Comedy writer highlight: Sandy Bernstein

Sandy Bernstein (website here, Facebook and Instagram @sandybernsteincomedy) is a Baltimore-based stand-up who is also a not-so-secret gym rat (check out #fitbitchfriday). By day, she is a higher education/marketing professional, and, growing up, she was influenced by her parents, Lenny Bruce, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Richard Pryor, and I Love Lucy. Check out a promo for this three-time Hot Breath! Pro writing contest winner’s segments on ASYTV's Love On Lockdown here.

Below, we made her answer five short questions.

Why do you think you connect with audiences?

I’m a walking punchline. People see me and expect a sweet, mild-mannered, older lady, but as soon as I open my mouth, they realize that nothing could be further from the truth. I tell it like it is. I’m like that cool aunt they wish they had.

What is your latest hobby (comedy or otherwise)?

Hobby? Who has time for that?! It’s comedy 24/7. Well, not entirely. I do lift weights and run. Before COVID, I was a gym rat. Now I just work out with my cat at home. I meet with a personal trainer every Friday over Zoom, and I post short workout videos under the hashtag #fitbitchfriday.

Additionally, since April 2020, I’ve been posting a daily meme on Facebook and Instagram, #newdaynewjoke.

What superpower would you most like to have?

I don’t know if this counts as a superpower, but I’d love to eat whatever I wanted and not gain an ounce.

I’d also like to be able to fly. I hate driving.

How did you come up with your best joke?

It’s hard to say, because I don’t have a favorite or a best joke, but some of my funniest stuff comes from when I’m collaborating with other comedians and we come up with tags or they help me solidify a premise. And sometimes it’s from what people say about me.

Describe your comedy writing process.

I don’t have any one process. Sometimes an idea comes to me and by the time I write it down, I’ve already formulated a lot of it in my head, often when I’m walking or running. Other times I will be trying to memorize a new bit or new jokes while I’m out walking, and I’ll think of tags or edit them. Also, every morning at 10, I do something called the #write10club on The Comedy Writing Room presented by Hot Breath! Pro on Facebook, where we write jokes from a random word. I’ve come up with most of the one-liners for my daily joke memes from there, and sometimes, if I see a common theme or subject running through them, I can use them as a basis for constructing bits.

Photography: Travis Marshall, Allyson Washington Photography (last two photos)

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