There is no other way to put it: March was hell. But despite all of this negativity and anxiety and stress, this crisis has also brought out the best in people. People have come together to lend a hand (or roll of TP) to those in need, cheered each other up by doing simple things like teddy bear hunts or rainbow quests; and some of the biggest faces in Hollywood have gone out of their way to let us into their homes and entertain us, even for a little while.
But according to comedian and actress Iliza Shlesinger, that is just second nature.
“The truth is, entertainers entertain, creators create, and artists make art,” she explained during a telephone interview with us last week. “And as entertainers, we are equipped to do very little other than perform for you! Especially with comics, you know, the thing that we are equipped to give back is entertainment and so for better or for worse, we have all taken to our phones.”
Shlesinger is doing her part (and then some) to lift spirits and brighten days thanks to her sassy role in Mark Wahlberg’s Netflix comedy Spenser Confidential, her daily Instagram Live cooking show that she does with her husband, and her brand-new Netflix sketch comedy series, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show which was released on April 1. Once you tack on her five comedy specials, you realize that Iliza’s career on streaming is robust enough to keep you laughing and lighthearted for weeks to come.
DECIDER: It’s been about a year since we last spoke, but it looks like a lot has changed in your career. You’ve released your fifth hysterical stand-up special, starred in your second film with Mark Wahlberg, and now you’re debuting your own sketch comedy special on Netflix. Talk to me about what this past year has been like and how the creation of this latest jewel in your crown kind of came to fruition.
ILIZA: So the sketch show has been in talks for a while, and it took a minute to get it going once Netflix offered me the show. We kinda went back and forth making sure that we could execute it properly, and anytime I take on a new project it’s always about this constant moving, moving game of Tetris with my agents, you know? “You wanna shoot a show but what about touring? What about the movies that you’re doing?” So my agents, bless them, are constantly negotiating my schedule and making everything work. So we were able to figure out that we could shoot this show in Brooklyn, which I thought would be a challenge being that I’m not from New York. So we did the writers room here in LA, then we shot in New York and we were able to find just some awesome, talented core cast members. And I got to live in Brooklyn.
Aw, what was that like?
It was awesome! I’m going to be a hundred percent honest, I know this takes away my cool points, I slept on Brooklyn big time. As an elder millennial I should have already had my stories about living in Brooklyn when it was getting cool, but I never did. I got there and I was like, “Oh, it’s a playground for 35-year-old people!” I get it and I love it and I get why everyone else loves it. And so we shot it there, and as soon as we were done with that I just went right back on tour and finished up with these other projects. You try to give all of the creative outlets in your life equal respect and time and so I was on tour and shooting other projects while we were shooting this sketch show. So we really made it work with a lot of heart.
So I actually got the opportunity to binge-watch your new series, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show. First of all, loved it. I was watching it at like 12 o’clock at night which I probably shouldn’t be doing but my mom kept on whisper-yelling at me to stop laughing out loud because I’m right across the hall from her again, which is great.
Oh my god, “again” that’s so funny.
Yup! What surprised me was not how funny it was, but how strongly your voice and style came through each and every sketch. Between the fourth-wall-breaking asides that address social constructs to an entire sketch dedicated to female oppression, every one so clearly had your touch. That’s something that other sketch comedy shows put out by other comedians sometimes lose along the way. What did you guys do differently to set this series apart from that basic sketch comedy show?
First of all, thank you. I think as a stand up with an established voice, at this point in my career everything that I do is going to have that point of view. It takes over a decade to really refine that. And the writers, we are a very small writing staff. I was obviously the head writer, but we had Joanna Bradley and David Sidorov and Megan Neuringer who are seasoned writers that come from shows that we all watch and they were really collaborative. I think the key for a good writer on your staff is understanding the creator’s voice and writing in that vein, so while I had the final say in everything, they really made it easy. It’s a little intimidating going in because they’re actual seasoned sketch writers and I’m a stand-up, but they were awesome. I think it was that we created a small environment, there weren’t too many cooks in the kitchen.
