Navigating ADHD on Stage with Comedian Ellie Hino
In this episode, comedian Ellie Hino shares her journey through the world of comedy, revealing how her ADHD diagnosis has shaped her career and creative process.
Mentioned in the episode:
Soft Bones, Ellie's album!
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Summary
In this episode of the "Adulting with ADHD" podcast, host Sarah S. interviews comedian Ellie Hino. The conversation explores how ADHD has shaped Ellie's journey in stand-up comedy, from her late diagnosis to the ways medication and self-awareness have improved her stage presence and creative process. Ellie shares candid stories about impulsivity, emotional regulation, and the challenges of writing and performing with ADHD. She also offers practical advice for fellow comedians and performers with ADHD, emphasizing the importance of organization, self-acceptance, and embracing the unique strengths that neurodivergence can bring to creative work.
In this episode
"Sometimes that impulse control, I think, is what makes me so funny—because I will say what I'm thinking and I will be super honest, and I guess that's become part of my personality long before I was ever taking medication. That was just kind of my thing. Ellie says it like it is."
Introduction to Ellie Hino and her path into comedy
How a late ADHD diagnosis changed her approach to performing and self-care
The impact of medication on focus and anxiety during stand-up sets
Memorable career moments and stories highlighting impulsivity and emotional regulation
Challenges and rewards of working in comedy with ADHD
Creative process: writing, collaboration, and adapting to ADHD-related forgetfulness
The importance of preparation, note-taking, and organization for performers with ADHD
Advice for comedians: keep your ideas, wait for the laugh, and trust your instincts
Where to find Ellie’s comedy album and live shows
Transcript
[Sarah S.]
The Adulting with ADHD podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Please see a medical professional if you think you have ADHD or have ADHD and need additional assistance. For podcast archives, please visit patreon.com/adultingwithADHD.
This is the Adulting with ADHD podcast, self-empowerment for people with ADHD.
Today, I'm very excited to have with me comedian Ellie Hino. Thanks so much for having me. Before I jump in, do you want to give the listeners a little background on who you are and how you got into comedy and—
[Ellie Hino]
Yeah, my name is Ellie Hino and I live in Minneapolis in the suburbs. I do stand-up comedy mostly now, but I have a background in a lot of sketch and improv comedy. I started stand-up in my super early 20s and did it for a year or two. Then I would once in a while revisit it, but mostly did other things, many other day jobs as well. I came back to stand-up when I was pregnant with my kiddo, who is eight now, almost nine. So probably about nine years ago, I started really trying again. Of course, there was a hiatus when he was a baby, but once he was a toddler and I was able to leave the house a little more, I started really trying.
[Sarah S.]
Right.
[Ellie Hino]
That's what I said to my husband. I was like, I've never really tried. I think I want to really try. So—
[Sarah S.]
I love that.
[Ellie Hino]
Yeah, a few years of really trying.
[Sarah S.]
That's so cool. I completely relate to that. I was just having a conversation—
[Ellie Hino]
And honestly, it probably does have a lot to do with my ADHD, the fact that I never really buckled down into it until later.
[Sarah S.]
Absolutely. Yeah, I—
[Ellie Hino]
Sorry, what were you going to say?
[Sarah S.]
I had a conversation earlier today and it was about the show and I didn't say it like that, but it was pretty much what I meant: I'm actually trying this time. Like I've been doing it, but I'm super engaged and immersed now. It's not just—not that I haven't been—but there's ebbs and flows and it's like, all right, I'm going to do this in earnest now.
[Ellie Hino]
Yes.
[Sarah S.]
My first question is, how has having ADHD influenced your approach to comedy?
[Ellie Hino]
Oh gosh. So I was diagnosed maybe about four or five years ago, so I was already really trying with comedy and doing it pretty regularly. And of course, that adult diagnosis—I was probably around 40 or whatever—and it's crazy. It changes all kinds of things. I think it was nice just to know why it sometimes felt harder for me on stage and why sometimes I felt really focused and sometimes I just was off. Then to have that sort of grace and know what was going on so I could make changes and make sure I was in the best headspace I could be to be focused on stage was really awesome. I'll tell you one little tiny thing I noticed. I started taking Ritalin when I was diagnosed and it's worked for me, like Concerta or whatever, the extended release. One of the little things I noticed was, when you're on stage as a comic, a lot of times if you're doing a shorter set or whatever, they will give you a light when it's time to finish up and be done. For me, that was always terrifying because I just wouldn't see the light. I think my brain just wouldn't process it fast enough because it was just a little flash of a light and it always made me so anxious that I was going to miss the light or if I saw the light, I wouldn't trust myself that it was the first light and maybe they had already lit me five times and I really need to get off the stage.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah.
