Comedy, Connection, and Coping: An Interview with Alyce Chan MomComNYC

I tell people, come alone if you can't find a friend, because when you're in a comedy club, live comedy is so different from what you see on screen. And you're laughing together, the whole room gets the joke. There's unity about that. And there's like instant connection. And it feels good when you connect with other strangers. Like you said, like there's endorphins, there's like even your immunity goes up, right? Like it's, there's so many health benefits.

One of the most important things you can have in life is a sense of humor. Humor is an integral part of resilience, and laughter can change us down to the cellular level. Now, there are many different types of humor. We can break it down in a very nerdy way, and I'll do that in the next podcast. But today I'm so excited to have a special guest. Her name is Alice Chan. You might know her on Instagram as momcomnyc. Go ahead and check her out, and she's hilarious on and off stage. I've seen her headline a show. I've seen her do bits at one of my West Side Comedy Club, and I want to share her with you because it's really hard to find a good comedian, especially someone who's not R or X-rated these days. So two things before you listen. One, there is a trigger warning. We do talk about the topic of suicide, so be aware of that. And secondly, the sound is a little off. We tried our best to clean it up, and it's totally worth a listen, so just ignore it and listen. Hi, I'm Dr. Juna Bobby MD. I'm the host of Mind Body Space Podcast, where you can boost your resilience just by listening. I'm a mom, former neuroscientist, and radiologist now specializing in mind-body and lifestyle medicine. I'm here to share with you all the little mini habits that you can apply into yours and your family's life so that you can stay successful, organized, adaptable, and resilient. So if you haven't already, hit that follow button. Follow us on Instagram @mindbodyspacepodcast, and we have content for little kids on Instagram @brainboneofficial. Check out our resilience courses for everyone and bespoke programs for kids, including our Resilient Path to Elite Schools and Beyond. And share this with anyone who could use some extra resilience right now. Alice, how are you?

Should I call you Doctor Juna?

No, call me Juna. Call me Juna.

Okay. Dr. Juna or just Juna? Just Juna Bobby MD.

Yes.

Okay. Do you know the first names? Yes.

And you're Canadian.

I know. I know I'm Canadian.

Why are Canadians so funny?

A little bit of British humor. And so we're very dry. Oh, we're very dry. And we like very, like, in-depth humor. Like, I'm not a fan of slapstick humor. My husband is, but he's also very American. No offense to that. Some people love that.

There's so many amazing comedians and so many funny movies and stuff that come out of Canada.

Sure. Sometimes you love this actor or you discover someone, you're like, He or he or they are Tunisian. Yeah.

Yeah. I was noticing also Asian actors like Steve, the Korean guy, Steven. He was in that movie with Kristen Stewart recently. Steve Yoo.

Star of Chernobyl. I should know Asian actor.

I think he was famous from Beef. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Yeah. Okay.

And he's always on Conan O'Brien. Conan loves him for some reason. You know how Conan does travel segments?

Yeah.

He has one where he goes to Korea and he goes with Steven. So funny. Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

You have to watch it. So I found out he was from Canada too.

I'm not surprised.

I love that you're my neighbor. I can't believe I ran into you. I don't even know how I started following you on Instagram, but I do follow comedians. So somehow you must have come up on my feed. I was following you. Then I saw you at the popular lunch spot in town.

I saw you all there. Always so busy.

Glad I did. Yeah, 'cause it's so crowded, right?

And I hate crowds and I was coerced to go there and I'm so glad I did. And we try to do like, if you go to that spa, you have to go early 'cause I try to avoid crowds at all costs.

Really?

Yeah, I'm an introvert. I can't be with— You're an introvert? I need my, my, my private space. I need one-on-one time. I don't do big groups and I don't go to parties in Maine. I guess.

Well, obviously you would never think that seeing your Instagram feed.

Yeah, that's just funny. Yeah.

But how about on stage? Do you have stage fright ever?

