Laughter and cheers

are headlined “Say Whatever You Want”, “Do Whatever You Like”, and “Be Whoever You Are”, and its pages are interspersed with bold messages ranging from no-nonsense-but-poignant (“Other people are not medicine”) to the comically surreal (“Short people do not like to be picked up.”).

This all comes close to being dangerously twee, but what saves the day is Poehler’s honesty and self-awareness about giving advice from her privileged position.

An example of this self-awareness is the chapter about her “wives” – her nannies, who she says make her children’s lives “richer because they are part of our family”.

While many celebrities shy away from talking about the real difficulties of being a working mum, Poehler tackles it head on without falling back on sexist stereotypes.

“I am supposed to act like I constantly feel guilty about being away from my kids (I don’t. I love my job). We are lucky. Some people cannot afford this option and have little family support. The biggest lie and biggest crime is that we all do this alone and look down on people who don’t,” she writes.

Ultimately, it almost seems that the self-help flavour may be the true intention for – with Poehler, this is not a bad idea at all.

“It’s called because it is the constant struggle and often the right answer,” she writes. “It’s a response and a request. It is not about being a good girl; it is about being a real woman.”

If you are looking for a meaty memoir or a mediation on comedy, you won’t find either in If, however, you just need some laughs and cheering on, Poehler’s there for you.