Speaker 1: Hi everyone. Today, I am reporting to you from my
Speaker 1: park car on a side street and for Manhattan. Now,
Speaker 1: why on earth is that? Well, it's because I just
Speaker 1: stepped out of Amy Schumer's apartment, which sounds like the
Speaker 1: name of a new TV show, Amy Schumer's Apartment, and
Speaker 1: I wanted to tell you all about our conversation while
Speaker 1: it's still fresh in my mind. Amy Schumer, the comedian, actress,
Speaker 1: writer and now Broadway star, is the latest lady in
Speaker 1: our Wonder Women's series. It was just us gals in
Speaker 1: her apartment. Yes, I'm pretty excited about that for our chat.
Speaker 1: But as you heard, Brian already barged into the ads,
Speaker 1: and don't worry, Brian will be back again during the
Speaker 1: break and credits as well, and of course for next
Speaker 1: week's episode two. As for my interview with Amy, we
Speaker 1: had a lot to cover. She's been so productive since
Speaker 1: bursting onto the national stage back in two thousand seven
Speaker 1: when she was a contestant Believe It or Not on
Speaker 1: NBC's Last Comic Standing turned out pretty well for her.
Speaker 1: Amy made her mark in stand Up with her signature
Speaker 1: brand of taboo busting and unapologetically raunchy comedy, and to
Speaker 1: give you an idea. Her first stand up special was
Speaker 1: called Mostly Sex Stuff. Now more recently, she's also flexed
Speaker 1: her skills and acting, producing and writing. Of course, I
Speaker 1: love train Wreck, you probably did too. She started movies
Speaker 1: Penda best selling memoir The Girl with the Lower Back
Speaker 1: Tattoo Bunny Huh, and she's won awards for her hit
Speaker 1: sketch series on Comedy Central. And if that weren't enough,
Speaker 1: she's fresh off her Broadway debut in a play written
Speaker 1: by Steve Martin called Meteor Shower. Fair warning, Amy is
Speaker 1: known for being a little bit body and to kick
Speaker 1: things off, I decided to clear the air and revisit
Speaker 1: the time that Amy full On pranked me. Now it's
Speaker 1: probably a bit r rated, so you may not want
Speaker 1: to listen to this episode with the kids, actually, if
Speaker 1: you haven't had the talk yet, or maybe even if
Speaker 1: you have. We have so much to talk about. But first,
Speaker 1: I think Amy, we should give people a little bit
Speaker 1: of the backstory of our last history, because you have
Speaker 1: utilized me and some of your were such a great
Speaker 1: sport and like I just I mean, I'm such a
Speaker 1: fan of yours anyway, and I'm very grateful to your work. Um,
Speaker 1: for real, like thank you. Yeah, it's it's I I
Speaker 1: feel a little choked up that you're you're here in
Speaker 1: my home, So thank you, and you just were such
Speaker 1: a great sport. It was tell the story. Okay, we'll
Speaker 1: tell the story. It was that it was after the
Speaker 1: Glamor Glamour Women of the Year Awards. We were at
Speaker 1: this after party and at our table it was Steve
Speaker 1: Mindy Kaling and we were next to each other and
Speaker 1: your husband arrived and you were like, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of like, oh my god. He was an embarrassed he's
Speaker 1: crashing like you were. You know, actually I was kind
Speaker 1: of aggregated with him because he you know, I didn't
Speaker 1: invite him. I love you, John, but he wasn't invited
Speaker 1: and he sort of just showed up and I was like,
Speaker 1: wait a second, what is my husband doing here? Because
Speaker 1: it's kind of even though Stephen was at our table,
Speaker 1: it's kind of a girl powered thing, and it's it's
Speaker 1: such a bring your really it's not really a plus one.
Speaker 1: And so John walked in and I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, what's going on? My husband's here? So I
Speaker 1: got up because he made a bee line to Carrie Russell.
Speaker 1: Remember that. Yeah. I was like, oh no, he who
Speaker 1: he loves. Yes, he loves Carrie Russell. So I thought
Speaker 1: I better go say hi to him, or he's going
Speaker 1: to leave this party with Carrie Russell. So I got
Speaker 1: up and I left my phone on the table. Left
Speaker 1: your phone on the table, unlocked, unlocked, And so that's
Speaker 1: on you, you very cageally, I, without thinking about it
Speaker 1: and without consulting anyone, just picked up your phone. I
Speaker 1: saw that you had just text your husband, and then
Speaker 1: I text him saying I want to have anal tonight,
Speaker 1: and the rest is history. So it was so funny
Speaker 1: because from my perspective, so I kind of like, I go,
Speaker 1: oh my, because I just have these impulses to do,
Speaker 1: like what's the worst thing I could do right now,
Speaker 1: and then kind of check with people to be like,
Speaker 1: oh it's okay. So I go, Mindy, I just and
Speaker 1: I showed Steven and they're just Mindy was like very alarmed,
Speaker 1: as she should have been, and Stephen just fell on
Speaker 1: the floor laughing. And then you, you and your husband
Speaker 1: came back over the table kind of like soon after
Speaker 1: and we're like we're leaving, and it just from my perspective,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, this is absolute hilarious, and then
Speaker 1: I don't know if by the way, yes, I thought
Speaker 1: it was super funny. Yeah, because it actually sounded like
Speaker 1: something that I would do, because a friend I was
Speaker 1: constantly pranking people like that on computers at work when
Speaker 1: they left their computer open. I would do, you know,
Speaker 1: write funny messages to people. But U and I thought
Speaker 1: it was really funny. My husband actually is really funny
Speaker 1: and a great sense of humor. He thought it was
Speaker 1: funny too, and we laughed about it. But then how
Speaker 1: long later, Cole, I don't know, like you months later,
Speaker 1: months later, I kind of started you were I think
Speaker 1: you were publicizing train Wreck? Was it? Colbert? Oh? Yes, yes, okay,
Speaker 1: and I talked about it. We went to bed. We
Speaker 1: went to bed, uh, and suddenly our phones were flowing
Speaker 1: up in the morning saying, oh my god, Amy Schumer
Speaker 1: was talking about you guys last night, and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh god, oh god, So I thought it was I
Speaker 1: actually thought it was really funny. And I always was
Speaker 1: upset that you didn't include what John wrote back to me,
Speaker 1: Oh I didn't see. What he texted back was again,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh. If I had if I had gotten
Speaker 1: that text, I would have cried laughing, and I actually
Speaker 1: thought it was really funny. So you you've also used
Speaker 1: it on your HBO special Comedy Special. People really liked
Speaker 1: the idea of that prank, you know, they're like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, the sweetest Yeah. But but but what I
Speaker 1: what The only thing that hurt my feelings is you
Speaker 1: described when I came up to you with the Glamour
Speaker 1: Awards and you said that I said something that I
Speaker 1: never would have said, like I love funny, I love humor,
Speaker 1: I love humor. But I don't think I said that.
Speaker 1: I know, well, this is where we have to agree
Speaker 1: to disagree, but just the same, I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: that was like a couple of years ago, and I
Speaker 1: do feel like I take more responsibility for, you know,
Speaker 1: just being more careful with people's feelings and stuff. So okay,
Speaker 1: it just made me sound like such a tool. And
Speaker 1: I do know you're not. Thank you one of the
Speaker 1: greatest people of all times. You're so sweet to say that.
Speaker 1: But I was like, I would never say I love humor.
