Adrienne Dawes' Many Hats

Writer, pro­duc­er, direc­tor, come­di­an… Adri­enne Dawes has many hats. She wears them well and often at the same time.

Adri­enne Dawes has tak­en a dif­fer­ent approach to con­cept of com­e­dy than our oth­er sub­jects. You’d think being shy would be a detri­ment for her. Instead, it proved advan­ta­geous since it gave her the oppor­tu­ni­ty to observe. Observ­ing inspired her to write which is how she chose to approach comedy.

Dawes was raised in Austin since the ten­der tod­dler age of one and after grad­u­at­ing high school she went to Sarah Lawrence Col­lege in Bronxville, NY which is near Yonkers, which is north the Bronx. From this point, her life was bro­ken into four year incre­ments. Four years in Austin, then to Chica­go where she stud­ied improv com­e­dy at Sec­ond City. Along the way she dab­bled in stand-up and musi­cal improv which is a sto­ry you must hear here:

Adri­enne Dawes: The Past

Dawes returned home to Austin after being unable to secure a school to pur­sue her Mas­ters in Fine Arts. She returned home to her fam­i­ly, and home to The Sal­vage Van­guard The­ater and her per­form­ing arts fam­i­ly. It was dis­cour­ag­ing for her but she did­n’t quit. She kept writ­ing, she launched her own pro­duc­tion com­pa­ny, Heck­le Her. She brought a com­e­dy musi­cal named Nev­er Have I Ever from Chica­go and put it on stage in Austin. She net­worked. She kept work­ing. She kept cre­at­ing and gave Austin shows like Dop­er Than Dope and Dop­er Than Dope 2. 

Adri­enne Dawes: Current

Adri­enne Dawes drops some seri­ous life advice in her sec­ond inter­view with Valerie Lopez. It’s advice many of us need. It’s about dri­ve, cre­ativ­i­ty, and how it leads to hap­pi­ness. It’s about break­ing free of social stereo­types, rules, expect­ed roles, and doing what you want to because you can. Dawes should be an inspi­ra­tion to any­one feel­ing they’re caught in a rat race and want to break free.

Feel free to check out Dawes’ web­site for updates on her var­i­ous project. In case you were won­der­ing about the books she men­tioned in the inter­view, here they are: