“In a Texas mall that stuck in the 1990s, the owner/operator of a glamour photo studio and her fellow shopkeepers struggle to stay afloat when a for-profit community college threatens to take over their spaces, businesses, and livelihood.” ― Linzy Beltran, Series Logline
5 Questions with Comedy Writer and Performer, Linzy Beltran
January 27, 2022
Linzy Beltran is a Salvadorian-American writer and performer based in Austin, Texas. She is a member of multiple improv troupes as well as sketch teams, Glam Fam and Prayer Circle. She debuted her one-person show, Linzy with a Z at the Second City Diversity Comedy Festival in Los Angeles in 2019. She also hosts a jazz and comedy open mic called Jazz Kween in Austin, Texas. Linzy previously worked as an Event Producer for C3 Presents but the pandemonium (Covid-19) caused her to lose her job because, ya know, no events! She previously served as an Executive Assistant at Austin Film Festival and Associate Producer for On Story: Presented by Austin Film Festival.
We had a chance to interview Linzy and ask her a few questions:
Why did I get into comedy?
I don’t remember not wanting to perform or make jokes. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism for always being the shortest, brownest and closeted horny kid in my class (okay, therapist) but I’ve always loved making people (mostly myself) laugh. When I got to college, I decided that I had to get a “serious major” so I majored in Journalism and Spanish. It wasn’t until my pastor at the time talked me out of law school and suggested I write comedy that I considered wanting to do this for a living.Some comedy heroes of mine were Jim Carey, Kristen Wiig & Eugenio Derbez.
At some point did you feel like you failed as a writer? What helped you get back on track?
The battle of failure is more internal than anything. I constantly feel like a failure because I’m not doing enough or am getting rejected by contests or receiving a bad note. Getting into the NHMC Writing Cohort in 2021 came as a surprise but also as an inspiration that reminded me that I am good at this and that I want to keep doing the work.
Are you working on other projects right now or branching out to other forms of writing?
Because the world sucks right now, I’ve flown through a bunch of contemporary romance novels like nobody’s business. I love love! Because of that I’m in the beginning stages of outlining a feel-good holiday script where spoiler alert, they end up together! This is my first venture into writing a feature.In addition to writing, I take acting classes and tap dancing. Who knows – maybe tap dancing will come back in the 2040s (and Latinos will be more in the spotlight for it by then).
What advice can you give to emerging comedy writers?
I still consider myself emerging so some advice I constantly am working on giving myself is to not be so hard on myself. Whenever I think of an idea or I start writing, I tend to want it to be perfect and judge it if it isn’t. I now constantly remind myself that it’s okay to let it out and that what’s coming out is good and fun and will get better!
Plans for 2022?
I am making the move from Austin, Texas to LA – or as I like to call it, the Reverse Rogan. I figured there was a comedy void in Los Angeles after losing Joe Rogan so I decided to give LA a stunted Gorditx that makes people laugh, but less problematic.