Speaker 1: I'm sure I do remember going up to you and
Speaker 1: saying Hi, Amy. I just wanted to want to tell
Speaker 1: you I'm a big fan of yours and then you
Speaker 1: said I love humor. I did not. I did, okay,
Speaker 1: But anyway, I still am trying to think of how
Speaker 1: to get you back. But I know you actually thought
Speaker 1: it was really funny. So we have so much to
Speaker 1: talk about in addition to your texting and pranking my husband,
Speaker 1: which is you've just finished doing Meteor Shower on Broadway,
Speaker 1: which I saw. I thought you were fantastic in it,
Speaker 1: and that was must have been an incredible experience for
Speaker 1: you because that was your first I mean Broadway Amy,
Speaker 1: I got to do a Broadway play I Want to
Speaker 1: play written by Steve Steve Martin. It's it's still like
Speaker 1: really amazing to me that that happened. So how did
Speaker 1: it all come about? Well, my relationship with Steve was
Speaker 1: I did a play of his called Picasso at the
Speaker 1: Lapana yiel In College and uh, you know, just this
Speaker 1: little student production and such a huge fan of his
Speaker 1: for you know, like everyone else. And then I hosted
Speaker 1: this music show, this music talk show like ten years ago,
Speaker 1: and he was on with his bluegrass band, and I
Speaker 1: had him signed my copy of the play, and I
Speaker 1: had him signed my copy of his autobiography Born Standing
Speaker 1: up and and I loved his music and everything and
Speaker 1: and he was really play and sweet, and I got
Speaker 1: to do like a little bit with him for a
Speaker 1: promo on the show, and I left and I cried
Speaker 1: because I just couldn't believe I got to do a
Speaker 1: bit with Steve Martin. And then I became friends with
Speaker 1: Edie Brikell, and I went to see their musical Bright Star,
Speaker 1: and and then just through friends, like we just kind
Speaker 1: of kept running into each other. And then Steve and
Speaker 1: I became friendly and you know, would hang out and
Speaker 1: he'd have some people over dinner or whatever. And then
Speaker 1: he had this play and he said, I want you
Speaker 1: to read this play and I'd like you to play
Speaker 1: the role of Quirky. And I was like already thinking
Speaker 1: of yes, I'm doing this, I don't care. And then
Speaker 1: I read it and I was like, this is so
Speaker 1: fun and it will be so great to do this
Speaker 1: role and it's Steve Martin, and so yeah, I said,
Speaker 1: what's the least amount of time I can do it?
Speaker 1: And I said if you like that kind of team
Speaker 1: play or energy then and they were like, yeah, you
Speaker 1: can do it for like twelve to fifteen weeks, and
Speaker 1: and we did it and what was it fun? What
Speaker 1: was it like? Because you know, watching you you play,
Speaker 1: I mean I love the character you play. I wonder
Speaker 1: which show you were at. Did I yell at the
Speaker 1: audience at any point? You didn't yell at the Okay, good,
Speaker 1: But you were sort of a an exaggerated version of
Speaker 1: some version of yourself in a way a different time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: both both sides and you it was really fun and funny.
Speaker 1: But watching you, I thought, boy, and I think this
Speaker 1: every time I go see a Broadway show. This must
Speaker 1: be so hard. It must be so hard to remember
Speaker 1: all this stuff. Oh that's not a problem. No, no,
Speaker 1: I am. My sister tested my Q once and I
Speaker 1: tested in some categories as is if I were a
Speaker 1: special needs person, and like in the low percentile for
Speaker 1: some things like word recognition just reading down a fast list.
Speaker 1: And then some things I tested as a genius, and
Speaker 1: one of those was dismemorization and um and short term memory.
Speaker 1: So you know, for stand up for anything. Memorization is
Speaker 1: not a problem for me. But reading like a billboard
Speaker 1: as I'm driving down the street, is I see something
Speaker 1: different than what it says? Really, when you do stand up,
Speaker 1: do you have any kind of prompter or any kind
Speaker 1: of que cards that help remind you. A set list
Speaker 1: with keywords. Yeah, so, where's is it? In ane? My
Speaker 1: set list for like a year, it'said Katie kirk as
Speaker 1: the closing bit, I mean people. Yeah, it was good
Speaker 1: enough that it was a closer. So do this wet
Speaker 1: your appetite to do more Broadway? Yeah? Not right away?
Speaker 1: Oh yes, I'm of the theater now. I yeah, I'll
Speaker 1: do more theater, but not for a couple of years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I hope I do. So let's talk about some of
Speaker 1: the other things that you've been up to. First of all,
Speaker 1: your schedule is crazy, and I love how you are
Speaker 1: doing a little bit of everything. So you're doing some
Speaker 1: stand up stuff. You just you're doing another movie. I
Speaker 1: feel pretty right. Have you finished that movie? Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: editing it. You're editing it. You did uh the Great
Speaker 1: Movie with Goldie Hawn, which was really fine, and you
Speaker 1: did train Wreck with Judd Apatau or toe Apatap. I've
Speaker 1: been saying it wrong for your who seems like an
Speaker 1: incredibly nice guy. He's awesome. He's like the sweetest guy.
Speaker 1: Especially with everything going on culturally, you really appreciate the
Speaker 1: people who have never made you uncomfortable. He has a
Speaker 1: special on Netflix which is really good. Really yeah, I've
Speaker 1: been seeing some snippets of it on his Instagram. But inside,
Speaker 1: Amy Schumer, you're not doing right now, but you'd like
Speaker 1: to do more television in the future something. Yeah. It's
Speaker 1: like everything keeps evolving with the you know, the options
Speaker 1: for how people can view content. So I'm open to everything. Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk first about the movie that's coming out in June.
Speaker 1: Is that right? So it's like, tell me a little
Speaker 1: bit about that. Okay, Well, you know, I came at
Speaker 1: a time where I was going to maybe do this
Speaker 1: other really big movie, and because with Stand Up, I've
Speaker 1: made a lot of money and so it's like I
Speaker 1: can really do stuff I care about now. I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, you're always afraid as a comic. You're like,
Speaker 1: am I going to have Is this my last set?
Speaker 1: Is this the last joke I'll ever? Right? Am I
Speaker 1: gonna ever work again? So I was like really trying
Speaker 1: to sort of just make enough money so I could
Speaker 1: feel like I myself and my family and my friends
Speaker 1: were safe. You know, like if somebody got sick, I
Speaker 1: could take care of them. And then I was like,
Speaker 1: now I really want to I'd love to still make money,
Speaker 1: but I want to do stuff that I feel like
Speaker 1: it's really saying something. Um, which was sort of the
Speaker 1: only drawback with doing the play because it was so
Speaker 1: fun and exciting, but during this particular time you I
Speaker 1: really wanted to be giving all my energy to something
Speaker 1: that was like helping, you know. And even though people
Speaker 1: come and they laugh, it's like the crowds are all
Speaker 1: you know, Broadway goers. It's I don't think it's a secret,
Speaker 1: it's all white, you know pretty much, um, wealthy people.
Speaker 1: It's that those tickets are expensive. So I felt a
Speaker 1: little bad about out of the conversation. I was still
Speaker 1: you know, in meetings for Times Up and still active
Speaker 1: as an activist, but my main energy was going into
Speaker 1: that place. So I feel pretty came up and the
Speaker 1: message was just it was just exactly what I wanted
Speaker 1: to say to um. Two women, because I, you know,
Speaker 1: I I'm interested in helping everybody that I can, but
Speaker 1: but really I love women and want to focus on
Speaker 1: projects that empower them. And this this movie is, uh,
Speaker 1: it's all about that. It's really fun and funny and relatable.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, I think there's a really sweet message.
Speaker 1: We'll tell us. Can you tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: more about it? And who else is in it? Okay? Um,
Speaker 1: So Michelle Williams is so funny in this movie, and
Speaker 1: um Lauren Hutton plays the role Naomi Campbell. Um Rory Scovell,
Speaker 1: who's a comedian who I've been friends with for fifteen
Speaker 1: years and he's so great in this movie. And Adie Bryant,
Speaker 1: who I love her. We became really really close and
Speaker 1: um yeah, and Busy Phillips and it's it's a really solid,
Speaker 1: solid cast and we had such a good time. And
Speaker 1: and Emily Raditowski and that's almost a percent not how
Speaker 1: you say her name, but um, you know who I mean. Okay,
Speaker 1: So she's great, She's amazing and uh and it's about
Speaker 1: um my character, Renee. She doesn't have particularly good self
Speaker 1: esteem and just understands that that people judge you of
Speaker 1: how you look in this world right away, and we're
Speaker 1: trying to move further away from that, but that's the situation.
Speaker 1: And she just kind of longs to be um, to
Speaker 1: to have a better job, to go for these guys,
Speaker 1: but she just doesn't have the confidence and I you know,
Speaker 1: I hit my head, I fall off a bike and
Speaker 1: insul cycle and then all of a sudden, I see
Speaker 1: myself as an absolute supermodel and everything changes, but changes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the way you relate to the world, Yes, I have.
Speaker 1: It's a whole new life, a whole new person. And
Speaker 1: and um, that's so interesting because really the way you
Speaker 1: feel about yourself, if you feel like you're not attractive
Speaker 1: or something that's going on with you, or you've gained
Speaker 1: weight or whatever, it is amazing for women how much
Speaker 1: that can completely distorts, right, Yeah, you want to hide.
Speaker 1: It doesn't let you to live to your your potential.
Speaker 1: And that's what we want from women the most right now.
