Liv Rocklin is a Chicago-born, New York based comedian who performs stand up, musical comedy, sketch comedy and theatre around the New York City area. This summer, she’ll make her Edinburgh Fringe debut with her sharply funny and original musical comedy, An American (Not) in Paris; a genre-blending whirlwind of stand-up, original songs and storytelling that dives headfirst into the beautifully messy reality of losing control.
How did you get into comedy?
So when I was 7, my brother was 12, and I was really mad that he was funnier than me. I thought, “probably should fix that”.
I grew up outside of Chicago, so I had a lot of access to comedy and started doing improv and children’s theatre at 7 years old. I got involved with The Second City Chicago in high school and took my first stand up class there. My first consistent stand up gig was at 16 years old at Hamburger Mary’s, where all the drag queens kindly stopped random guys from flirting with little teenage me after sets. I also always loved music, and actually thought I wanted to be a country star until like 16 years old, and I have the cowboy boot collection to prove it. I moved to New York at 18 and started self-producing shows with friends and found myself combining all that; stand up, music and theatre, and really found my voice in this realm of storytelling. My brother still might be funnier than me, though.
Tell us about your comedy style.
It definitely rides the line evenly between stand up, with dry and witty one-liners, and more formal storytelling theatre. So even though the material is tightly scripted, I think I bring a casualness and intimacy to the stage. I air on the side of exploring themes through curiosity and earnestness rather than being too sardonic, but I love to have a few quick cuts, a la Bo Burnham, to keep everyone on their toes. It’s all fast-paced with a lot of quick asides, partially because I want audiences to be surprised by the emotional turns without lingering too long in heavier moments. I love planting call backs that resurface 45 minutes later, making the whole show feel like a puzzle coming together. I’m self-aware enough to know I read as a sweet midwestern girl with an acoustic guitar, and I’m not trying to outrun that. It allows me to cut a little deeper when you’re not expecting it. There’s a sort of dissonance there, and I love seeing audiences react to it.
What’s your show about and where can we see it?
An American (NOT) in Paris is an OCD, ADHD, gluten-free, one-woman musical comedy, very much in the style of Rachel Bloom and Bo Burnham. It starts with my study abroad gone wrong (I got kicked out of France, whoops), which really spirals into this tension I’ve always had with control. I’ve gone my whole life white-knuckle gripping onto control, and this was the first time I really had to reckon with not only losing it, but realising I maybe didn’t even want it. It’s got 7 songs, 6 languages, and 5 undiagnosed conditions (we’ve got Bingo, folks) and is an upbeat exploration of loneliness and growing up. It’s very Zillennial – I mean, the whole thing starts with me just trying to live out my Lizzie McGuire moment! Upcoming runs are in June at Portland Fringe, July at 59E59 Theatres East to Edinburgh Festival, and then at the Edinburgh Fringe at Just the Tonic at the Mash House.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I mean, I’m so glad I’m alive, because it means I’ll never run out of inspiration. Sometimes I say like, “What do dentists do when tough stuff happens to them? They just like…talk about it with their therapist and go to work??” But truly, my brain sees a narrative in everything, for better or for worse. My first stand-up routine was about the way a leaf blew in a circle and the next 25 things that meant (by the end, I thought I had to get baptised), so I can really mine material from everything. I can only make sense of my own experiences by storymapping them out and seeing how I, the character, acted and why, and what that character might do next. This sounds kinda unhealthy, but it helps the show, at least! I’d say my best asset, as far as finding inspiration, is that I’m so far from perfect. So I get to make mistakes and learn from them and laugh about them with everyone else who has made the same mistakes.
Who are your favourite Funny Women?
Rachel Bloom – I’m inspired by her ability to balance theatricality with intimacy. I grew up in theatre, and I love the artfulness and intentionality of theatre, but I also love connecting with the audience beyond a 4th wall. I was the Genie in Aladdin in high school, and it was such a rush to uphold theatrical structure while still inviting the audience to be an alive force in the show. With Rachel Bloom’s last special, it’s highly produced, and yet there’s no 4th wall; it’s more like she bends reality to make her own container, one that we can join her in.
Also, Iliza Shlesinger. Her style is super different from mine. I learn so much from her use of physical comedy and her fearlessness to just be like…weird while contrasting it with such relatable content. I also love that she’s unapologetic in her material and how it’s for the girls! I watched one of her specials with a guy once, and he didn’t like it because he said, “It doesn’t feel like it was made for me.” Yes! It wasn’t! Some comedy is not perfectly plated for the cis straight man! I love that she doesn’t try to make it more palatable or universal; she stands strong in her experience. Or like…crab walks strong in her experience.
What do you love about comedy?
I love getting to care so much about something. I think there’s this value nowadays of nonchalance and not being bothered by anything which is maybe a little bit rooted in Gen Z nihilism? Anyway, I love caring. I love getting invested in the lighting for a transition and the exact wording of a joke and just feeling alive on stage because I get to see other people care, too. I love how collaborative it is because I get to be around other people who care equally, and none of us have to pretend to have any chill. I love being invested, it’s just fun. In anything! I love caring about the Chicago Cubs, about Taylor Swift easter eggs, about the fact that there are ducks in the pond near my apartment. And performing gives me a chance to care and create, and the environments that create the best performances have…so much ‘chalance’. Max chalance.
You can keep up with Liv Rocklin on social media here.
Tickets for An American (Not) in Paris at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can be found here!