[Ellie Hino]
And all of a sudden with medication, I was like, oh, there's the light. I can wrap up now, no problem. It was just so clear to me and it was such a small thing but it made my anxiety about that disappear. Very little things like that.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah, that's amazing. Can you share a memorable moment from your career when ADHD played a role?
[Ellie Hino]
Honestly, I have some pretty great stories that revolve around it.
[Sarah S.]
Let's hear one.
[Ellie Hino]
Well, I have my album out, it's called Soft Bones and you can find it on any major streaming platform or at blondmedicine.com. That's my label, Blond Medicine. One of my favorite stories on my album is about—it's about before I was diagnosed—being impulsive because my ADHD is, I'm pretty impulsive. When my baby was about 10 months old, I say, okay, I'm going to tell you this story now and there's going to be a point in the story where you're going to feel worried about my baby. But what I want you to remember is that babies have very soft bones. So that one's kind of a throwaway joke, but that's what I ended up naming the album. The story is about how I took my baby on what I thought was going to be a very slow little roller coaster. But when the roller coaster started, it was quite fast. There's a whole physical bit that goes along with it, but it's a totally true story. There is honestly somewhere in my husband's video recordings, there is a video that I showed him later. I was mortified. I didn't tell this story for five years because I was so ashamed. But yeah, there's a video of me going, okay, we're going to go on this little roller coaster. Say hi daddy and then all of a sudden my phone drops to the floor of the roller coaster and you just hear me going, oh no. There was me and him and there was like no one else really at the carnival. It was so bizarre. I did ask the guy before I went out, is it okay if I take my baby? And he goes, yeah, as long as you hold him. Thinking. We said, yeah, of course, I'm going to hold him.
[Sarah S.]
Oh my god.
[Ellie Hino]
But I did it and I should have asked more questions or done a little more research. Everyone was fine. It was totally no big deal, but it was very embarrassing and I felt freaking terrible, but it makes for a real great stand-up story now. My kid has heard it. He's fine with it. He approves. He said he's okay and has recovered.
[Sarah S.]
You got to watch out for those carnival rides. Some of them look so harmless and they're not.
[Ellie Hino]
Yeah, that was a definite ADHD whoopsy daisy and it was not long after that that I got myself diagnosed. I got myself diagnosed because I was looking—when he was maybe three years old or so, I started looking up symptoms of ADHD and then I saw these lists and I was like, hold up, that's me.
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[Ellie Hino]
I guess I just didn't realize some of the symptoms are things that really made my life hard. And when I saw those on the list, I was like, wait, I really struggle with keeping my emotions in check and getting frustrated easily and being impulsive. I never thought of those parts of it.
[Sarah S.]
Exactly. To me that was a huge key. Oh.
[Ellie Hino]
Yes. It's cumulative. Okay.
[Sarah S.]
Yes. What do you find to be the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of working in comedy with ADHD?
[Ellie Hino]
Honestly, it's just hard because like I was saying before, sometimes you feel on and sometimes you don't. And that is not exclusive to ADHD. Obviously that's just part of life. Sometimes you feel more on than others, but I do think it's a little harder sometimes to overcome when my brain is feeling really slow or—which is another funny thing to me. I always assumed ADHD because it's impulsive and unfocused, I thought it was faster. I thought my brain was faster than everyone else. And when I realized that means that I have a slower processing speed, that was hard to hear, but it makes sense. Sometimes when that feels like it's happening more, it's hard to fix that. I do, I medicate before shows. I take a little half of a five milligram and that helps a lot. But yeah, I think—I don't know what the benefits of it. Sometimes that impulse control, I think, is what makes me so funny is that I will say what I'm thinking and I will be super honest and I guess that's become part of my personality long before I was ever taking medication. That was just kind of my thing. Ellie says it like it is.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah.
[Ellie Hino]
So I think being able to just be honest and a little bit impulsive is pretty fun on stage.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah, absolutely.
