Comedian Melissa McGillicuddy (Voted best comedian, Sacramento News & Review 2019) will be headlining at the Comedy Edge Saturday, June 18th and I was happy to have the chance to grab her for a conversation about how she got her start in comedy even though she's shy, hear her worst stories of bombing and her tips for writing great material. Get tickets to see Melissa at the Comedy Edge in Oakland,  June 18th, 2022 >> About Melissa Melissa McGillicuddy is a stand-up comedian based in Sacramento, California. As a newcomer to the scene in 2015, she won the Wildcard Competition at the Sacramento Comedy Festival. Since then, Melissa has performed at SF Sketchfest, the World Series of Comedy, and colleges all across the country. She has also opened for talented comedians such as Cameron Esposito, River Butcher, and Vicki Barbolak. Being an only child raised by a single mom in a conservative town, Melissa found she didn’t always fit in, so she used humor as a way to connect with people. Her dry wit and unique perspective on life make her a hit with audiences everywhere.  Melissa also co-produces the Moving Van Show, a monthly, secret pop-up comedy show, as well as Sacramento FemmeFest, the city's first all-female comedy festival. In 2019, Melissa was voted best comedian by the Sacramento News & Review.  Follow her on Instagram: @meowlissamcg About Holly Shaw Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as the newly released book, Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA where she runs and performs in the live weekly comedy showcase on the waterfront, the Comedy Edge. To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com Composer Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful…quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com