Software Engineer by Day, Comedian by Night
The first time Erin Spencer 鈥�09 got up on stage to try out a comedy routine, she bombed 鈥� on purpose. 鈥淓veryone always says you bomb the first time you do stand-up; you really don鈥檛 get any laughs,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o I waited for an open mike night when the audience wasn鈥檛 laughing at anything.鈥�
The reaction? Let鈥檚 just say they didn鈥檛 exactly burst into laughter. 鈥淏ut, hey,鈥� says Spencer, 鈥淚 was just as good as everyone else.鈥� And not discouraged from trying it again.
A computer science and management double-major, Spencer, who lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, is a software engineer by day. Hired after graduation by a software company based in nearby Cambridge, she now works remotely for a New York City startup doing application development.
She鈥檇 been out of college for a few years before starting her standup career, but she honed her comedy skills working at a summer Boy Scout camp while still in school. She loved being on stage there, being funny and making people laugh. She missed that part of her life, so she checked out the Boston-area comedy scene, wrote some bits, and took the plunge at an open-mike session.
Her material? Everyday life as a transgender woman. Spencer, who transitioned post-Keene State, opens by telling the audience she鈥檚 transgender. 鈥淲hen I get up there,鈥� she says, 鈥淚 want to make sure I actually talk about being trans, because if I don鈥檛 talk about it they鈥檙e going to think about it and get distracted and not hear any of my jokes.鈥�
She likes the idea that her comedy may open people鈥檚 minds, and is aware that she is the first transgender person some audience members may have encountered. She doesn鈥檛 try to speak for the transgender community, though. 鈥淚鈥檓 just talking about my personal experiences,鈥� she says.
And pointing out the humor in them. Here鈥檚 a sample of her joke-writing process: 鈥淥ne of the things you can do as a transwoman is change your voice,鈥� she says. 鈥淩ight now I鈥檓 purposely speaking in a higher tone of voice, but I can go lower if I want. I thought that was funny and would do that among friends.鈥� That got her thinking about ways a trans person could take advantage of that particular talent.
She came up with a scenario in which she was on a phone conference call for work, and she鈥檇 suggest an idea and no one else on the call would respond. Then, in a deeper voice, she鈥檇 say, 鈥淕reat idea, Erin! Good job!鈥� After which every else would jump in with their own words of praise. So Spencer鈥檚 voice-dropping trick became a pointed joke about gender and the way women鈥檚 contributions can be overlooked in the workplace. She practiced it at open mike sessions, got feedback from other comedians in attendance, and made some tweaks before rolling it out for a 鈥渞eal audience.鈥�
鈥淐omedy is the thing for me,鈥� says Spencer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of my favorite things. The feeling of getting people to laugh while I鈥檓 onstage 鈥� it鈥檚 just wonderful.鈥