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VOICE OVER: This is Alumni Aloud, a podcast by Graduate Center students for Graduate Center students. In each episode we talk with a GC graduate about their career path, the ins and outs of their current position, and the career advice they have for students. This series is sponsored by the Graduate Center’s Office of Career Planning & Professional Development.  

 

My name is Hilarie Ashton and I’m an English Ph.D candidate at the Graduate Center. Today I’m interviewing Johnna Scrabis, who received her MA from the Comparative Literature program in 2015. She is currently a comedy producer at Impractical Jokers. 

 

HILARIE ASHTON, HOST: So, welcome to Alumni Aloud! 

JOHNNA SCRABIS, GUEST: Thank you so much for having me. 

 

ASHTON: I like to start off by asking folks to choose at least one adjective to describe themselves. 

SCRABIS: Yes, okay. Um, I (laughs) I hate to say it, but it’s not even an adjective — type A, I would say.  

 

ASHTON: Oh, okay. Mm hmm. 

SCRABIS: — probably comes to mind. (Laughs) It’s hard to just pick one. 

 

ASHTON: I know; that’s  — I’ve learned to give people the option of more than one just because some people are like, “oh my God I don’t — you’re asking me to define my whole personality,” but that’s not what we’re here to make you do. 

SCRABIS: Yeah, well, because it’s like if you pick something, fun it’s like, my whole personality revolves around zany (Laughs). 

 

ASHTON: (Laughs) Right. Totally. How would you describe what you do for a living?  

SCRABIS: I am a comedy writer for TV but I mostly write for semi-scripted slash unscripted shows, and the way that works in the world of TV is then, that I get to be called a comedy producer instead of a writer.  

 

ASHTON: Oh, okay. 

SCRABIS: Because reality and semi scripted and game show type shows don’t really have writers, they have producers who write. 

 

ASHTON: Oh wow that’s fascinating. huh but then the the actors. Like, not that they’re writers, but that they would the improv in the semi scripted this of the thing they like sort of work with your words in a way that a script. 

SCRABIS: So I come from an improv background, so the shows i’ve worked on at least — I can only speak to the shows i’ve worked on — but they’re like super collaborative and the actors and the performers, the cast are always, like ,mostly improvising their own stuff and and writing their own stuff, and the writing that we do is sort of like idea generating and sort of supplementary material that then they use sometimes,  

 

ASHTON: Oh cool. 

SCRABIS: And they riff off of it; it it’s really fun; yeah. 

 

ASHTON: So you don’t know exactly what you’re going to see them do. 

SCRABIS: You have no idea, and it’s also so fun, because sometimes I’ll write like a line and I don’t know in my head where it’s going to go after that, and then I’ll see them take that and make it 10 times funnier than it was in my head. You know, they’ll just like blow it out, they’ll they’ll spend longer kind of like milking the comedy of whatever the joke is, and it’s really fun to see that happen. 

 

ASHTON: What is your academic background? 

SCRABIS: So I went to Penn State and got my English degree there, and then a couple years later came to the CUNY Graduate Center and got my comparative literature Masters. 

 

ASHTON: Were you doing comedy while in grad school? 

SCRABIS: Yes, I was. So yeah, the other sort of like education that I had was probably the Upright Citizens Brigade New York, which was sort of, like the other grad school for comedy that I was in at the same time. 

 

ASHTON: Famous alumni! 

SCRABIS: From there, yes it’s a, it was a great theater to be part of. Unfortunately it was a fallen soldier of the pandemic in 2020 and closed pretty quickly so there’s not a New York UCB anymore, but there might be an LA one, i’m not sure. 

 

ASHTON: Oh wow that’s like — I’ve lived in New York for a while and it’s hard to imagine, like even that area of the city without it. 

SCRABIS: Yeah, yeah — I mean right before the pandemic too, not right before, but a couple years before, we moved the UCB Chelsea theater to ell’s kitchen. So even that was sort of a weird change because I think it, you know anyone that kind of knows UCB in New York, I think kind of associates it with the Chelsea — under the supermarket — theater. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, I was gonna say there’s like a blue…. That’s a cool interplay of humanities grad school and comedy; it seems like they complement each other in some good ways. 

