Sarah Cooper

“Stand up comedy can be a tough world to break into. It can take years of painful soul searching, disappointing performances, and pounding the pavement day in and day out with very little reward.”

“I didn't set out to be a Trump impressionist at all. It wasn't that I wanted to be Trump. It's that I was asking, 'What if Trump was me?'”

“Stealing something from Apple is the most innovative way to be seen as an innovative, digital-first company.”

“People love self-deprecating humor.”

“Men love explaining things. But when he's explaining something and you already know that, it might be tempting to say 'I already know that.' Instead, have him explain it to you over and over again. It will make him feel useful and will give you some time to think about out how to avoid him in the future.”

“There are many ways to deal with annoying coworkers, but obviously the most effective way is to picture them as rappers. Picturing your coworkers as rappers makes you laugh and provides a helpful nickname that can be used when talking about them behind their backs.”

“I used to think Medium was a pretty pure place and then the MAGA hats started showing up here too.”

“Creating a distraction is a skill we should all have. Never take for granted your ability to spot something interesting out of the corner of you eye and take attention away from your thoughtlessness.”

“If we want little girls and young women and people of color to see they have a place in the tech world, it's up to us to make that place for them.”

“You know, as a comedian, that's what you do. You speak truth to power by making people laugh.”

“I guess a younger me would like that I tried acting? Although I swore that I'd actually go to L.A. and try to make it in movies and I didn't do that. I did try, though. And I found that I didn't like it.”

“My inability to stick with any journal or calendar has been a pattern for God-since-forever.”

“The only time my Dad ever said I might have not gotten something because of how I look was when I auditioned for Tyler Perry's 'Meet the Browns.' My dad didn't think I was 'black enough' for the show. My dad isn't the most politically correct person.”

“You can tell a lot about a woman by her email signature. Actually you can't but for some reason people do anyway.”

“I love getting things done. That's why I spend several hours a day reading productivity articles. And when the day is done, I bookmark the ones I didn't get to for later. I learned that trick in a productivity article.”

“One of the best things you can do to get on an engineer's good side is make him feel as much like a regular person as possible, without insulting his intelligence. Say things like, 'You're too cool to be an engineer,' or 'Nice kicks!' or 'You don't seem lonely at all.' Note: This only works on male engineers.”

“People are like, 'How did you get so funny?' And I'm like, 'Wait, am I funny?'”

“Believe it or not, joining a video conference call from home doesn't always have to make you feel like an idiot.”

“That's why Trump is so funny, because he thinks he sounds brilliant.”

“I love how much people are drawn to my 'impersonations' of Trump because they aren't really impersonations at all. I'm not trying to be Trump so much as I'm trying to make Trump me. In doing them, I simply ask myself, 'How would I, Sarah Cooper, say these words?'”