“I want to be Tina Fey 2.0,” says BA Theatre student Lauren Killer, creator, writer, director and producer of Just Kidding, a live and online comedy show. Just Kidding is an annual sketch comedy show that Killer and her friend and fellow UF School of Theatre + Dance student Chaz May write and produce at the Hippodrome Theatre.
“Just Kidding is inspired by funny things in everyday life, popular culture and funny things that we as theatre students have accepted,” says Killer. “When I came to college, I did not think I would be doing this. I thought I was going to law school, but I fell in love with comedy and learning how to make comedy. It’s truly a craft.”
Killer says it's a talent to be able to make someone laugh. She fell in love with comedy when she came to college and met people who were creating their own work. Killer has been writing for as long as she can remember, but discovered that you could mix writing with humor when she wrote an FCAT essay about wanting to be a Walmart receipt checker. The now-obsolete standardized test that once brought anxiety to every 16-year-old in Florida may have inspired the next head writer of SNL.
Killer and her team have done what every arts student aspires one day to do—they have created something new. The Just Kidding team takes what they love and put it on stage for everyone to enjoy. “You have to trust your instincts and listen to your intuition,” says Killer. “If it feels right, it is.”
Just Kidding will be at the Hippodrome Theatre Dec. 11-12, 2015. For more information and tickets, visit www.justkiddingcomedy.com or find Just Kidding on Facebook.
