Today we’d like to introduce you to Alaina Bamfield.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always been a funny kid. I am the oldest daughter in a brutally honest but funny family. My dad stayed at home with the kids which is why I think being funny stuck so hard. My mom is the best. Also very funny but in a more physical and goofy kind of way, never as cutting as my father. My mom was also really good at being the butt of a joke, I don’t know if she realizes or even knows that she’s “yes and” ing. They never played stand up comedy for my little brother and I but they were always so funny. They still are so funny! Even though I don’t like to admit it sometimes.
There’s always a trauma tax with comedy nowadays and I wish I could say I’m emotionally bankrupt of experiences to pay it. Unfortunately when I was 13 years old I was molested by disgraced gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Which is a story for an entirely different time. I did write, preform, and release a stand up comedy half hour special about it available for free right now on Sam Tallent’s YouTube channel. Type “Untouchable” into the search bar and let ‘er rip please.
I got into comedy because I have a funny family but I got into Stand up comedy because I had a Joe Rogan Experience boyfriend back in the day. It was a hard time. I was at my cubicle and my boyfriend had sent me a JRE episode to listen to and I heard a woman (couldn’t believe it was a woman and didn’t realize it was Nikki Glaser at the time) talking about stand up. She sounded so sure of who she was and was so funny and I couldn’t believe that this was like a job. That this was this girls job to make people laugh and that I could do it too. Shortly after that I started writing joke ideas down but not doing anything too serious until after my JRE boyfriend and I broke up. I had gotten him a job at the company I worked at and he quickly started dating another woman in our shared office so that kind of catapulted the stand up comedy pursuit.
Then I saw Rosebud Bakers “Whiskey Fists” on YouTube and I was like: “Yep that’s the type of vulnerable I want to be someday. How do I figure out how to be myself like that when I am up there?”.
I didn’t want to be or “do” her but I wanted to be able to get into myself like that so that people could laugh with me at the dark stuff. I really fell in love with dark comedy and the process of writing jokes in general around that time and it paid off because I moved back in with my parents to save up for NYC so that meant i was going through yet another breakup in my childhood bedroom (fun fact: I have only grieved one relationship outside of my parents house purely by coincidence. This last guy was the first one I got over without my mother’s help). My dog at the time had also torn two of her knees and needed surgery. IT was a dark time for me and im so thankful that I had comedy there to help me get out from underneath the weight of everything.
I made it out to New York a little over three years ago and I released my first special this past spring. I am ready and excited for whatever my future holds and I kind of just wake up everyday feeling lucky to be here as corny as it may sound. I am still enjoying writing jokes and performing comedy more than ever. I spend every single day of my life analyzing myself and the world around me and make attempts at finding the humor in it. Looking for the funny makes me happy and what a beautiful opportunity I have every day that I hope I never take for granted.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been luckier than most I would say. it’s definitely not been a smooth ride but I have always had real life people in my corner and that has been very lucky and valuable. Especially as a comedian who originally started in a small town. I am from Williamston, MI. So my closest comedy scene was Lansing, MI. It was important to me as a young comic in Michigan to try to get into the clubs as soon as possible. As a Michigan comic the best thing you can do(other than blowup online) is get feature work with an established Nationally touring headliner that’s coming through town for the weekend.
I was able to do that in my first year and a half. Roger at The Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase gave me my first hosting weekend. Shortly after that I started working at Mark Ridleys Comedy Castle and Mic Drop Detroit (Formerly Detroit House of Comedy). Michigan is a cool scene though because if you are good at comedy and have plans to go to a big city like NYC, LA, or Chicago the club bookers will give you weekends with comics that are based in those places so you can establish a relationship within that scene.
I was lucky to get on Sam Talent’s radar in the first year or two of doing stand up at a comedy festival in northern California (shoutout Savage Henry Comedy Festival). I was doing all the shows I could in Michigan so I started traveling around the country to different comedy scenes and hopping on shows trying to meet people and I kept running into him, He eventually asked me to go on the road and now I open for him very regularly on the east coast and can happily say he is not only a mentor but a friend. He and his wife, Emily have been very kind to me.
I struggled immediately with performing comedy, not because I was afraid but because I was a covid comic. I started stand up in November of 2019 and had maybe 6 months of stage time before having to take a huge break so that was a hiccup in progress during my first year for sure. Once stand up came back I spent the next couple years really bonding with the Michigan comedy scene and I think I underestimated how must some of those relationships has woven themselves into the framework of my support system so leaving the state to start basically all over again in Brooklyn was a crazy horse pill to swallow.
I will say that I had zero expectations for New York and that made every accomplishment huge and exciting. I think that was pivotal in my transition to being a big city comic. Once I realized that I needed to build a life for myself the panic of needing to hit the ground running with comedy subsided and I was able to enjoy the ride. Three minute open mics seemed less scary and I was doing well enough at them that I started getting booked. I remember jumping with joy and calling my mom when I got invited to my first birthday party on Partiful. Having friends makes comedy so much easier.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am most proud of the Comedy special I just put out.
It’s available for free on my friend Sam Tallent’s YouTube Channel. It’s Called “Untouchable”. Trigger warning: the entire special consists of jokes about childhood sexual abuse under the guise of medical treatment at the hands of disgraced gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. If that is not for you, I understand and hope you will keep your eyes peeled for whatever body of work I put out next.
I am extremely proud of myself for dedicating all of my creative energy and free time into a project that feels to personal to me. I had an incredibly introspective time during the process of working out these jokes and I am hoping that it comes through when victims of similar crimes watch the special. And the audience as a whole of course, I want everyone that watches to take something with them even if it’s just a laugh.
I am even more proud of myself for the backlog of jokes and premises that had nothing to do with this project that I had under my belt before deciding to pursue the Special. It was important to me as a comedian to have something to work on immediately after I completed Untouchable. I didn’t want to feel like I was running in place or grasping at straws trying to feel relevant or good about myself as an artist after releasing so much personal and vulnerable material to the world.
I am happy that stuck to my guns and did all of the jokes that I thought were funny and didn’t shy away from talking about this experience in the way that I wanted to. I didn’t want anyone to feel like they bought a ticket to watch a woman work through trauma on stage. I wanted it to feel done. To make something so horrible into a simple black and white setup punch. Nothing is too big or too scary to take on if you can apply the rule of threes right?
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love New York City for the way it gets after it.
And by “it” I mean everything. Nothing is easy and there is what seems like an infinite number of people in the New York chasing their dreams. The hum of the city is a constant reminder that everyone is working hard and why would you pay all this rent if you aren’t going to work hard too? Hear that honking?? That’s everyone lapping you.
I didn’t have that back home. Not that Michigan is devoid of motivation or a stranger to hard work. It’s just a different kind of motivation. When I go home everyone wants to know if im dating a nice boy or if im going to have a baby like cousin gabby or if I regret not going to college etc…
I am thankful for the fire that New York City has lit under my butt and for the confidence that it has instilled into my career as a Comedian.
I dislike the city for almost nothing. If I had to criticize it for anything I would say obviously rent is too high. I’ll be 30 this year and Instead of getting my own place, me and my roommate are considering finding a third roommate to afford rent. Nothing makes me fantasize about moving back to the boonies like the prospect of living with an additional stranger in my 30th year around the sun.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @alainabamfield
- Facebook: @alainabamfield
- Twitter: @Alaina_comedy
- Youtube: @alainabamfield
