By Daniel Herborn
Want to be a successful stand-up comedian? As Iliza Shlesinger tells it, all you have to do is come up with funny observations that people can relate to but that they have never heard anyone say before.
“We’re all thinking the same things, so it’s about tapping into the things that people were … too afraid to say,” she explains.
“How you know it’s a good joke is when people confess after: ‘Oh my God, I also shave my big toe!’ or, ‘I’ve also had those weird sexual thoughts about our principal’, or something like that. The more vulnerable and honest we are as humans, the more we realise just how weird and connected we all are.”
Iliza Shlesinger says comedy is about finding something entirely relatable and novel.Credit:
The 41-year-old’s brand of relatable confessional comedy has struck a chord with fans worldwide. She’s had six Netflix specials to date, a sketch show, has written and starred in a feature film (Good on Paper) and has built up a fan base so passionate that some make art based on her work, or attend gigs in homemade ‘she-dragon’ or ‘party goblin’ costumes.
“To see my art digested and given back to me, presented on someone’s shirt or in a painting or drawing, is an incredible exchange,” Shlesinger says of the fan artwork.
Shlesinger has often championed liberal causes like reproductive rights and Black Lives Matter in her stand-up and online content but insists she’s not a political comic per se. “I think you might have an idea of how I vote, but I kind of run down the middle [politically]. At this stage in my career, when you buy a ticket to see Iliza Shlesinger, you’re buying a ticket to escape and to feel seen, not to come to a political rally. We’ll save that for my online rants.”
She hedges her bets on the age-old debate over whether modern sensibilities have curbed comedians’ ability to speak freely.
“I definitely have the freedom to say whatever I like, but just because it’s your freedom and your right doesn’t mean it’s always a good idea. I think people have to understand the intention, both the people being offended and the people enjoying it.
“My intention is always to entertain and uplift. It’s never to hurt anyone’s feelings. When people don’t watch the full joke or someone’s full hour or they remove intention, then we’re all just offending each other.
“I find that the people most nervous about the woke stuff tend to be white men who are tired of being told that they’re wrong. The truth is, if you’re not setting out to offend anyone for a cheap laugh, you’re probably going to be okay. At the end of the day, we could all consider each other a little bit more. However, on the other side, I think people need to toughen up. So, per usual, I’m right in the middle and take no side.”
A self-described ‘elder millennial’, Shlesinger is old enough to remember a world before our digital age. One of her most famous bits involved her introducing Gen Z to the ancient technology of the landline. She has often riffed on her generation’s relationship with social media. In her most recent special, Hot Forever, she imagined the absurdity of seeing someone doing a TikTok dance in real life.
Shlesinger says she has something of a love-hate relationship with social media platforms and our increasingly online lives.
“I have a strict diet of two cups of coffee and at least nine hours of scrolling in the morning before I even talk to my children,” she quips.
“I try to remember how much of it is not real. I think, especially in the past few years, you’re an idiot if you think what you’re being fed is based in any kind of reality. ”
On the other hand, Shlesinger – who recently played dates in Japan – is grateful that social media has allowed more international fans to discover her work.
“At its finest, as a connective tool, the internet is an incredible thing. But at its worst, the way most of us are experiencing it, it’s our sugary demise.”
Before her Australian shows, where she’ll be doing her latest hour, Get Ready, Shlesinger says she relishes the ‘up for anything’ energy of our comedy crowds. “You love a good time. Anyone who’s ever gotten drunk with an Australian knows this. You’re like tropical British people.
“I am really looking forward to coming back down under, though please note I did cringe when I just said ‘down under’. Ugh, I sound like such a tourist!”
Iliza Shlesinger’s The Get Ready Tour is at the State Theatre on April 22 as part of Sydney Comedy Festival and at Hamer Hall, Melbourne on April 20.