Alumni Profile: Iliza Shlesinger '01

“Iliza was a very special student at Greenhill. She was always involved in the fall drama and was the only girl in the Improv Troupe. She had the kind of outlook on life that made her a wonderful comic, as she naturally saw and seized upon the ridiculous things that people did.

Iliza possesses a tremendous amount of courage, aggression and the lack of self-editing that a stand-up comic needs. She had the intelligence to know which information she should take to improve her talent and which to throw the rest out the window. Iliza had the kind of intuition that lets her know what her strength and weaknesses were. She knew she had great strengths and she pursued them.

I believe Iliza would be the first to tell you she’s glad she went to Greenhill because we valued her as an individual and always cultivated her talent and insisted she work harder on developing her talent.”

– Synthia Rogers, Theater Teacher

Name: Iliza Shlesinger

Graduation year: 2001

College/Major or College(s) attended/Degree(s): University of Kansas (freshman year) Emerson College (Soph-Senior). Graduated Emerson with a BA in Film

Current Career: Stand-up comedian

I currently live: In Los Angeles

Family?: I have family.

How did Greenhill prepare you for college and the real world?: Greenhill instilled in me an unwavering work ethic and expectation of greatness out of myself.

The Greenhill tradition I remember most fondly is: The events during homecoming week. I always loved the “build your own ice cream sundaes” outside. That's mostly because my mom didn't really keep sugar in the house so I got a chance to pig out.

My favorite memory of my time at Greenhill is: Being on the swim team.

My favorite college class was: Film II because we got to create our own 4 minutes films on 16mm.

My college experience was: I did a semester at sea (SAS). Going around the world on a boat is something I will never forget and something I think about daily.

My first job out of college was: Temping in different offices

My favorite thing about my job right now is: I get paid to make people laugh and I get to be creative

I enjoy: The small things in life

You'll never see me: Blaming others for my mistakes- or wearing yellow.

I can't seem to get the hang of: Math

I'm a natural at: Comedy

I can't stand: Unintelligent people in control of important things.

If I knew then what I know now, I would:

Probably have done better in math. I also probably would have spent less time obsessing over people's opinions of me, then again I probably still do that...I'm human.

In ten years, I will:

Hopefully be an accomplished comedian with an exemplary body of work, and maybe a dog too.

I wish I could tell the Greenhill senior class:

Don't worry, you will find your place in the world. Once you have graduated and are competing in college and then are out in the real world, you will start to see just what a gift Greenhill is. You will see how well you are prepared for academic challenges. All your hard work doesn't just pay off in the classroom; it pays off the most when you have to compete with yourself.

The best word to describe my life right now is:

Exciting

What does Greenhill mean to you?

When you say you graduated Greenhill, you are saying more than your parents spent a lot on your education. It's more than a nice private school. You are saying, without having to verbally say it, that you are part of a group of intelligent, driven, and well rounded people.

Is there a certain faculty member that influenced you during your time at Greenhill?

I had favorite teachers for different reasons. I would say that the faculty at Greenhill is one composed of special and caring individuals. That's why so many teachers stay for so long - they are special people. I was never the most brilliant student in my class and I don't think I was ever mistreated because of it. The teachers there identify the strong points of every student, and then allow students to be themselves -- as long as they are trying.

During the filming of Last Comic Standing, you came back to the campus to film a segment. Why did you choose to shoot on campus?

They wanted to do a segment showing where I got my comedy roots. Once I moved to Los Angeles, I felt that Greenhill, high school specifically, was the genesis of my comedy. High school is where I was first challenged, tried new things, did the improv troupe, and really became known as funny. It's through the relationships I was part of or observed in those formative years that I began to sort of create my still forming comedic point of view...I think.