by Mia Phillips
Dulcé Sloan’s career was inspired by an act of divine intervention. A vision of Sloan becoming a standup comedian came to her mother in a dream, and her success since has been an act of manifesting that vision.
Sloan’s career in the entertainment industry didn’t start with standup, but rather she was an actress. She began acting when she was young, and even majored in theater performance while at university. She had never even thought about becoming a comic, and it wasn’t until later in her life that she discovered the world of standup comedy.
“A friend of mine worked at a comedy club, and she would let me in for free. And I met a couple of the comics from just talking to them,” Sloan recalls. It was Big Kitty, a comedian at the club, who convinced her to try standup for the first time and encouraged her to take lessons. “My mother had a dream about me doing standup, because that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. So, I didn’t choose standup; standup chose me,” she explains. From this encounter with fate, her career as a standup was born.
Inspiration in her career came from the first comic Sloan remembers seeing. She recalls, “the first ‘name’ comic I ever saw in my life was a queer woman of color, which was impactful for me.” Since then, she has blossomed in her career, inspiring the next generation of young Black women interested in comedy. She is now a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and has performed on some of the biggest stages in comedy, including appearances on Conan, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Comedy Central’s This Week at the Comedy Cellar. She was also named a “New Face of Comedy” at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in 2015, and Variety named her in a list of 10 comics to watch in 2018.
Sloan is now taking her show on the road, embarking on a summer tour that includes a show at Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro on July 20th. She’s bringing a new hour of material that reflects recent changes and challenges in her life. “I bought a house in L.A. and moved my mom and brother out from Atlanta. I’m talking about that, and about freezing my eggs two years ago, which was a very harrowing process,” she explains.
Sloan describes herself as a story-telling comic, and her new hour will touch on themes such as getting older, taking care of your family, and becoming an adult even if you don’t feel like it yet. When asked about her creative process for coming up with material, Sloan’s approach is refreshingly candid. “There really isn’t a set creative process” she admits. “When you’re building an hour, it’s about the things you’re thinking about and want to talk about. You’re crafting jokes that fit into that hour.”
Sloan is a versatile talent, and she doesn’t just limit herself to writing for her act; last February she celebrated the release of her memoir titled Hello, Friends! This rounded out her multifaceted career to include standup, acting, and writing. In addition to this, Sloan is also branching out into the world of cosmetics alongside fellow comedian Lace Larrabee. Together they have started a lip gloss company called Good Boss, adding yet another dimension to her ambitious career.
Sloan says her passion is still acting and is thankful for the opportunities it has provided her. She recognizes that her background in acting has greatly benefited her career as a standup. She says, “I had a performance background, so I didn’t have to learn stage presence. I didn’t have to learn how to use a microphone, I didn’t have to learn how to fill up a space or how to be on stage. Just had to learn how to write a joke.”
She reflects on that learning process of writing for standup and an audience, specifically. Reflecting, she says, “Then I had to learn how to write jokes that were relevant, pertinent to me, as opposed to observational. I had to learn how to write jokes that were about me and myself, how I see the world and I go through the world, and how the world interacts with me, and how I interact with the world. That’s what I do.” She says knowing what works and what doesn’t work is the greatest lesson to be learned when it comes to creating an hour as a comic. Even after all these years, she says, “It hasn’t gotten easier, because it never gets easier. You just get better at it.”
Apart from adapting her skills to better her standup, Sloan shares what she believes to be the biggest challenge in her career: “Time. There’s no way to overcome time.” She elaborates on the frustration that accompanies fleeting time, saying, “You always want things sooner than they’re going to happen. Or things take longer than you think they’re going to.” However, Sloan recognizes that timing is largely out of one’s control. “You can only have things when you get them…I got things when I was supposed to get them.”
Dulcé Sloan will be performing at Payomet Performing Arts Center, 29 Old Dewline Rd., North Truro, on Saturday, July 20, 7 p.m. For tickets ($32) and information call 508.349.2929 or visit payomet.org.
