More to the Story: Michele Brilliant
Taylor Harrington 4/19/2021 9:30est
Michele brilliant is a comedian, actor, and screenwriter out of New York City. We sat down with Michele and although her sketch comedy routines are constantly keeping us laughing, we quickly learned that there is more to her story.
“I knew I wanted to perform…I was funny when I was in school and it felt good to make people laugh.”
Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Michele realized at a young age that she was meant to entertain. Since the rise of social media, Michele has started posting various comedy sketch routines on her Instagram, @the_real_michele_brilliant.
Once she moved to New York City to attend acting school, Michele found herself taking stand-up courses, and says,
“Stand-up comedy was never my dream. I like doing it, but for years I’ve been a server, waiting on tables selling my soul for tacos. That was my stand-up show. Sketch comedy is really my thing. I dig it.”
During the 90s, Michele did a sketch comedy show with John Roberts, who is the voice of Linda Belcher on Bob’s Burgers. Their show was called PooPoo Platter, and it was done at the Starlight Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Dressed as Little Orphan Annie, Michele hosted the event in a child-size large costume that she still brings out to this day. Michele’s hilarious Annie character can be watched on her Instagram as Annie goes from the streets of New York City to a horror sketch at a desolate cabin in the woods with Bravo TV’s “Real Housewives of New York”, Sarah McSweeney. Michele and Sarah worked together years ago at a restaurant, and the friendship was immediate.
Acting and creating come so naturally to Michele, and she had the opportunity to pitch a script to Matt Damon when she was waiting on his table at the restaurant she worked at. The two connected immediately and Matt sent Michele’s show, “My Brother Nancy” to HBO, where the show sits to this day.
“My Brother Nancy” is about the unlikely friendship between an androgynous character, like Michele, who works at a Mexican restaurant while waiting for her big break, and her best friend is a juice entrepreneur.
“Matt Damon is the one who helped me. I pitched my show to him at the restaurant I was working at. He is the nicest guy and he is the one person I can say read every single thing that I sent him. He actually helped me get my show to HBO and was the producer of “My Brother Nancy’.”
The last year-plus has been a difficult time for everyone, and particularly hard on New York City.
“There were years I thought I would be buried in the floors of the restaurant I was working in and haunt that place, but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel in New York City.”
Michele is looking forward to working on her sketch comedy show and is hopeful to see “My Brother Nancy” come to life.
“I’ve had to do a lot of work on myself and really look at what I do in life and how I handle things like triggers, trauma, and all of that. If you’re not looking at that, then how do you survive? How are you growing?
Follow @the_real_michele_brilliant, watch the interview on our YouTube channel, or listen to Michele’s story everywhere podcasts are available.
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