“Most of my life I’ve felt alienated from my parents, and I used to think it was because I’m a Gryffindor and they’re Slytherins, and that’s just, you know, the dynamic. But, no, it turns out that they’re just ‘crazy.’ I love ’em, but they’re crazy…” -T.M. Caufield
TASHA CAUFIELD – BIOGRAPHY
It’s been a while since a comic has burst onto the scene and shown audiences just how funny family dysfunction can be, and Writer and Comedian Tasha Caufield has done just that. With her humorous approach to painful experiences, this part-time SoCal/part-time SoFla-based author and joke-teller has left audiences laughing so much that they forgot crying was an option.
Formerly described by the state as an “at risk youth,” Los Angeles native Tasha Caufield has been writing jokes since the age of fourteen when she joined a sitcom writing workshop while staying in a juvenile placement facility. (For more on her “origin story” check out this video.) Later working in an one-on-one mentorship with workshop instructor and television writer/producer Lisa Rosenthal, (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Head of the Class), Tasha’s writing eventually gained her admittance to University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, along with a Warner Bros. Fellowship and work in Hollywood.
Curious about life outside of institutions – both juvenile and Hollywood – Tasha then headed to the Midwest where she got a crash course in “normal,” along with some creative inspiration. Her take: “Pain is not only everywhere, but is like a crappy party people seem to stumble into. ‘At-risk youths’ got there early, but more and more ‘normal’ people are showing up, and nobody feels like dancing… More importantly, someone better make all these people laugh before they realize there isn’t enough booze.”
Tasha credits her success on stage, (which she defines as getting people to laugh with her and not at her), to years of writing and staying true to herself. And, when it comes to the latter, she is dedicated to helping others to do the same. With her production company Reel It In, Tasha directed and produced the documentary “The Makings of a Stand-Up Comedian,” which shows aspiring comics the importance of finding their voice; and has written non-fiction books: “A.W.O.L: How to Escape the Juvenile Justice System and Experience Inner Peace,” which has been praised as inspiring and influential among incarcerated youth, and “The Art of Laziness” for like-minded creatives and entrepreneurs.
With a love of literature, Tasha has also published several fiction novels, including her debut novel, “Rewriting Harry Potter,” a tale inspired by her life and stand-up, followed by “The Care and Feeding of Sex Symbols,” “Serial Killer,” and “Hangman: The Legend of William Francis Melchert-Dinkel.” She has a YouTube Channel that showcases her filmmaking projects, (like her web series, “What’s So Funny?”), and “advice” videos; as well as one supporting free speech and privacy rights advocacy through decentralization of the internet with blockchain technology. And, finally, she has a new podcast where she gets personal and dabbles in the art of in-to-me-see, (that’s “intimacy” for all you newbies), as well as an online cinema experience she hosts for classic film lovers. Stay tuned, as she continues to follow her bliss…
tashacaufield.com 