Always. I'm always like, right before my performance, I'm like, why am I doing this? I'm like, I feel sick. I'm like, I'm like on my way, I'm like, I wanna throw up. I don't eat. I pee 5 times before. Like, and then I have other comments. I'm like, why are we doing this? I think, why? I think it's, it's therapy for me. It's free therapy.

Okay, so you've been doing this— I was looking you up and doing some research. You've been doing this for like 12 years.

Um, I—

you started—

I've been 13 years, but it took 3-year break in between. 13 years or so, yeah.

But you started like seriously looking into stand-up, like, or you were doing, um—

I mean, I was on— I was actually a full-time job when I was doing stand-up.

You were a banker?

Yeah, right. Yeah. Oh yes, I was also marketing. I was trying to sell mutual funds and make it sexy because my background is like visual designer, web designer, and I love film. So I ended up doing amazing mutual fund marketing, which kills my soul.

But that's amazing because you have a marketing background. Do you think that helps you with all of what you're doing right now? Because you're awesome.

Yeah, it's because you can, you can just make a flyer in 30 seconds and I can make myself look good on a flyer. Right? Like, pick that pupil out, you know, darken my hair so I don't see grays, put a nice font, pick the best photo. Yeah, I'm the marketing team inside me and I promote myself, but I know how to promote myself.

Amazing. Yeah, no, it looks great.

People are like, oh my God, you're everywhere. I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm not getting too sassy. It just looks like I'm everywhere.

Oh, I need some marketing tips for me. You know Zarna Garg, right?

Yeah, she's amazing.

So I went to her daughter's Zoya Sell Anything thing. Yeah, I just thought it was so fun. That she was having this marketing thing in a comedy, uh, place, Westside Comedy. Okay. So I was like, I gotta go. It's in the middle of the day, lunch break. And she was so cute and sweet and so genuine. And yeah, then I went to see her whole family talk. I didn't even know their whole family was gonna show up.

Yeah.

But their whole family was there. Talked about how they marketed her. And I was like, oh my gosh, she has like an army of marketers who are like Gen Z who grew up on social media. I thought that was pretty amazing. And that kind of explained like how Well, she's massively talented, but I was like, wow, she has 3 people like helping with this, all this stuff. That was amazing. And so you, I thought, you know, you had a team doing it, but obviously it's just you. You're amazing.

My two ASMs are useless. They won't come. I always look at Zoya's kids. I'm like, why can't you be like that?

Well, 'cause Zoya is, um, we're talking about sleep. Yeah. But you're Zoya Farge. 'Cause her daughter Zoya is like the first child. So you get the first child who's a girl, like you have 2 boys, right? So they They seem totally useless. They are. But when you have, if you, are you gonna have a third?

So the contract of the energy. Does his face look like he's into a third? Girls, I did cover my brains.

So I had my son and then my daughter and you think my son is like a genius, but like if I had my daughter first, I would've thought something was wrong with him. So the girls are so different.

Yeah.

I mean, in so many ways, the communication and all that.

Oh, we didn't speak to adults. That's 4 years old. They know what they want. They've got opinions. They can like, I can carry a conversation. My boys are like, hi, say hi.

So you really need an outlet, right? You got 3 guys in the house and you.

I have a dog that's a male. Like, too much testosterone, but they give me a lot of content, so I have to say.

Yeah, I was gonna say, and they also cooperate in some of your videos. I've seen them. They're so cute.

Jing Gong. You think they're doing that out of goodness of their heart? Well, no.

Is it minimum wage or more?

More, bro. They're not Asian, they're not full. Wow.

Okay, so you actually pay them? I used to tell my kids I would pay them and then I would say, you didn't do a good enough job, so I'm not.

Oh, I would get screamed at. I didn't even get paid by the company and I have to pay you?

Yeah.

Okay.

But I mean, I buy everything for them, so it's like, wait, I just spent this many dollars on you. Anyway, but I like the way you do it. In the winter, they should have a sense of like what it takes to earn a living.

Yeah, but I think it's crazy though, they expect more. Yeah, they're negotiating. I'm like, seriously, you want that much for what's holding the camera? I was like, you know what I had to do when I was your age?

