Emily Altman seemed destined for the stage. She spent a considerable chunk of her childhood backstage at the Guthrie Theater, where her mom, Brenda Wehle, starred in roughly 40 productions. Her stepdad, John Carroll Lynch, was also a familiar figure on the Twin Cities theater scene, eventually moving on to such feature films as "Zodiac" and "The Founder."
Altman started following in their footsteps by acting in Breck School productions. But she eventually found another muse. She's now one of the sharpest writers in television, contributing to edgy hits including "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Inside Amy Schumer."
"I was a decent actor, but I still hadn't figured out how to best get across that I'm a profound goofball," Altman said this week from Los Angeles, where she's helping to finish the final episodes of "Big Mouth," the animated Netflix series in which puberty is as frightening as a haunted house. "I didn't really approach writing until my late 20s. It was like I didn't have the right. Once I did, I realized that I was really good at it."
Wehle remembers her daughter doing comedy bits even as a toddler, sucking her bottle in ways that had Mom cracking up.
"Even at that young age, her quirky sense of humor was in full regalia," Wehle said.
On her first day of school at Kenwood Elementary, Altman introduced herself to her classmates my imitating an eel and sliding out of her seat.
"It was met more with a 'Whoa, she's weird' rather than 'She's a comedy genius'," said Altman, who along with her older sister spent her formative years splitting time between Minneapolis and Philadelphia. "But I realized then that I could go to a wacky place."
Lynch, who joined his wife in a phone conversation from their home in New York, said they had no doubt that Altman would succeed no matter what path she chose.
"We have a friend who used to call her a monkey because she always jumped into things headfirst," he said. "If she got bruised, she would get right back up."
Altman specializes in characters that dare to be outrageous, a trait traditionally reserved for men.
"I come from that post-Tina Fey, post-Amy Poehler period where that approach is not only accepted, it's popular," said Altman, who declined to give her age but did confirm that she attended Breck in the '90s.
Altman's ability to create bold female protagonists is also evident in her new book, "How to Be Sane: A Groundbreaking Mental Wellness Guide From a Gorgeous Female Doctor."
She writes under the pseudonym Theresa Lawn, a therapist convinced that she's more popular than Taylor Swift. Her exercises, which range from word searches to essays, are excuses for her to brag about how she once dated Bob Dole and contributed the guitar solo in Santana's "Maria Maria." The afterword is written by Jesus Christ.
"Therapy seemed like a nice backdrop for an unserious voice in a serious world," she said. "I like confident dummies. Theresa is unable to be embarrassed and is always confident, as opposed to women who apologize all the time."
Altman doesn't get back to the Twin Cities much, but her upbringing here continues to be a major influence in her life.
"It was such a profoundly creative place," she said. "My parents were in Minnesota, not for fame or money, but because they were pursuing their passion and they wanted to be happy. When I started writing, I never felt like I had to be famous. I just wanted what they had."
