Nick Mehendale will be reading at Difficult to Name on Saturday, November 11
How did you get your start writing for the Onion?
I wrote for and edited a humor magazine in college called Texas Travesty, which is how I found out about the Onion's fellowship program. It's sort of like a 6-month trial writer position and is the avenue most of the writers use to get into the room. I applied to that a few times (it's competitive), got it eventually, worked very hard, and now I'm the senior contributing writer the entire country has been abuzz about.
This is a personal question, so feel free not to answer it, but do you find that because you write funny stuff professionally that it's easier for you to be funny on dates?
I'd say I'm pretty confident that I can make the other person laugh on a date most of the time, but I definitely can and do bomb just like anyone else. That said, I don't know if someone necessarily needs A+ jokes for dating. I think people really just want enough humor to feel comfortable with the other person. It's really about appearing confident and showing that you're not an asshole more than anything else. Unfunny people can do very well for themselves.
What have you worked on in 2017 that you're most proud of?
I need to either start working harder or become more proud of the things I'm working on.
What can people expect from your reading?
I think setting expectations generally leads to disappointment.