Amy Schumer has had a huge year with the debut of her hit show, Inside Amy Schumer, on Comedy Central. Known for her bawdy style, the New York comic is now in the midst of trying to juggle her own whirlwind of success. I caught up with Amy to see how she’s surviving her insane schedule, what’s next for the show, and how her parents felt about the show’s “Two Girls, One Cup†sketch.
Hi Amy, how are you?
I actually just ate a lot of yogurt-covered raisins so I feel pretty sick right now. Full disclosure.
Thanks for being honest.
You’re welcome, you’re welcome.
When did you first know that you wanted to do comedy?
Hmm, always. When I was five years old, I was in The Sound of Music and every time I walked on stage, everybody would laugh just because I was this dumb five-year-old. And then they’d laugh when I would say anything. I’d get upset that they were laughing and then the director explained to me that it’s a great thing to make everyone laugh. That moment stuck with me. I remember that moment to this day, and that’s when I thought, “Okay, that’s what I’m going to do.â€
Were your parents supportive?
Always, they’ve always been super supportive.
Wow, you’re lucky. I feel like that’s super uncommon.
I know, I feel like people are sometimes disappointed by that, but it’s really the truth. There was never a day where my parents were like, “No.†They knew I was going to be a performer.
What did they think of the “Two Girls, One Cup†sketch?
They’ve loved everything on the show; they’re super into it. I think people project their parents onto me, they think of what their parents would say about I’m doing. But you can’t imagine how much they do not take issue with anything I’ve done.
Is that because they were pretty free-spirited about what they said around you growing up?
Yeah, they were pretty liberal around us.
Is it tough to open up about your sex life?
No, I’ve always been very open about my sex life, for as long as I can remember. As I’ve gotten more comfortable on stage, and gotten to know myself a little bit better, it just kind of naturally comes up more in my act.
Can you talk a little bit about the first season of Inside Amy Schumer and how it went for you?
The first season, hmm, I really have nothing to compare it to. I can tell you that in general, I’m 100% totally proud of how it came out and what a great job everyone did on it – from the sound people to the writers to the PAs, everybody. For me, personally, it’s so much work, but I just feel really proud of it. I feel like it went really well and that we had somewhat of a smooth ride.
Has it been difficult to balance standup with the show?
Yeah, I mean after we’re done working, everyone goes home to their loved ones at night and then I have to go do a show or get on a plane to go to Detroit to perform. It was really a lot. A lot of work. I was planning on trying to navigate my time better, but I’m looking at my calendar and it’s sort of filling up so I think I’m kind of going to be doing the same thing. It’s really stressful and not natural.
It seems like you guys have had amazing freedom in terms of content, has there been anything where Comedy Central said “No way?â€Â
They really didn’t. There hasn’t been anything that we pitched that they said “no way†to. They’ve been very cool, I cannot believe that we haven’t been censored at all. That would be great though, to be like, “No the man’s keeping us down.â€
Congrats on getting picked up for season 2. What can we expect for next season?
The truth is, I don’t know yet. We’re just now hiring because we lost a couple writers, so we’re hiring the new ones. As soon as that happens, then we will start writing season two in a week probably. So I don’t really know at this point, but I think things will change a little bit, I’m not exactly sure how yet. We’re just trying to figure out what exactly people responded to and what was the most fun for us. We’re trying to keep it in my voice and keep it funny and make it even better.
Blair Socci is a writer and standup comedian living in New York City.