Mistaken for a
Real Grown Up.
Ava Love Hanna is a professional comedy writer, playwright, producer, and award-winning speaker and storyteller who is continually amazed by how often she is mistaken for a real grown-up.
Her work — described as being as funny as it is smart — blends sharp linguistic wit with high-concept absurdity. With nearly 200 performances across the US, Canada, South Korea, and the UK, her scripts are frequent fixtures in the Smith & Kraus Best Ten-Minute Plays anthologies, have earned numerous awards and nominations, and have been selected for ScriptWorks’ notoriously competitive Out of Ink showcase seven times. Possibly a record. She’s not NOT saying it’s a record.
As a comedy writer, her jokes and sketches have appeared in places she can neither confirm nor deny — though if you’ve spent any time on the internet, you’ve likely laughed at her work without knowing it.
Based in Austin, TX, Ava is the Artistic Director of Stories Found, a creative home dedicated to developing and showcasing new comedy.
Inciting Incidents.
I Want to be a Basketball: When I was four, someone asked me (in front of a crowd of people) what I wanted to be when I grew up, I accidentally said ‘a basketball’. I meant to say a basketball player which is equally as unlikely. The worst part? My parents never even tried to help me be a basketball.
Dog Poo Ava: I once stepped in so many consecutive piles of dog poo in someone’s back yard that I started crying and the other kids started chanting, “Dog Poo Ava” at me and the name stuck for the rest of the summer.
No Brows: In 6th grade, they gave us school bumper stickers and I thought it would be funny to wear it on my forehead through all of French class. It was… until I removed it and accidentally ripped off my eyebrows. Nothing cooler in junior high than a smooth forehead.
Computer Dicks: 14 years old, on a 3-way call with two boys talking about a video game and when I went to say I had the disks, I said I had the dicks. I put the phone down and walked away. I haven’t touched a phone since.
Hand Sausages: At Jim’s restaurant for a late night breakfast with my mom, her order came with sausage instead of bacon. When she told the waiter, his reply was “here, just hand them to me” and extended his palm. There was no plate, no napkins. My mom asked, “into your hand?” The waiter nodded expectantly. My mom then placed the scalding hot, greasy sausages into this man’s bare hand. We laughed so hard afterward we caused a scene. I’m still laughing. (Miss you so much, Mom)
Animals: Despite being an animal lover, I’ve been attacked by squirrels twice, ladybugs once, and peacocks 1.5 times. There are stories.
It’s Weird in Here.
Let’s Play.
* NO GROWN-UPS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PAGE