Women, Confidence, and Awkward Audience Interjections

Chelsea Peretti dismantles our overconfident society while breaking the conventions of standup.

Returning to her stand up roots and her hometown Bay Area to perform her first full hour special, Chelsea Peretti reached a milestone and had come full circle with her comedic career. She was no longer the ugly ducking, but now the star performer.

In the time span of four minutes the viewer watches as Peretti transforms from an awkward teenage girl, to a stereotype-defying, 30-year-old badass woman who can ride a motorcycle down Lombard Street. She was no longer an outcast in school, but now an influential outcast in the comedic world.

As a comedic writer, a stand up performer, and a comedic actor on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Chelsea Peretti is a woman of many talents. Perhaps though her real talents don’t lie in her career and instead include calling and immediately hanging up on her then crush and now bestfriend, Andy Sandberg, being the master of social anxiety and self-esteem issues, and paving the way for women to defy societal conventions.

Standing on stage in front of friends and family in her Tory Burch flower tunic and black jeans, Peretti seemed to have evolved from her angsty, quiet, poem-writing self, to a hilarious, commanding presence on stage. But as Peretti’s nonverbal actions seem to portray a cool confidence, it’s her words that speak louder than actions. In many of her jokes, Peretti delves into social anxiety and self-esteem issues, as she talks of her fear of large dinner parties and wish that she could text her dog in social settings.

It’s why she loves stand up though. Not only does it bridge the gap between writing and performing for Peretti, but it also lets her explore her soul. “I view stand-up as a platform to explore your soul. To me, it’s not time to just get on stage and talk about the weather. Yes, there are moments when I get a little silly, but I’m always going to look for the darkness, even if my life isn’t 100 percent dark at the time,” Peretti states in an interview (26). Peretti balances the darkness and silliness in her routine by shedding light on her childhood distance with her father and multitude of stepmothers while also allowing the audience into her new found love with Jordan Peele.

As Peretti reflects on her daily life on stage in the traditional format, she keeps it weird by replacing her audience members with absurd injections such as dogs sitting in the audience, two scarecrow dolls on a date, and two audience members totally getting it on. The absurdism creates a bizarre atmosphere that is hard to pinpoint, but it surely destabilizes and reframes the conventions of stand-up specials.

And just as in her editing, her commentary can be out of the ordinary. Her material constantly veers from relatable minute to dark and grotesque. Peretti is blunt and hilarious as she slips in pressing culture topics to her daily trials and tribulations. Who knew it could be so fun for a woman to eat a banana? “Well, I wanted to be as innovative as I am with social media, and I wanted to feel excited about it and not feel that it was a cookie-cutter kind of meat and potatoes stand-up special. But I still wanted the stand-up to be really strong material and material that could be a stand-alone thing,” Peretti tells Indiewire (13).

It is the essence of her title, One of the Greats, that places Peretti in line with honest-to-god legends. “I feel like women are frequently seen as guests in the comedy world — you know, a kid sister of the ‘real comedians.’ I like the idea of positioning myself as legendary rather than trying to fit in,” she says. “Now, do I see myself like that every day? No, but I think it’s a funny attitude and maybe on some weird, spiritual level, maybe it’s a good attitude.” (27) With this title, Peretti is kidding, yet all at the same time, she’s not kidding at all.

Chelsea Peretti: “One of the Greats”

[Chelsea-Bateman growl and instrumental rock music] So many trials and tribulations brought me to this point. All the craziness of my life stacked on top of one another on a pile of mistaken identity. I did countless hour specials where I looked like a damn fool trying to be something I wasn’t.
[Jersey accent] “Ladies — who’s a whore? We all are. We just need to own it. I’m ugly, but I’m a whore. I’m an ugly whore, but I don’t care.”
[stoner/raspy voice] “Sometimes I feel like everybody tripping, BUT me.”
[Chelsea-sports announcer voice] “It’s goooooo time. Go time.”
[Chelsea-regular voice] “I’m still tired and I got 12 hours of sleep last night. Still tired. Who’s tired? Who’s sleepy? I know I am, I know I am.”
[Chelsea-depressed voice]“In all seriousness though, who cares about anything. We’ll all be dead soon.”
[Chelsea-Bateman growl and instrumental rock music] It was time to put everything behind me and start fresh. I trained with the best impression coach the world.

“De Niro.”
[mobster voice] “Did you fuck my wife?”

[Chelsea-Bateman growl and instrumental rock music] I still had to go down Lombard Street. At last I had made it to the venue. San Francisco. My home town Bay Area. The Palace of Fine Arts. An icon within an already iconic city so it’s like a double whammy of iconography. I was still so far from showtime. First I had to go through a rigourous calibration of the lighting environment on stage.
“This is interesting. This is interesting. I don’t know the terminology you guys use. It’s a little harsh. It’s hitting my eye, like ow.”

[Chelsea-Bateman growl and instrumental rock music] Pure fire. But that wasn’t all. I also had to do a sound check.
“Ladddiiiieeeess.” I mean it’s pretty good. I just want to make sure it can take the volume that I get to. Like, “Whhhhaaaattt!!!”
[Chelsea-Bateman growl and heartbeat] All that was left was for me to hit my knees and pray to God and thank him for all of the humility he bestowed upon me and the supreme gift he blessed me with. I guess you could say I’m a direct vessel of God.
[Chelsea-Bateman growl and instrumental rock music] It was time to hit the slats with nothing but the clothes on my back. I’m like a loaded weapon and the brain is my bullet. They were already clapping for me. Huh. Me. Imagine that.
[male stage director]“K. We’re at places. Stand by. Lighting que. Spot 2 adjust your beams. Adjust off soft. Spot 1 match spot 2. We want more of a soft glow around the talent.”
[male announcer]“Ladies and gentlemen the show is about to begin. Please silence your cellphones. No photos. No videos. And please do not approach the stage with any gifts…

[audience member tries to approach stage] “Punch, uhhh.”
[male announcer] “And now… Chelsea Peretttttiiiii!!”
[Chelsea] Thank you so much for coming out. I’m just like you guys, I’m also a huge fan of my work and just really excited to see what I’m going to do up here, uhh, tonight. I am One of the Greats. One of the top comedians touring the country right now, so it should be a great show. [mocking tone] You’re a clown, you’re a clown, you’re a clown. I always like to get into a stand up, ya know a stand up stance. I always put my arm here so you guys will be like, “‘Uh-oh, this comedian is probably going to tell it like it is.” Like to get ya in the right zone. No, I just wish I was someone else. Honestly. All the time. I wish I was a guy. Ya know? I just want to know what it feels like to have male confidence. Like that feeling, it just must feel so amazing and like my fantasy of what it’s like to be a guy is that you just wake up in the morning and you open your eyes and you’re like [deep male voice] “I’m AWESOME!! People probably want to hear what I want to say.” Ya know? Does that sound accurate? “I’m probably going to do something great today.”

I’m always doubting myself. Male comedians get to have so much fun. They get to do stuff where they get to talk about having sex with a girl. [dude voice] “Ahhh I was having sex with this girl.” They’ll act it out on the stool, ya know. They’ll be like [deep male voice]“Urghh. I was having sex with this girl. I was fucking this girl. Elelelelelelele. Yuh. Yuh. Yuh. Yuh.” And they’ll always use the mic as their dick [mic hits stool].

I’m always so blown away by their creativity. I want in.

So I’ve been working on my own version of this classic bit where I passively take it from the stool. So in my version I would be like, “So I was fucking this guy… [sigh]… then things got a little crazy.” [turns so her back is to the stool]
And that’s my take on a classic. [applause] Thank you. Thanks. Thank you San Franscico.

I hate small talk. I really do. I hate getting to know people. I hate all the little questions you have to ask to get to know someone. If I’m making a new friend I just want to already be best friends, or dating, I just already want to be deeply in love. I don’t want to trot through all the getting to know you questions like, [nasally voice] “Oh where bouts do you hail from? Well where do you hail from? I need anssswersss! Whhhere?” And then its like, “Oh okay, yeah, I’ve never been to that town, but I’ve been to a nearby town, so I can kind of imagine.” UUUUGGGGHHHH. Like, I would like small talk if it was socially acceptable to make those sounds during it. You’re just like, “Oh your favorite color is purple. UGGGGHHHHH.” Then I would love it. I just hate that feeling when you don’t know someone and every little thing they say you have to stretch it out, turn it into something. They’ll be like, “Yeah we had cats growing up. We were a cat family.” And I’d be like “Oope. You guys were a cat family? We were a dog family. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. Controversy.” Then you find out that you aren’t that compatable as friends but you still run into that person all over town at the local smoothie shop and you have to be like “Ohhh my Goood, you still exist?!” Ya know? They’ll always be like, “We should do lunch.” Ya know, the thing that people that hate each other do. “We should do lunch.” I always push it a little bit and call their bluff. “We should rent a car and ride up the coast. Let’s buy some lumber and learn how to build. I just want to get to know you through task based projects.”

Everyone is different and when you don’t know each other well you can’t read each other as well, right? Like, some people are big casual huggers. They love to hug. They come at you at a party — —

“Hey!” It’s annoying ‘cause there’s no…I don’t really like hugging that much. Like someone I’m not that into… like I’ll hug my lover while he’s inside me, for the duration, but I’m not a big stranger hugger. I don’t really want your sweaty armpits on top of my shoulder tops. But there’s no polite way to turn it down. Like if someone is coming at you like… [arms open]… you can’t just be like, “Oh, no, thank you. I’ve already hugged someone today.” But I’ve kind of figured out a way that you can thwart an unwanted hug. When someone runs at you like this [arms open], you just grab their hands and you go “Yaaaay!”

I also have some little party tricks sometimes I’ll bust out, you know, to lighten the mood at a party. I’ll go up to someone, “Hey let me show you a party trick. Do you want to see a party trick? Relax your arms. Relax your arms.” And then I’ll just grab their neck as hard as I can, and squeeze it, make lots of eye contact. Just like, “I fucking hate parties.” I do though. They seem like they’re gonna be so fun, parties, and then they’re just stressful. Like dinner parties, they seem — oh, dinner, food, friends, but then you get there, and it’s so much pressure to have a conversation and everyone’s gotta pull their weight and ba-ba, ba-ba, ba-ba, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, buh-ba, buh-ba. It that too reductive? Then there’s always that moment where everyone runs out of shit to say, and everyone like… [sighs deeply]. I will just panic and be like, “How much money does everyone make?” “Who’s adopted?” You know. “Who’s ad — let’s find your parents.”

Sometimes people will tell you, like, “If you’re — — if you have social anxiety, just like try to imagine people naked.” And it’s like. That sucks. That’s horrible advice. Watch this. I’ll do it… [scared scream]. See? It’s too distracting. I read this woman’s magazine and it said, “If you feel nervous at parties, here are some conversation starters.” One of the things was “wear a funky necklace.” Wear a funky necklace and that’ll help break the ice. And I’m just like, “Why not go big?” Why not just walk into a party just dragging a dead dog? You just kick the door open at a house party. Boom! That will get lips a-flappin’. People will be like, “Who is that girl? How’d she get in here? How’d the dog die? Why is she wearing a cap?”

I just got a dog. I got a rescue [audience applause]. Thank you. Thank you. I’m not that into the rescuer identity, you know. I feel like people who rescue dogs are very mouthy about it. They’re like, “He’s a rescue! He’s a rescue! My dog is a rescue. He would have been dead in a ditch. Then I came along…” You know? “I’m his savior. I saved him.”

I feel like you are kinda taking advantage of the fact that your pet can’t talk. Just be like, “All right, chill out though a little bit.”

I wish I could text my dog. That is so irritating to me, that I could text everybody in my life that I love except my dog. And he would be the perfect person to text ‘cause he’s always home. Okay. He would always be available. I could be uncomfortable at a dinner party, and just shoot him a text, like,

“Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing, little cutie?”

And then he’d write back just like, “Nothing… as per ‘uzhe.’ What about you?”

I’d just write back, “I feel awkward at this party. I don’t know what to do,” and he’d just be like,

“Sniff people’s butts.”

I’d be like, “Dude, that’s more your thing. That’s not something I do.”

And he’d be like “Oh sorry, I can’t read your mind at all times. I’m just trying to help out, I’m sorry. I mean… Why don’t you just lick your own butt, and then try to lick them right here, like right inside their lip… right — right there.”

I’m like, “Dude, once again… you’re looking at my life through the prism of your own experience. It’s like, fucked up.”

He’s like, “All right, what about try to go outside? It’s so fucking cool out there. Even if you can just look out a window for a second, I promise you there is shit you can see that no one else can see, Chelsea.”

I’m like, “Dude, fuck you.” Click.

Then people are like, “Are you alright?” I’m like, “Yeah, I just got in a fight with this guy. He’s a dog.” He’s well trained though. We trained him to always sit, but on the 15th command. I think he’s able to count it out in his head. He’s very cute. He’s very friendly. He’s not a super-aggressive dog. Sometimes he’ll try to act tough. If a big dog’s coming at him, he’ll be like [barks]. Then he’ll get on his hind legs and look at me in the eyes, like, “Pick me up. Pick me up . Pick me up.” Yes, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted.

But you learn a lot about people from how they are with their dogs. They’ll be some hug big dogs staring at my dog from a block away, like his whole body stiffs up, and then he’s walking all stiff toward my dog like this. And then the owners like, “He’s friendly. He’s friendly. He’s friendly.” I’m like, “Bitch, no he’s not. Please reconsider all of your friendships. That’s not what ‘friendly’ looks like.” I hate that when someone’s just overconfident, and it’s in direct conflict with reality. “He’s friendly, he’s friendly…” ‘cause I’m so insecure I will start to just accept whatever they say. I just hate that confidence.

I one time was driving on the freeway, and I saw an old man driving on the shoulder of the road, but he was going 80 miles an hour and driving so confidently that I was just like “That’s a lane. I guess it’s a lane.” Sometimes when I get really intimidated by someone’s confidence, I have this little thing I’ll do…. when they are talking to me, I’ll interrupt them and be like, “Have you been crying?” Really works. No matter where their head is at, it really brings them right back down to Earth.

I feel like when girls are super-confident, like walking around with confidence, most of the time it’s ‘cause they think they’re hot. Most of the time — “Mmm I’m hot. This is my world.” And I don’t relate to that because that’s just never been my full identity. When I was a kid, for example, the girls that I’m talking about, they were princesses for Halloween every year. They were like, “I’m a princess. I’m Pocahontas. I’m a rainbow.” You know? I realized the other day that one year, as a child, for Halloween, I was an old man. Okay? I had some stringy gray hair and my dad’s old suit. I was like, “Let’s do this! I am the shiiittt!” Everyone’s like, “You’re weird.” I was a tarantula one year, okay? Just painting the scene, okay? And then me and these girls, we go off in different directions our whole lives, out into orbit, you know? And then when your lives intersect later, it can be very strange because super-hot girls don’t understand regular girl’s lives, so they’ll give you very shitty dating advice, for example. They’ll be like [mimicking in a hurried voice] “Okay, he’s playing you hot and cold. Okay. All right. Let me think. Okay, Chelsea. All right, I know what you can do. Okay, just ignore him. Just ignore him for a little bit. Trust me, okay? Just ignore him, Chelsea, for a little big.” [normal voice] It’s like, “All right, I haven’t heard from him in five months. Thanks for the hot tip.”

I’m not saying I’m ugly. I hate when female comedians are like, “I’m ugly. I’m garbage.” I’m just saying that, like, when I get super-dolled-up, the best I can hope for is someone is like, “Maybe she’s a philanthropist.”

[school picture in crowd] [audience cut] “Chelsea, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to turn yourself into a punch line. You don’t have to turn all your feelings into jokes.”

And I don’t want to shit on hot girls either. Whatever, that’s cool, you’re beautiful, great. And there’s actually amazing things that they’re doing right now online. A lot of super-beautiful girls, they’ll — — They’ll put a picture of their face online, but they’ll scrunch up their face and stick their tongue out, like… you know? And I’m always so floored by their realness. So inspiring to be so vulnerable with society. There is also a very powerful moment going on right now on the Internet that, you know, women are kind of, coalition building in a very cool way. I’m talking about the #nomakeup. Um… You can search it if you don’t believe me, but some “brave” women are mustering up their courage and they will post a photo onto the Internet in which the are wearing no makeup whatsoever. I’m serious. But when they post the photos they’ll always make a big announcement. In the caption, they’ll be like, “In the following photograph, I Cassandra, am not wearing any makeup!” Then the whole Internet is like “Oooh-hoooho. Oh, good lady, your bravery is unparalleled. Ohhhh-hoooo-ohhhh-hoooo. We thank you, Cassandra. Please check your DM’s.” It just annoys me too because in the no-makeup photos, they never fully look shitty. Like they’re always still in the splits, in a bikini or something like, “No makeup!” It’s like partial credit. And then the guys fall for it every time. It’s a thirst trap. It’s a trick. And there’s always some guy riding into the comments on a horse like he’s the Lone Ranger.. [imitates western film music] He tips his leather hat. He’s like, [western cowboy voice] “Dear Cassandra, I actually think you look better without makeup.” Cassandra is like, [pagent voice] “Thank you. Thank you. Mission accomplished. Thank you.”

If you really want to piss off a really hot girl, like a model-hot girl, go onto her social media, find a photo where she looks smoking hot, and you’re just a regular girl. Go onto her comments and just be like, “People say I look just like you.” She’ll be like, “Nooooo!”

Do you know that women Botox their armpits? This is an actual thing. It’s not to make them look youthful, you know. “Hi everyone, same old me.” It’s actually to stop them from sweating, because why would you, you know, as a human? But the reason I know about it, is I met a girl who did it, And she was like, “It worked. I did stop sweating out of my armpits, but I did start sweating out of my butthole.” I’m like “Uhhh-mmmm? Is that a good trade? Like, kind of a deal with the devil.” Then I’m imaging the guy that sees her out somewhere and it’s just like, “Oh-ho-ho-ho.” He’s like, [Surfur-Cali voice] “She is so fucking hot. Her armpits are bone-fucking-dry… just like I always dreamed of.” Then he’s like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” That’s him slipping on her butt sweat. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He’s like, “I’m so drawn to you, but I can’t get near you! This is a whole new kind of juicy booty.” He’s a surfer. That’s his profession.

Why just because you go onto the ocean on a thingy.. do you have a dialect? Why just ‘cause you have an athletic skill set,.. do you laugh like [sufer laugh]? It’s like, “Just stop making such a tight circle with your mouth.. and then more laugh sounds could get out.”

[audience member stands up] “You’re my favorite female comedian, Chelsea.” Thank you.

Women lie about their age. That’s very complicated if you think about it. Lying about your age, it’s like you have to remember a different birthday, which would already be impossible for me. You have to remember the music that was popular a time just before or after you were listening to it, I don’t even know the direction. I would always mess it up like, “I love to sock hop, I mean Tyler, The Creator. I don’t know. I’m old.” Just give up. Again, I feel like if you’re gonna create this whole alternate reality, do something cool with it, like walk into a café by your house and just be like, “Huh. My God. [chuckles] I haven’t been here in a 128 years. Aint nothing changed. My God.” Your friends are like, “What? How fucking old are you?” And then you get to be like… [smug chuckling] “Uh-eh-uh.”

Do you guys think it’s worse to wear a fedora or kill 15 people? Be honest. Sometimes masculinity is so silly. Just the idea that because you’re born a guy, you have to be like, “I’m tough. I’m tough. I’m putting my foot down. I’m tough.” When you guys stomp, do your balls wiggle? Are you like, “I said no!” [trills] It’d take some of the intimidation out of it. And it’s like girls have reputations for being into the dumbest stuff, like purses, shoes, or whatever. What are guys into? Also stupid stuff, like architecture, literature, politics. Motorcycles. Motorcycles are very silly to me. I feel like, why not just unzip your pants, and pull your balls out, and then just walk around town banging pots and pans. Like that’s a DIY motorcycle. Everyone’s like, “Oh. Okay. He’s a guy.”