SCRABIS: Yeah I think I did one or two papers on (laughs) like  my philosophical thoughts on comedy (laughs) for grad school. Yeah they they were similar experiences, in many ways, where you’re kind of like trying to make friends and network, but without really networking, you’re truly just like making connections in the community that you’re a part of, so — And, and pursuing I think, you know comedy and a lot of the PhDs that, you know, were pursuing there, like they’re tough jobs to get on the other side of whatever the adventure is, so it’s like, a lot of people that are like, I can’t see myself doing anything else, so I’ve got to go all in for this, and at least try. 

 

ASHTON: That’s a useful way to think about it. You mentioned a couple of these already, but what would you say are some of the skills that you use in your work? 

SCRABIS: Um well, I really value my English degree and my comparative literature degree, because I feel like there’s — any job that you have that’s like an office type setting, being able to write well and being able to read critically are, like, the two kind of most crucial skills that I’ve had, I think. So definitely as simple as it seems like being a good writer. And so, are you asking about like skills that I got out of my degree or just, like skills in general that I use at work. 

 

ASHTON: Just in general, yeah, it doesn’t have to be specific. 

SCRABIS: In this particular job, um, I would say — I’m a comedy producer for Impractical Jokers, and I would say — (laughs) that’s a tough one. yYou have to be like. You have to be creative and silly and you know, come up with like really dumb ideas. So what, I don’t know, joke telling skill set. But really there’s a lot of writing and just like — yes — like writing, format this document the right way, like, I have to be able to use PowerPoint. (laughs) Things you wouldn’t think go into joke telling, but they do. 

 

ASHTON: Lotta scaffolding there. 

SCRABIS: Yeah. 

  

ASHTON: Um, what does a typical work day look like for you? 

SCRABIS: So, ah, I used to go into the office five days a week, and there was like a big kind of conference room that all the writers sat at around a big table, and that was a lot of fun. Now since March 2020 it’s been virtual mostly, so I stand at my bedroom dresser which I call my standing desk, which is what you’re looking at right now. And I am usually on Zoom in the morning with the other writers and we’ll kind of talk about what we’re going to do for the day, and then brainstorm a bit, um, maybe come up with new ideas, and then a lot of the day is like, write on your own too or or respond to like whatever request has come up. And then sometimes I get to be on set that’s probably like once every week or every other week and that’s fun, it just, like breaks up the kind of aloneness of the apartment. (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: And and writing — I mean, even in that sort of collaborative setting of you know, there are other writers and you talk to them, I mean, writing can be so isolating (laughs). 

SCRABIS: Yes, I mean, it’s so great to have a group of people that are on a text chain that you can bounce ideas off of and. You know, I feel like for me too, it’s like, I need someone else to start with an idea like, “Hey, what if we did this,” and then I can go, “Oh my gosh yes, yes, that made me think of this and this and this.” When I’m on my own and just like, “Okay, think of something funny or original or creative,” I, I can’t do it. (Laughs). I need someone else to get the ball rolling, and then, you know, other people start to unlock, like, “Oh, we could do something like that, okay.” 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, that, that iteration. 

SCRABIS: And it’s nice, too, nobody’s ever, like, really harsh or critical or anything, but sometimes you’ll pitch an idea, and you can just kind of tell the reaction’s like, “Eh.” (Laughs). And that’s really good, because even as you’re saying it sometimes, you’re like, “I want to stop saying this idea.” (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: (Laughs). What was the process of doing this as work? Like how did you move from doing grad school and comedy to comedy writing and producing. 

SCRABIS: So, I mean, it it mostly came out of my UCB experience, it’s — it was really about making friends and doing my own comedy shows and doing my own writing and just learning, I don’t know, what works on stage and what doesn’t, over and over and over again, and then applying to jobs as they came up, and — you know, it started with like, really, really small things, like — that at the time were amazing opportunities to me. You know, like an unpaid opportunity to, to write something small. Great i’ll take it. And then you know gradually As as you apply to more things you get more things and, you just like, you have to (Laughs) the law of averages means you have to. And then gradually the opportunities would get, like, kind of more exciting and more devastating when you didn’t get the job, but eventually, you know, if you just keep responding to opportunities as they come, you’ll get something that is the right fit for you, and then usually that job leads to the next one if it if it goes okay. 

 

ASHTON: Mm hmm. So, like building on these successes and these experiences. 

