An Interview with Natasha Pearl Hansen

The Mumble are excited for the Fringe debut of a superb American stand-up

Hello Natasha can you tell us where you’re from, & where you are living today?
I was born and raised in Wisconsin, started my career in Chicago, was in LA for eleven years, and now I’m back in Chicago but go between there and LA!

When did you first realise you were funny?
When I was 14, between middle school and high school, I worked extra farming jobs to pay for a trip with People to People Student Ambassadors to come to Europe (Spain, France and Italy). They made us keep journals of our trip, and midway through the trip the chaperones collected ours to read. They had heard from all my roommates that I was writing like crazy every night and they were especially excited to read mine. I nearly got kicked off the trip – I wrote exclusively about all the pranks we were playing on the bus, purposeful language mishaps, and all the funny moments between me and the other student travelers. I ended up arguing my case and stayed on the trip. I never stopped journaling funny things. I actually created a series of “Natasha’s books of thought” throughout high school with funny thoughts, quotes, jokes and stories and would be asked to read them at parties with the older kids. I have all those thought books still in a fire proof box.

You’ve got three famous comedians (dead or alive) coming round for dinner. Who would they be & what would you cook; starters, mains & dessert?
They would be Bob Saget, George Carlin and Joan Rivers. I would start with spinach dip in a rye bread bowl, grill thick tomahawk steaks medium rare, and have red velvet cake for dessert – all things I can cook perfectly except the cake…

When did you first find yourself getting into professional Comedy?
I started my career with Second City Chicago, and started to get paid for improv and storytelling shows pretty quickly. I found standup because I would offer to do improvised monologues on many shows, and realized I had a lot of stories to tell. I started standup with a lot of one liners mixed with stories, and it was rough for a while, but I kept at it and grew into my voice.

You’ve had quite the career – what are some of the highlights?
I was in the semi finals years ago for a pitch competition with NBC which led to talent holding deals and script shopping deals. That was a really cool time. While working with NBC I was offered to headline a comedy festival in the Hamptons, and the network flew me via helicopter from New York City to the Hamptons, and flew be back to NY in a sea plane where we landed on the Hudson River. That felt like total star treatment. Also shooting my first comedy special on my canceled wedding day was such a cool way to revive a hard day. It was like I got to marry my craft.

Comedy is not your only money-maker, though, what else are you in to?
I’m a business woman, and always have tons of side projects. I own a startup, a production company, and I do a lot of content creation, brand collaborations, writing, speaking gigs, and really anything that makes sense for my brand as a comedian and founder.

You’re making your debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, what are you adding to the comedy table?
I really love camaraderie in the comedy scene, and really eat up every moment of meeting new people, both fellow comedians and fans of comedy. At the airport on my way into the UK last night my flight was delayed as were many others, and I made friends all over the airport and had some beers. I just love meeting people. I think I bring a very explorative, friendly energy to anything I do, and that will be even more explosive at this fest.

What have been the biggest obstacles you overcame while putting your show together?
Deciding on the material! I’ve been touring for a few years with this new material so I had a lot to work with. I had to decide what I really wanted to say, and edit out a lot of jokes and stories. I’m really happy with where I landed. You really get to know me well in this show!

There’s also a website, mybreakupregistery.com, how does that interact with the material for your show?
My show basically tells the story from my cancelled wedding day to now, and I built My Break-Up Registry after my breakup in the pandemic. You’ll hear the full backstory in my show and also what made me start the company. This company is really an extension of me – you get to laugh at your traumas through my material, and help yourself fix them with my company website!

What is your last-minute routine before stepping out on stage?
Breathe, chill, sometimes a shot of whiskey. Usually call my grandma too.

You’ve got 20 seconds to sell the show to somebody in the streets of Edinburgh…
Have you ever done something wrong? I’m sure it was just the right amount. Have you ever been through a breakup? Even better – screw that person and let’s have a laugh about the bullshit. Come see my show and I’ll take you to the pub after. 🙂

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