‘Late Night with Stephen Colbert’ Writer Ariel Dumas Talks Failing For Fun & Profit

In the latest edition of Nondisclosure Agreement, an ongoing series of interviews and Q&As with alums to benefit The Second City Alumni Fund, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer Ariel Dumas dropped by the DeMaat Theater to drop some professional comedy wisdom on the crowd of Second City Training Center students.

The alumna of The Second City Touring Company and the Training Center House Ensemble has been writing for late night TV since coming on board the final season of The Colbert Report in 2014 and has been with The Late Show since fellow Second City alum Colbert took over. In a candid talk moderated by Head of Advanced Improvisation Rachael Mason, Dumas dropped tons of golden comedy career nuggets and warned the audience that even though “the industry is hungry for talented, hard-working people,” a future as a professional writer means embracing constant failure--and that’s a good thing. “That’s how the process works,” she explained. “You have to churn a lot before you come up with the gems that get on TV.”

All proceeds from the evening went directly to The Second City Alumni Fund, which has raised over $500,000 to aid alumni with health and financial challenges.

Thank you, @ArielDumas!