"No Bad Days" is a mash-up between a piece on loss, a motivational speech, and stand-up comedy. How did you decide on that dynamic, and were you inspired by any other comedians or comedy specials?
Totally. Yes, to all of it. I definitely was inspired by so many comedy specials that are bending and breaking the barrier of comedy. I loved Gary Gulman's "The Great Depresh" [and] Moses Storm's "Trash White," [and] we both had the same director, Lance Banks. [They're] comedy specials that are funny but are also delivering a message.
I was doing this as more of a way to talk about this when it all happened. This was years ago, I was doing it in basements, and the reason I wanted to make it mashed up then was because I felt like that's what my life was. [When] I started as a comedian, my life got upended. I had to go into this grief, and I wrote very honest blogs about grief that weren't funny.
I would do a lot of dance when I was at home. My one piece of relief was running and dance. It was like, "These are all real parts of my life — how can I put these all together?" I like that things happen close to each other that are very different, because that, to me, is very real with mental health or grief is that things can change quickly and fast, and it's not fluid or one way. It's always changing, and I wanted that feeling to be present in my special as well.
You dive deep into past relationships and high school material as well. Has anyone from your past ever reached out either in anger or to reconnect after a set?
No, not really. One of my best high school friends, Jean, was sitting in the front row of my show, and they didn't even know she was my friend. She got sat in the front row, so that was really nice to see her there. You know that story I tell where I'm at the table in the cafeteria? She was at the table [in] the cafeteria, so she was right there. No, I haven't had anyone, but we'll see. We'll see if anyone reaches out. We'll see if Stephanie reaches out after this. A lot of people will always be like, "Don't put me in the act." That happens a lot.
Do you do it then anyway out of spite?
Yeah, but it's always someone who you would never put in your act. It's your dentist. It's like, "I'm not putting you in my act. What would I say?"
