If You Haven’t Heard, Julia Shiplett Was Bitten by a Dog

Thanks to the coronavirus, comedians are now trapped at home like the rest of us, so we decided that while we’re all self-isolating, we’d do something a little different from our usual “Follow Friday� column. Instead of interviewing up-and-coming comedians we love on Twitter, we’re going live on Instagram every week to check in on some of our favorite people in comedy and get a firsthand look at how they’re handling the pandemic. So welcome to our new version of the column, now titled “Follow (From a Safe Distance) Friday.�

This week, I sat down for a digital chat with noted bob-haver and bell jar drinking water connoisseur Julia Shiplett (High Maintenance, Crashing, serving looks in the greater Brooklyn area) about how she’s keeping it together in the wake of another pandemic March. She shared her thoughts on whether the makeup that people use to make fake freckles is culturally appropriative or not, explained that infamous NYC urgent care CityMD is essentially her primary-care physician, and gave some excellent, practical advice on making dramatic pandemic changes to your physical appearance (news flash, now is the time to do it). She also told us the story of her extremely mellow reaction to the aftermath of a recent attack by the vicious poodle her friend [REDACTED] was dog-sitting: “I went to get a COVID test and [the nurse] was like ‘Do you need anything else?’ and I was like ‘Hey, by the way, I got bit by a dog’ and she was like, ‘Um, you should’ve come in last night. This is not a joke, dog bites are emergencies when they break skin, I’m giving you a tetanus shot ASAP, you’re gonna be on ten days of antibiotics.’ So … it wasn’t that chill.�

You can find Julia on Twitter and Instagram at @juliashiplett.