Margaret Smith

Margaret Smith – Life, Career, and Comedic Voice

Discover the life and laughter of Margaret Smith — award-winning American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer, known for her deadpan style and sharp wit.

Introduction

Margaret Smith (born 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and television producer whose dry, deadpan delivery and ironic humor have won her acclaim in comedy circles. The Ellen DeGeneres Show, appeared on late night television, released her own comedy recordings, and published a memoir.

In this article, we explore Margaret Smith’s early life, comedic evolution, influences, signature style, major works, and the lessons her career offers.

Early Life and Background

Margaret Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1956.

After some years in Chicago, her family relocated to Florida, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather.

Education and comedic training details are less well documented in public sources, but she studied improvisational comedy early in her career, including work at Chicago’s Second City. This exposure to improv likely shaped her sensitivity to timing, silence, and the turning of small moments into humor.

Career and Comedic Evolution

Early Stand-Up & Breakthroughs

Margaret Smith’s entry into stand-up began in the early 1980s, after she had honed her skills in improvisation. Late Night with David Letterman (in 1984), an appearance that elevated her visibility.

Smith has been described as a “quiet assault” on comedy norms: rather than relying on volume, storytelling arcs, or confessional bombast, she dissembles assumptions via pauses, tone, and contrast between what is said and what is unstated.

She has noted that though her style can be mistaken for boredom by some audiences or critics, what lies behind it is carefully calibrated restraint.

Television, Writing & Producing

Beyond live comedy, Smith expanded into writing and producing for television. She joined The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a writer and producer, contributing to its success during her tenure. six-time Emmy Award winner.

In addition, she has taken on acting roles in film and television — for example, she appeared in The Blob, Bound, Goodfellas, and various guest roles in TV shows. comedy CD titled As It Should Be in 2000.

In 2008, she published a memoir titled What Was I Thinking? How Being a Stand Up Did Nothing to Prepare Me to Become a Single Mother, exploring her personal challenges, motherhood, and the tension between comic voice and real life.

Recognition & Awards

• In 1995, Margaret Smith won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Stand-Up, reflecting her critical acclaim among peers.

• Her work on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earned her multiple Daytime Emmy Awards across categories such as talk show and writing.

• She has maintained a reputation as a comic’s comic — admired for craft, timing, and economy more than mass fame.

Style, Themes & Comedic Voice

Deadpan, Silence & Restraint

A key hallmark of Margaret Smith’s style is her use of deadpan delivery combined with strategic silence. She often lets a pause do heavy lifting, trusting the audience to fill the gap.

Her affect is often low energy, almost “disinterested” on the surface, but beneath it lies sharp intent. Some critics have misinterpreted that as boredom; she has addressed this, noting that it’s intentional — the stillness, the contrast, is part of the comic effect.

Observational, Intimate & Dark Humor

Her comedy often mines close observation — small tensions in family, the friction of relationships, the absurd commitments of daily life.

She often approaches humor via undercutting expectations — she can set up a socially familiar scenario and then pivot to an unexpected, dry truth. Her style rewards those listeners who are attentive to what’s unsaid as much as what’s said.

Voice as Persona

Her on-stage persona feels like a companion with a wry skepticism — she often assumes the role of someone watching human foibles from a distance, poking at what people take for granted. The minimalism of her style gives space for audience imagination and complicity.

In interviews, she has expressed tension between the public expectation of “funny” and the weight of the personal — she uses comedy not as escape but as a lens.

Legacy and Influence

Margaret Smith holds a distinctive place in American stand-up: she demonstrates that comedic power need not be loud, flashy, or sprawling to be resonant. Her influence is strongest among other comedians who prize craft, timing, subtext, and restraint.

She also stands as a model for diversifying a comedy career — bridging stand-up with writing, producing, acting, and authorship. Her memoir gives insight into how a comedian negotiates identity, motherhood, and vulnerability behind the jokes.

Moreover, her steadfast commitment to maintaining integrity in voice — refusing mean-spiritedness, resisting overexposure — marks her as a comedian guided by personal boundaries as much as ambition.

Her work contributes to a lineage of quieter, observant comedians whose humor is cumulative: you return, you hear more, you sense depth underneath the minimal surface.

Selected Quotes by Margaret Smith

Here are some lines attributed to Margaret Smith (via secondary sources). Note that exact attribution or original context is sometimes uncertain, but they illustrate her tone:

“My uncle Sammy was an angry man. He had printed on his tombstone: What are you looking at?” “The best contraceptive is the word no – repeated frequently.” “If I had been the Virgin Mary, I would have said ‘No.’” “I can’t get a relationship to last longer than it takes to make copies of their tapes.” “I don’t visit my parents often because Delta Airlines won’t wait in the yard while I run in.”

These reflect her tone: sardonic, economy of phrasing, and a willingness to turn personal discomfort into wry commentary.

Lessons from Margaret Smith’s Career

1. Less is often more
   Precision, editing, and silence can magnify impact more than verbosity or spectacle.

2. Own your voice, even if niche
   Her style is not mainstream; she doubled down on authenticity, earning respect even if not mass superstardom.

3. Diverse paths extend reach
   Working behind the scenes (writing, producing), acting, and writing a memoir allowed her voice to appear in multiple forms.

4. Be mindful of boundaries
   She has spoken about the dangers of cruelty or mocking vulnerable groups; maintaining ethics in comedy is possible.

5. Humor as honesty, not disguise
   Her comedy often confronts pain, tension, and absurdity with intelligence, using humor not to hide but to illuminate.

6. Resilience in a tough field
   Comedy, especially for women in past decades, was a challenging terrain. Her long career reflects persistence, adaptation, and self-respect.

Conclusion

Margaret Smith is not a household name in every living room, but among comedians and aficionados, her legacy is substantial. She shows that a quiet voice, honed skill, emotional immediacy, and moral clarity can hold a stage just as firmly as flashier styles.

Her life suggests that the comedian’s task is not merely to get laughs, but to hold a mirror to awkwardness, to find the hidden in the familiar, and to let the audience pace with silence as much as punch lines. In doing so, she leaves behind a model of comedic integrity and craft.