Brandie Posey
Breaking into the world of stand-up comedy is no joke — but Brandie Posey is making her own path as a stand-up act armed with an album, a nationally beloved live comedy show, television pilots and a podcast.
Picture this: Brandie Posey earned a degree from Drexel’s film school, not one of its engineering programs. Nonetheless, she has engineered quite a career for herself as a successful stand-up comedian, writer and producer. And now, “Picture This!” the national-comedy-show-turned-possible-TV-show that Posey co-created, is pushing the Dragon to new heights as a woman in comedy.
“She’s really, really made something of herself,” says fellow Dragon Cameron Wicks ’06, who graduated with Posey and nominated her. “She’s a comedian and I think that speaks well for her and I think it speaks well for Drexel.”
Posey has appeared at multiple comedy festivals around the country and released an album, “Opinion Cave,” that debuted at No. 1 on iTunes and No. 12 on Billboard.com in 2016. She, Barbara Gray and Tess Barker co-host the “Lady to Lady” podcast, which has been downloaded more than 4 million times and featured in Entertainment Weekly, Bust Magazine and on the comedy insider publication Splitsider. The trio have drawn sold-out crowds at the Hollywood Improv, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and on tour all across the country.
Posey’s biggest venture, however, could end up being “Picture This!,” a live performance show created by her and producer Sam Varela that pairs comedians with animators who draw their jokes behind them live like giant, hilarious Pictionary. Posey and Varela have “Picture This!” franchises in Los Angeles; New York; San Francisco; Philadelphia; and Portland, Oregon, as well as a signed television development deal with Push It Productions, a production company founded by comedian Wanda Sykes and writer Page Hurwitz. In partnership with Push It Productions, “Picture This!” has a shot at a pilot for TruTv, with Posey attached as co-creator and executive producer. A series pick up order could happen any day.
Posey was always a fan of comedy, but it wasn’t until she took a stand-up comedy workshop while in Los Angeles on her co-op that she fell in love with the medium.
“I started finding open mics and going to those and quickly became addicted to it,” she says. “Every night is completely different, even if you’re doing the same set.”
After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles and took movie and TV production jobs during the day to support herself while she went to open mics at night. She also visited open mic nights when her production jobs took her to other cities, until eventually she developed enough material and contacts to build her own national tours.
“Opinion Cave” has done well enough to pay Posey’s rent the past two years, but she is always working on her next project. Currently, she is honing comedy sets for late-night television, half-hour comedy special submissions, an animated “Lady to Lady” pilot with her co-hosts, and her own writing projects, all in addition to taking “Picture This!” to the next level.
“I don’t really believe in putting all my eggs in one basket,” she says. — Peter Key
