From Hollywood Sitcoms to Solo Stage StorytellingMichael Jamin in conversation with Richard Voyce for Playstosee.com
Michael Jamin may be best known for penning lines for animated misfits and awkward sons in some of America’s best-loved sitcoms—King of the Hill, Brickleberry, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Tacoma FD among them. But after nearly 30 years writing for television, he has turned inward with a more personal project. This August, he brings A Paper Orchestra, his one-man show based on his memoir of the same name, to the Edinburgh Fringe.
At first glance, it might seem like a surprising shift—from the writers’ room to a solo spotlight. But for Jamin, it was a long time coming.
“After twenty-eight years, it started to feel like a job,” he says, reflecting on his time in television. “I don’t usually get to write what I want to write. So I decided to try something different—something personal.”
That “something” became a series of essays inspired by his own life. His wife encouraged the project, telling him he’d discover more about himself in the process. “And she was right,” Jamin admits. “The more I wrote, the more I figured out who I was—as a character, as a person. Even though these stories are memories, I’d find myself asking, ‘Why did I say that? Why did I do that?’”
The show, like the book, blends humour with introspection, drawing from pivotal “firsts”—first love, first job, first failure. But Jamin is now working on a second book, and the tone, he says, may be different. “There’s been a lot of death in my life recently. I don’t know if it’ll become a theme, but those are the stories I’m writing now.” He laughs at the thought. “I can’t decide if I should write a book about death. Seems like a bummer.”
Still, the essence of what drives his storytelling remains unchanged: honest, sharply observed moments drawn from everyday life. It’s what singer-songwriter John Mayer once called “writing about the moments between the moments”—advice that stuck with Jamin.
For a writer whose work has reached millions through television, the theatre offers a different kind of reward. “On TV, you never really know if people liked it. I’ve had one fan letter in over twenty years,” he says. “But in theatre, you can feel it. Even if it’s fifty people—you hear the laughter, the silence, the tears. You just don’t get that on screen.”
Theatre also makes you brave, he suggests. After one show, an audience member told him, “You’re so brave to be admitting all this publicly.” Jamin’s reply was classic: “It would be braver to tell everyone I’m a professional writer and then put on a shitty show.”
His presence at the Fringe is, in part, a leap of faith—a self-investment. He recalls being told by a literary agent that he’d need a social media platform to sell his book. “Platform drives acquisition,” the agent said. So Jamin set himself a goal: build a following of half a million. Within a year, by sharing frank, often funny videos about writing, failure, and the realities of Hollywood, he did it.
His straightforward writing advice has struck a chord, too—so much so that he now sells water bottles emblazoned with some of his best-known maxims. Among them: “Stop polishing that turd.”
“I say it all the time,” Jamin laughs. “New writers fall in love with their first project and keep tinkering. But that’s not how you grow. You finish it, move on, write something else. That’s how you get better.”
Other favourites include:
“If you want someone to invest in your work, you have to invest in yourself first.”
“There’s no search party looking for you. If you want off this island, build a raft.”
“Life comes with a price. You pay with sacrifice or regret. The regret costs more.”
Though he never set out to become a writing guru, Jamin is comfortable with the role he’s found himself in: part memoirist, part mentor, part performer. “I just wanted to be an artist,” he says. “But if a few people find my words helpful, great. Still—buy the book!”
A Paper Orchestra may well have a future life as a TV project, but that’s not the priority. “I don’t care if it becomes a show,” he says. “Right now, I just want people to come see it in a room of fifty people and feel something. That’s the step I’m taking.”
With solid early ticket sales at the Fringe, word is clearly getting out. And London audiences may get a chance too. “I’d love a short run down there,” he says. “I’d absolutely love that.”
Michael Jamin’s A Paper Orchestra runs at C ARTS Studio (Roman Eagle Lodge, 2 Johnston Terrace) from Monday 18 August to Sunday 24 August, daily at 1:35 PM.
️ Tickets: edfringe.com
More info: www.MichaelJamin.com