Speaker 1: Just you have so much potential and you can do anything,
Speaker 1: and we need you to lead and and they, you know,
Speaker 1: feel held back. And I also have. I know we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about activismly or but Lisa Evans, who's a
Speaker 1: costume designer and a stylist, we started a foundation called
Speaker 1: Style Fund, and it's helping women learn how to dress
Speaker 1: for their bodies and like just kind to give them
Speaker 1: a formula so if there is you know, we started
Speaker 1: out with like prisoners going back to work and and
Speaker 1: now or military veterans, but now it's it's really we're
Speaker 1: trying to get develop it for all women just because
Speaker 1: not everyone knows how to dress and they don't have
Speaker 1: access to, you know, help, like like you and I
Speaker 1: might and it just really holds you back. But if
Speaker 1: you feel good and confident, then you're able to achieve more.
Speaker 1: So I think it's it's kind of all in line
Speaker 1: with the same message. That's incredible. Have you are you
Speaker 1: working with some of the women you're healthy with this
Speaker 1: feah and what is that like to see the uh
Speaker 1: really change their whole outlook, say, their energy completely shifts.
Speaker 1: It's it feels so good and yeah, it's really emotion
Speaker 1: and all to see. You know, a mother of four
Speaker 1: is just trying to reenter the workforce. Who just how
Speaker 1: how do you? You can't do everything? How are you
Speaker 1: going to? Also? You know, with a lot, with a
Speaker 1: low income job and kids and your you need help.
Speaker 1: You know, most people need help, and so just having
Speaker 1: someone hands you the tools you understand. Okay, So if
Speaker 1: I wear this kind of scoop neck is good on me?
Speaker 1: And then if I just a cardian you know, and
Speaker 1: it can be from the Salvation Army, who we partnered
Speaker 1: with for these events. You know, it doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be some fancy designer and you can go into H
Speaker 1: and M and get like a ten dollar card again
Speaker 1: and make a pencil score. You know. We just help
Speaker 1: people dress for their for their comfort. What do they
Speaker 1: say when they cry and they they're so excited and
Speaker 1: they're proud to go home and show their kids and
Speaker 1: go out and the energy just completely changes. You see
Speaker 1: a transformation in these women. Time to take a quick break.
Speaker 1: We'll be back with Amy Schumer right after this. And
Speaker 1: now back to my conversation with the one and only
Speaker 1: Amy Schumer. I want to talk about your activism regarding
Speaker 1: sensible gun laws in a moment, and also of course
Speaker 1: what's been happening in Hollywood and beyond. But first I
Speaker 1: want to go back a little bit, Amy, and I
Speaker 1: know you get probably tired of talking about some of
Speaker 1: the same things. But I didn't know a lot about
Speaker 1: your life story. I didn't realize that you grew up
Speaker 1: here on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and that
Speaker 1: I didn't know that your dad had been diagnosed with
Speaker 1: MS when you were very young, when you were what
Speaker 1: nine years old? Yeah, like nine or ten, and that
Speaker 1: you had gone from kind of a well raged yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and that that suddenly you kind of had to make
Speaker 1: this adjustment when your life changed. Your dad lost his business,
Speaker 1: he had to declare bankruptcy from a really sort of space,
Speaker 1: and then your folks got divorced. So I know that
Speaker 1: you still see your dad and he still he has
Speaker 1: a standing lesson right now, Yes he would. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: getting stem cells, so he's like they put him in
Speaker 1: a contraption called the Standard and it's it helps him
Speaker 1: like remember how to stand because he's been in wheelchairs
Speaker 1: so long. Yeah. And and how do you think that
Speaker 1: impacted your outlook on life? And do you think that
Speaker 1: steered you toward comedy in a way. Yeah, you guys
Speaker 1: worried about holding for sound hold for sound before Amy
Speaker 1: talks about her wheelchair. Dad. Um, I think it. It
Speaker 1: made me, like, you know, these humor is like a
Speaker 1: defense mechanism and keep everybody laughing also and keep myself laughing.
Speaker 1: And also just the reality of your parents are human
Speaker 1: beings and they're not invincible, and they can get sick,
Speaker 1: they can have affairs and make mistakes. I learned that
Speaker 1: it too young of an age, and um, and I
Speaker 1: think just the things I observed. I I'm a comic.
Speaker 1: We are highly observational people, and I really took it
Speaker 1: all in and kind of understood the way the world
Speaker 1: worked with for women and sex and like how little
Speaker 1: sort of power we had. And I think that's like
Speaker 1: been the basis of a lot of my stand up
Speaker 1: up to this point. It was watching your mom and dad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think like watching my mom and her dating and
Speaker 1: seeing my dad and his he's you know, I have
Speaker 1: a joke now when I stand up that you just
Speaker 1: assume everyone in a wheelchairs nice, like we always like
Speaker 1: kind of smile and pay attention to someone wheelchair. But
Speaker 1: my dad is like a really like he's like a womanizer.
Speaker 1: You know, he's not the best part. I love him
Speaker 1: and he loves me, but you know, the way he
Speaker 1: was with women like really objectified them. And just like
Speaker 1: witnessing that at such a young age, I wasn't faithful
Speaker 1: to your mom. I assume no he I mean, who, No,
Speaker 1: I don't think he was. But that's like the least
Speaker 1: of it, really yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, Um, he maintains
Speaker 1: that he was, but I seriously doubt that. But they
Speaker 1: both made huge mistakes and weren't completely faithful, and it
Speaker 1: sounds like it was complicated. Oh I would say, I
Speaker 1: would say it's complicate, but you know, But but then
Speaker 1: also I feel bad saying that because there are people
Speaker 1: who have had it so much worse, you know, So
Speaker 1: I really don't feel like poor me. It's like, I'm
Speaker 1: grateful that I had two parents that loved me and
Speaker 1: we had a roof over our heads. And it was
Speaker 1: a really strange change to go for being rich to
Speaker 1: being pretty poor. But I wasn't getting hit, I wasn't
Speaker 1: getting raped. Like, it's just people have it so much harder.
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, having said that, it wasn't ideal. No,
Speaker 1: it was not ideal. It was crazy. And you kind
Speaker 1: of used humor. I mean, were you always funny? Amy?
Speaker 1: When did you realize that, Hey, I'm funny? I was
Speaker 1: always funny. I really like a kid. Did you come
Speaker 1: out funny? Yes? I mean, you know, don't you feel
Speaker 1: like you knew your children pretty quickly? Like, like, do
Speaker 1: you think those personality traits that you see early do
Speaker 1: they maintain that? I'm asking, Yeah, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: mean I'm thinking I just know from my like my
Speaker 1: friends who have kids and then my niece. It's like
Speaker 1: it was all there if because now we have all
Speaker 1: these cell phone videos, we can look and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: she was already the boss and kind of you know,
Speaker 1: came out like stomping around, pumping her fist in the air.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, I don't know so, but yes, I
Speaker 1: was always funny and I always loved making people laugh.
Speaker 1: And do you remember the first time you did stand up? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have a tape of it. It's awful. Really, oh god, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's terrible my hair. Really, It's just like that was
Speaker 1: in New York. It was a Gotham comedy club, the
Speaker 1: old Gotham. Do you remember the worst joke you told? Yeah? Um,
Speaker 1: it was about just what it's like to ride acrosstown
Speaker 1: bus in Manhattan. And how I mean, this is not
Speaker 1: a good joke. I feel like, you know, inevitable. I
Speaker 1: still want you things funny, but just how like when
Speaker 1: you feel it like kind of like one of the
Speaker 1: tires deflate, you know, if they need to let somebody on,
Speaker 1: who's who's got something going on? And it was like,
Speaker 1: you know, this woman, she has like the plastic bags
Speaker 1: over the legs, you know, it's just it was just
Speaker 1: about that and just how you know it's bad news
Speaker 1: when you feel the front tire deflate. But clearly you've
Speaker 1: got something from that experience, and the audience got something
Speaker 1: from that experience. Yea, I didn't have to go over
Speaker 1: stage fright, and they they respond to me, and just
Speaker 1: the comics who are already making livings doing it where
Speaker 1: they kind of took me side. They were like, you
Speaker 1: could be good at this if you wanted to. I
Speaker 1: wasn't good, but you know, they were like, you can
Speaker 1: see if someone has the potential. I'm sure you you
Speaker 1: see that, and people you're like, oh, this person is
Speaker 1: going to achieve a lot. Yeah, they're still living in
Speaker 1: a studio in a story right now, but they have
Speaker 1: big things coming their way. And how do you how
Speaker 1: do you perfect it? I mean, how do you then
Speaker 1: take your craft and and and how do you sort
Speaker 1: of work on it and have it evolved and find
Speaker 1: sort of your sweet spot for the particular brand of
Speaker 1: observational humor that you decided to do. I think just
Speaker 1: by doing it, you know, isn't that how it is?