Men love Daniel Day-Lewis. That’s a real obsession. They love him, right? It’s like, I don’t fully — I’ve sat beside multiple guys in Daniel Day-Lewis movies where they’re just crying silently the whole movie and I’m like, like to me it’s like I’m watching a poem for men. I don’t understand it fully. To me, every movie he’s in he’s just like, [Lewis impression] “You are my son!” Like that was a dead on impression. I feel like men, they connect with it ‘cause it’s like a male fantasy. They’re like, “What if I was that masculine? What if I had greasy black hair, and I was incoherent?” You know. It’s like the Marlboro Man. It’s the same reason that men love Breaking Bad. They love that show because it’s a fantasy. You’re like, “Oh, if I got cancer, I could probably rule the ghetto.” It’s like, “No, you’d probably just die of cancer. Similar.”

I just wish that we didn’t always have to live out our fantasies through TV and movies. I wish we could have a little more of our real feelings and fantasies in our day-to-day life, and we didn’t always have to be like, “How are you?” “I’m good. Thank you.” Like.. I always want to just go to one of my friends’ houses when I know they’re home, and just throw a brick through the window. Hear me out. Just for that moment when there’s that shattered glass hole, to see my friend’s head pop into it. Like this. And then I’m on the other side like, “JK! Just kidding.” Just, like, shake it up a little bit. Or when people are standing outside of a movie theater, and after the movie, kinda talking or whatever, I always wanna go up to them and be like, “Guys, we do need to keep this area clear, okay?” ‘Cause I feel like they’d be like, “All right. That’s that awful voice we listen to.” I hate that. How does that voice count as polite? [shrill voice] “Okay guys, we do need to..” It’s like you have so much hatred in your voice. Just ‘cause you’re smiling, that shouldn’t count as polite. You should have to use the word “Bitches” in every sentence if you have that much hate in your voice. Just like, “Okay, bitches, we do need to keep this area clear. Thank you bitches.”

It’s cool to do a show in San Fransciso. We’ve been traveling all over on this tour, leading up to this, and I can safely say that San Fransciso’s audences are the best audiences in the country.

[vacuum cleaner running] Does that have to happen right now? Or could you turn it off? Thank you. Thank you so much.

It is funny though. Travelling. I’m a pretty good traveler. I did get sick once. I try to avoid getting sick and by that I mean throwing up. I hate throwing up so much. I come from a shit family, like, you know there are two kinds of families. There’s vomit families and there’s shit families. And the way you can tell which one you are from is when you were a little kid and you felt sick, did your parents tell you to shit or to vomit? That’s how you can tell. We were a shit family. So I hate vomiting. But this particular early morning flight, I drank this green smoothie at the airport that they had prepackaged, and it tasted [audience gasps].

Oh my God. That is the most fucking Bay Area response imaginable. You’re like, “Nooo! Fuck that. Make ‘em fresh, blend ‘em up. Organic only.” Yes, I know, but that is what was available. I’m sorry. I had to do it.

So, I got this pre-made green smoothies and it tasted garlicky, and I was like, “That’s weird,” you know. But it was 5:00 in the morning, so I drank half of it, and I was like “I’m not drinking this.” Then I get on the flight. It’s a short flight, and during the descent, I start feeling like [groaning violently]. But I’m just sitting still, but that the feeling. I’m like, “Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.” I start feeling that lip sweat. I’m like… [groaning weakly]. “Oh no, oh no.” And I know I seem like a rule breaker and a rebel, but the little ‘fasten seatbelt’ light was on so I was a little like, “I can’t get up, Teacher will be mad.” So I’m just sitting there, and I’m like.. [groan] and everyone around me is acting like nothing is happening ‘cause they are all guys, so they’re like “This would involve feelings.” So, I’m like, “Ugh.” I’m looking for the flight attendant. She’s already strapped in, in the back of the aircraft, just like a little hateful dot in the distance, just emanating beams of hatred as they do, and I’m like [groaning] to no avail.

So I pull the seat pocket open, looking for the little vomit bag that’s on every flight, except this one. In this case, it was not on this flight. So, while I did have the seat pocket open, I just went ahead and [imitates vomiting]. I’m sorry to my family!

And of course, the guy next to me is just like, “Theres my light. Okay. Okay. It works, it goes on and off, that’s great.” So the flight lands, and I’m like, “I have to tell her. I can’t just walk off.” ‘Casue it was going to another location after that and I’m a good person, which I like to tell people. And so, I walk back and I’m like, “Hey, girl. Uh. Hey Beautiful. There is a pile of vomit with my DNA in it and your name written all over it.” And as I’m talking to her, I have that awful taste in my mouth, so I’m like — [imitates spitting]. I spit in the sink, and she’s like, “Why would you do that?” And I’m like, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just — I was — disoriented. If you could just have some compassion…” And she was like, “If you only knew. I’m one of the most compassionate people.” I was like, “When do you bust that out? I’d love to interact with that.”

I was on another flight that had an emergency landing. That was terrifying. Here’s how that goes down, if you’ve never lived through it. There’s a little PA announcement, they’re like… [imitates ding] “Are there any doctors on the flight? Are there any doctors on the flight? Please come to the front of the aircraft.” And then you see a few people start walking down the aisle, and you’re like, “Oh, they must be doctors.” And then you hear, “We’re good on nurses.” That’s borderline disrespectful… to the entire nursing industry. Pretty soon they’re just like, “Anybody want to see a dead body?” Anyway, it’s cool.

It sucks that we can’t just walk everywhere. I wish we could walk everywhere. We are so dependent on so many technologies, you know what I mean? Look [points at the microphone]. Case in point. Are you guys silly? I’m like at this point — — I’m so addicted to so many different websites, and apps, and things. I’m honestly thankful when I’m in the shower. You know what I mean? Just the relief of not refreshing anything for — — you know aside from the obvious nooks and crannies. Cricks and cracks. But there is some really cool stuff that we get to experience in this day and age that our grandparents never got to experience. Like that feeling you get when one of your friends leaves their phone or their laptop unattended, and they do not have a password on it, like a dummy. My friend did this recently, and I saw his phone, and I was like… [gasps]. I was filled with adrenaline. Its what I imagine hunting and gathering felt like. I was just like… [gasps] “But this could sustain my spirit for two weeks!” I went onto his phone. I was just like — — went onto twitter. I’m like, “My dick hurts.” Then I was like — — [humming triumphant tune]. I went onto Facebook, I was like, “My dick hurts.” ‘Cause I wanted it to be cross-platform, you know? I didn’t know if they were linked. And then I got to sit there and watch the comments roll in — — people just like, “Dude, what’s up with your dick? We’re worried about you.” Our grandparents never got to do that.

