After years of people recommending it to me, I finally committed to reading Live From New York, the incredible SNL oral history. I have about 50 pages to go, and I love it.
I just stumbled upon a new favorite quote from Amy Poehler, who observes (regarding being sexy AND funny) that “Vanity is the Death of Comedy. I’d much rather have people laugh than go, ‘Whoo!’ “
This hit home, as users on our site can be quick to judge (especially girls) from their semi-anonymous platforms. Usually our users are super nice to me, for which I am sincerely flattered and grateful, but a recent notable exception is this video, where one sensitive user notes that I look like ‘a Russian man.’ I really enjoyed the comedy I was able to add to this video until comments like that started rolling in, and then I found myself suddenly self-conscious. But I think if I had overthought my vanity that day (I was exhausted and the humidity had destroyed my hair), I wouldn’t have been very funny at all. It’s another interesting element of this whole ‘being a girl in comedy’ thing. You know, wanting to be funny versus wanting to be pretty. Not to say they’re exclusive of each other. I just think you have to be very self-assured to have the outlook Amy Poehler does.