Speaker 1: Also for for journalists, it's like you're you know, people
Speaker 1: can give you advice, but you have to learn from
Speaker 1: these mistakes that you make and and get braver from those,
Speaker 1: and um all the missteps and and then you know,
Speaker 1: you just build up your confidence and you you're open.
Speaker 1: I was open to learning, and I was such a
Speaker 1: fan of comedy. I feel really like humbled by it
Speaker 1: and um, and just wanted to get really good and
Speaker 1: understood there was nothing more than experience. I just had
Speaker 1: to get as much stage time as was humanly possible,
Speaker 1: and I did. I did it. You know, it seems
Speaker 1: to me that people initially had a hard time kind
Speaker 1: of uh, putting you in a box. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think I really feel for a lot of comics
Speaker 1: who because people need to understand. You see a comic
Speaker 1: get on stage, you go, what's your deal? Okay, you're
Speaker 1: you're a Jewish gay guy from the Bronx. Okay, we
Speaker 1: understand that. So for me, I really kind of early
Speaker 1: on was like I was, I made some jokes about sex,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, actually, I don't know anybody
Speaker 1: else doing this right now. I don't know any other
Speaker 1: women that I've seen, and I'm I love female stand
Speaker 1: ups and grew up with the biggest fan of them,
Speaker 1: like didn't really start loving male comics until later, but
Speaker 1: was like, no one, I haven't really heard anyone talk
Speaker 1: that much about this in a way that was super realistic.
Speaker 1: And I mean there's so many great, great comics who
Speaker 1: who would mention it. But I was like, I have
Speaker 1: no problem talking about this. And I also, you know,
Speaker 1: in retrospect, think it was me trying to feel a
Speaker 1: little bit more control over my sexuality and and asserting
Speaker 1: myself by sort of taking the air out of what
Speaker 1: the behaviors that we that we do by saying sort
Speaker 1: of by with shock value a little bit. For sure,
Speaker 1: at first it was shock value, I mean you, And
Speaker 1: it's just because I'm doing all these open mics where
Speaker 1: the comics are just waiting to go up. You have
Speaker 1: to surprise them into laughing. You can't just get a
Speaker 1: laugh from a joke being well crafted. It's got to
Speaker 1: be And so that's how I sort of made a
Speaker 1: name for myself just on the in the New York scene,
Speaker 1: and I just figured like, Okay, they're going to call
Speaker 1: me like the sex comic, and that's how I'll sort
Speaker 1: of lean into that and market myself that way. My
Speaker 1: first special was called mostly sex stuff. And I've always
Speaker 1: felt like I was sort of if I did the work,
Speaker 1: that I had the potential to do great things, and
Speaker 1: that just seemed like a stepping stone to it. I
Speaker 1: was like, I won't always be this, I won't always
Speaker 1: be known for this, but this is what I think
Speaker 1: I should do to get to the next step, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. And why do you think? What do you think?
Speaker 1: There's so many talented people out there, but obviously you
Speaker 1: struck a nerve and there was something about you the
Speaker 1: whole package, right, that people just gravitated towards. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: sorry to ask you the same thing, but I mean,
Speaker 1: really it's like, I don't know. I think it's just
Speaker 1: I think it's opportunity meeting preparation. But I also think
Speaker 1: it was you were someone and you know, whether we
Speaker 1: like the R word or not, but you were so
Speaker 1: relatable because that word, I think that people felt like
Speaker 1: you could be their friend. You know, you were talking
Speaker 1: about things that bothered them. You were completely raw, authentic,
Speaker 1: and you know, honestly, you look normal, thank you know,
Speaker 1: and you just you just seem fun and nice and normal,
Speaker 1: and I think people don't see images like that female
Speaker 1: images like that nearly enough. Well, it's like this movie
Speaker 1: that's coming out, it's like and when they were trying
Speaker 1: to figure out who was going to play Barbie, it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we wanted to be someone like relatable. And as far
Speaker 1: as actresses go, the ones that are, um, you know,
Speaker 1: in charge of sort of the box office of a movie,
Speaker 1: it goes like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy and then
Speaker 1: but you know, body type wise, it goes to like
Speaker 1: Emma Stone, like there aren't really there's nobody really floating
Speaker 1: around the middle right now. I feel like I'm it
Speaker 1: right now, and I'm probably forgetting someone and I'll get
Speaker 1: some email like what about me? I have saddlebags too,
Speaker 1: But um but isn't that straight? You know? And and
Speaker 1: a lot of people will think I'm like actually one
Speaker 1: of the stage hands on Meteor Shower. We've been rehearsing
Speaker 1: for like a couple of days that he came up.
Speaker 1: He's like, my wife and I are such huge fans,
Speaker 1: and uh, It's like thank you. And then we're talking
Speaker 1: and then I realized during the conversation that he fully
Speaker 1: thinks that I'm Melissa McCarthy and I just kind of
Speaker 1: was like I know why. He was like, you know,
Speaker 1: did you just see at the Emmy's that Sean Spicer
Speaker 1: was there? And then they showed you and I was
Speaker 1: like oh. And then he was like how long were
Speaker 1: you on SNL? And Melissa has never been a been
Speaker 1: a you know, a regular and SNL. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: not only does he not know who I am, but
Speaker 1: he also does not know that Melissa has never been
Speaker 1: a cast member in US. And but um, he's really sweet, smitty,
Speaker 1: I love you. Uh and he was so like mortified
Speaker 1: just that he had my identity wrong his wife. He
Speaker 1: got home and his wife was like, what did he
Speaker 1: brought me a bottle of wine? I was like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm flattered. She's hilarious. But you know it's like you
Speaker 1: just Megan Train or just anybody who looks at all similar,
Speaker 1: They just see like sort of a blonde plumpness and
Speaker 1: they say they think we're all like one person. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Lena Making Girls really inspired me, and you
Speaker 1: know the show Insecure, and there's just I got in
Speaker 1: some um I got some heat for saying that it
Speaker 1: bothered me. The Chloe Kardashian lost all that weight because
Speaker 1: I felt like she was like the relatable when she
Speaker 1: already looked very thin to me before this transformation, not
Speaker 1: the pregnancy, but you know, and it was like that,
Speaker 1: you know, do whatever you want, feel healthy, feel great.
Speaker 1: But just as you know people we all like look
Speaker 1: and judge celebrities, it was like, oh, like, come on,
Speaker 1: you were one of us, and and so I, um,
Speaker 1: I just kind of like Howard Stern once asked me, like,
Speaker 1: why don't you lose like thirty pounds? And I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't want to, I'll be hungry. And I I
Speaker 1: lost some way for train Wreck, and I was like, like,
Speaker 1: beauty and body, that's not my thing, that's not my currency.
Speaker 1: I feel beautiful and I feel strong and and sexy,
Speaker 1: but but that's not like I'm not going to be
Speaker 1: the most beautiful girl. So I'm not going to try
Speaker 1: to market myself or get myself there. And I don't
Speaker 1: think that sends a good message. I think being like
Speaker 1: and that's what I feel pretty is all about. It's
Speaker 1: just like, how about like not striving for some other
Speaker 1: version of yourself? Like why not love what you've got
Speaker 1: going on right now rather than this you know, eternal dissatisfaction.
Speaker 1: I love that because I think, you know, you are
Speaker 1: addressing the insecurities that I think, certainly I have had
Speaker 1: my whole life feeling never been enough, right, which is
Speaker 1: somebody else? Please? No, I know, I know, but but
Speaker 1: I think we're so programmed that if you're not, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty pounds underweight, so you don't look uh, you know,
Speaker 1: having a magazine or whatever. And it's just so unrealistic.
Speaker 1: And when I see the clavicles, you know, that could
Speaker 1: cut an apple on the oscars and everyone on every
Speaker 1: one of those women, I think, gosh, no, wonder if
Speaker 1: we've been so it's like Pavlothian. So if you see
Speaker 1: someone normal, you go from they look good too, they
Speaker 1: look fat, and they're just normal exactly. Yeah. But I
Speaker 1: change that by doing it. You know, like in this movie,
Speaker 1: I have a scene where my I'm it's PG. Thirteen
Speaker 1: but I'm naked you can see from the back, and
Speaker 1: then also seene where I dance my shirt off, and
Speaker 1: it's like I'm not letting them retouch anything, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm like, don't touch it. This is you know that
Speaker 1: that's against the point, and I just I feel excited
Speaker 1: about that and I feel like these changes are happening.
