Hewlett native Robyn Schall records first comedy album at the Triad Theater in Manhattan on July 20

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Ever since she was a youngster, Hewlett High School alumna, class of 2002, Robyn Schall has enjoyed making people laugh so much that she has managed to fashion a successful career from the hilarity.

Comedy was not the original plan for Schall, as she graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in acting in 2006. She did not have much luck finding work after college. She then turned to a family member for advice. “I wasn’t making any money after college and I asked my father who was an accountant for some advice,” she said. “He said that I should give comedy a shot. He always thought I was funny and just had a feeling that it would work for me.”

Schall, began doing stand-up shows locally around 2010. “Sometime in 2011, I performed at a fundraiser event for the Woodmere Fire Department,” she said. “I bombed on the stage. No one was laughing and everybody was just drunk and talking over me.” Schall didn’t feel discouraged by that performance as she noted, “In comedy, you’re only as good as your last performance.” 

Being diagnosed with Perthes disease at 6, made her childhood difficult. It is a condition that causes temporary loss of blood supply to the hip. “I had a bone disease as a kid and I had to wear leg braces like I was Forrest Gump for a few years,” she said. “I was in and out of hospitals for a few years.”

Despite the health problem, Schall’s older brother Richie said she always had a knack to make others laugh. “Ever since she was little, she’s always been a ball of laughter,” Richie, four years Robyn’s senior said. “She just enjoys making people laugh.” Richie drives her to gigs and helps her practice her standup routine. “The first time I saw her doing standup at Caroline’s on Broadway in 2010, I knew that she was special,” he said. 

Schall, now a Manhattan-resident has fond memories of where she grew up. “Even though I was sick as a kid, I still had a lot of friends at school,” she said. “The drama department gave me the opportunity to perform in high school.” 

Heather Dominick-Kosmicki was one of Schall’s drama teachers at Hewlett High and said that Schall was very attentive to detail with her performances in high school. “Robyn always had a mature sense about her when performing,” Dominick-Kosmicki said. “She was very smart about what was needed with each part she played.”

Schall’s first comedy album “Guilty Pleasure” will be recorded on July 20 at the Triad Theater in Manhattan and released by the comedy record label 800 Pound Gorilla sometime in the late fall or early winter, she said. “I came up with the title since so much of my comedy is based around all my guilty pleasures,” Schall said. “I have faith that this album will be people’s guilty pleasure.”

Tickets for the July 20 performances at 7 and 9:30 p.m., at the Triad, can be purchased at https://bit.ly/2XMvA6k.