SCRABIS: Yeah definitely, because also that it, you know, that experience prepares you for the next opportunity and the next success, like you can’t — I couldn’t have jumped into the job that I have now, likem you know, the first day of taking Comedy 101. I would have, like, been given the opportunity, and I would have failed. Some people can, I could not, I was not ready. 

 

ASHTON: Um, what part of your job energizes you the most? 

SCRABIS: I love my job, so there’s not really a part of it that isn’t fun. Um, but, what energizes me the most? I guess, um, when you’re kind of in a group brainstorm and you’re pitching ideas back and forth and everybody’s just laughing, like I feel like that’s not something — Especially since I stopped performing on stage and I don’t do improv anymore, I just like haven’t been doing stuff on stage. That like opportunity to all laugh together about something stupid (Laughs) it’s such a good feeling. Anytime I’m like in a group of people, whether or not I’m at work or just like watching a show, and you have that like, iIm laughing so hard I’m  crying moment — like this is so funny that I’m crying — 

 

ASHTON: OH. Uh huh.   

SCRABIS: That’s the best part of my day. 

 

ASHTON: That’s amazing. 

SCRABIS: Yeah, for sure (laughs). 

 

ASHTON: Um, you kind of touched on this, but what are some of the challenges of your job? 

SCRABIS: Working in a creative environment, I think this is common, but you have to kind of be willing to just let your ideas go, and you have to be really flexible about things changing, um, all the time, and sometimes at the very last minute, and it’s just like, nothing’s precious ,it just has to be something that you hear this is changing and you go like okay (laughs)  

 

ASHTON: Yeah  

SCRABIS: And you have to immediately redirect to, like, what is the need now, if we don’t like this anymore. What — what’s like the next thing that’s sort of being asked of me, because if you dwell on, like, “Oh man, I thought that that idea was so fun!” 

 

ASHTON: Uh huh. (Laughs) 

SCRABIS: You’re not going to be very helpful (laughs) to deal with the new problem, so that’s — I mean, that’s definitely hard for me, but it. Everyone that I work with on this job at least, is, like, really flexible and kind of patient and just down to roll with whatever change is happening. so it’s it’s easier, just to be like, “All right, I’ll be like you guys.” (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, I was thinking it’s easier to do that if you’re in an environment of people doing that. 

SCRABIS: Mmm hmm. And it’s made me not really want to be part of environments that are super, like, critical of something needing to change, because it just it’s –  it starts to feel like, “Why do we need to worry about this; (laughs) it’s it’s not happening anymore, we need to just let it go and move on.” 

 

ASHTON: Right — like, let’s use the energy elsewhere. 

SCRABIS: Mm hmm. But that’s not, like, a skill set that necessarily came naturally to me early on in, in, like, writing 

 

ASHTON: Mm hmm.  

SCRABIS: So it’s, you know, it’s something that I think is a good thing to have now, but I had to, like, build build up to that. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, it takes practice to let it roll off. (Laughs.) 

SCRABIS: I just say — like at this point also, I’ve had so many rejections of things, that it, like, just goes hand in hand with writing for me at this point, that it’s like, “Oh, you hated that? Of course, of course.” (Laughs.) 

 

ASHTON: Uh huh (laughs). 

SCRABIS: “I’ll try again.” This is getting totally different. 

 

ASHTON: And that’s a skill too — I mean, that takes — for some of us quite a bit of practice. (Laughs.) 

SCRABIS: To have a thick skin about stuff. 

 

ASHTON: Mm hmm. Yeah. And, and to have a thick skin, and to be able to think about, like, you know, not immediately go to, it’s because my idea was bad, but to think of the other, you know, the many other reasons they might have said no, that don’t reflect on you as a person or whatever. 

SCRABIS: Yeah, for sure, I mean, for a long time, the thing that kept me going was like every so often in between rejections, I would get like an email that was like, “Hey, just so you know, we were, you know, tossin’  your name around,” and it’s like, “Okay. They wouldn’t have said that if I was like — if they thought I should quit.” (Laughs.)  

 

ASHTON: Uh huh. 
SCRABIS: So those little, like, “Okay, I’m not like being made fun of for submitting; I’m not that bad. Okay.” (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Yeah. 

SCRABIS: That glimmer of hope, but it’s — it’s hard not to — I mean, I don’t think I’ve gotten to a point where I can totally, like, separate myself from a rejection sometimes, in that like –  

 

ASHTON: Mmm hmm. 

