You may know Mo Welch’s creative and cutting-comedy from her “Dad Jokes” comedy special or her recently concluded stand-up tour with Brett Goldstein (known for his role as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series “Ted Lasso”). But before becoming the next big up-and-coming comedian, she had to learn the hard way how to grow her career while managing her bills.
On this week’s episode of Living Not So Fabulously, Welch joins hosts David & John Auten-Schneider to share her money stories working in stand-up comedy while freelancing as a writer, actor, and artist. “I am so bad at money managing, and of course, I've gotten better as we've gone on. But a lot of it was, ‘Okay, how do I pay for an improv class when I'm a nanny trying to live my dreams, and improv classes are like $1,200?’” For Welch as a comedian, these experiences did “lead to a lot of great jokes, but it's a lot of jokes that I'm happy to retire because they were also sad,” she chuckled through explaining.
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As Welch struggled for years through the vertical career climb in stand-up comedy, her first real footing came from a completely different talent: cartoons. In a self-described period of “rock-bottom,” Welch turned to her art as an outlet, crafting a Daria-esque character now known as Blair paired with a deadpan caption. This cartoon series (still going a decade later) is what led to Welch’s first big paycheck in Hollywood: a book deal-turned-TV script, working with Chelsea Handler attached as executive producer.
That’s when “things really started rolling,” Welch explains. “Once I really leaned into my rock bottom and was honest with myself, and said, ‘Hey wait, wake up. You need to make a change here.'"
Welch’s journey proves that embracing rock bottom can sometimes be the first step toward something bigger—whether it’s a book deal, a TV script, or simply the next great joke.
For full episodes of Living Not So Fabulously, listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website.
Yahoo Finance's Living Not So Fabulously is created and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky.