Jim Gaffigan, Jenny Slate & Tig Notaro Talk Parenthood & The Best And Worst Things About Being A Comedian Today
07.05.2024 - 23:29
/ deadline.com
For Jenny Slate, there’s much to love about working as a stand-up comic today.
“We have the opportunity to be really thoughtful about saying something deeply important about our own personal development, about the world at large, about current events, about censorship in art, about what is the current vernacular in art,” the comedian says.
Certainly, she acknowledges, “cancel culture is frightening,” and it’s always “scary to be a person with a microphone, [but] it’s also a great privilege. If you’re a performer and you feel that you’re talented, if you pair that talent with thoughtfulness, I think [it’s a] great opportunity to feel fully expressed.”
On Monday night, Slate was at Deadline’s Studio at the Prime Experience to promote her latest special Seasoned Professional, which debuted on Prime Video on February 23. Also appearing for solo interviews were comedians Tig Notaro and Jim Gaffigan, who while discussing their respective Prime Video specials Hello Again and Dark Pale, giving their take on the best and worst of being a modern-day stand-up.
Check out the interviews here and photos from the event below.
“I guess it’s that double-edged sword. There is so much going on and so much opportunity, but then it can feel a little oversaturated. But I don’t know,” Notaro said. “I don’t have any complaints. I started doing stand-up solely because I was obsessed with it … and so from open-mic days to now, it’s really a need to get on stage and a want to just share stories and experiences.”
After joking that when he started in comedy “there were wooden microphones,” Gaffigan reflected on the greater extent to which comedy permeates culture today. While “true comedy nerds” have always existed, he said, we’re at a point now