Do you guys think that comments — — Internet comments are a good thing, pushing society is an even better and greater direction? It’s a leading question. It’s just weird that any news story that goes online, it’s like any shithead can just write [grunts] “Here’s my thoughts.” I wonder how is that going to affect our society? How is it going to shape things? I think about a young comedian starting now, anything they do is gonna go online, and it’s gonna be a million people at every stage of their development, giving them instant feedback. How’s that going to affect their artistic journey? Imagine if some of the great minds of the past had been around during comment culture. If Einstein had been a young scientist you know, maybe he would have posted a little theorem up on some science website, you know, just like, “E = I’m not sure yet.” You know. And then the first comment would have been like, “What’s up, Jew-fro?! You Jew-ass bitch! Jew, Jew, Jew, bitch, Jew, bitch, Jew.” Einstein would have just been like, “Oh, I’m not gonna do science anymore. It’s too hurtful.” Just pack up his little beakers and hit the road. Maybe get a job at Kiehl’s. Did he use beakers? I don’t know. Like, what did he do? He invented wing sauce? It’s just weird.

There is so much interactivity now. I was on Twitter, and someone tweeted to me, and they’re like, “Get your thyroid checked.” And it threw my entire day into a complete ball of chaos. I’m like, “What? Why?” that’s not even someone being hateful. That’s someone who’s concerned for you. So, I’m Googling symptoms. It’s like, “Bug eyes.” I’m like, “Aah! Aah!” And sometimes you’re just gonna see shitty stuff online — — like my friends in — — who are also entertainers, they’ll be like, “Don’t search yourself. It’s all shitty stuff. That’s just what the Internet is, and blah-blah-blah.” But sometimes I have to do it. Sometimes I just… ‘cause it’s my version of cutting. Like I just… I need to feel something sometimes. And one time I did, and I found this caricature that someone had drawn of me, and I don’t know if you can imagine what feature they may have exaggerated, but it wasn’t my big heart. I’m looking at this, and I’m just like, “You know what?” And I got in the comments. I was just like, “Hey, I hope you and everyone who liked this dies.” And, uh, the artist got back to me really quickly, and he was like, [French accent] “I don’t understand. How could you say such a thing?” Like he wasn’t French, but that was his energy. I’m like, “Alright, take it down a notch. You’re definitely at a state fair right now.” Not to be a dick, but I’m just saying, is that really art? Can you call it art if someone can guess what you’re gonna do every single time you put pen to paper? Like, no one’s going, “Oh, what’s he gonna do with this girl with the buck teeth? It’s a real wait-and-see.” Being a caricature artist is basically being like, “Did you hear about the school bully? Yeah, he’s an artist now. Yeah, he’s turned a new leaf, kind of.” And the guy was like, “You’re not that nice, either. You said you hope we all die.” I’m like, “All right, fair point. I hope you live forever as a caricature artist.” That is my wish.

Do you guy’s text and drive? It’s really hard not to. That’s another thing. It’s like, we have this technology. It’s so hard not to use it, right? If you’re driving to brunch to meet your friend, it’s a 40 minute drive, you get a text from that friend, you see it, you’re not gonna be like, “I’ll just wait ‘till I get there to see if brunch is cancelled.” It’s like — — it’s hard not to. And then you have those texting and driving PSAs that are fucking terrifying right? They’re like, “This is the last thing Johnny ever texted before he crashed and died,” you know. And then it’s like, “Suppp?” And it’s like, “Was it worth it?” It’s like, “Oh, my God, no. No, it wasn’t.” Nothing we ever text is worth dying over. Unless I mean… I’m just thinking there is some scenario… imagine your friend’s being stalked, and the murderer — — you know what he looks like. You’re driving by her house like 40 miles an hour. You see that guys running like this [imitates guy running with gun in hand]. He’s running up her steps like… [trills] and you don’t have time to stop, so you’re like, “Dude, the guy that’s trying to kill you is running up your steps” — — Then its like, I don’t know. Now we’ve got a dialogue. Now we can reopen that file. We’ll all die of it. No, but I just wish — — I just wish they would have a little — — just a titch more levity with that whole ad campaign. Like, if just one out of a hundred of these PSAs, the last think the guys texted was a dick pic? So it’s like, “This is the last think Patrick ever texted before he died.” Then its just a dick. And then its like, “Was it worth it?!” And then his ghost is just like, “Yes! It was worth it.” He high fives the camera. “Uh. I needed her to see itttt!” Felt strongly about it.

Anytime I see a dick pic and receive one from all across this great nation, what I think about is what brought this guy to that point. Like I just think about the whole process, you know? Not thinking about just the result, I’m thinking about him taking down his pleated khakis, something got him riled up, the pleats are popping, you know? I see him unzipping then I’m imagining he’s not just taking one photo, and then he’s done, you know? I’m imagining its going to be a series of photos so he’s getting different angles and whatever. Pretty soon, he’s got a phone full of dicks. Then I’m imagining him scrolling through a bunch of dicks, going like, “Oooh, come to me, my pretty. Who is the fairest dick in the land? And then, I don’t know, there’s something kind of gay about it. I just feel like its kind of gay. I just feel like, even if you’re a guy, liking a girl is kind of gay, you know what I mean? Like, we wear pink and we like to smell like flowers. It’s like, “Suck a dick.”

I am in love. No, it’s nice. It’s nice. It’s um… [sighs]. I don’t like to talk about who I’m seeing because he’s also in entertainment, but like, first name, Denzel, and he’s uh, he’s really cool, you know? He’s good to me. I don’t know — — I’m just glad — — I’m glad I’m not on the market anymore. I love it ‘cause I remember talking to people, and just like — — this one guy would be like getting to know me, and he’s like, “Do you consider yourself to be a positive or negative person?” I’m like, “Oh, you stumped me,” you know? “I’m going to go negative because I hate the question so much.” And then there are so many little things that will turn me off with someone, just the littlest thing. I remember that guy smiling at one point and I could hear his smile. Like he smiled and it was like.. [tinks]. I was like, “Ahh!” Like, “Drink water! Please drink a beverage.” That shouldn’t be happening. That’s a medical problem. I shouldn’t be able to hear it when you smile. I definitely shouldn’t be able to have my back to you and be like, “Whoa” — — “What are you smiling about? You silly Billy.” Or someone just rolling a paint roller in a tray that has about one to two drops of paint in it. Which is it?

Yeah there’s a lot of weird kinds of guys now, like, there’s new genres of guys, I feel like. I’m not sure I’m into the “sensitive guy” thing that’s happening, you know, the kind of guys that are wearing these exact pants. You know, like they walk into your coffee shop… and they’re wearing a ratty cardigan and tortoise shell spectacles, and you’re just like, “Oh good afternoon, Professor 20-year-old.” You know? I’m not sure I’m into that. I feel like for me to see a guy be super-sensitive and find that attractive — like to see a guy cry and find it hot, the way he’d have to cry is just like, he can’t even put his arms down ‘cause he’s so jacked. And the way he cries is just like [goofy crying]. Like he’s almost confused by what feelings are. “Whats happening to my face? Why’d I kill so many bears?” That’s the kind of stuff he’s up to, like Channing Tatum, you know? Ronnie from Jersey Shore, Channing Tatum, that’s my [sighs]. Like Magic Mike — — did you guys see that? Yessss! One of the best American films of our century. I did love it though. It was such a piece de resistance performance. Um, and I’m extremely religious and extremely politically conservative, but I saw that movie, I’m like, “I want to fuck Channing Tatum on camera in front of his wife and my boyfriend, our families.” He just brings out that kind of openness and vulnerability.