Speaker 1: You have a very funny skit about that on your
Speaker 1: show where or in your stand up where you say
Speaker 1: when you pose naked, you talk about where you said.
Speaker 1: The last thing you want people to say when they
Speaker 1: see a naked photo of you is wow, she's so brave.
Speaker 1: You're like, what you know? But whatever? But I could
Speaker 1: I understand it. But and it's also you know, I
Speaker 1: love watching all ty, I love Bachelor, and I love
Speaker 1: reality shows and all these real housewives, they all the Bachelor.
Speaker 1: I was like, what what would happen if they had
Speaker 1: like an actual, like a girl who looked like somebody
Speaker 1: you were friends with and not like these like little
Speaker 1: tiny bodies. And even though those girls are beautiful, and
Speaker 1: again I don't want to thin shame anybody either, but
Speaker 1: it's like the the example that that young women are seeing,
Speaker 1: like what are they what are they witnessing that they
Speaker 1: see The Kardashians, who I think have actually done a
Speaker 1: lot of especially Kim got involved with with um sensible
Speaker 1: gun laws, which is really cool. And I think that
Speaker 1: that they're cool, they're sisters and they can be funny um,
Speaker 1: but their role models are all these shows. It's like
Speaker 1: basketball wives. It's like just people get TV shows because
Speaker 1: they like had a kid with a hip hop artist
Speaker 1: or something. This isn't like what we want young women
Speaker 1: to be aspiring too. So, um, I don't remember what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. I think you're talking about sort of the
Speaker 1: role models out there, and that we're talking about how
Speaker 1: you change it and how you change it is. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's opportunities to write and to see, you know, women
Speaker 1: whose bodies look a little more realistic for for like
Speaker 1: actual life, who don't because most people can't afford a
Speaker 1: chef and a trainer and to be starving and have
Speaker 1: somebody like bring over your like little pile of seeds
Speaker 1: that you're allowed to eat in the morning. And I
Speaker 1: and I can afford those things. But I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing that. I don't want to, like because those
Speaker 1: people aren't happy either. I have some friends who are like,
Speaker 1: I don't want to hang out today, I won't be
Speaker 1: able to enjoy it. I'm I'm I have to be
Speaker 1: hungry today. And that's like totally typical for really a
Speaker 1: lot of actresses. And it's like still, let's come on enough.
Speaker 1: But it's funny I go to the words shows and
Speaker 1: I try to look my best, and I look like,
Speaker 1: you know, how the costume designers look, and I feel
Speaker 1: proud about that. That's good. Well, let's talk about what's
Speaker 1: happening in Hollywood since uh, you know, obviously there's this
Speaker 1: seismic shift for women, and it's been all women fascinating
Speaker 1: to watch and exhilarating and also kind of mind blowing
Speaker 1: on many levels. And and I'm curious when this started
Speaker 1: to spill out and these stories started to come out
Speaker 1: and women started standing up and speaking out, what did
Speaker 1: you think? I thought. I'm hearing a lot of these
Speaker 1: stories of the survivors of these incidents, and I'm and
Speaker 1: I feel like horrible for them and really proud of
Speaker 1: them for coming forward, and also like that none of
Speaker 1: that happened to me. I think the stuff that's happened
Speaker 1: to all of us, especially with the kind of the
Speaker 1: newer accusations about just coercion, you know, where people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's a gray area. And but I love Samantha Bee's
Speaker 1: piece on that. She she just did this monologue about it.
Speaker 1: Everything doesn't have to be rape, you know, It's not
Speaker 1: like raper, It's fine, it's I think a lot of
Speaker 1: us have gotten so used to that behavior of of
Speaker 1: a guy being like come on, like at a younger age,
Speaker 1: especially like in college. I feel like that was you know,
Speaker 1: a quarter of my hookups, like they see what they
Speaker 1: can get out of you and please, you know, imagine
Speaker 1: like I don't know who wants to be with someone
Speaker 1: who's not interested in being with them, but um, that
Speaker 1: kind of like wearing you down and and or you know,
Speaker 1: being an uncomfortable situation being like well I just I
Speaker 1: got myself here, so now I have to have sex
Speaker 1: with this guy or here. I think that's there's been
Speaker 1: a real sea change in especially younger women and consent
Speaker 1: and sort of how it's being framed in college. That's
Speaker 1: that's making them rethink and forcing older women to rethink
Speaker 1: sort of the dynamics that go on in an encounter, right,
Speaker 1: And so for me it's been kind of a little
Speaker 1: bit of a of a mind shift to because I
Speaker 1: think consensual is consensual, but then of course, now we're
Speaker 1: talking about unequal power dynamics and how is it really
Speaker 1: consensual when someone has so much sway over your and
Speaker 1: your career and then they're sort of the consensual well,
Speaker 1: having nothing to do with professional relationships like the disease
Speaker 1: on Sorry story, which I've been thinking a lot about
Speaker 1: and trying to understand kind of the dynamics there, because
Speaker 1: that was very interesting to me. Younger women thought this
Speaker 1: situation was wrong, and I think many older women thought,
Speaker 1: why don't you get up and leave? Right? So where
Speaker 1: do you come down on that whole thing. I'm in
Speaker 1: the middle where I'm saying, what a great thing that
Speaker 1: there's this change with this generation. Who um, I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna learn from this and uh, you know, Samantha
Speaker 1: b did that whole piece on like no, like, I
Speaker 1: don't think anyone wants to see as these career ruined
Speaker 1: or his life round or anything like that. But that's
Speaker 1: where people's minds go. They go, is it does he
Speaker 1: deserve this? And it's it's really not about that, I think. Um.
Speaker 1: I think it's about expressing and showing women that that
Speaker 1: behavior is not okay and that you not only can
Speaker 1: you leave, but you need to leave because then the
Speaker 1: women who come after you, you're you're leaving a mark
Speaker 1: for them too. So it's not just about your own encounter.
Speaker 1: You have to also think about if you don't say
Speaker 1: to somebody, this made me super uncomfortable and it's not okay,
Speaker 1: which is a really uncomfortable thing. And sometimes you go
Speaker 1: always a nice guy and I just want to leave.
Speaker 1: I don't want to make it uncomfortable. But if you
Speaker 1: don't really lay your boundaries out, then you're you're leaving
Speaker 1: it open for the for the women to come after you.
Speaker 1: And so I think a lot of women are feel
Speaker 1: really bad that they've been complicit with with things, but
Speaker 1: we didn't know not to be and I think now
Speaker 1: there's kind of no excuse. And if you have a
Speaker 1: doctor that makes you uncomfortable, or you get a massage,
Speaker 1: or you have a date with someone and they coerce
Speaker 1: you in a situation like the azaz one um, I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any sort of, you know, criminal charge,
Speaker 1: but I think that it's good for this for everybody
Speaker 1: to learn that that behavior is not acceptable. It's not
Speaker 1: a crime, but it's not cool and it can still
Speaker 1: really mess with a with a woman. So it's is
Speaker 1: it the overall presumptuous nous of men who are in
Speaker 1: that situation, Because I also want women to have agency
Speaker 1: and to stand up, But I also appreciate that it's difficult,
Speaker 1: and it's it must be confusing for men too. Well,
Speaker 1: that's what I am thinking about right now. That's why
Speaker 1: I kind of want to come up with a little
Speaker 1: bit of a code of conduct for us as women,
Speaker 1: because I think a lot of men are really confused
Speaker 1: right now, you know, and are like, wait, this has
Speaker 1: been cool for so long, and you know, are dynamic
Speaker 1: at the office or at the gym or whatever. It's
Speaker 1: been like, you know, we we kind of flirt and
Speaker 1: some people we've all done this. We we just flirt
Speaker 1: back with them, so it's not uncomfortable, or maybe we
Speaker 1: have some sort of an advantage, you know, Oh they
Speaker 1: this guy's feelings for me. So I kind of pray
Speaker 1: on that and we've we've all been there, and and
Speaker 1: we kind of can't do that anymore. And we need
Speaker 1: to explain it to men and to other women that
Speaker 1: that we need to be teaching each other the kind
Speaker 1: of behavior that's accept doble and so when something comes
Speaker 1: up to say that makes me really uncomfortable or you know,
Speaker 1: just what you're willing to accept and that those are
Speaker 1: the hard conversations. But we just can't keep we can't
Speaker 1: let things continue the way that they've continued, because there's
Speaker 1: so many different levels of it, something like what happened
Speaker 1: with disease, which you know, and and he's been my friend,
Speaker 1: and I I really I feel for I feel for
Speaker 1: the woman um I identify with with all the women
Speaker 1: in these situations, I kind of my mind doesn't go right,
Speaker 1: even if it's my friend, I don't go, oh, but
Speaker 1: he's a good guy. I think, what would it feel
Speaker 1: like to have been her? You know? And uh, well
Speaker 1: you were in some ways her because you've had a
Speaker 1: situation that you talked about in your book. Oh oh yeah, No,
Speaker 1: I mean I've been flat out raped. But I mean,
Speaker 1: but there are so many other kinds of sex. There's
Speaker 1: so much much other sexual misconduct. I mean, we've we've
Speaker 1: all every woman I know, every woman in this room,
Speaker 1: we've all had these experiences that and I think in
Speaker 1: some ways, this this current climate, it brings these things
Speaker 1: up and you go, got none of that was okay,
Speaker 1: you know, And I'm someone new journals. I kept journals
Speaker 1: and I read back and I go, I just feel
Speaker 1: so bad for that girl. You know, why why didn't
Speaker 1: you get up and leaving? Sometimes you do and sometimes
Speaker 1: you just you just do it. Do you think that
Speaker 1: the conversation will? You know? Right now, it seems like
Speaker 1: a volcano erupting and and sort of this fury and
Speaker 1: rage and frustration and it's kind of ickiness that has
Speaker 1: been sort of bubbling beneath the surface is now kind
Speaker 1: of exploding. And women are talking about this, and men,
Speaker 1: I think are are not part of the conversation right now, Um,
Speaker 1: what do you how do you see this, this movement
Speaker 1: of evolving? I think, Um, a lot of men are
Speaker 1: anxious to be part of the movement because they want
Speaker 1: to help and they're good people, and you know, and
Speaker 1: I think they also want to understand uh maybe what
Speaker 1: they behavior that they felt comfortable and why why it
Speaker 1: wasn't okay right? And it's up to us to teach them.