[Ellie Hino]
And I'm certainly not alone. Almost every comic I know is either diagnosed or probably could be. One of my friends has a joke—her name is Pearl Rose, she's so funny—she said, "You guys, we chat all that ADHD."
[Sarah S.]
But I was like, I think we do, Pearl.
[Sarah S.]
I have definitely had that moment in certain environments. Is this real? Like how is this even possible? But yeah, I totally completely agree with you. It's far out because we didn't know what we didn't know, but now we know.
[Ellie Hino]
Yeah, for sure. For sure. Now we know.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah. How does your ADHD impact your creative process?
[Ellie Hino]
I write a lot of funny jokes that then get forgotten and never thought about again ever in my life.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah.
[Ellie Hino]
I guess it makes me have better habits. It's hard for me to get myself to sit down and actually write and my creative process isn't really like that anyway. It's more talking things out and joking. I co-write with my husband.
[Sarah S.]
Oh, that's a good combination because half of my comedy is I can't think of the word and I don't know—very relatable. And then I'll have this really lovely punch line that sort of rolls off the tongue and that's usually, not always, but usually not written by me because that's just not how my brain works. But it does make a good combo and I find I have to have more notes and I prepare before sets maybe more than some other comedians just because I can't, I can wing it sometimes, but sometimes my brain just turns off up there and I better know what's next. At least to have something in my back pocket that if I start riffing and then my brain goes blank, that I can at least be like, okay, let's get back on task.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah. You're reminding me of an interaction I just had at a work meeting. I had this great idea and I was going 100 miles an hour and then it was just like that Wile E. Coyote—nothing. Just gone. Gone. Exactly.
[Ellie Hino]
Sorry, carry on.
[Sarah S.]
I do a weekly show in Minneapolis. It's called Darlings at So Darling. It's very fun and every Thursday. And last week I was just so out of it. I couldn't riff. Me and my co-host, we usually start the show just joking around. And at one point he literally looked at me and was like, what's going on? Are you okay? I was like, I don't know. I'm just—my brain's not going. But then I do a show the next week and it's extra on because I had a half a cup of coffee and a tiny bit of Ritalin.
[Ellie Hino]
Exactly.
[Ellie Hino]
All right, I sound like a Ritalin commercial. I hate Big Pharma just to be clear.
[Sarah S.]
Yes, say, what advice would you give to fellow comedians who are navigating their careers or even performers in general? Do you have any insider tips?
[Ellie Hino]
Oh my gosh. I think having an organization technique in some way, I think is really helpful, whether that's on your phone or in a notebook or whatever. It's important to keep it all because you never know when you're going to want to come back to something that didn't work the first time or never got tried out on stage. I've had things like ideas in my notes for years before I actually wrote a joke about it and it made it on stage and it's been great. And so just to not throw those little nuggets of ideas away, I think is important. And just quit stepping on your own punch lines, you guys. How's that?
[Sarah S.]
It's a trend.
[Ellie Hino]
When you say a punch line, you have to stop and wait for a laugh and you have to pretend the audience is a little stupid and make them know this is the place to laugh with your inflection. And it feels a little cheesy sometimes, but they need to be given permission to laugh and there's a weird trend in stand-up that drives me nuts where everyone says, you know, or right after they say a punch line and the audience just needs a minute of silence so they can have their moment.
[Sarah S.]
Yeah.
[Ellie Hino]
That's my weird little comedy.
[Sarah S.]
Interesting. Wow.
[Ellie Hino]
That was maybe a little too inside.
[Sarah S.]
I'm going to look out for that next time I hear a show. A little bit about where the listeners can keep up with you and catch your shows and whatnot.
[Ellie Hino]
Oh my gosh, yes. You can find me at Ellie Hino, E-L-L-I-E H-I-N-O, anywhere, like on all the social media. It's just my name. And then I have a website with a calendar. I should probably update that. Okay, I'll do that later. And then my album is called Soft Bones. It is on every streaming platform or at blondmedicine.com. You can go through there and have a listen and follow me on social media. That's all.
[Sarah S.]
Awesome. Every time I see a baby on a roller coaster, I'm going to think about your album.
[Ellie Hino]
Don't be out seeing many. We shouldn't be putting them on there.
[Sarah S.]
Stuff so soon. That would be bad. Mommy may not be aware.
[Ellie Hino]
Ellie, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure having you.
[Ellie Hino]
Thank you, Sarah. This was great.
