From her Skokie childhood to a new Hulu series, this actor lives to make people laugh

AGE: 31 LIVES IN: Los Angeles GREW UP IN: Skokie CLAIM TO FAME: With roles in Judd Apatow’s cocreated series “Love” and named one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch, actor Povitsky has landed in Hulu’s new comedy “Dollface.” In the show, she appears alongside Kat Dennings as a quirky coworker and fast friend. DANCING TO HER DREAMS: “I was born in the comedy town,” says Povitsky. “I grew up going to shows at Second City and taking classes at IO.” But despite her love of comedy, Povitsky was set on becoming a dancer. It was two and a half years into her dance major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that “I realized I’d selected a career where I didn’t speak. My passion was making my friends laugh in class.” FINDING THE FUNNY: Moving to L.A. in 2009, she hit the open mic circuit and grabbed roles in “New Girl,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” In 2015, with fellow comedian Benji Afalo, she created a short film, “Alone Together,” which became a TV series picked up for two seasons on Hulu. It was based on the pair’s real-life experience of “being Midwestern fish out of water trying desperately to fit into the L.A. lifestyle.” “Everywhere we went, people [wrongly] assumed we were a couple. We wanted to show our perspective and everything that comes with it.” SUCH A DOLL: In “Dollface,” Povitsky again mines the topic of amazing and awkward friendships. “The intricacies of relationships in the show make it so unique and hysterical,” she says. MIDWEST ROOTS: The actor remains close to her family. “My parents are hilarious … not intentionally. They’ve been such an important part of my humor growing up.” Mom and Dad will even appear in Povitsky’s Comedy Central special this fall. And she comes home often, hitting old North Shore haunts like the Northwestern Campus, Blind Faith Cafe (525 Dempster), Westfield Old Orchard (4905 Old Orchard), and Lou Malnati’s (1850 Sherman).

“Dollface” premieres November 15 on Hulu.