For Nicole Lyons ’18, comedy has always been an integral part of life. “I grew up watching too much television and filming homemade sketch comedy videos with my friends. Very quickly, I realized that content creation was something I loved,” she said. Whether personally or professionally, Lyons has done her best to further incorporate this interest into her life, an initiative which this summer has led her to an internship with media conglomerate Viacom.
For two years, Lyons served as the comedy coordinator for the Campus Activities Board (CAB), a position which required her to be in near constant communication with talent around the country. During this time, Lyons realized that the work she was doing with CAB was work she would like to pursue on a professional level, and thus began her internship search.
This summer, Lyons is working for Viacom on the Music and Entertainment Consumer Product Team. The team focuses on the production, distribution, and marketing of all audio projects, both original and those drawn from the series programming of MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Spike and Logo networks.
More specifically, Lyons works with Comedy Central Records and Comedy Central Radio assisting with audio production. With these groups, Lyons and the team help to produce stand-up albums via the record label, produce the Comedy Central Radio channel on SiriusXM, and release soundtracks of contemporary programs from Viacom-affiliated channels. Often, Lyons accompanies her team to live shows where they record the show and produce stand-up albums for artists on the rise.
Major: Cinema and Media Studies
Hometown: Apalachin, N.Y.
High School: Vestal Senior High School
Lyons is also independently working on several long-term projects for the network. Currently, she is contributing to the Comedy Central Records genome, a spreadsheet filled with information related to all tracks from every stand-up record the label has produced. “I conduct this research by doing what I love… listening to stand-up from hilarious artists like Hannibal Buress, Mike Birbiglia and more,” said Lyons.
Through her work at Viacom, Lyons feels that her place behind the camera, analyzing film and studying production, has been cemented. “At Comedy Central, I am making the most of every opportunity that I am presented with to prepare myself for a career in production and entertainment, and, ideally, with this company in particular,” she said.
