Made with Google AI
When Angela and Andy Meek became empty nesters, they decided it was time to find something fun to do together. Their first attempt didn’t quite stick. Then Andy’s improv troupe broke up, and stand-up started to sound like a better fit. The longtime Southlake residents signed up for comedy classes together, and this time, it clicked. What began as a shared hobby has grown into nights spent writing, testing material and performing across DFW. Angela has since left the corporate world to pursue comedy full time, while Andy still keeps his day job and performs on the side. And the Meek family is proving to be anything but: both of their grown children now do stand-up, too.
WE ENDED UP IN SOUTHLAKE BECAUSE… (ANDY) I had an opportunity to move to DFW while I was working for Johnson & Johnson, and because I travel so much, we basically drew a circle around the airport. We found Southlake and have been here about 20 years. We both grew up in Texas, so we were happy to be back.
OUR COMEDY STORY STARTED… (ANDY) because I had been doing improv for fun. When my troupe eventually broke up, Angela said, “We should do stand-up together.” So we took classes at The Comedy Arena in McKinney, learned how to structure jokes, and started doing open mics. That was about three years ago.
BEFORE COMEDY, WE TRIED… (ANGELA) ballroom dancing. We bought the shoes. We were ready to go all in. And we were terrible. We would literally have to tell each other before practicing, “We are not going to get mad at each other.” Our kids wouldn’t even watch the recital video because they were so embarrassed for us. Comedy turned out to be a much better fit.
BEING A COMEDY COUPLE IS… (ANGELA) great. We drive to shows together, go to open mics together and bounce jokes off each other. I’m usually good at coming up with unusual premises, and Andy is really good at finding the punchline.(ANDY) We can also be honest with each other and say, “There’s something funny there, but you need to cut half of it.” That kind of feedback helps us improve faster.
OUR KIDS THINK… (ANGELA) it’s pretty normal now. At first they were worried all of our jokes would be about them, but they really weren’t. Now they both do stand-up, too. Our daughter is in New York and our son is in Los Angeles.(ANDY) I was recently in L.A. for work, met our son at an open mic and we both performed that night. Somehow, comedy has become a family business.
REAL LIFE BECOMES MATERIAL WHEN… (ANGELA) something happens that is too funny not to use. I have a bit about our daughter that involves a rib I had surgically removed. It’s a true story, although like most comedy, things get exaggerated by the time they make it to the stage. She laughs about it now. She probably would not have felt the same way at 16.
WRITING COMEDY MEANS… (ANDY) writing ALL the time. You can spend hundreds of hours getting five or 10 minutes of material that actually works.(ANGELA) We’re constantly putting things in our phones or documents because you never know when an idea is going to hit. Sometimes one of us walks by the other making a strange face or talking to ourselves, and we just assume a joke is being worked out.
OPEN MICS ARE… (ANDY) where you learn pretty quickly whether something works. They can also be brutal because the audience is usually other comedians who are busy thinking about their own material. Sometimes if you get a grunt, you think, “OK, maybe I have something.” But you need to hear yourself say a joke out loud before you really know.
THE NERVES… (ANGELA) never fully disappear. We know comedians who have been doing this for 10 or 20 years who still pace before going onstage. We’re much more comfortable now than we were three years ago, but there’s still that nervous energy. That’s also part of what makes it exciting.
WHAT KEEPS US DOING IT IS… (ANGELA) the excitement of putting ourselves out there and seeing what happens. Once life gets comfortable, it’s easy to stop doing that. Comedy has introduced us to people we never would have met, given us something creative to work toward and added an entirely new element to our lives.
Sidebar:
Want to see the Meek’s live? Catch one of these upcoming performances:
Oct. 9 | Big Tex & Friends Stand-Up Showcase | The Comedy Arena
Oct. 17 | Medical Grade Comedy | Mic Drop Plano
Oct. 30 | Halloween Roast of Michael Myers | The Comedy Arena
Nov. 18 | Whatever! Gen X Does Stand-Up | Punch Line Irving
Nov. 20 | Stand-Up Showdown | The Comedy Arena
Dec. 4 | Late Show with Andy Meek | The Comedy Arena