BIO
Emily Winter is a former journalist turned comedian, TV writer, and author. Before pursuing comedy writing, she covered a London train bombing terrorist attack for the Associated Press, wrote for a local newspaper in Wisconsin, and was the editorial director of SparkNotes.
In the comedy world, her professional credits include the NPR game show “Ask Me Another,” the E! game show “Cash at Your Door,” the Nickelodeon kids’ comedy “That Girl Lay Lay,” Fusion TV’s news/comedy show “Come Here And Say That,” TV Land, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Glamour, and The Barnes & Noble Review. Her unprofessional credits include: She once ate a beetle out of the carpet because she thought it was a Raisinet.
Winter’s standup comedy can be heard on SiriusXM. She has performed at SF SketchFest, HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival, Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, The Limestone Comedy Festival, and many others. She hosts and co-conceived a New York Times and Time Out recommended 64-comedian joke contest called ONE LINER MADNESS, which travels the country to find the best joke writer in every city with a thriving comedy community.
Winter’s work has been profiled on/in The TODAY Show, The New York Times, NPR, The AV Club, the TED WorkLife with Adam Grant podcast, Buzzfeed, Lifehacker, The Miami New Times, The Brooklyn Paper, Bustle, someecards, The Boston Globe and others.
Recent Press
I WAS RECENTLY THE SUBJECT OF A NEW YORK TIMES PROFILE ‘CUZ, AS A TV WRITER SURVIVING A JOB DROUGHT, I STUDIED AND WON THE PRICE IS RIGHT.
MERIT BADGES
NOTEWORTHY JOBS, PROJECTS, PRESS AND AWARDS
-Author of ONE DAY SMARTER, a funny, uplifting trivia book
-Writer for the Emmy-nominated Nickelodeon show That Girl Lay Lay
-Joke writer for the NPR comedy/trivia game show Ask Me Another, hosted by Ophira Eisenberg
-Joke writer for the E! game show Cash at Your Door, hosted by Jason Biggs
-Staff writer for the Fusion comedy show Come Here And Say That, hosted by Alicia Menendez
-Staff writer at TV Land, where I worked on various projects
-Two-time guest on The TODAY Show
-Featured in a segment on TED’s Work Life with Adam Grant podcast
-Finalist for ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship. The script, HARD DEAD NAZI DICK, was in the top 1% of 2,100 entrants
-Co-founded and produced an international comedy festival, WHAT A JOKE, which raised more than $50K for The ACLU over Trump's inauguration weekend in 2017. The fest happened in 32 cities and was written about in The AV Club, The Village Voice, Time Out, Splitsider, and many others
-Standup has been profiled in The Miami New Times ("Winter is the ambitious, well-connected, and hilarious outsider who's come in to shake up the scene."), The Boston Globe, Time Out New York, and the website TrunkSpace. ("Smooth and polished like a precious stone, Winter delivers comedy gems for any season.")
-Performed standup in SF SketchFest, Laughing Skull Festival, The Limestone Comedy Festival, The Cape Fear Comedy Fest, Out of Bounds, Brooklyn Comedy Fest, Florida Super Con, Women in Comedy Fest, Madison Comedy Week, Orlando Indie Comedy Fest, Bird City, Rogue Island, The Brickell Comedy Fest, The She Devil Comedy Fest, WHAT A JOKE Fest, The Cinder Block Comedy Fest and The Cream City Comedy Fest
-Limited series podcast HOW TO PRODUCE LIVE COMEDY was ranked #1 in Podomatic Training Podcasts and written up on Lifehacker
-Editorial director of SparkNotes.com and its teen blog, SparkLife
-Parody Twitter accounts @TrumpFeminist and @Feminist_Bro have been written about on Bustle, Someecards, Hello Giggles and The Frisky
-Participated in NBC's first annual Late Night Writers Workshop in 2013. Ten writers were selected from 1,000 applicants for the program
-Television pilot Wrongside of 25 took 2nd place in the Fresh Voices Script Contest
-Live 64-comedian joke contest ONE LINER MADNESS has been written about in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Time Out. It has traveled the country, and raised more than $10K for charity. One Liner Madness has also been an official selection at The Cape Fear Comedy Fest, Bird City Comedy Fest, and The Cinder Block Comedy Fest
-Here’s a lucky one: Recently won the showcase showdown on The Price Is Right. Anyone wanna buy a boat?
VIRAL VIDEOS
HERE’S A BUNCH OF DUMB VIDEOS I MADE THAT WENT VIRAL ORGANICALLY, NO PAID PROMO.
8MM TIKTOK VIEWS
2.2MM TIKTOK VIEWS
999K INSTAGRAM VIEWS
247K INSTAGRAM VIEWS
792K INSTAGRAM VIEWS
247K INSTAGRAM VIEWS
TV, ETC.
VIDEOS OF TV APPEARANCES, STANDUP, SIZZLE REELS AND RANDOM STUFF.
Standup in San Francisco
THE BACKFATLORETTE IS AN ANNUAL DATING SHOW I CONCEIVED OF AND HOST.
