Parenting is a Joke
Happy Mother's Day (Month?)!
Welcome to Parenting is a Joke!
I’m so glad you’re here to talk about what it’s like to be a parent in this ridiculous world while holding down a career and the absurdity of trying to balance both.
Parenting is a Joke is also a podcast with iHeart and Pretty Good Friends, where I talk to comics, musicians, and funny people about what it’s like to mix their career with being a parent.
In our first season, I talked to Roy Wood Jr., Samantha Bee, Catherine Reitman, and Hari Kondabolu, among many other funny people. And because we know you’re busy, the episodes are easy on the ears at 30ish minutes - download and subscribe here.
I believe so much in this world should be free - especially since the price of a popsicle in my neighborhood is $5!
But I also think everyone should be paid for their work.
If you would like to contribute any amount of money, thank you so much! We will throw every dollar back into building our project and bringing you more parent-focused comedy and entertainment, as we can all agree - we need to laugh! None of it will go to $5 popsicles; that is a promise. I’m making those suckers at home now.
Like so many stand-up comics, I used to have a joke or two in my act about how much I hated kids. But now I realize that was all bullshit. Now that I’m a mother, I realize you have to HAVE kids to know what it is to HATE kids. All of that other chatter is just… theoretical. They might as well be complaining about space travel.
And don’t get me wrong, I love my kid, but…
Let’s decide that is the underlying premise and truth behind everything I say, okay? Can we agree? I know that you know what I mean. I also know how we as parents complain about our kids and then feel shame, so we always backpedal by loudly declaring that regardless, this is all the best thing that ever happened to us!!! We love them!! We love them SO MUCH!!
I get it. I get you. I’m the same.
So let’s agree that’s the baseline. Now, let’s get back to the comedy.
The truth is - I do hate kids, BUT of course, they say you love your own.
Fingers crossed. He’s a little too young to tell.
Smiley face emoji to indicate a joke!
Why? Why? Why, Mom? Why?
Seven years ago, I had a kid. And yes, it was a goddamn miracle. After years of having a goooood time and sleeping around (happily and safely, I may add), I got married, but only after almost 10 years of marriage, I chose to try to get pregnant. As a full-time stand-up comic, I felt VERY lonely at that time. Any job that requires you to work at night is a terrible match to the hours of a little kid.
There are no stand-up shows at 2 pm, and if you ever get invited to one, it’s not gonna be good.
A few women comics around me in New York talked about having kids, but it was rare. Most of the comics were single men, some with girlfriends, a few married, but the predominant tone of stand-up material wasn’t about raising a family; it was about dicks and dating and pithy takes on dirty roommates.
A year later, I looked around, and ALL of these comics were having kids. I wasn’t the only one that noticed; the New York Times called it an explosion. Was the job easier and a better fit for a parent? Nope. But comics were doing it anyway. And when I say “having kids,” I mean in whatever form that took – pregnancy, surrogacy, adoption, blended families… I just did it older… which, although much more common, still feels like it’s a pretty small percentage of us.
High risk and an Inspiration, I like to say.
So, I talked to my friend and brilliant producer Julie about the fact that there was something interesting going on in comedy and that we should gather these funny new parents somehow. She agreed, and we put together this project, talking to primarily stand-up comics about what it’s like to marry a pretty non-kid-friendly career with… kids!
Parenting is a Joke was born!
We have 9 episodes left in our first season (40 total)– so if you’re new to all of it, please check us out HERE.
And it’s Mother’s Day.
I remember being around 9 years old and deciding that I was going to make my mom breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day. I tried really hard: I got up super early, made toast, scrambled eggs, and poured a glass of orange juice. I carried it to her room on a tray, waking her up too early- because how else was I to make it a surprise, right? Because I wasn’t great at carrying a tray, the orange juice sloshed all over her toast. Then I stood beside her bed, beaming, waiting to watch her eat my masterpiece. She was gracious enough to eat her soggy orange juice toast and thank me so much for not letting her sleep in that extra hour. Looking back, I wonder how many times she had to put up with the scenario, how many times she’d had to pretend that her juice soaked toast was delicious and thank her small child through bleary over tired eyes for the most wonderful Mother’s Day present ever. I’m hoping it was only a couple of times for her sake, but as the youngest of six, I think it was probably… six, at the very least, six times.
LISTEN TO THE MOTHER’S DAY PODCAST EPISODE HERE
What are we Doing Here?
We’re going to post personal essays, jokes, and interview excerpts, and it will be a place for me to document my parenting fails du jour (encouraging my son to run up an escalator was a mistake, it turns out – we got yelled at by Target security. Bit of a badge of honor!). I look forward to hearing from YOU!