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DC sketch writer and performer Elizabeth Kemp, of Bad Medicine, talks about owning self-defense weapons, what she wants sketch comedy to look like in the future, and her favorite Midwestern grocery chain.

Elizabeth Kemp on Heavy Flo with Puss and Kooch

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. To hear everything Elizabeth has to say, listen to her podcast episode.

Getting started in comedy

I finished grad school in Iowa and then immediately took a job with Mayor Bloomberg’s office in New York. 

I’d never been to New York in my life. I just packed a suitcase and got on a plane. It was the financial crisis, and that was the only place that would hire me. When they were interviewing me on the phone, they were like, “You’re from Iowa? That’s weird. We’ve never had that before. Let’s just see how this goes.” So I ended up taking a job out there. 

Did you do comedy while you were in New York? 

I did not. I did comedy stuff in undergrad and then was so busy in grad school that I didn’t have time to do anything. I don’t think I went to a single comedy show when I was in New York because I was working all the time. It wasn’t until I’d been in DC for about a year that I started getting back into it. 

I went to a couple stand-up shows and remembered how much I liked comedy. I’d also started picking up work over time from contacts who needed help punching things up for speeches, fundraisers, campaign events, that kind of thing. I was kind of trading that work for beer money or however one gets by and forges a creative outlet in DC. Then I ended up taking a sketch class from Murphy McHugh.

Was taking this sketch class your first step into comedy in DC? 

Yeah, and it was there where I met a couple of the people who ultimately started Bad Medicine with me: Julian Morgan, and a woman named Maura. Then we found Isaiah Headen at one of the very early Sketch Jam events in a basement bar and recruited him. I basically badgered him on Facebook Messenger and tracked him down through mutual friends. 

Then we all gathered at a bar on U Street. We had a massive plate of tater tots, and that’s how Bad Medicine was born. 

Bad Medicine and sketch comedy in DC

I’m one of Bad Medicine’s head directors and a performer-writer. I also help with production stuff sometimes. 

How did you come up with the name?

We were pitching various names, and Bad Medicine was one I pitched. 

I don’t know if it’s the Midwestern roots, but I use comedy to deal with a lot of stuff and get through it. Comedy makes people feel better, and you’re never going to leave a situatio...