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Published Oct 4, 2023

Comedian Sarah Cooper On: Humiliation, Perfectionism, and Taking Chances

Comedian Sarah Cooper delves into the impacts of her familial relationships on her identity, her soaring career launched by her viral Trump videos, and her journey of battling impostor syndrome and perfectionism, revealing the transformative power of embracing imperfections and daring to take chances.
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  • Viral Fame

    Sarah Cooper's unexpected rise to fame began with her viral Trump lip-sync videos, which transformed her career overnight. Initially, she was just experimenting with TikTok during the pandemic, but a particular clip of Trump's Lysol comments catapulted her into the spotlight, garnering millions of views. This sudden success opened doors she had long sought, such as securing an agent and selling her books for TV adaptations 1.

    I was able to get an agent, which is something I'd been trying to do for years and I couldn't do.

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    Despite the fame, Sarah found the experience both exhilarating and overwhelming, as it was everything she had wanted but not entirely pleasant 2.

       

    Value of Humor

    Sarah's relationship with humor is deeply rooted in her upbringing, where making her authoritarian father laugh was a way to ensure peace at home. This dynamic led her to question whether her humor stemmed from fear rather than enjoyment 3. She reflects on how humor became an obligation, especially as her videos gained popularity, leading to immense pressure to perform perfectly.

    It's not that I'm enjoying making a joke. It's that I have to, or else I will be punished.

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    Sarah also embraces the concept of humiliation, finding joy in the vulnerability of being on set and facing fears of inadequacy, which she describes as both awful and exhilarating 4.

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