A MUSIC VIDEO I CONCEIVED OF AND SANG IN
A VIDEO I APPEARED IN FOR STASH INVEST
ONE LINER MADNESS, A 64-COMEDIAN JOKE CONTEST I CO-CREATED AND HOST AROUND THE COUNTRY.
STANDUP AT THE GUTTER IN BROOKLYN NY
A STORY I ACTED IN AND HELPED EDIT FOR MY VARIETY SHOW, BACKFAT.
A GLAMOUR MAGAZINE VIDEO I APPEARED IN
I WROTE A TRIVIA BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE IMPRINT TARCHERPERIGEE! WOULD YOU CONSIDER BUYING A COPY? IT MAKES THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANYONE 12+
ONE LINER MADNESS
64 COMEDIANS FACE OFF IN THIS TIME OUT RECOMMENDED TRAVELING COMEDY SHOW THAT I CO-CREATED, PRODUCE AND HOST. IT’S BASICALLY LIKE MARCH MADNESS, BUT WITH ONE LINER JOKES INSTEAD OF BASKETBALL GAMES. WINNERS GET A TROPHY AND CASH PRIZE.
UPCOMING SHOWS
ONE LINER MADNESS SAN DIEGO - SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2025, DOORS 7PM, SHOW 8PM AT ADAMS AVE THEATER - GET TIX
ONE LINER MADNESS BOSTON - FRIDAY MARCH 8, 2025 AT THE ROCKWELL - GET TIX
ONE LINER MADNESS NYC - WEDNESDAY MARCH 12, 2025 AT THE BELL HOUSE - GET TIX
ONE LINER MADNESS PHILADELPHIA - FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2025 AT JOHNNY BRENDAS - GET TIX
A RECENT ONE LINER MADNESS SHOW IN CHICAGO
SELECTED WRITING
PIECES I'VE WRITTEN FOR MAGAZINES, TELEVISION AND THE INTERNET
THE NEW YORK TIMES:
THE NEW YORKER:
GLAMOUR: "Getting My Dream Job Sort of Ruined My Life"
BUSTLE: “There Are 7 Types of People at Every Office Holiday Party”
LITTLE OLD LADY COMEDY:
MEDIUM FEATURED STORIES: "Turning Failure Into Inspiration When You Bomb on Stage"
STASH INVEST:
I CAN DO THIS, TOO!
CREATABLY Advertising
I was a freelance copywriter for Creatably for a year. I worked on campaigns for Gimme Beauty, Spoonful of Comfort, the Autopilot money managing app, Luminous Inventory Solutions, Cosset bath bombs, ZeLo Clean, and Saalt period care. Here are a few digital ads I wrote:
THIS COSSET SPEED PARODY AD GOT 10K TIMES THE NUMBER OF FACEBOOK VIEWS AS COSSET’S OTHER FACEBOOK VIDEO CONTENT.
OUR DIRECTIVE WAS TO WRITE A FUNNY, DISRUPTIVE DIGITAL AD FOR ZELO CLEAN THAT DIDN’T RESEMBLE OTHER ADS FOR CLEANING PRODUCTS. I WROTE THIS WEIRD GUY RIGHT HERE.
TV LAND
I was a full-time staff writer at TV Land for two and a half years. There, my job was to promote TV Land’s programming via TV commercials, digital ads, billboards, and taglines. The programming was a mix of original shows, reruns, and 80s movies aimed at Gen X.
I WROTE THIS COMMERCIAL TO PROMOTE THE ANNUAL TV LAND ICON AWARDS.
I WROTE LOTS OF ADS TO PROMOTE THE SHOW MOM, INCLUDING THIS:
DRAMA ALERT! I WORKED ON THIS SEASON TWO TEASER TRAILER FOR IMPASTOR.
I GOT TO WATCH SO MUCH GOLDEN GIRLS AT THIS JOB! I WROTE TV COMMERCIALS AND FOUND FUN, SHAREABLE CLIPS FOR SOCIAL:
OTHER
As the editorial director of SparkNotes for three years, I not only oversaw the business and creative strategies for our brand, I also wrote and helped design digital ads for paid partnerships, like these ads aimed at getting college kids to order textbooks from Barnes & Noble:
Here’s a sample from the SparkNotes microsite I helped create to promote The Hunger Games movie.
I recently wrote a slew of digital ads starring a celebrity for Dream Games new addition, Royal Kingdom. Will they go viral? Will they even be made? Crystal ball says UNCLEAR.
PHOTOS
HEADSHOTS, PERFORMANCE PHOTOS, AND PHOTOS WITH MY ONE LINER MADNESS CO-PRODUCER, LARRY MANCINI.
Comedy Posters
I LOVE MESSING AROUND IN PHOTOSHOP. HERE ARE SOME COMEDY POSTERS I’VE CREATED.
Photo by Andrew Bisdale
CONTACT
JOIN MY MAILING LIST!
YOU'LL RECEIVE OCCASIONAL UPDATES ABOUT LIVE COMEDY SHOWS, TV APPEARANCES AND LIFE UPDATES.
OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT emcwinter@gmail.com
AND FOLLOW: IG @EmilyMcWinter TikTok @3milywinter