts. Because I think that these are the things that really matter to people. Just the things that can really bring hope to people [crosstalk 00:43:42].
Mallory: Well, I appreciate chatting with you, and I appreciate your perspective.
Charan: [crosstalk 00:43:46], of course.
Mallory: Thanks for sharing some of your tips, and your interesting thoughts and stuff; I can always use it. Especially right now it’s just nice to talk to someone face to face who isn’t my roommate or a dog. I love my roommate [crosstalk 00:43:59].
Charan: And dogs are great too, I’m sure.
Mallory: I miss other people.
Charan: Of course, likewise. Well, I’m so glad you’re in LA and doing your thing.
Mallory: I am. I’ll do it later at least, not right now.
Charan: There’ll be plenty more stuff to talk about regarding LA.
Mallory: Cool.
Charan: But thank you again for taking the time, and I will chat with you soon, okay?
Mallory: Okay. You’re so welcome.
Charan: Take care. Bye.
Mallory: You too.
Charan: Thanks so much for listening to the Lemonade Stand podcast and we hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast, whatever platform you use to be alerted when we release new episodes. We’d also love to hear your feedback in the reviews, and if you or someone you know has an awesome Lemonade Stand Story, please reach out to us on social media and let us know. Thanks so much and have a great day.