Ayanna Dookie

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When I hit the stage almost 9 years ago, it hit me! I finally realized the benefit of being the fat kid, before all kids were fat, and having a last name synonymous with poo. Stand-up comedy is the reward…therapy for countless crappy dates, sh!++y jobs, and years sporting multiple chins and back titties. Although I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics, then another one in Mechanical Engineering, acquired a ton of student loan debt, an awful job with annoying coworkers, a boss I’m smarter than, and a morning and evening commute long enough to read the bible – old and new testament, I realized I was willing to give up this life of luxury to follow my dreams.

Throughout my career, there’ve been successes and memorable moments – the two not being synonymous. I opened for Tommy Davidson at the DC Improv, was a finalist in the New York Underground Comedy Festival Emerging Comics Competition, appeared on Comcast-on-Demand, and helped Magooby’s Joke House earn the record of having The Longest Continuous Stand-Up Comedy Show in the World, contributing 2 out of the 82 hours of jokes. Those were the successes. One of my most memorable moments was tripping up the stairs onto the stage, falling in an extremely unsexy way, landing spread eagle, and showing the entire sold out crowd (300 seats filled, unless you subtract the folks in the bathroom, so now we’re down to 297) my white, granny panties. Sexy.

When not on stage showing my white panties, I love to act and story-tell. I have tons of stories about how I act like I love my engineering job. I earned my first producer and writing credit in the short film Maybe, which was a finalist in the 48 Hour Film Project in Washington, DC. I also played Annelle in the stage production of Steel Magnolias, which was extremely difficult since I’m brown and the character is white. I aspire to continue breaking color barriers.

This blog documents my journey doing what I love: making folks laugh, sharing my life, and being unapologetically inappropriate.