Shelby Fero: The young ‘Chozen’ one

Dropping out of college doesn’t usually portend the brightest of futures for students, especially considering the United States’ current economic state. But it’s tough to argue against comedian Shelby Fero’s decision to leave USC early to jump right into the comedy workforce.

Twenty-year-old Fero is a writer for FX’s new comedy Chozen, and receives sole writing credit for the series’ newest episode set to air Monday night.

The former screenwriting major certainly has gotten a fast start in a business that usually puts aspirants through the grinder before they can make a comfortable living.

In high school, Fero started going to open mics in San Francisco, where she was the youngest performer in a pool consisting mostly of middle-aged wannabes. After her dry, self-deprecating wit helped her become one of the first comedians to establish a fanbase through Twitter (she now has more than 104,000 followers), Fero migrated south to attend USC — but she never planned on staying there long.

“I had come down to Los Angeles all the time, so I kinda knew what USC was like — you know, L.A.-y,” Fero said.  “It turned out to be what I thought it would be, pretty much … I wanted to leave immediately.”

At a college well-known for its “work hard, play hard” mentality, the reserved Fero felt out of place.

“I don’t really party,” Fero said, “So I felt bad that I didn’t like to do what others were doing. So I was thinking, ‘Maybe it’s just better if I didn’t go here.’”

After fulfilling a promise to her father by sticking it out for her freshman year, Fero dove headfirst into her work.

Fero helped write the pilot of The Pete Holmes Show before it was picked up by TBS, appeared in several sketches of Comedy Central’s Key and Peele, boasts endorsements from veteran comedians including Patton Oswalt and Paul F. Tompkins and is represented by the Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood’s top talent agencies.

Less than three years after graduating from Menlo-Atherton High School in Northern California, Fero has her own place on Sunset Boulevard, so one can hardly blame her for feeling like there wasn’t much for her to gain by staying at USC. When the producers of Chozen offered her a staff writing position, she knew she had to take advantage.

“You have to get that first [job], and then it’s really easy to jump around [to different opportunities],” Fero said. “But getting that first one is really hard.”

Even after securing that initial credential, writers have no guarantees when it comes to future success — it’s just the first step in a long journey that many aspiring entertainers never complete.

“You have to know that you may never be a famous writer, or director, or producer,” Fero said. “You still have to go, ‘You know what? I’d still rather take a sh-tty job at WB [Warner Bros.] than be a schoolteacher,’ or, whatever.”

And Fero knows that she’s fortunate to have already attained several impressive resume points at an age where most comedians haven’t even taken a first step into the industry.

“I’m super lucky people put up with my immaturity. Because if they hadn’t, maybe if they didn’t think they were going to get returns …” Fero trailed off. “It’s probably hard to get out of college and get hit in the face with the failure that comedians have to deal with right off the bat. When you’re young, and you just graduated college and are feeling all successful, you probably are too proud to deal with that stuff.”

Fero has undoubtedly managed to bypass some of the obstacles that derail the careers of other young comedians. As performers exit college and enter the real world, many begin to encounter commonplace problems — namely, how to pay the rent — that put their less-profitable ambitions on hold.

USC cinematic arts professor James Staahl said that developing writing talent while maintaining a signature sense of individuality is the best way for comedians to distance themselves from their peers — but they have to cultivate that uniqueness on their own.

“Each industry has a ladder to success,” said Staahl, who taught Fero in her short stay at USC. “But in comedy, the first couple rungs are missing — and you have to find some way to boost yourself up. Everyone’s story is different, and everyone gets in a writers’ room through different routes.”

Some comedians, like Louis C.K., paid their dues for decades by performing at open mics and occasionally booking smaller paid gigs before finally achieving widespread success; countless others, of course, toiled in underground clubs for years and never manage to make the leap to the big stage. But others, like Fero, provide hope that a burgeoning comedy field has plenty of room for more young hopefuls like herself.

“I would’ve been fine working a shitty job for 10 years before getting a good gig,” Fero said. “I’m just lucky that I could do it faster.”

Chozen airs on Mondays on FX at 10:30 p.m.