Speaker 1: And I do mean women, I think, and I think
Speaker 1: they're open to it. People. You know a lot of
Speaker 1: the men in my life are are open at self
Speaker 1: reflection and evolving and and I am, And so how
Speaker 1: can we be better at teaching them? And you know, um,
Speaker 1: it's there's some behavior where you go that's just clearly
Speaker 1: insanely wrong and you should just be in jail. Uh, like,
Speaker 1: oh gosh, I'm just I'm so proud of all those
Speaker 1: gymnasts who stood up to and how about how great
Speaker 1: was that judge who went, I'm signing your death sense
Speaker 1: And these women are not victims, their survivors, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of up to us to teach them
Speaker 1: right now so that things can be different for the
Speaker 1: next generation. I think we'll see some movement, you know,
Speaker 1: like I get to spend a bunch of time with
Speaker 1: Glorious Steinham and this is a really exciting time for her,
Speaker 1: and they had to fight to get their own magazine
Speaker 1: and people weren't listening that we have the Internet, we
Speaker 1: have like a real voice, and people are really paying attention,
Speaker 1: and and it's just so across all industries. It's like
Speaker 1: and most of the women times up, like you know,
Speaker 1: we're like, Okay, let's let's take care of our house first,
Speaker 1: which I think Shanda Ryan said at a meeting. Um,
Speaker 1: But you know, there's so many levels under sort of
Speaker 1: what our houses. It's like the stunt women, the crew women.
Speaker 1: But but it's set up so that women in all
Speaker 1: industries and in these low paying jobs, women work at
Speaker 1: hotels and farm workers and people working, you know, in
Speaker 1: the service industry. It's it's rampant, it's it's really frightening.
Speaker 1: And um, I think I think there's like this big
Speaker 1: change happening and and and I don't think it will
Speaker 1: burn out because the people everyone's really fired up about
Speaker 1: just giving their time and energy because it's just so
Speaker 1: important and essential. Do you think this would have happened
Speaker 1: if Donald Trump hadn't been elected? No? No, I don't so,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a Hillary girl myself. But but if
Speaker 1: we want to find any sort of silver lining, if
Speaker 1: he hadn't bragged about grabbing pussies, we probably wouldn't be
Speaker 1: protecting ours so much right now. You have been involved
Speaker 1: in this even before this movement happened, because you've spoken
Speaker 1: out about pay in equity. When you got your Netflix
Speaker 1: special and found out Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock we're
Speaker 1: making a certain salary that was really almost twice as
Speaker 1: much as yours. You said, exqueeze me. Yeah, well again,
Speaker 1: that wasn't I wasn't like trying to go viral with
Speaker 1: news for that, and that news didn't kind of break
Speaker 1: till later on. I um, I I thought those guys
Speaker 1: are absolute legends. There are two of my best friends also,
Speaker 1: and they deserve every penny they got paid for that
Speaker 1: those specials, and you know, um, and I'm really proud
Speaker 1: of them. And also I don't I don't think with
Speaker 1: where I am sort of in the zeitgeist right now,
Speaker 1: that I deserve half of what they're getting. I think
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask for more. And I asked by myself.
Speaker 1: I didn't pay anybody any commission on the the extra
Speaker 1: money I received, and um, you know, and there was
Speaker 1: so much I have these uh, and I'm sure you
Speaker 1: probably do too, just with working on gun laws and
Speaker 1: with the nature of my stand up I I have
Speaker 1: like organized trolls who go against me and they get
Speaker 1: my movies voted down on Rotten Tomatoes and all this stuff.
Speaker 1: And with the special Yeah, what a treat. But I'm
Speaker 1: just like, I really truly don't care. Um. First, I'm
Speaker 1: sure it was pretty unkner, of course, and then you
Speaker 1: learn like, yeah, you're like, oh god, you're you're so afraid.
Speaker 1: And then it's like I'm just gonna keep doing my
Speaker 1: thing and they're doing their thing, and you know, uh.
Speaker 1: But so there was so much controversy with this, with
Speaker 1: this special and people really looking to hate on it,
Speaker 1: and I'm really I'm really very proud of it. And
Speaker 1: I got nominated for I directed it, so I got
Speaker 1: nominated for directing it. I'm up against the Oscars, so
Speaker 1: I don't think I'll beat the Oscars. But um but
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, it's not that cute and when
Speaker 1: it comes out in the news, oh, that wasn't enough
Speaker 1: money for you, you should be grateful. I just thought,
Speaker 1: that's not the message that we need to be sending
Speaker 1: right now. It's not about that. It's not you know,
Speaker 1: I my last season and my TV show I was
Speaker 1: I felt like kind of underpaid the whole time. And
Speaker 1: then so you went to Comedy Central too, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, I know that these guys with
Speaker 1: similar shows to me are getting more money than me.
Speaker 1: And so finally when they gave me more money, I
Speaker 1: donated it to the crew who had been working with
Speaker 1: me the whole time, just to be it's not about that.
Speaker 1: You know, shore money is awesome and and I love
Speaker 1: fun and drinking nice wine, but um but I donate
Speaker 1: so much, and it really for me was just about like,
Speaker 1: it's not being it's not fair, like I had a
Speaker 1: book deal back in the day and I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I think I I think, I bet it will be
Speaker 1: worth ten times more than this, and I backed out.
Speaker 1: Nobody wanted me to. And you know, you've got to
Speaker 1: like stand your ground. And that's why I really want
Speaker 1: to support just women in any job fighting for equal pay,
Speaker 1: and I it's it can be really hard. I know
Speaker 1: it's different different industries. It's easier said than done. But
Speaker 1: if I can support, um, yeah, I want to and
Speaker 1: I want to send that message. But it's so so
Speaker 1: typical because if as a woman, if you do make demands,
Speaker 1: if you do ask for equality, you're automatically seen as difficult, bitchy,
Speaker 1: You're vilified, right, And I think that's because of how
Speaker 1: we've been conditioned to act. And I think that, I think,
Speaker 1: but I think I do think women. One of the
Speaker 1: great I think UM aspects of this movement is I
Speaker 1: think we're going to equip women with hopefully the confidence
Speaker 1: and the power to make demands and to not typecast
Speaker 1: them when they do. Right. But I think our our
Speaker 1: society really and I think probably that's why you got
Speaker 1: so much pushback. A man would first, first of all,
Speaker 1: a man wouldn't have had to do that. But secondly,
Speaker 1: if he had, everyone would have been like, yeah, right,
Speaker 1: I got your money's son. Yeah. But for me, it's
Speaker 1: like I anticipated that and it didn't come out until like,
Speaker 1: you know, a month after it came out or something
Speaker 1: after the special came out. I think, and uh, I'm
Speaker 1: proud of my business sense. And I think another message
Speaker 1: that we want to send is that there's power in numbers.