You know the point of the show obviously is to entertain, but if you don’t have a point of view and you don’t have a perspective, even if it’s an irreverent one, then people are going to wonder why they’re watching it. So while we do have social commentary on a lot of them, sometimes I felt having an irreverent sketch or a weird sketch or an ugly character is just as strong of a message. And that message, especially for women is you don’t always have to have a message. You’re allowed to be just as weird and ugly and nonsensical as the guys. And I think that’s really how you plant your foot in comedy, saying “I can do everything that everyone else is doing and it doesn’t always just have to be for women.”
I’ve noticed that throughout all of your specials, you have a really huge comedic strength in creating metaphors, personifying phenomena through extremely identifiable and relatable characters like Party Goblin, She Dragon, the funny groomsman named Dan, etc. Did any of your characters help formulate ideas for your sketches?
No! You know there’s always a voice in the back of your mind but what I love about sketch is that you can convey different points than you can in stand up. I mean, my first love was sketch comedy and I started doing stand up because I felt there were points I could make that didn’t require an ensemble and now I’m switching back. And so while the comedic timing and all the things I fell in love with doing stand up are present there, using makeup and using an ensemble and costumes and having a dialogue sometimes creates these beautiful characters that you couldn’t do in your stand up. It’s a chance to show instead of tell. Stand up is all about telling, and not showing. And sketch is all about showing. So it was a real opportunity to get to actually bring some texture and color and life into all these other characters that were rolling around in my head.
What was your favorite character to kind of embody or what was your favorite sketch to film? I wanna say that you in the fat suit was… I was peeing my pants. But what was your favorite one?
Yeah, Cashew Albacore was something weird that I came up with and brought into the writers room and you know you’re nervous that your writers are going to be like “What’s wrong with you?” And then hair and makeup just gave him these special touches. I loved playing him but I hated actually playing him because the makeup took three to four hours and was so incredibly uncomfortable and hot! So I loved the destination, not the journey. But getting to and having these characters and getting to think like them and talk like them, it’s really fun to get to improvise as another character, so I loved playing him.
When I was playing Kip Wazzle, the Australian stuntwoman, I was sick. I had a cold while we were doing that so I didn’t get to enjoy all of the bottles smashing on my head and all of the falling and kicking like I would have, because I’m a pretty physical person! But each character was fun and getting to live in the head of each character was something I’ve always wanted to do. So I loved all of it, except for the prosthetics, again they were brutal.
By far my favorite sketch was the women’s support group sketch. You’ve been such a vocal advocate for women’s equality and feminism through your social media and your comedy specials, what inspired you to turn it into a support group sketch? Because it was so perfectly done and so accurate and just so funny, but at the same time you approached it in a way that we haven’t seen before.
Thank you! It was just a thought I had and I do want to shout out my director Laura Murphy because she shot it in a way that visually immediately gets across what we’re looking at like you knew what you were looking at because she did it so perfectly and shot it so perfectly.
You know, even going back to my book Girl Logic, I talk about this thing where in feminism we demand that all women be bold and strong and sexy and empowered, but not all women are here for other women doing that. You know we’re constantly walking this tightrope of “be amazing but don’t be too amazing because it affects other women and other people.” So there’s this idealized version of feminism, but then in practice and actuality, you are subject to other people’s judgment when you do in fact exhibit all the other positive things that we tell you to do.
I just wanted to bring that out through the sketch: here are these women that are doing everything society has told them to do; but in practice, when you actually do those things, most people aren’t happy about it. When you are confident with your body and are proud of yourself or outgoing or strong it often is not met with the reverence and applause that we were told it was going to be. So we just thought it would be fun to do an ironic sketch about these women trying to be temperate and everybody just sort of got it. And that’s always been my thing: we always ask women to be these perfect versions of feminism and then when they exhibit any of those characteristics we beat them down. So I’m just sort of blowing that all open and calling it for what it is. Bullsh*t. Societal expectations, good and bad, are absolute bullsh*t.