I never had that much luck with Jewish guys. I don’t know, I just feel like, you know — — some of you are gonna disagree, some are gonna agree — — it’s kind of a stereotype but it is one of those ones that’s true. They definitely do really want to fuck their moms really hard. Don’t get uncomfortable. Just be like, “Oh, yeah, that’s true.” You know what I mean? It is true, and we just have to accept it. And I think that tension of that taboo is honestly what causes all the earthquakes in California. I’m serious. I feel like if — — why don’t we just make a day where it doesn’t count, okay? Hear me out. We just make one day where we’re like, “We’re not looking, go, go, go. No one’s gonna judge you. No one’s gonna wag their finger. Just do it. It’s not gonna count.” And I actually think that would make a great movie, like Hall Pass or something, you know? And I want to pitch it to a Hollywood executive, and just feel that out, but I feel pretty sure that, that executive would be like, “Um, Chelsea, we’re not gonna make this movie, but I am gonna fuck my mom. That sounds incredible.”

Do you know that it’s illegal to make jokes about the Holocaust in Germany? Isn’t that funny? Like, to me, that’s such a fascist approach to anti-Semitism. It’s like, “You guys have learned nothing. What are you doing? Hit the books.” I always wanted to be… Tolerance books… I always wanted to be in one of those Holocaust movies where it’s like, there is the beautiful Jewess who can pass for German. And I want to play her. So, it’s just me with my exact face, but in a blonde wig. And I’m just walking around, hanging out with Hitler and his friends, and like I see a Jew. I’m like, “Shhh!” They’re like, “What?” Everyone watching the movies is like, “This is miscast. I’m furious.” “Shhh.”

I was talking to my friend and he was like, “Hitler was a good speaker.” I’m like, “What are you doing right now?” Like, do you think Hitler’s ghost is sad somewhere like, [whiny voice] “Did I do anything right? Wahh… I feel like a failure.” You’re throwing him a bone like, “Here you go, Hitsy.” You know? It’s like, of course, he was a good speaker. That’s part of being a dictator and creating a genocide government. You can’t just walk out like [constricted laughter] [surfer voice] “All right, you guys. What we’re gonna do, depending on the vibe is like grab a gypsy if you feel like it. Blue-sky thinking. But maybe kill all Jews. I don’t know. Feel it out.” Everyone would be leaving — — just like, “Mmm, Hitler, you suck.” Just tearing off their armband like it’s a shitty music festival.

Why are old maps always burnt? Have you ever noticed that like every map you see form the olden times is always burnt all around the edges and in the middle? Where did they used to store their maps at? They’re like, “This is our cooking pit/map storage unit.”

[baby voice as she looks to the dogs in the audience] You guys know what I’m talking about? Don’t you? dog barks. Don’t you know? Don’t you know?

So, yeah, I’m in love, I’m in love. Just trying to keep leading you guys back to being okay with that, ‘cause when I said it the first time, you’re like, “We’re really not here for love. Um. We’re here to laugh at your pain.” Anyway, I don’t know. I wanna like — — now I’m in love, so it’s like I gotta figure out, “Okay, now what?” Right? The whole rest of our lives stretch ahead. Do we get [shrill voice] married? Married? [normal voice] I feel like marriage needs re-branding. Do you know what I mean? It’s like, “We’re married. This is a marriage. I’m his wife, and he is my husband. Wife, husband, marriage.” I just feel like.. I like the idea of soul mates, like being together forever, or like Bonnie and Clyde, like kill people and die, you know? But I don’t know about marriage.

The only really cool example I have is my grandparents. They were married 50 years. Okay? They had this beautiful marriage. They worked their way up from nothing, they built their dream house, they had a garden together. She grew roses, he grew vegetables. It’s a beautiful marriage. And then I always tried to ask her questions about it to get some insight, like how can I have that kind of longevity and that compatibility, you know. And my grandmother will tell you this story where she’s just like, “Well the day we got married, Grandpa was driving away from the church and I remember looking at his hand on the wheel, and thinking ‘I don’t know this man.’” I’m like, what? That’s the story you’re passing down to the next generation? What am I supposed to do with that? Just marry a stranger? Also, that’s a pretty shitty story. It has no beginning, middle, or end. It’s just you were looking at an arm. But she’s told it to me like 25 times. “I don’t know this man.” I’m like, “What is happening?” And they had this great marriage, and then it’s like, okay — — then he passed away. So now, even though they had this long, great marriage, now she kind of wanders around her house — — she’s like, “Well, guess I better go turn that light off. Then I’ll go around back and turn that light off. I don’t know how all the lights got on!” We got her a dog. We’re like, “Here, take this.” She named it Buffy after the Vampire Slayer, which is cute.

“Yeaaaah! All my Buffy heads.”

But it’s weird ‘cause she projects all her nonsense onto the dog. The dog’s just like, “Yay, I’m a puppy!” And she’s like, “Buffy don’t want to go outside. Buffy’s tired.” Buffy’s like, “Lets go, come on! Let’s go, I’m a dog!” She’s like, “Buffy don’t want to play. Buffy’s feeling morose today. Buffy’s been off her meds for months.” We’re like, “Uh, grandma, we still talking about Buffy?”

My dad, he’s at the opposite end of the spectrum. He’s on his third wife now. [sighs] Yeah, cool. Um. I don’t know if you’ve ever attended a third wedding, but there is kind of a different feel to it, maybe a titch less whimsy. You kind of walk in like, “All right, hey everyone! Same seats or we gonna switch it up?” Just eating cake like, “Dad, dare I say this cake is even better than all them other cakes.”

My dad’s Italian and my mom’s Jewish, then he was married to a black woman from when I was one until I left home. Now he’s married to an Indian woman for his golden years, so it’s really been just a whirlwind of scents, and spices, and silks, and colors. It’s been like some sort of a strange foreign exchange program that just kind of revolves around my father’s penis. My black-stepmother, which is what we used to call her… She used to do my hair when I was a little girl and she would always call me tender-headed. She’d be like, “Chelsea, stop moving! You are so tender-headed!” I’d be like, “Well, I’m really just more of a white person. We kind of have a two-barrette maximum on what we’re up to with barrettes. Please stop sending

me to school looking like Katt Williams.

I’d like to do an impression of my dad, but I don’t have a newspaper and five hours to spare.