Speaker 1: And so that's why, you know, I I spoke to
Speaker 1: uh I never. I don't even know cats Adler, you know,
Speaker 1: like I probably spoked to herd a carpet or something once,
Speaker 1: but she was a correspondent to E and uh and
Speaker 1: I just heard about her not getting offered equal pay
Speaker 1: and it was like, well, let's let's stand up for
Speaker 1: this woman, in fight for her. Let's stand up for
Speaker 1: each other, you know. And right now it's like within
Speaker 1: our business, but we're we're joining forces with all these
Speaker 1: other industries so that it's you know, it's it's a
Speaker 1: global thing. There's they want to start at times up Kenya.
Speaker 1: It's exciting, it's awesome. But you know, Amy, I I
Speaker 1: through the years, you have gotten I think because you
Speaker 1: are comfortable in your own skin and who you are.
Speaker 1: But how do you handle it when people attack you relentlessly?
Speaker 1: And I mean I think everyone probably is attacked relentlessly
Speaker 1: these days with social Yeah, it with so much vitriol,
Speaker 1: whether it's about you know anything, yeah, soup to nuts,
Speaker 1: it could be about money or right, or it could
Speaker 1: be about your position on on gun laws. I mean,
Speaker 1: so that's that can be very debilitating, demoralizing and psychically depleting,
Speaker 1: I think, And and so how do you how do
Speaker 1: you handle it? I just early on, like I you know,
Speaker 1: I did the roast of Charlie Sheen and after one
Speaker 1: of my jokes, got a lot of pushback, and um
Speaker 1: and I knew then and I know now that it's
Speaker 1: not it's not actually personal. I think. I think success
Speaker 1: really annoys people. And when somebody's making money and they're
Speaker 1: doing well, you can't help it. You just want them
Speaker 1: to fail. And I don't blame anyone for that. What
Speaker 1: is it about? We're all like to call it the
Speaker 1: tall poppy syndrome in Australia, right, nobody is allowed to
Speaker 1: get famous there. Um well, when they do, they just
Speaker 1: can't wait to chop you down. Right, So I think
Speaker 1: it's that, Um, that's just sort of resenting instead of
Speaker 1: putting energy towards working on yourself. I think it's really
Speaker 1: easy to just vilify somebody else. And so that doesn't
Speaker 1: feel personal to me any any feelings like that. That's
Speaker 1: more about the person who has those feelings than it
Speaker 1: is about me. And and these controversies that have come up,
Speaker 1: and you know, I've had many, like people are waiting
Speaker 1: to tear you down and burn you at the steak
Speaker 1: when you're in this position, and some of them I've
Speaker 1: I've really learned from, and I still have so much
Speaker 1: I need to learn. And uh, I just I really
Speaker 1: don't take it personally, and it never makes me feel
Speaker 1: like I'm a bad person, you know if I always
Speaker 1: feel that way? Or did you learn to not take
Speaker 1: it personally? No, I I learned. I learned early on.
Speaker 1: I learned like ten years ago, and so since that,
Speaker 1: it feels bad when it's like affecting work, you know,
Speaker 1: like if I'm getting picketed or something like, it's it's like,
Speaker 1: oh God, this is going to push us back an
Speaker 1: hour or something like that. But um, it doesn't hurt
Speaker 1: my feelings anymore. It hasn't for like ten years. Um,
Speaker 1: did you read it? Like, if there's like a big
Speaker 1: thing going on, I'll like check it out. But it
Speaker 1: makes me laugh, Like, I don't know, Yeah, I really
Speaker 1: feel like I know who I am, and I love
Speaker 1: my friends and family and like the people I'm close to,
Speaker 1: and I'm respected by the comedians that I love and respect,
Speaker 1: and I just I feel really fortunate. And if I
Speaker 1: let myself get brought down by these you know, like
Speaker 1: controversies that I know, don't don't actually like that what
Speaker 1: my intentions were were, you know, if I hurt someone,
Speaker 1: I feel I would feel horrible, you know. But um,
Speaker 1: and you know, like, and I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of when it comes to race, Like I now on
Speaker 1: my projects have an inclusion writer, so there has to
Speaker 1: be a certain number of a number of people people
Speaker 1: of color, or people with disabilities or something, you know,
Speaker 1: filling these roles. That that's like and this is a
Speaker 1: big part of times up where we're all encouraging people
Speaker 1: to do this now, um, so that the cast is
Speaker 1: like more reflective of the actual population. And um, and
Speaker 1: I've been like accused of being racist over the years,
Speaker 1: and and I'm just I just am so not but
Speaker 1: I I also recognize there's room to grow, and I
Speaker 1: just want to do my best to empower women and
Speaker 1: people of color and and I but I also understand
Speaker 1: it's like it's got to be really annoying, Like I
Speaker 1: could see myself getting vilified in you know, different communities
Speaker 1: for whatever reason. But my intentions are just so to
Speaker 1: truly include everyone. And so do you ever worry that
Speaker 1: this heightened sensitivity and this kind of greater consciousness about
Speaker 1: not offending people has that the pendulum perhaps has swung
Speaker 1: too far and that you feel like you're walking on
Speaker 1: eggshells and someone's going to be upset if you make
Speaker 1: a joke about this or that, or do you think
Speaker 1: it's a good thing or are you again somewhere in
Speaker 1: the middle. No, I do think it's a good thing.
Speaker 1: You know, jokes that I made ten years ago, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't dream of making now. And um, that was just
Speaker 1: kind of right for me at the time. And culturally
Speaker 1: things were different, and you know, like guys were telling
Speaker 1: like a lot of rape jokes. I had some jokes
Speaker 1: about rape, and that's just that that just is so
Speaker 1: unacceptable now, and um, and just I feel more of
Speaker 1: a responsibility because my voice is heard more now, So
Speaker 1: I I want to do a good job of of
Speaker 1: not hurting anyone's feelings and just you know, sort of
Speaker 1: moving the needle in the right way. So I don't
Speaker 1: think it's a bad thing, this oversensitivity. And they'll still
Speaker 1: be comics that don't you know, care, and they'll just
Speaker 1: say whatever they want if you want that, But I'm
Speaker 1: not interested in doing that personally. I don't feel held back.
Speaker 1: I don't feel you know, there's some things like that's
Speaker 1: just for your friends, and we can always just joke
Speaker 1: with our friends. I'm friends with like the dirtiest comedians alive,
Speaker 1: and we say horrible stuff to each other that if
Speaker 1: we get got out, we'd be toast. You know that
Speaker 1: everybody has those conversations with their friends and family. But
Speaker 1: what I am willing to stay on stage, it's it's
Speaker 1: and it's not like a self preservation thing. It's just
Speaker 1: I'm not interested in it, and it just doesn't feel
Speaker 1: like the right time. I wanted before we go talk
Speaker 1: to you about how you got involved in gun activism. You, um,
Speaker 1: I remember very well when that happened at that movie
Speaker 1: theater where train Wreck was playing that was in Louisiana, Yeah, Lafaye, Louisiana.
Speaker 1: And yeah, two young women were killed, a twenty one
Speaker 1: year old woman and I believe a thirty three year
Speaker 1: old woman. And I was thinking about them, you know,
Speaker 1: and then you know, these things happen, and I don't
Speaker 1: know today, I was thinking about how quickly people forget
Speaker 1: about tragedies and move on. I was thinking about their
Speaker 1: families when I was getting ready to talk to you,
Speaker 1: because I thought, who remembers that? Who remembers them? Me? Yeah,
Speaker 1: and their families. I think about them all the time.
Speaker 1: I kind of keep them with me and any like
Speaker 1: accomplishments or anything. And I, yeah, I just always mentioned them.
Speaker 1: I dedicate every special to them now and just and
Speaker 1: you know, just to kind of keep them alive in
Speaker 1: myself and and just in the ether. Um, is that
Speaker 1: what set you off on this path to really try
Speaker 1: to do something about how many guns from this country?
Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, were you? Was that something that you
Speaker 1: were passionate about before? Though not now. I really had
Speaker 1: no information before then, and and I missed those days
Speaker 1: because it's just you know, it's really it's really upsetting. Um,
Speaker 1: the just how sort of lacks the gun laws aren't
Speaker 1: how how easy it is for somebody who's who's on
Speaker 1: you know, a no fly list or somebody who's mentally
Speaker 1: ill or has been convicted of being an abuser, Like
Speaker 1: it's still pretty easy to get a gun, and uh
Speaker 1: a yeah. And these shootings they're they're every new one.