Couldn’t agree more. The other obvious take away from this series is that you’re a dog nut. You had an entire Star Is Born inspired sketch about the songs you sing to your pets, and then in your new film, Spenser Confidential your character’s apartment scene that kinda took viewers back like, “Oh, this person loves dogs, like really loves dogs.” How did that day go with all of the dogs on one set?
So, two things happened. We went back to do some additional photography and I spent a couple hours one day with the Belgian Malinois who played the one dog, Ringo, who was going to be finding the drugs later. I did a little bit of training because these are highly trained dogs, they’re very smart, very strong, and you know just learning how to be around them and give them commands in German.
Then when dogs were on set, the actors are brought out last so everything’s in place. When you’re working with that many animals, there are a lot of trainers, there’s a lot of special handlers, so — and they’re big dogs, they weren’t like cuddly small ones like I requested. In my perfect world Cissy just had all pomeranians, but it’s a dude movie so they made sure they had big dude dogs [laughs]. I didn’t interact with them a ton. You are trying to let the trainers do their thing and not give the dogs the wrong signals and stuff like that so it was cool but it wasn’t the cuddly kiss-fest of my dreams.
I mean you’re definitely getting that now with your new puppy and you’ve got it in your sketch so it’s definitely been compensated.
I mean, I deliberately… my dog Blanche passed away in June so she wasn’t around when we made the show and my heart was so broken so I, I’m no better than the creepy guy that writes in that he gets to have a sex scene with a hot girl. I wrote in that I get to hold a Pomeranian in my sketch show and the biggest story of my life was I got to pick what kind of Pomeranian I wanted, we did a little casting call, and that Pomeranian that I’m holding, her name is Ginger, and she takes commands in Portuguese! So, we didn’t communicate a lot and turns out she loves cheese, she ate a lot of cheese that day.
What has it been like to have your new dog, Tian Fu, in your life?
Rescuing a dog is always a grab bag, you don’t know what the dog has been through. Really, it’s been a really awesome journey to get to watch her come out of her shell and you know, you adopt a dog to give them a better life and to see her every day become a little bit more herself is just a nice way to get yourself out of your own head and to realize that you are impacting another creature in a positive way. And when she falls asleep with her belly up and a toy in her mouth, I just think she came from a village in China where somebody had abused her and now she has everything she could ever want and that really fills my heart knowing that I have given her the best life I can.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Troy Conrad (@troyconrads) on
I mean it’s great and I guess having a dog to keep you entertained is especially valuable right now given the anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the ongoing crisis. How are you and your family doing?
I will say this, right now is the perfect time to foster or adopt a pet. Best Friends Animal Society would love to help you out with that. I don’t know how anyone is doing this without pets, [my dog] provides endless hours of entertainment and is something I get to focus on and take care of. We are doing okay, we weren’t feeling great last week and that sucks when you’re at home and all you wanna do is work out and write and do all the things you always did. Now that we are on the other side and feeling better it’s about realizing that this is a situation, I think it’s a real survival mentality like sustaining and maintaining. I think this is a situation, recreating a routine, not stopping working out and cooking and writing and connecting with people. I think you can almost define yourself as being how you act in times of slow-burning crisis. And I refuse to let it get the best of me. I’m going to come out of this a little bit stronger physically and I will have written something, but I don’t know what.
Oh good, that’s great! A bunch of people in your industry has taken to their social media accounts to live stream performances to entertain the masses. Talk about the role that you and your peers are assuming. Why do you think entertainers are voluntarily bearing the weight of the responsibility to keep audiences positive even for just a little bit of time.
Ok well, the truth is, entertainers entertain, creators create, artists make art. And as entertainers, we are equipped to do very little other than perform for you! I have friends who are doctors and out there on the front line. I have friends who do a lot of philanthropic work who are physically picking up masks and donating them…This is about showing people it’s going to be okay, keeping their spirits up, that’s what we’re here for, you know? For example, the USO was established to boost morale and entertainers have a long history of doing that in times of need.
