TEEN’S A WISE GAL
High-school improv star and budding author has life lessons to share
S EVENTEEN-yearold Ruby Karp performs improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade, hobnobs with Amy Poehler and, as of this week, is the proud author of “Earth Hates Me: True Confessions of a Teenage Girl” (Running Press, out now). But the Upper West Side resident, a senior at one of NYC’s top performing-arts schools, says she’s tasted failure, too — by auditioning for her school plays and repeatedly getting rejected.
Karp’s struggle may seem like little more than youthful nuisance. But the budding advice writer says adults can learn plenty from her resil- ience and grit.
“The way you go about living your life is within your control,” she tells The Post. “If you don’t get a promotion at work, OK — go apply for another job if you’re not happy where you are.”
Karp did the kid equivalent of that following her failed tryouts, the f irst of which happened when she was in ninth grade. As a member of her school’s competitive drama program, she knew she was up against some of the most talented young actors in the city.
“When I didn’t get in as a freshman, I was like, ‘OK, I understand,’ ” says Karp, daughter of Bust magazine co-founder Marcelle Karp. “I understood the hierarchy of the school.”
But sophomore year didn’t bring success, either. After auditioning for that year’s production, she was passed over a second time. So Karp kept her cool and signed up to stage-manage the show — a grueling gig. She hoped doing so would endear her to the director in case she auditioned again in the future, she says now.
So much for that. Leading up to her junior-year musical audition, the teen undertook serious preparations. “I was like, ‘This is really my chance. I’ve worked my ass off for six months. Finally, they’ll reward me for all the work I’ve done,’ ” she says. “I got a vocal coach. I got lessons. I tried.”
Strike three: Karp was cut in the first round.
Despite her burgeoning comedy career off-campus, her confidence was shaken. “It crushed me — it really crushed me,” she says. “I couldn’t stop trying to validate myself based on the school play.”
After a stretch marred by self-doubt, she decided to examine why she was so upset, ultimately realizing that turning to her teachers and directors for approval wasn’t doing her any favors.
“The way I bounced back from it was by reminding myself that I wasn’t the problem, because I do work hard. I did everything I could. I got vocal lessons. And if they can’t see that, they don’t deserve me in their shows,” she says.
She also started her own club.
“Once I started really feeling that rejection, I decided to become president of the improv club at my school. I was like, ‘I’m going to make a community of comedians,’ ” she says.
Karp and a friend recruited 30 underclassmen for weekly comedy lessons, in which the teen shared what she’d learned at UCB. Soon, she realized she was happier and more satisfied leading her “little community of nerds” than she would have been starring in the musical.
“I really just made it my mission for myself to find communities of people who didn’t care about whether or not I studied at Stella Adler [Studio of Acting] over the summer,” she says. “I found people who just cared about me, who I was, if I was doing OK, and if I was having fun.”
Rolling with the punches is a skill she hopes to keep for life.
“I watch so many adults — so many of my mom’s friends — sit there and wallow in their sadness, and wallow in, ‘Wah, I haven’t done anything with my life,’ ” she says. “But you know what? Then do something with your life. Put yourself out there. At no point is it too late to do that.”