Meet Melo Black | Comedian & Barista

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melo Black and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melo, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Well I always knew I wanted to write. My mom’s a writer and I’ve always been fascinated by it. Sports is where I thought I was going to head with it and that dream fell by the wayside for a bit. About four years ago with some pushing and prodding by some friends of mine, in addition to losing my job and having more time on my hands as a result. I performed Stand Up for the first time and fell in love with comedy and realized my writing dreams weren’t dead after all.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I want to make people laugh for the rest of my life. I’ve been doin comedy about four years now. What I’m most proud of is producing shows of my own for two years. I took a hosting class from Joel Byars(he has his own universe, look it up) and I can’t make this next part up. The NEXT day a bar that I’m a regular at asks me if I could start a comedy show and my first open mic was born. Now I produce an open mic and a showcase. Now this is something I love. I get to get a bunch of people, then get them the funniest people I know and we all laugh! Easy! Only it’s not, once I started running shows I started realizing how much time goes into getting my little bit of stage time. I got a whole new appreciation for the game itself. You watch yourself put in the work and promote without getting results, not seeing butts in seats. It hurts and it hurts because you realize it’s not just about yourself. When you’re running a show now all the comics you have on the show are looking to you to give them people and an environment where they can thrive and when you can’t it just…hurts. It’s all worth it though because whether it’s 3 people or 300 people, you make sure they have a night of laughs they can’t replace, that’s when you start to build consistency and then you start to have something special. What I want the world to know is if you come to my shows whether it’s 3 or 300 of y’all we will make y’all laugh until your face hurts.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well let’s just say I had any friends. I would have to take them for the best coffee in town at Cool Beans Coffee Roasters(made by yours truly). Then we’ll stop by The Manna House to get some food because they put their whole foot into each meal(they gotta have a granny sweatshop or sum I don’t ask questions). After that hit the Garden and Gun Club to grab a drink from my boy Corey (ask for him. He makes REALLY good drinks). If we’re feeling spooky we might go on a Ghosts of Marietta tour(I KNOW it sounds corny….and it is, but still actually a lot of fun, ask for Thea). Then being as close to Atlanta as Marietta is there’s no shortage of live music, comedy, trivia, karaoke (speaking of which see Ashley at Johnnie MacCrackens on Sundays for your fix) or really anything that one could think of. That’s the beauty of this place, if you want to do just about anything it’s there.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Well first off there’s no way I could start this without mentioning my mother. She has been my number one supporter through every endeavor of my life and I could ask for more. Rik Wayne (some of might know him as Nickelbag Rik) is a great friend of mine and runs an open mic at The Strand Theatre in Marietta. Him along with Justin Simmons(fantastic artist, Mind Invader Comics) prodded me to get on their stage and I haven’t looked back. Also the Atlanta comedy scene in general, there’s so many funny people in this scene just being apart of it makes you raise your game and just helps explosive growth happen. The community around the Marietta Square has also shown incredible love and support.

Instagram: MeloBlackComedy Comedysquared

Facebook: MeloBlackComedy, Comedy Squared

Other: MeloBlackComedy@gmail.com

Image Credits
Alyx Libby