We Are Art People in conversation with Lauren Servideo

Author: Emily Nam
Published: Mon 14 Apr 2025
Episode Link: https://www.instagram.com/servideo

Lauren Servideo is a funny person, and a comedian and actress living in the East Village in New York City.

Her main gig is to write, produce and portray the people amongst us, where she is dressed up as various characters and people that we all know. What Lauren has effortlessly been able to achieve is transforming her own self into the beings of others, which she shares most often via an instagram video, filmed on the fly with her partner Emerson Rosenthal. Her characters include; Anubis a ghoulish vampire that enjoys lazing about in swimming pools, her friends are fleeting and she is at present wandering the landscapes of New York City, it is 2025. Regulars are Miss Piggy, Dog Breeder, Greg Finkel, Grandmas Boyfriend, Victoria is from Pittsburgh and then there are the delectable moments and happenings that Lauren discovers along the way, each with a keen display of vulnerability and an ability for stretching our imagination.

We discuss the transformative power of becoming another, and how Lauren has navigated the creative process of workshopping and improvisation, as an opportunity to get to know her characters. Lauren herself questions, what is the underlying drive that has fed her creative process and for making video projects for over a decade. Why do we laugh or why do we need to laugh is a question pertinent in this current moment of global uncertainty, instability… what is the purpose of humor? Lauren’s ability to sit at the edge of humanity and culture — capturing the pulse of the zeitgeist with a fresh and dynamic spirit, is an art. For clarity, it is best you watch her videos on instagram.

Links:

@servideo

IMBd https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9939178/

Show notes:

Nominative determinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism

Hole, Doll Parts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD9xK9smth4

The Wizard of Oz (Glinda's arrival) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvQ7HiJkUJ4

William Esper Studio https://esperstudio.com/

Manchester by the Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_by_the_Sea_(film)

@the.dialect.coach

Tulpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa

Miranda July https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_July