Comedian looks at death, relationships and idiots
‘Inclusive’ tour will examine themes on a more personal level Jen Kirkman June 26 at 8 p.m. (doors) | Biltmore Cabaret Tickets: $20 at ticketfly.com
In her new comedy special, I’m Gonna Die Alone (and I Feel Fine), available on Netflix, Jen Kirkman explores the indignities of aging, the joys of marriage and especially divorce, and the prospect of never procreating. (She’s also author of a book, I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from a Happy Life Without Kids.) A veteran of the late-night talkshow circuit, the L.A.-based 41-year-old comic — originally from Massachusetts — has also worked as a writer and regular on Chelsea Lately and narrated several episodes of Comedy Central’s Drunk History. We talked to Kirkman about her current tour, her audience and Gallagher. Q You seem to be playing rock clubs instead of comedy clubs on this tour.
A It’s nothing against comedy clubs. It’s only so I can hit a lot of cities. When you play comedy clubs they need you to do Thursday through Saturday. No comedy clubs are open Monday through Wednesday, so I would have to keep flying back and forth across the country. And it’s easier to do one show a night than two, like you do at comedy clubs. And I want this one to be for the fans I don’t normally reach. Again, I love comedy clubs, but it’s more expensive, they have a drink minimum, sometimes it’s not all-ages. This tour is really inclusive, it’s only 15 bucks ($20 in Vancouver), you don’t have to buy a drink. And it’s good for me too. Everyone wants to be there. There are no free tickets given out over the radio to people who just want to come and get drunk. I can look forward to something like this, knowing the audience will be respectful of comedy.
Q You’ve said your audience is comprised largely of young guys. Were you joking, or is this true?
A I was probably exaggerating a little. But I have a lot of young men in my audience. I think different groups tell you they like you using different media. So on Twitter I get a lot of young men telling me they like me. In person, the ladies come up to me after the show: “Oh my God, we related.” But I never know if these people are fans who are staying on board or if they just saw me that one night and they’ll never think of it again. My audience remains a 20 per cent mix of everything. I don’t really have a gay following, and my following is very white. If I could change that up a little, that would be great (laughs). I want everyone on board this train.
Q How much of the material on this tour is from I’m Gonna Die Alone?
A This winter I went to live in New York for a few months to finish writing a book and to work on new stuff, because I knew this day was coming, that I would have to tour for the special but not do all the material from it. So some of the jokes are perfected and cooked in the oven and ready, with a lot of the same themes — we’ll always be dealing with death and relationships and idiots we see out in the world. But a lot of it is new, I do a lot of new monologues. I do this joke in my Netflix special about finding a grey pubic hair, that’s relatively new and I’m going to keep expanding on that. So that will be in there. I think I’ll always explore the same themes, but it will probably be more personal, if that’s possible.
Q How have your attitudes changed over the years re: comedy idols?
A Gallagher is someone, when I was a kid, I thought was the funniest comedian.
I was probably only eight, nine, 10 when I first saw him, but I could feel my mind being blown. I thought he was so edge-y and political and smart. In the ’80s he was still dressed kind of ’70s, and I have a thing for guys in bell-bottoms and who look kind of ’70s, and I thought, “This guy’s hot.” One of my first crushes was Gallagher. There’s that. Now my mind has definitely changed. Looking back I go, “That’s not that funny. And I