Emily Levine (October 20, 1944 – February 3, 2019) was an American humorist, writer, actress and public speaker who lectured on science and the human condition. Levine has been recognized as a philosopher comic. "In her celebrated career, Levine has been part of an improv comedy group, written for television sitcoms, done stand-up comedy, and wrote and performed an Emmy-winning series of commercial satire segments for television." She has earned the greatest praise for her one-woman shows, "Myself, Myself, I'll Do It Myself" and "Common Sense".
Early life
Levine was born on October 20, 1944, in Nashville, and brought up in Connecticut and Brooklyn. Levine and her family moved quite frequently due to her father's career as a doctor. Levine eventually settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in order to attend Harvard University. While at Harvard, Levine began to act alongside fellow students such as John Lithgow. Levine graduated cum laude from Harvard University earning a degree in English and Social Relations. After graduating, Levine moved to Rome and found a job Dubbing (filmmaking) Spaghetti Westerns.
On returning to Brooklyn, Levine decided to put her personable skills to use and taught autistic children. Levine explained “I was naturally good because of my performing abilities. At the same time, I didn't want to turn the classroom into my own personal stage.” Levine channelled her acting potential into a late night improvisation group known as The New York City Stickball Team. The group consisted of individuals such as Robert Klein, Peter Boyle, and David Brenner. Levine was the only female within the group; a dynamic that caused relational problems between Levine and her partners. Levine explains: “We fought all the time, and you couldn’t make a cent. But although I wanted to act, at the time I was cast only as cute and ditzy. I knew if I went that route, I'd become cute and ditzy in real life." The New York City Stickball Team disbanded soon after it began, however Levine found an innate pleasure in performing comedy, and decided to continue honing her comedic skills.
Career
1977–2007
During the 1970's Levine began performing stand-up sets all around the United States. Levine's comedic style and persona has been defined as a "lean, lucid, 'lauder' of laughter". "She 'raps' about all aspects of human dynamics--like being somebody, money, or lack of it, power, violence, love. . . Emily refers to her presentation as an 'obscene overture,' but actually her slightly censorable innuendoes are balanced perfectly by her soft-peddled, hard hitting facts of life.". On February 9, 1977 Variety (magazine) wrote a small critique on Levine's early stand-up performances. The review read: "At this point, Levine has the basis of some good material, but delivery seems to be of the lecture-platform type. Levine gives the impression of being intellectual and works in a manner that gets knowing glances and a few smiles." Levine continued to work on her stand-up routines, incorporating her intellect and humor in a more refined and professional manner.
The 1970's proved to be a difficult time period for several female comedians. "Once, in the mid 1970's at New York's Improvisation, Emily Levine found her time slot threatened when a stripper in the audience stood and began to perform impromptu, inspiring another woman, a rank amateur at stripping, to join her on stage." "Another comedienne and I were watching this," remarked Levine "and we're going nuts. Because these are our time spots going down the drain. Suddenly, we looked at each other . . . and within seconds we were in the restroom. We took off our tops and went on the stage and told jokes." Levine, and countless other female comedians had several obstacles to overcome during their careers in comedy.
Levine began to write and produce a number of Emmy-award winning commercial satire segments for WNET's "Fifty-First State." WNBC's News Center 4 (based in New York City) admired her unique style of humor and realism so much so, that they hired Levine as a weekly feature to provide consumer information.