Malaysia Tatler – August 2019

36 malaysia tatler. august 2019

A STAND-

UP LADY

AinaIzzah discovers that

comedian IlizaShlesinger

brings laughterin many forms

LAUGHOUTLOUDAfterwinningNBC’sLastComicStanding,Ilizanowhas

severalNetflixspecialslikeherdebut,WarPaint,andthelatest,ElderMillennial

Howdidyougetinvolved

withcomedy?

I alwaysdidimprovand

sketchesandit wasjusta

naturalprogressionformeto

wanttoexpressmyselfwithout

anensemble—Ihadthings

tosayanda desiretoperform,

andsoI justdidit.

Howdoyoucreatethe

jokesandanecdotesfor

yourshow?

I doallof my‘writing’onstage.

I don’twriteat a computer.I

thinkof a scenario,thought,

conceptorevena funnyword

andI justtalkit outonstageand

thematerialmaterialises.

TouringinAsiaandhaving

yourshowliveinKuala

Lumpur,is therea concern

onchoosingthetheme

andmaterialyou’llpresent,

becauseofhowdifferent

theaudienceis overhere?

If there’sonethingI’mconfident

about,it’sthathumans,

regardlessof theirbackground,

“I hadthings to sayand adesire

to perform,soIjustdid it”

feelthesameemotions.We

maydressupourthoughts

andfeelingsin differentcultural

situations,butat ourcorewe

havea lotof similarities.I also

don’tthinkI’dbebroughtto

a countryif therewasn’tan

audienceforme;at thevery

leastyoucanlaughat me.

Tellusabouttheidea

behindtheAskIliza

Anythingpodcast.

I wantedaneasyand

conversationalpodcast

thatwasn’tbeholdentoa

stricttheme.I thinkorganic

interactionsarewhatcomedy

is madeof andI lovetointeract

withmyfans,soI thoughta

looselythemedadviceshow

whereI couldgoonmyrants

andmaybeevenhelppeople

wouldbea greatidea.

Youdoa lotofimpressions

onstage,whichoneis your

favouritetoperform?

I loveanythingwhimsical.

I enjoyplayinga creature,

anoldcreature—something

ancientandwisethatmoves

weirdly.I likeinhabitingthese

characters,it justfeelsfun.

Whois a comedian

thatyouadmire?

I admireanyonewhocan

turntheirpainintocomedy.

I admirecomicswhowrite

theirownjokesandstickto

whattheysay.Comedians

arecomingunderfire fornot

beingpoliticallycorrect,butI

admirestrongcomicswithreal

perspectiveandtalent.

CatchIlizaShlesinger’s

ElderMillennialonNetflix. IMAGE: LOL EVENTS

CONCIERGE | SMALL TALK