Marcella Arguello Doesn’t Need Your Puny Compliments

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 stoically accepted my inevitable cyberbully session from Marcella Arguello (Netflix, Comedy Central, suffering absolutely no fools on the internet) during our virtual chat about how she’s doing in quar. She told the story of how she got her nickname “the Woke Bully� at a JFL audition (from beloved funny guy Andy Haynes!), gave some excellent advice about feeling confident in yourself, and got introspective about what she would choose as a superpower given the option — definitely not invisibility. She also shared her thoughts on being flattered: “I hate compliments. I feel like they’re useless, they’re repetitive. You can tell me I’m pretty all day, but if I’m not feeling good, I’m not feeling good; there’s no way around it. But then when I’m feeling pretty, it’s like, What are you gonna do, make me feel prettier? You can’t!�

You can find Marcella on Twitter and Instagram at @marcellacomedy.