On Jan. 16, comedian Sarah Adelman ’19 performed her comedy show “EGG,” recognized in The New York Times as a “charming coming-of-age stand-up show,” on campus. The one-woman show chronicles Adelman’s life as a “neurotic” personality navigating her path to a career in comedy — from the woes of middle-school awkwardness and parental irritation to life as a sperm bank employee, according to her website.
Adelman recounted her life to approximately 40 attendees in One Wheelock — the first stop on her national tour, which will bring her from New York City to Los Angeles. According to Adelman, residential education assistant director Krista Patronick — a stand-up comedian herself — invited Adelman to speak on campus. Sociology professor Janice McCabe explained that Patronick extended the invite because she wants to incorporate more stand-up comedians in Dartmouth programming.
“I thought [the show] was so funny,” McCabe said. “I really enjoy memoirs, and I enjoy comedy, and [“EGG”] was a perfect mix of the two.”
Developed during a one-year residency in the Ars Nova theater workshop program from 2023 to 2024, “EGG” is a “coming-of-age” story detailing Adelman’s life, according to her website. Adelman, a born-and-raised New Yorker, began by explaining that her family’s sense of humor helped shape her comedic voice early in life. She continued to hone that voice in adulthood by performing in the city’s vibrant stand-up scene, she added.
“Being funny was something to be sought after in my house,” Adelman said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Adelman, a self-described “mega dork,” “Type A” and “attention-starved” individual, had an adolescence fraught with romantic failures and social blunders. She told her audience that she packed herself into regimented study sessions, extracurriculars, clubs and competitions due to her “overachieving” nature.
There was, however, one moment when Adelman broke away from her rigid lifestyle and got a taste of comedy writing.
“I wrote a series of funny essays as a high school project that I got to read at an assembly,” Adelman said. “And it was the best day of my life up until then.”
At Dartmouth, Adelman, inspired by her high school experience with comedic essays, wanted to be a creative writing major. She hoped she could secure a career as a David-Sedaris-esque humorist, she explained.
“But [people] said, ‘He already exists,’” she added in an interview.
Her comedy dream was quickly abandoned, and Adelman resorted back to her usual routine — engaging in clubs and extracurriculars and pursuing double majors in history and sociology and a minor in global health. According to, Adelman, she “did everything” — that is, everything except comedy.
“There was literally no comedy when I was here,” Adelman said. “There was improv. But I’ve never really been an improv person.”
Professor McCabe, who sat on Adelman’s thesis committee and taught her in a few classes, said she “didn’t ever picture” Adelman in a creative career. Though the former student was “always funny and irreverent” in class and during office hours, she positioned herself for a career in academia and research as a fertility scientist.
“She was very focused on health-related things and seemed very much on that track rather than the comedy track,” McCabe said.
At the time, McCabe had no reason to think otherwise, which Adelman made clear in the show. Adelman told her audience that she had carefully planned the rest of her life: first attending graduate school and participating in research, then moving on to a Ph.D in biological sciences, followed by an assistant professorship and, eventually, tenure. This life plan would be aided by the unwavering support of a boring, dry husband — in other words, a “saltine cracker” — Adelman joked in the show.
After graduating from Dartmouth, Adelman continued her academic journey at Columbia University, where she earned a Masters of Public Health. As planned, she then took a position as a fertility research scientist at a prestigious New York hospital. Unbeknownst to her, however, the position was to study male, not female, fertility. Effectively, Adelman commenced a position at a sperm bank, she joked in One Wheelock.
Feeling that her work had awarded her a significant amount of comedic material, she decided to attend one of the city’s many open-mic nights.
“In some ways, I wanted to spend seven years getting a Ph.D just so I could have the chance to speak publicly for 45 minutes,” Adelman said in the interview.
Upon attending an open mic show in 2021, Adelman found the perfect platform for her comedic voice to be heard and commenced her career in stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, recordings of Adelman’s open mic performances reached the HR department of the hospital in which she worked the same year, and the department was not pleased. Adelman said she was promptly fired, a unanticipated event that led her to a full-time career in comedy.
This is where Adelman’s show concludes. During the performance, Adelman likened her beginnings to a “desperate, needy sperm,” and now, her evolution to a confident, in-control egg. In other words, Adelman said she can now “be the person she always wanted to be.”
Logan Eskildsen ’28, who attended Adelman’s show, said he related to Adelman’s frustrations with academia.
“I personally related to [Adelman’s] experiences as an academic,” Eskildsen said. “[I hope I can] peter out from sperm-hood and [obtain] the confidence to discover [my] true passions.”
The end of “EGG”— the beginning of Adelman’s career in comedy — actually occurred in 2021, Adelman said. Since then, she has “hustled” through New York’s “comedy ecosystem.”
According to Adelman, she has evolved from open mic nights to being invited to perform at other comedians’ shows. Writing and producing her own shows, she runs the gauntlet at “check spots” in clubs. She now performs four to six booked shows a week, as well as the occasional open mic slot to test new material.
Ultimately, Adelman aspires to write comedy for television, she added. To fulfill this dream, Adelman shot “EGG” as a proof-of-concept short film, alongside director Emily Everhard ’18. Adelman said she hopes a producer will pick up the concept for a show, allowing her to transition into the role of a screenwriter. Adelman also said she has toyed with the idea of theater, since “EGG” was developed at Ars Nova theater.
Adelman will continue on a national tour through April. There will be nine shows in total.
