Stand up comedian Iliza Shlesinger on the secret to a good joke
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.