SCRABIS: You know, I I think a lot of times, like, ego is tied up into it in a way, where you’re like, “I don’t just think my paper was bad, I like I think I’m bad.” (Laughs)  

 

ASHTON: Mm hmm.  

SCRABIS: You have to just, kind of, tell yourself that’s not true. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, cos it’s something that you made, that came out of your brain, but the — I mean, i’m thinking about also, like, I do some freelance sort of cultural criticism and journalism  

SCRABIS: Uh huh.  

 

ASHTON: And there are places I have pitched where it’s like, almost a fluke — you might get a yes, you might get a no; hundreds of other people also want to publish in these places, you know, and i’m 

SCRABIS: Totally. Yeah. I remember one person said to me early on, and I have no idea if this is true, but it’s, like, the thing that I’ve held close to my heart since I heard it. (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Mm hmm. 

SCRABIS: What I base everything on, which was, like, you know, for every one person accepted to Harvard, there are like three equally good candidates, and at a certain point, it just comes down to luck, whether you’re of the group that was good enough, whether you’re the one out of four that was randomly picked. And I really feel like that’s true about anything that’s a competitive field, like, like writing is.  

 

ASHTON: Mmm hmm.  

SCRABIS: Where it’s like, okay, I’m — it’s not that I’m, like, not there, I just haven’t been the lucky one yet to get this little break. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah. What are some things you’ve written or some experiences you’ve had — kind of on the other emotional side of what we’ve been talking about — that you’re, like, really proud of. 

SCRABIS: (Laughs) One of my first pieces that I got published was in — College Humor has a site called Dropout that’s like a paid subscription site and and I got to write a, it was basically a text series, so you could read it on your phone like, as though you were reading text messages between people and it was such a cool format to write in. It was like incredibly liberating, I could. Because there was no –  there were no actors, you know. It didn’t have to be animated other than the text, so I got to like really let my imagination run wild. And I remember that was the first piece I ever wrote that I was like, “This feels like 100% my sense of humor.” And they liked it, which was cool.  

 

And that was, that was like one of the first times I got paid to write, and I also at the time was like, “They’re paying me a lot of money! This is amazing!” 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, and another one of those metrics that changes, the more you do it, but yeah, it does still feel really– (laughs). Whatever the amount is that first amount is like, “Oh my God.” 

SCRABIS: Yeah; it’s huge every time. That was great, and I love writing for Impractical Jokers. It’s really a great and fun show so — and, yeah, I have some other projects that are hopefully going to be coming out, but you know it’s –  it’s one of those, like, until it’s actually released, you never know. (laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Right. You’ve kind of given pieces of advice throughout, but do you have any specific advice for folks who might be interested in doing similar work to yours? 

SCRABIS: Um, yeah, I would– 

 

ASHTON: Thick skin is a great piece of advice. 

SCRABIS: (Laughs.) Yeah, I would say, finding people that you think are better than you at whatever it is you want to do, and surrounding yourself with those people and — I didn’t necessarily intentionally do that, but I felt like I just kept ending up in circles of people that were, like, funnier than me and smarter than me and I was like, “Great; this is good, because i’m gonna have to work hard to kind of keep up with all of you,.” And that really, like — I feel like it just, whatever it is that you want to do, if you’re around people that make you have to level up a little bit, you’re going to get to their level eventually.  

 

And then, you know, hopefully there’s another opportunity that you can take and then jump in with a crowd of people who are maybe — it’s a different kind of set of skill — skill set that you in your same industry that you can learn from that group of people. 

 

But that’s definitely part of it, and also like. I never thought of things in the comedy world as networking opportunities, it was always just like, “You seem fun,” or like, “It’d be fun to collaborate on something with you; we should put something up,” and those are always the opportunities that ended up leading to something cool, was the stuff that I like wanted, truly wanting to do for fun. The stuff that I did because I felt like it would help me or I had to say yes, that stuff never led to anything productive. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah, that — and that’s great, I love that way of — like, even though it’s sort of is networking not thinking of it as that word, because it is very intimidating for a lot of folks : like, “Oh no, I have to make this meaningful connection,” but when you let go of the..  meaning (laughs) 

SCRABIS: Yeah  

 

ASHTON: — It’s less stressful and it’s more fun, in that way that you’re talking about. 