And so my husband Noah and I started Don’t Panic Pantry because it combines what he’s great at which is cooking and I’m there to obviously make people laugh and we figured we’d be cooking anyway, so may as well! It’s not so much about showing these people recipes that they can execute simply with items in their pantry — you know we’re not over here cooking lobsters in gold — but it’s really about mentally letting people know we’re here, you have someone you can commune with every day. You can eat with us, you can eat cereal and watch us cook, you can interact. I think human interaction is key in not going crazy, so it kind of does a little bit of what my stand up does in that it tells people ‘hey you’re not alone, you’re not the only one feeling what you’re feeling, come on in and hang out with us every day at 5 p.m. And just know that we are all going to get through this together. Whether you believe it or not it doesn’t matter, just come on and hang out.’
What is your role in the kitchen? Does Noah put you to work, or is he the one-man circus and you’re just on the side making commentary like on Chopped?
Oh god, he’s a one-man band and I’m there just providing background vocals nobody asked for [laughs] but I really believe I enhance with the song. You know, [Noah] is here, he has all this restaurant experience, he knows pretty much anything you’re going to ask about, he’s brilliant at executing these dishes, and he writes the recipes which do take a lot of time. He’s also a cookbook author, so it’s something, you know taking his skill and making it available. And I’m here as kind of your access point. Maybe you don’t cook, maybe you’re not as interested in cooking and I’m there kind of on your team making this information even more digestible and fun. And I think people like to see a couple that is interacting in a positive way. I think it calms people, you know we all have the things that we look at on Instagram, whether it is design videos or meditation apps, we all have things that calm us down and the amount of people who have written to us saying ‘I find it really soothing and calming for my anxiety just watching you guys in your kitchen cooking.’
It’s kind of the reason we watch sitcoms. You like to tune in because you know you’re gonna see your favorite characters sitting and having a funny conversation. I can tell you that’s how I’ve been treating Schitt’s Creek, which I’ve been binging for like, six straight days. There is something very comforting about knowing these people are going to be in the same place you left them when you tune back in. And that’s what we are providing with Don’t Panic Pantry.
Are there any other shows that you guys are starting or returning to binge-watch right now?
So far it’s that, we thought “You know what? People like it, let’s see what the big deal is about.” So we started watching Schitt’s Creek and we of course watched Tiger King (which I wish I’d never watched). That’s it because honestly, this is, of course, a great excuse to just watch everything on TV, but this is also a great opportunity to clean out that corner of your house that you haven’t gotten to, to start an exercise routine. I’m a very proactive person.
More On:
Iliza Shlesinger
'Dinner Time Live': David Chang’s Netflix Cooking Talk Show Needs Better Ingredients
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 3 on Max, Where Old Wounds And Bickering Sibs As Bosses Might Lead Their Church Astray
Meghan Markle Opens Up About Working as a “Briefcase Girl” on ‘Deal or No Deal’: “I Would Leave With A Pit In My Stomach”
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Iliza Shlesinger: Hot Forever' On Netflix, The Comedian Takes On Ugly Bras And The Ugliness Of Men
Oh, so you spoke to my mom, good!
Yeah, I spoke to every Jewish mom. I spoke to my mom the other day and she went “You know what else you can do?” And I went “Nope I’m good, today I made my bed that’s it.” So we really try to fill up our days with things that are mentally stimulating and then we watch a little bit of TV at night. I’ve been going to bed at like 9:30, I get ten hours of sleep and I still look exhausted. I’m trying to make this less about vegging out and more about being better from the inside out, if that doesn’t sound too annoying.
Is there any message you want to send to the readers, to the audience, before signing off?
Yeah, this lockdown happened to reschedule all of the live tour dates, so we hope that you guys come back out when we start touring again in a couple months and I will see you at a live show. And Tian Fu and I are looking forward to seeing you out in the real world!
- Iliza Shlesinger
- Netflix
- Queue And A
- The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show
