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Why This Los Angeles Comedian Is The PERFECT Wednesday Addams

Jessica Chou
November 30, 2015, 5:30 PM
Photo: Courtesy of Charlie Dicus.
Thanks to Amy Schumer, Broad City, and Tina and Amy, there are a lot of people who like to say it's a great time to be a woman in comedy. This is what L.A.-based comedian Melissa Hunter has to say about that.
This pretty much sums up Hunter to a T. The comedy writer is, yes, a woman in comedy, but she's also the queen of dark comedy, a sarcastic, snarky actress who has perfected the art of the stare down. Take her YouTube hit Adult Wednesday Addams (which was so popular that it was taken down over copyright issues). In it, Hunter plays a grown up version of our favorite surly braided goth girl — who, in one episode, takes revenge on two bro-y catcallers.
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Or rather, she "repays the compliment," bringing in her friends, Stenchil, Viper, and Bob. "Stenchil is excellent at pointing out contours of the body, and Viper is a pro at thinking of actionable places to put your body parts," Adult Wednesday Adams says. "And Bob, Bob's a breather."
"I am so inspired by Inside Amy Schumer and how she tackles issues in a way that doesn’t alienate men," Hunter told Refinery29 over the phone. "It isn't an attack on men, but it’s an exposé of an experience that women have that men don’t. It’s just exploring the intricacies and day to day life of a woman."
You can see a similarly sharp perspective in Hunter's pilot Wolfgirl, developed for NBC Playground, where her character Violet (who was raised by wolves) points out the ridiculousness of women gluing eyelashes onto their eyelashes, pinning hair under their natural hair, and then lasering off the rest. "Be the weird wolf girl you are," a strange, naturalist tells her character in the woods.

That's a common theme throughout all of Hunter's work. Be who are you, and don't think twice about the haters — and bite them (literally, in the case of Wolfgirl) if they get in your way. "[Wednesday Addams] is an outsider who isn't trying to fit in and has a clear and powerful point of view on the world," Hunter says. "That's such a great role model. To be self possessed in spite of the people who think you might be different or weird. Maybe she’s a homicidal maniac and all that other stuff, but at the core she's a strong fearless woman." Of course, that doesn't mean Hunter can't embody the every girl — just watch "Backseat Bitches," in which Hunter and Jessica Lowe characterize the most annoying of Los Angeles "basic bitches," and make them lovable. Or, in Refinery29's own show Sh*tty Boyfriends, where Hunter is a serial dating cartoonist, just looking for love — and definitely not finding it.

"Obviously I think everyone can relate to having a shitty experience in a relationship," Hunter says. "I’ve definitely had some weird ones. Especially being in entertainment, sometimes I've gone to what I think is a meeting and the guy is trying to make it a date. That's just the worst thing ever. I brought a pitch document for a show with my friend and we went to talk to this producer and he shows up with this friend. Like, is this your producer partner? No, it's just an ambush double date."

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