Stand up comic Stasia Patwell

Today the Venice Paparazzi Spotlight shines on stand up comic Stasia Patwell!

How many years in Venice? What is your connection to Venice? 13 years. I moved here in 2005, right after graduating from Pitzer College.

Tell us about your company: I’m a comic and a producer. I produce a comedy show called Ride or Die, which plays monthly at The Comedy Store.

How long in business, and how did you get started? I started doing stand up in 2011, when I first got sober. I had to find a new way to get high! I started producing my show last year , sort of accidentally. One of my comic friends made up a credit for me on her own show because I didn’t have anything I wanted to plug. She made up “Ride or Die,” and I thought, well, that’s gonna be the name of my show. I immediately loved it. Plus the phrase “ride or die” comes from the original “Bonny and Clyde,” with Warren Beatty. And strangely enough, a few days before my friend came up with “Ride or Die,” I had done a show at Flapper’s, and Warren Beatty had randomly been in the audience (as well as my dad- who had never before seen me perform stand up). After my set, Warren came up to me, hugged me, complimented my performance, and then turned to my Dad and said “you must be so proud.” All of my daddy issues and performance anxiety went out the window in that one moment! So it seemed pretty kizmet to then name my show Ride or Die.

What accomplishments are you most proud of? I am really proud of packing out my shows at the Comedy Store. The Store is the mecca of stand up comedy in LA and it’s a huge honor to be a part of it.

Future projects/direction:

The next Ride or Die is May 9th, at 10:00 p.m. in the Belly Room at the Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd. I want to eventually be a paid regular at the Comedy Store, continue to produce more live comedy shows, and have a Netflix special. I also would like to have my own TV show, a la Chelsea Handler, and be absurdly rich. I mean RIGHT!!!??? And I sometimes fantasize about owning my own comedy club.

What advice would you give someone starting out in your field? We are just hurling through space without any clue as to why we are even here, so who cares if you wanna be a tightrope walker, a comic, or an engineer, just do whatever makes YOU excited. Fill your day with stuff you like, then you will start to like your life. In terms of stand up, don’t be precious about bombing onstage. Who cares if your set sucks one night, the point is just to keep getting up no matter how the last show went. I’m still learning this.

Where do you find inspiration? Whitney Cummings, Chelsea Handler, Eleanor Kerrigan, Jodi Miller, George Carlin, Joe Rogan, Bryan Callen, and my comedian girlfriends who hustle like no one else I know

Favorite affirmation, mantra, or quote: Fuck it! Who cares?!

Favorite book, band or movie?

Books on my night table right now (but not yet all completed): The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan, Why Does the World Exist? by Jim Holt, God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, Minds Without Boundaries by Stuart Holroyd, Love, Freedom, Aloneness by Osho, Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan

Favorite movie: The Big Lebowski

Favorite band: If you come into my house or car, you will hear nasty hip hop, or Brahms, or Joe Rogan’s podcast, or Abraham Hicks videos.

What causes do you support?

I’ve always been pretty passionate about homelessness. My mother recently moved to Greece to save refugees, and is currently in the process of adopting a 14 year old Afghani refugee boy, named Jawed. So I have been really exposed to the refugee crisis in Greece. There is nothing more humbling than listening to my mother’s stories about the women and children she teaches at the refugee shelters.

What’s one thing we can do to make the world a better place? Make YOURSELF better. And stop bragging about your good deeds on Facebook! Buy a homeless person a sandwich and shut up about it already.

List things on your bucket list.

1. Netflix special
2. my own tv show
3. island hop through the Caribbean and the Aegean
4. dress up like a real mermaid and lay out on the boardwalk for pictures/tips….I keep meaning to do this every summer!

Anything else you want to share about yourself to the world? Fun facts? I am an obssessed with ice skating. I skated as a young girl, then didn’t get on the ice for 22 years. But, I recently started skating again and have been training with Olympic silver medalist Linda Frattiane at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. It’s pretty much the most fulfilling thing I have ever done! If I had endless money, I would skate 8 hours a day, do comedy at night, and build my own rink at my house. I’m obsessed.

Describe your perfect day in Venice: (start from morning to night): I live right off the boardwalk, so a perfect (and typical) Venice day always starts with a walk to Groundworks on Westminster with my dog, Bond, and an acai bowl at the Fruit Gallery! It usually ends at Scopa.

Where would you take a client that you want to land a deal with? Scopa Italian Roots

What is your craziest or fondest Venice experience? Experiencing the ghost of famous Venice poet laureate, Philomene Long, when I lived in the Ellison 10 years ago. I had her couch in my apartment after she died, and “she” paid me a nice visit. Although she was a very friendly ghost, I promptly returned the couch to her twin sister, Pegarty.

Philomene Long at the Venice Poetry Walls.
www.philomenelong.com/

Any shoutouts or thank you’s? Thank you to Edizen and Alex for always being super supportive! Shout out to Scopa Italian Roots for allowing me to follow my dreams!