I was so excited when this show was put in The Chronicle, ‘cause I was like, “He will have to acknowledge my existence.” Don’t feel sad, don’t feel sad.

I’m always looking for just examples of happily married people — — you know, just to see someone like, “Oh, that looks awesome.” Like looking for clues in society all the time, and how do people make it work and be fun. Like, I’ll watch the housewives reality shows, um, just looking for a morsel of inspiration. I remember when those shows first started airing, like 18 years ago. I remember being like, “Oh my God.” I forgot being a housewife was still an option for women. I was like, “Fuck, I should have done that!” I took a wrong turn. That is so awesome. Someone else work and then you do not work? Like, why did women ever stop doing that on any level? Why did we phase that out? Just out of dignity? I’m not trying to be rude. If any of you guys are housewives, I’m sure it’s a lot of work, but um… “You should be paid a wage.”

No, but sometimes I look at friends of friends on Facebook and just kind of observe their lives to see — — do I want any of that? Is there anything I can cherry-pick out of those lives, toss it into my life and make it a better life? A friend of a friend just posted like 500 engagement photos on Facebook. It was a photoset of 500 photos. I’m not exaggerating. It’s like that wedding portrait, where it’s just like, two assholes back to back in the woods, just like [laughing shrilly] “To the future!” I’m just obsessed with the entire photoset. I’m just like, “Next, next, next, next, more, more, more, more.” Every photo they’re just like [giggles shrilly] “Uh-oh, it’s us again.” This same girl on Facebook, all her posts and all her updates are about her husband. That’s all she seems to write or think about, but she doesn’t call him her husband, which would be awesome, and she doesn’t call him by his name, which would also be great. She calls him by a word that I really feel is one of the more disgusting words in the English language. She calls him her, “hubby,” which to me is on par with the “N” word. Like — — let’s eradicate both. All her updates she’s like, “My hubby made breakfast. My hubby fixed the door. My hubby is sleeping. He breathed in, he breathed out. He breathed in, he breathed out.” I just keep waiting for the day where she is like, “My hubby shot himself in the face! His letter said he missed his name, which I just found out is Steven. Missing my hub like a mug.”

You have to be so patient to be a parent. You know? My friend, her kid — — we were in the park hanging out, and her kid tangled up his kite string, and she’s sitting there with it for 40 minutes like, “Okay, baby, I got it. Over and under. It’s okay, baby. I got it.” And he’s just watching like [imitates peeping of head]. And I’m watching this whole operation, and thinking if that were me, I’d be like, “Oh my God, we have to throw away your kite! Oh you loved it. Aw… That is awful. I feel so bad.”

I just want a life that has passion. I don’t know. [sighs] I just want excitement. I want to be a good person. I want to be a good adult, have a solid life, but I always want passion and unpredictability. Not like Jodi Arias level, but like something. Are you guys following that — — The Jodi Arias? Cool. Me too. Me too. How crazy, we have that in common. Um, no — — it’s an interesting one, right? First of all, it’s like, you know, she’s a woman and murder is mostly a man’s game, so it’s like she kind of broke a glass ceiling in a way. It’s like — I don’t know. Feminism is so complicated. But it’s an interesting case because allegedly she stabbed him a bunch — — it’s her ex-boyfriend — — she stabbed him a bunch of times, then slit his throat from ear to ear, then she shot him. It’s like, “Mmmm, pick a thing,” you know. In that regard, she really was like a typical girl, where she’s like, “I can’t decide. I’ll have all the desserts.”

Well congratulations, guys, on you all just coming out of your houses tonight. That’s so hard to do, isn’t it? So hard. I hate leaving my house. I’m always amazed when people do it. I’m happiest when I’m just on my couch, under my blankets, just all cozied up with just my laptop, and my iPhone, and my iPad, and my pee jars everywhere. Just playing bongos on my pee jars. Happy as a clam in my little kingdom. Do you ever do one chore, and then celebrate that for ten years? Or you have a pile of dirty dishes in the sink in the next room, and you hear water, one drop into it, just like, “Bloop.” And you’re like, “I know!” That’s my kind of household, but I love it. Sometimes I feel like if these walls could talk, they’d be like, “Bitch, you’re back in bed again?” I’d be like, “Shut up, walls! You’re boring, too.”

I do hate it. I hate leaving my house, ‘cause I have to pee constantly, and I hate asking people — — I hate asking people, “May I use your restroom?” I hate that, like, “Please, may I?” It’s just so humiliating to ask a business to use their restroom. And I pee all the time. I told my friend that. I’m like, “I pee all the time,” and he’s like, “You’re a frequent urinator?” I’m like, “Um, don’t put a medical flair to it. I pee a lot, okay?” And he’s like, “Is it sticky pee? Like, is it like syrup?” I’m like, “No, motherfukcer.” How crazy would I have to be that I have sticky pee, and I’m just walking the earth — — like I’m just like, “Uh-huh. Yeah, I do, I have sticky pee. Why, what’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What is it? What’s on your mind? What’s the deal? My pee — — yeah, it’s like molasses, why? Why do you ask? Just wondering why you ask.” You know. It’s like, if I had molten pee, like I would be in an ambulance right now.

I don’t like peeing in public. I hate that feeling of like, someone being so close to you. I don’t know if you guys do this, but I will actually tilt and try to pee on the side of the toilet bowl ‘cause then it flattens it and then it’s seamlessly injected into the toilet water, completely silently. And then no one can ever know how forceful my pee stream is. That’s too much intel for a stranger. They’re like, “Chelsea pees like a horse.” It’s like, no, putting my foot down. I just panic — — like, what if I let go, and that kind of lawn-sprinkler pee you know, that pulsating — — where it’s like… [makes whoosing sounds]. Then all of a sudden, you gotta make a joke to your stallmate. You’re like [forced laughter]”Club music.”

I can’t take the stress. Like, I’d rather just hold it. I don’t even like eating in front of other people. That stresses me out, to be honest with you. I hate the feeling — — I don’t want to eat on a business lunch, and I don’t want to eat on a first date. It’s an animal thing — — I can’t chew confidently like… [imitates chewing] You know? My instinct as an animal, when I see meat on a plate, I just want to pick it up and then just drag it off down into a dark hold somewhere, just… [makes gnawing sounds]. That’s how I think restaurants should be, just jet black with dirt holes around the perimeter. Just throw a pan in there. My ideal eating situation is just me in a ditch with a buffet in it. Okay? With no one around for miles, just the wind and the treetops. I’m just naked. I’m just like, “Mmm. Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, cake, cake, cake. Shrimp cake, why not?” And I’m not saying this in a Cathy cartoon way. I’m saying this in a River Monsters way, okay? A Game of Thrones feast. That’s how I want to eat. Just like Sizzler right when the apocalypse hits. That would be my absolute dream.

