I was just watching some of his stuff online.
Oh my god. He is just, like, bizarre and amazing and you never know what he's going to do because he doesn't know what's going to do. He's like the opposite of most comics. He cannot have a plan. He's most comfortable with no plan, and it's just so cool to watch. Natasha is so brilliant and amazing. I mean this in a Jewish way and not in a lesbian way – but I just want to eat her when I see her. She's so [bleep]ing adorable. Marc Maron I'm sure you're familiar with.
Yeah, I'm modeling this whole interview off of a WTF Podcast. That's my goal. I'm going to ask you about your upbringing next. And your religion.
Did you hear his interview with Todd Glass? It was so amazing. Todd's one of my favorite comics as well. It was just incredible. And the funniest [part] – I think it's so funny: Todd, so he came out on Marc Maron's show, and it surprised so many people because he's not – I think even the strongest gaydar may not have picked up he was gay. But he still has such a hard time saying the word “gay,” for whatever reason, that he just says “Marc Maron.” He's like “You know I'm, uh, you know, Marc Maron.” It's so funny. It's become, like, a new word for “gay.”
I'm sure Marc appreciates that. It's good branding.
I'm sure he does! It's so funny. He's great. He's so brutally honest about himself and others and things. It's fun to watch. It's just really smart and funny. Sometimes comics are smart and sometimes comics are funny, and sometimes they're smart and funny. You know how there are smart comics where you don't really laugh? You just go like “oh yeah, yeah, that's right.” But he's both, which is a very exciting combination.
Where do you place yourself on smart versus funny?
Oh gosh, I don't know. I have a very good perspective, like so many people, on everyone else, but [I'm] pretty blind to my own – [laughs].
It must be pretty cool to be in the role to curate a show of comics that you like.
It'll be pure fun for me. I'll be the standup in between everybody, and I'll kind of measure the amount of time I do by whatever's best for the show and how it's going, whatever time is displaced. I'll be like a professional emcee! That's what they do! Keep the show going, fill in spots. It'll be fun. I get to kind of watch, which is fun. When I close a show or when I do a long set I'm too nervous to watch the acts in front of me. That's why I like to go – I have a show once a month out here at [comedy club] Largo – and I always go second to last, so I can at least relax and watch the person after me. Before it's just, like, too stressful.
You still get nervous before you perform?
I still get nervous. It depends on the crowd and, like, the connection. And also, yeah, I wouldn't be nervous if I was doing the same hour for the past 20 years or something, but that's not very inspiring! I'm nervous because I'm in a state of constant flux with my own act. Just like figuring out who I am and what I'm thinking about and what I'm working on. I'm kind of in a constant transitional state. It keeps me on my toes because I still want to please the audience.
You've kind of become someone younger comics look up to, but your career is sort of based on inappropriate jokes. Is it weird at all to be admired for that?
Well when I started out – and ten years in, when I finally started getting good – people don't come to see you. They're forced to either discover you and realize that they hate you or like you or people walk out. There's an excitement in that, like “I'm going to prove myself.” But then there's a point – which is great – when people come specifically to see you. And then if what you do is surprise or shock, are you giving them what they're expecting by doing that?