Speaker 1: They're like the news cycle just just yeah, there's a
Speaker 1: new thing the next day. And you know, we we
Speaker 1: pushed and we get into Congress's face and we go
Speaker 1: because so many politicians are getting money directly from the
Speaker 1: n r A, as you know, and uh yeah, and
Speaker 1: you are you are you discouraged? Um? I sometimes I
Speaker 1: but then I look at the people who work at
Speaker 1: every Town for Gun Safety and you know, Julianne Moore
Speaker 1: and I are both on the board there, and and
Speaker 1: then just going out to these events and meeting people.
Speaker 1: I just before the Las Vegas shooting, a couple of
Speaker 1: months before, I had been in Vegas to meeting with
Speaker 1: their chapter for every time, just listening to people's stories
Speaker 1: about how gun violence has affected them. They're just so
Speaker 1: heartbreaking that you're just like, even if I move this,
Speaker 1: just I can help move this just a little bit
Speaker 1: in my lifetime. That'll be worth it. And I just,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody just refuses to give up. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I believe it'll take a long time, but I think
Speaker 1: they'll be like a real change. I do. I have
Speaker 1: to believe that. As we look ahead and knowing that
Speaker 1: you were a passionate Hillary Clinton supporter, how are you
Speaker 1: surviving the era of Trump? I just feel so much
Speaker 1: better than I think we all did a year ago.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of my actually all my friends
Speaker 1: were just like get a depression for a year. Those
Speaker 1: especially those first few days after the election, Like it was,
Speaker 1: it was just like the most painful, like worst I
Speaker 1: would you know, I would say it was second to
Speaker 1: to getting the news that Macy and Jillian had been killed.
Speaker 1: It was just and I just felt angry, and there's
Speaker 1: got to be a place for that, you know, for
Speaker 1: women to express anger. And yeah, we just needed a
Speaker 1: little time to be for it to really mess us
Speaker 1: up and realize how bad things still are in the world.
Speaker 1: You know, we got blessed with this Obama era, these
Speaker 1: great eight years we were given, and then just to
Speaker 1: be like an about face in the wrong direction in
Speaker 1: what feels like every single area to me, I just
Speaker 1: feel that he is a huge annoying setback and um,
Speaker 1: and that that's like a very you know, that's incredibly reductive.
Speaker 1: But and I don't think that anybody who is afraid
Speaker 1: of deportation right now, like living in terror is um,
Speaker 1: I would look at it that way. But but that's
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to keep it that way in my sights,
Speaker 1: to keep myself encouraged that you know, we can all
Speaker 1: really work together and make change. And um, women wanting
Speaker 1: to lead and women wanting to run for Congress, and
Speaker 1: we're seeing so much, so much changing just you know,
Speaker 1: with politics, and and I believe we'll get the House
Speaker 1: back this year, that's my hope. And and and in
Speaker 1: a way, he has been a a real catalyst, hasn't he.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you mentioned a silver lining, But
Speaker 1: it seems as if people have been you know, woken
Speaker 1: up from their complacency. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I don't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just like I'm not mad at Internet rolls. I'm not
Speaker 1: even mad at Trump. He's just he's just like King Joffrey,
Speaker 1: like he's just been empowered by people who didn't I
Speaker 1: feel like they didn't understand, they didn't understand and I
Speaker 1: wrote like a really aggressive tweet or Instagram the day
Speaker 1: after he won. I was just furious with these people, like,
Speaker 1: do you understand what you've done? You know, the people
Speaker 1: who elected him, and I think a lot of them
Speaker 1: have real regrets and it didn't understand and uh, but
Speaker 1: do you have compassion for some of these voters who
Speaker 1: felt like Hillary Clinton was not speaking to them? And
Speaker 1: I was thinking about it. I think that deplorable comment
Speaker 1: was probably doably really damaging to her candidacy. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it. I think it was too like there's all
Speaker 1: these like, you know, we got we can read what happened,
Speaker 1: but it's um, it's you know, it just doesn't that
Speaker 1: sound funny that he's now saying these shiphole countries and
Speaker 1: you know he's paying he paid off a porn star
Speaker 1: after Baron was born. Like it's just if you put
Speaker 1: them on a chart next to each other, It's just
Speaker 1: it's hilarious the things that she's been vilified for versus
Speaker 1: the things that we're just not even paying attention to anymore.
Speaker 1: I'm not even on SNL that they had a game
Speaker 1: show doesn't matter. Oh yeah, Jessica chast A hust She's
Speaker 1: just such a great job. Yeah. Yeah, And it was like,
Speaker 1: we can't even keep up. It's not even interesting anymore,
Speaker 1: you know, When someone like did you hear what he
Speaker 1: Trump said today, I'm just like, I don't. Can I
Speaker 1: skip it? Like? Can I just can I set this
Speaker 1: one out? Yeah? But all all you're feeling very optimistic
Speaker 1: about the future and about the state of the country
Speaker 1: just a year ago. I really am. I think people
Speaker 1: are understanding that the change has to come from from them.
Speaker 1: If you have it in you to run for office,
Speaker 1: or to go to a meeting, or to start like
Speaker 1: a chapter of something in your town where you can
Speaker 1: try to help get the word out for people to vote. Um.
Speaker 1: Just people didn't know what they were capable of, and
Speaker 1: I think they're feeling more empowered, and I think we
Speaker 1: really are about to experience even more change for the better.
Speaker 1: Do you think you'd ever run for office? I don't know.
Speaker 1: There's got to be a sex tape of me out
Speaker 1: there somewhere. Can you be in office if you have
Speaker 1: a sex tape? Um? Yeah, I don't know. If I
Speaker 1: thought that would be helpful and I would do a
Speaker 1: good job. It's the same as like a role in
Speaker 1: a movie. I just I don't want to do it
Speaker 1: if there's someone out there who could do it better
Speaker 1: than me. But if I ever felt like I could
Speaker 1: do a good job and be helpful, I would. Because
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer, of course, is your second cousin. They used
Speaker 1: to say the most dangerous place to be on Capitol
Speaker 1: Hill was between Chuck Schumer and a camera. Oh that's hilarious.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he's not afraid of the spotlight. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm really proud of him. And I know, you know
Speaker 1: what what's been happening lately, it's like it just seems
Speaker 1: was that a miscalculation in your view of what the
Speaker 1: shutdown and the DHAKA and sort of the Democrats position
Speaker 1: on that, Um, I a miscalculation, like yeah, well some
Speaker 1: people think it's really hurt the Democrats, right, I don't know, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. You know, I'm watching the news like
Speaker 1: everybody else, and I'm reading like what Chuck's kind of
Speaker 1: press releases are about it, And you know, I know him,
Speaker 1: I love him. I believe he's the greatest intentions, and
Speaker 1: I believe he has a plan. And I hope Mitch
Speaker 1: McConnell wasn't lying. I'm hoping the same things that everybody's hoping.
Speaker 1: Anyone you like for twenty Yeah, well we found out
Speaker 1: Oprah is not interested. So how about Shonda Rhymes. I'd
Speaker 1: vote for her. I love talking to you, Amy Schumer,
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming here microphone anytime. We can talk and
Speaker 1: talk real shit. We can really talk it. You can
Speaker 1: make a lot of jokes about me. You can even
Speaker 1: talk about anal sex. But don't say that. You said
Speaker 1: you love humor. Yes, I'll never say that again. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks to our roving podcast production team for helping us
Speaker 1: record at Amy's pad for this one. It's kind of cool.
Speaker 1: I was in Amy's pad. That's Gianna Palmer, our producer,
Speaker 1: Jared O'Connell, our audio engineer, Assistant producer Nora Richie. Thanks also,
Speaker 1: as always to Betamaz and Emily Beana over at Katie
Speaker 1: Correct Media, and Alison Fresnick, who represents on social media.
Speaker 1: Katie and I are the executive producers around here. Mark
Speaker 1: Phillips wrote our theme music. Please feel free to send
Speaker 1: your questions, feedback, and guest ideas to us over at
Speaker 1: comments at current podcast dot com, or you can leave
Speaker 1: us a voicemail. As always at nine to nine two
Speaker 1: to four, four, six, three seven. That does it for
Speaker 1: us today everyone. We'll be back next week with our
Speaker 1: latest wonder Woman, Laverne Cox. Bye, Brian, talk to you
Speaker 1: next week, Katie,