I don’t like eating bananas in public. That is so stressful if you’re a girl. It’s so annoying ‘cause it’s such a portable, good snack, but if you’re a girl and you want to eat a banana on the bus or wherever you may be, all the sudden you’re in the position of like, how do I de-dick this delicious treat, so that I may enjoy it whithout people imagining me blowing them, you know? So, I have a system again, and I think a lot of us do this. What you do is peel it, right? Then you break a piece off, right? Then you mash it up in your palm into a paste, and you push it up between your fingers and eat it like… [makes a v in front of her mouth and sticks her tongue through her fingers]. Right, ladies? ‘Cause you don’t want it to look sexual. That’s a no-no in society.

I actually just got some bad news. I just found out I’m allergic to gluten-free food, so it’s a nightmare. It’s gonna be hard to eat in this century. Do you guys know — — speaking of pigging out, do you know that a female pig’s orgasm lasts supposedly for 30 minutes? Ask your mom.

That’s a great spirit in here. Honestly, sometimes I look out at the audience, and I’m just like, “Fuck, I wish I was you.” You know? Just sitting there totally just like, “What’s next?” You know, just totally relaxed, just watching a genius, you know. Just seems like a fun time.

Do you guys ever fantasize about having a job other than your own shitty job? Like, for me, I do it all the time. For me, what my fantasy job is… is to be a florist. I really feel in my heart of hearts that if I was a florists I would be happy all the time. It would be 24/7 nirvana and I would always have my hair just kind of loosely piled on my head, you know, with just some chopsticks through it, and just long skirts and bangle bracelets, just like… [imitates clinking]. And then I would talk to all my customers just really soothing, like, “Let me put some extra baby’s breath in there for you.” It actually calms me just to pretend to be a florist. “Okay, these will look really nice. That’ll fill that in really nicely for you. There you go. And I’ll put a little ribbon on it. I think that would be really nice.” It makes me feel so good, I should do this every night. “All right. There you go.” And then I feel like, in my fantasy, all my customers would be really handsome male architects ‘cause that’s like the perfect guy job and when I was done making the bouquet, they’d take it and turn it around and be like, “It’s actually for you.” You know, that’s my fantasy of what it’s like to work in the floral industry. I’m sure I’m idealizing it. If I actually got into that field, I’m sure someone would just be like, “That’s not a daffodil, you cunt.” You know, it’d be a rude awakening. That’s my fantasy.

It’s weird being on TV now because then it’s like stand-up — — when you do stand-up, it’s all about being relatable. You want to go, “Okay, here’s what my day was, here’s what’s going on,” and people are like, “Oh, I’ve done that, too.” Then you get on TV and weird stuff starts happening in your life. You start going, “Is that relatable?” You know, like — — For example, nothing really feels like it costs anything anymore. Is that relatable? No, I do love stand-up. I think it’s just cool that you get to say your feelings, and it’s this completely unmoderated experience. Like, any song you’ve heard, that’s the same thing. That’s just that songwriters point of view on what was happening.

I always have that Michael Bolton song stuck in my head, where it’s like How can we be lovers if we can’t be friends? How can we start over when the fight never ends? Oh, baby, how can we?

Anyway, yes, yes, it’s a great song. We all love it. I think we can agree. But that’s just Michael Bolton’s take on whatever was going on in that relationship with that girl that he was singing about. Maybe that wans’t her issue with Michael Bolton at that time at all. Like, maybe her song to him would have just been like Your hair kind of hit me In the face when we fucked. I just didn’t like it. That was more my issue.

That’s so funny how you know every word to a song, and then, it’s like, maybe ten years in, you realize what it’s actually about. You realize the lyrics, what they’re actually meaning, you’re like, “OOOHH!” You’re like I was thinking about that Dr. Dre song from the ‘90s, where it’s like, Bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks. I’m like, “If you actually look within the lyrics that song is actually no that complimentary to females.”

You guys have been really cool. You know, uh — — have you? I don’t know.

Sometimes when I do interviews, which is constantly, people will ask me, you know, “You’re a women and you do comedy. Question mark.” Like that’s the whole question. And I never know what to give them, what they want. I don’t know how to describe what its like. The best think I can do is like, you’re up on stage, and you’re telling jokes, and the whole time, in between your legs, you have a pussy. Sometimes the jokes are going great, you still have one. Other times they’re going… ugh… you still have that same set of genitals. It’s like it’s haunting your every move no matter when ideas you might be expressing. It’s creepy. Like, watch [grunts] still there. So scary.

It is weird being a female comedian ‘cause you do hear people talking shit all the time. Like, “Fucking female comedians, dude, they fucking suck. All they do is talk about their fucking period, man. Fuck that shit. I have discerning taste. I like fart jokes mostly.” Or whatever their tastes may be. But it just annoys me ‘cause I have never — — just because of that, I’ve never talked about my period the whole time I’ve done stand-up ‘cause I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction. But what annoys me is just on principle, because I gurantee you, if guys got their period, all right? Just make that jump. If guys got their period, there’s no way a male comedian would be standing on stage right now bleeding out of his dick, okay? Just like bleeding, and he’s just like, “I’m not gonna talk about it. I’m not gonna do it. It would be declasse. I don’t want to disrespect comedy like that. I said no.” You know? If guys got their period, 90% of stand-up comedy would just be people running around like, [in an Aziz Ansari-ish voice]“I was bleeding out of my dick! What the fuuuccck?

Drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop!”

Thank you guys very much.

Chelsea Peretti carries herself with a sense of superiority that feels earned. After living her life as a so called “regular girl,” being marginally popular yet not so secluded, it was about time that Peretti took a prominent position in the comedy world, declaring herself to be a One of the Greats. And in a world where we expect women to hate themselves, Peretti brings a fresh breath of air as viewers see her as a woman comfortable in her own skin.

In reality, Peretti was nothing like a “regular girl” growing up. If anything, she was weird and quirky. It was at the influence of her grandmothers that Peretti decided to swim against the current and refuse to conform to any expectations. One of those expectations… being a “lady.” Instead, Peretti found the importance of being an interesting person and a woman. A woman, a real human being, that was not meant to be idealized or treated as a one-dimensional accessory (25).

It is with this comfort, power, and wisdom that Peretti hopes to break through the last levels of the metaphoric glass ceiling for women as she places herself in league with the top male comedians and gives women a place to stand in the light.

Her grandmothers’ lives were not timed culturally for their widsom to make an impact, but it was because they shared their wisdom with Chelsea that now she can break through and give the world some of grandma’s advice.

Through her popular presence on social media, her easy-going, charismatic attitude, and her witty brain, Chelsea Peretti is defying stereotypes. And the best part is, she is doing most of it from her couch with pee jars surrounding her.

Chelsea Peretti, after all, is one of the greats and, strangely, what makes her so great is that she knows exactly how great she is. She’s a “regular girl” turned super hero.

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