Iliza Schlesinger changed streaming services for her new comedy special, ‘Iliza Schlesinger: A Different Animal,’ but everything else remains the same. Schlesinger’s comedy special is one of several specials eligible for the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category.
This is her seventh comedy special–the first for Prime Video after taping six comedy specials for Netflix starting with ‘War Paint’ in 2013 (now streaming on Peacock). No matter the platform, she holds nothing back in the explosive and funny special. ‘A Different Animal touches on topics that include shower sex, ugly wives, and the ideal man to the truth about the ONE thing no woman wants.
Schlesinger discussed the process behind creating the show, revealing what audiences see on screen and what gets left behind in the polishing process that happens throughout the tour.
“What you see in this special is a year and a half of writing and what you don’t see is the 45 minutes of material that I—about six months into it—got rid of,” Schlesinger says. “I’d say the last few months, it really got solidified.”
Schlesinger has filmed her previous specials in various cities and during a recent tour, she decided to tape her next comedy special–the first for Prime Video, released this past March–in Salt Lake City, Utah, because she says the city is home to “secretly one of the greatest comedy crowds in America.”
‘Iliza Schlesinger: A Different Animal’ is streaming on Prime Video.
It’s so nice to see you again—we briefly met during your 2022 book tour.
Iliza Schlesinger: You know what’s so funny? I was looking at your name and I was like, I feel like I’ve met her. Maybe I have a mind for remembering every Jew I’ve ever met. I don’t know.
Yeah. It was my birthday the day before your talk.
Schlesinger: Oh, wow. Well, we’re together again.
‘A Different Animal’ is your seventh comedy special but the first to be released by Prime Video rather than Netflix. What led to this change?
Schlesinger: I had done six incredible specials with Netflix and I think it’s natural in a career to move homes. A lot of comics have done it. I wanted to see if there were different demographics, that perhaps Amazon was better at targeting.
I was ready to shoot a special and Amazon showed up. I loved the team, and I loved the energy that they had. From the get-go, I was like, I’m really proud of this material, and I hope that I could have some support to try to get an Emmy. They have been so supportive in a way that I’ve never felt before.
Making that decision as an artist has been incredibly validating, because you always hope to share your art and have people support you in that way, and I’ve never gotten to this place before. For this comedy veteran, it feels incredible.
By what point in the Get Ready tour did you have a firm idea of what material you would use in ‘A Different Animal’?
Schlesinger: What you see in this special is a year and a half of writing and what you don’t see is the 45 minutes of material that I—about six months into it—got rid of. I’d say the last few months, it really got solidified.
Of course, the Gen Z versus Millennial clip of my stand-up that went viral—that piece of material—we decided to put it right up front because people were familiar with it. That dictated where that went.
But stand-up is an ever-evolving thing and if you saw me do that material the day after the special, it would have changed a little bit. I’d say getting down to the last few months, because for the year and a half to two years I was touring it, it was just a completely different thing.
I’m constantly polishing and sharpening my perspective.
Having watched ‘Over and Over’ and seeing how you performed more frequently in the lead-up to the ‘Elder Millennial’ taping, I’m curious to know if this process has changed since having kids?
Schlesinger: No. You use your tour to polish the material for the upcoming taping. You sort of back your tour into it. At least, that’s how I do it.
The only thing that’s changed is how heartbroken I am most of the time, because I’m not around my kids, but this is my career. It’s basically like a third kid to me, and it’s my passion, so I tour just as hard. I take every show, anytime we can add a show, I do that.
I try to bring my kids when I can. I try to just be present at home as much as possible. I can proudly say I’ve been able to—I’m not going to say balance because that’s a fallacy, but I’ve been able to do both.
The only person who suffers is me and I’ll take it for now.
How did you decide on taping the show in Salt Lake City?
Schlesinger: I’ve been playing Salt Lake City for a few years. On the last tour, we played Salt Lake City and I remember it stopped me in my tracks how incredible the crowd was. Because if you think about it, it’s a mostly Mormon city and they’re pretty happy people. They are jacked up on sugar and their love of G-d.
These people are just thrilled to have a show and they’re just pumped. Every city has its great crowds for different reasons, but I just remember thinking like these people—they were so ready to go, so enthusiastic.
Salt Lake City is secretly one of the greatest comedy crowds in America. I remember thinking, I’m going to do my next special here because the crowd felt so good.