SCRABIS: Mmm hmm, and also, like, having a couple really great and significant friendships and partnerships and collaborations, those are the things that are really going to be valuable to you, not in not only in terms of like opportunities down the road, but like, just in making you better at whatever you’re doing. Having like, 50 very casual acquaintances, like — those aren’t the people that are going to think of you when there’s, like, a really great opportunity, and they need a partner for it. It’s the people you’re, like, truly working with and collaborating with. Of course it’s like good to have a big network, too, but. I think, like, the real friendships are the more important things, personally. 

  

ASHTON: Yeah, it’s a nice metaphor for life too, if you like — (laughs) Um. 

SCRABIS: (Laughs). Now that I’m down to the two remaining friends I have. 

  

ASHTON: (Laughs.) Yeah, it’s been a weird time of, like, “What is friendship, and what — like — what” 

SCRABIS: (Laughs) “I haven’t sen this friend in two years, but I think they’re my best friend.” 

  

ASHTON: (Laughs) Yeah, all of this sort of relearning, rethinking about things that nobody really had the energy for, but here we are. (Laughs) 

SCRABIS: Yeah (laughs).  

 

ASHTON: So my standard last question is what do you think is the future of your field., um 

SCRABIS: Oh! 

 

ASHTON: And you can kind of define that any way you want. 

SCRABIS: The future of TV, I think it has a bright future. (laughs) I think that people like it, and I think it’s really going to keep going — I think it’s gonna take off in the next couple years. (laughs).  

 

ASHTON: The kids seem to like it. (Laughs) 

SCRABIS: The kids love it — yeah we got all the demographics covered. (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Oh God, especially in this weird time we’re living through, like what would — where would any of us be without televised entertainment. (Laughs) 

SCRABIS: Television! (laughs).  Seriously, I don’t know — you know, the funny thing is too, I always like watch so much reality TV, and my husband would be like, “You need to watch scripted things, you need to watch scripted comedy, you want to be a TV writer,” and you know what?  

 

ASHTON: Ahhh! (Laughs) 

SCRABIS: Guess who got a job in reality television! (Laughs.) But yeah, I think — the only thing I’ll say truly about the future of TV is like, I guess um, it feels like there’s just more and more opportunities, because there’s so much more content to truly, like, do weird things and for these, like, niche shows to become really successful, it feels like it’s — a lot of places are taking chances on really, like, new, weird content, so I bet we’ll see a lot of stuff like How to with John Wilson and little shows like that you’re like, “Wow, this feels different.” 

 

ASHTON: God, that show hit me right in the heart. 

SCRABIS: (Laughs) Yeah, it’s so offbeat, like, I just — it really does its own thing and I love that. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah. The first season especially, partly because of when it aired (Laughs) and, you know everyone, like, really still being stuck inside.  

SCRABIS: Yeah. 

 

ASHTON: (Laughs) The second season also was just — Oh, and you know, the second season you’re like, okay, he did this big thing, like got these great write ups, like, hopefully, he can match that. And I thought he did. 

SCRABIS: Yeah — yeah, man, that’s a hard follow up. (Laughs) 

 

ASHTON: Mmm hmmm! 

SCRABIS: That’s –  yeah, that’s a really challenging thing about any show too, like whether you’re in season two or, you know — the show I’m working on is heading into season 10, it always feels like, how do you follow that up. Like, we did all the ideas! We did all of them. (Laughs.) But somehow, like, the people around you just keep coming up with new stuff and you’re like, all right, I guess it’s possible, there’s still one or two ideas out there. 

 

ASHTON: Uh huh (Laughs). 

SCRABIS: Turns out! 

 

ASHTON: That’s really nice. Oh, that’s a nice note to end on. There’s more ideas out there (laughs), so don’t despair (laughs), even when writer’s block or what have you is… 

SCRABIS: Very true, yes. Always more ideas, and even if someone takes your good idea, they’re not taking, like, you and your creativity. I always tell myself that. Like, “Okay, that was one idea, I’ve got 50 more good ones.” Probably. Maybe 49 at this point, but. 

 

ASHTON: That’s really nice and a really good lesson for everyone, no matter their field. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with our listeners. 

SCRABIS: Well, I really appreciate you having me on, Hilarie, it was really nice to talk to you. 

 

ASHTON: Yeah! 

SCRABIS: I, um, had a really fun time. 

 

ASHTON: Amazing, me too! 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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