I mean, on a Friday night, whereas most people are coming from a bar, it’s just F-350s wrapped around soda shops and just men that look like they would know how to give you a lift, just ordering Dr. Peppers with coffee creamer in them and going out for a Friday night with their wives.
So, yeah. They were just awesome. I just love the energy.
You don’t hold back in any of your specials. Is there anything in particular that you wanted to say with this special that you haven’t said in the past?
Schlesinger: No. I mean, I do commentary for what is on my mind at the time and woven into my narrative. There’s always an empowering message, but it never ever has to be at the expense of anyone else.
I take my shots equally. I definitely don’t come away from it wishing I had said something else. The truth is, with women in comedy, if any of us are ever—at least the compliment I always get is, Oh, you’re so unfiltered.
People don’t realize that this is an art. This is not me shooting from the hip. These are words I’ve chosen specifically and refined and I thought on them for a very long time to be eloquent, elegant, and incisive when I make my points.
Now, I’m not saying every dick joke is a work of art, but I try to be infallible in my argument and steadfast in the words that I choose. I think that’s what’s at stake here.
You performed both improv and sketch comedy while growing up. How has this experience informed your stand-up style?
Schlesinger: Yeah. What I think makes my comedy stand out and what I hope viewers enjoy about it is that it is textured. I like to create scenes with multiple characters. Of course, there is no scenery and it is just me playing them.
But my first love was sketch comedy and I see these characters so vividly. Whether it is the animal wife at the end or a Gorilla or whatever, I see these ugly characters so vividly and so I try to communicate that to my audience.
I hope that’s something special—that entertainment aspect—that people take away from my stand-up, especially as people watch specials gearing up for an award season, just how much of my body and my heart I put into it.
You followed into the great Jewish tradition of becoming a comedian. I’m curious as to if you’ve given thought to incorporating more of your Jewish identity into your act.
Schlesinger: I haven’t and I’ve been asked that since I started. It just doesn’t hit for me in that way and I don’t know—it just doesn’t speak to me at this time.
I think you can be something. I think you can be so much more than your color, your religion, or your gender. I think the mark of a great comic is yes, I am that, but I’m also just like you and here’s why.
There are so many great Jewish comedians that do talk about Judaism and do it for their audience, but it’s just not my wheelhouse.
Speaking of, have you dealt with protesters or hecklers at any time while performing during the past 19 months?
Schlesinger: I have not and to that, I will say this: I think the kind of people who buy tickets to see Iliza Schlesinger are open-minded. I think they’re intelligent.
I’ll tell you, of course, I see hatred online, but the average person wants to kick off after a week of work, go out for some drinks, grab someone they care about or a friend, and go see some comedy. I think the internet thrives on polarizing people and making us think that our neighbor hates us way more than they do.
That’s what’s so great about stand-up is its ability to bring people together.
I’m starting my tour in Eastern Europe next year. I’m a firm believer that people are human beings. I’ll play anywhere from Sacramento to Malaysia to Estonia to San Antonio and people that you think are going to hate you because of what the news says, they show up and they bring gifts.
Everybody wants to laugh. Everybody feels the same way under it all and that is what my comedy speaks to. I’m proud to be able to give people an hour of relief.
On the subject of gifts, has the room full of gifts grown more since that documentary was released?
Schlesinger: For years, fans would make me these paint oil paintings, t-shirts, and gift baskets. I do think the pandemic kind of squelched it a little bit. But people still bring gifts, gift baskets, things representing where they’re from, which is always the most touching. They write letters. It’s definitely less, but it’s always the fact that people show up at all is always meaningful. You don’t have to come with a gift. You can just pay me for my show and I’ll be happy.
How challenging was the pandemic as a stand-up comedian who thrives on being on stage and bouncing off the energy of the audience?
Schlesinger: I was one of the only comics who chose to tour during the pandemic. For me, this is about making people laugh and it’s about getting to practice the art that I’m so in love with and have been for 20 years now.
I did an outdoor comedy tour. I couldn’t hug my fans after, but we performed on stages at drive-ins. We did it outside so it wasn’t as palpable—the laughter, it wasn’t right in your face, but we were still bringing people joy and still getting to tour. I just I just did every outdoor show I could.
Sometimes it’s about more than just your ticket sales, it’s about bringing people a little bit of relief in a really hard time that I’m sure we would all love to forget as a nation, as a world.
Thank you so much.
Schlesinger: Have a good one.