That's because we live in the town we live in.

And what's— I mean, no, Bethany, even the tooth fairy, the price of the tooth has gone up to $20 a tooth. I'm like, Your tooth looks like spackle tooth. No one wants that tooth. $20? Not much money. You're like, I got $20 last time. Like, who's paying you $20? Half of—

You're so funny. Okay, so you're my second comedian now. I, and I hope to have more comedians on. Do you know Isabel Hagen?

I don't.

She was or is a Juilliard violinist and she became a comedian and she just made an indie movie with Eric Bogosian. So she's like producer, writer, comedian. And that reminded me of you. You are You're also like producing, creating, writing.

Yeah, I have a little piece on Instagram.

It's amazing. And wait, you were on the Drew Barrymore Show? Was that like a skit you were in?

No, it wasn't. I actually was there as a real person because they were looking for real people. They weren't even talking about my comedy. They were talking— they were looking for a burnt-out mom. And I told them that it was our anniversary and they're like, invite your husband. And my husband never shows up for anything, but I was like, oh, we get to meet Drew Barrymore. He's not pretty. He doesn't do camera stuff. He's not into that. And so got there and she was so sweet and she just kind of like asked like how I do it all. And, and, um, something we don't go on date nights. I just Right here, being on the Drew Barrymore Show at 10 AM is our date. You know what? I'm giving you a night out. I'm gonna pay for your babysitter. I'm gonna pay for your dinner at your favorite restaurant and take care of that. I'm gonna start crying because I'm like, no one's ever been so nice. And she like held my hand. You love Drew Barrymore. She's like holding my hand.

Yes.

And at the end of the show, she's like, hey, but that's okay. I'm not one of those people who just says hi and I just leave.

Oh my God, you do a good Drew Barrymore.

I know, it's just like, I love, love, and I'm like, I love you. And then I wrote to her on Instagram, so can we not repeat it? And I didn't hear from her.

She's like, no, I don't.

I'm so— I'm like, I don't think you want to. I know you mean it, but I don't think you have the capacity. I think you've been pissed with every single guest that you have on the show. So I'm like, it's okay.

She probably doesn't check her Instagram DMs, clearly. So I want to talk to you about how you started. I mean, I've always wanted to take a stand-up comedy course, and they're always at like 8 or 9 or 10 PM in New York City. And like, I just— I've done all kinds of stuff. I've done kung fu, I've done ballet, weird stuff. I love that in New York. But I could never get to those comedy things because it was always at night. And then I was always a little scared, like, who might be there.

You mean, you mean, so in a sense, like, who do you think you might meet?

Yeah, who my classmates might be.

Okay, you don't have to have lunch with them.

I want to have lunch with you.

Yeah, we'll have lunch. But, um, yeah, I actually meet a lot of women and a lot of moms even right after my shows and they're like, oh, I just started, or someone's like, I just did my first show, and I always encourage them to keep going because, and the classes are great because, you know, you learn the technical the skills behind stand-up, how to make a joke work, why you need to pause, why it's important to get the audience on your side, how to do it, how to deal with hecklers. Just all these little insights in the comedy world that once you have that foundation, then you start writing your own jokes. And there's also like a method in terms of like how to write your own jokes and taking your own experiences from it. And I love— and the more you do it, it's like any type of exercise, like when you said you did kung fu, the more you go, you just get better at it. So it's a muscle. I found a way to also make grief funny, right? And I want to— I think it's such a skill set to make anything funny. You just have to do it the right way and you have to be sensitive. You got to be able to read the room. That's why, you know, like I'm not going to be talking about certain things in 10 minutes and the crowd is like, "Jenny!" You know, I'm not going to be talking like that. But I'll be talking about—

Yeah, so you had grief from your dad's passing away, right?

Yeah.

Was that how you started in comedy?

So no, I started comedy— I started doing acting classes and then I realized, I'm like, who's going to still desire a late 20s Asian person? You know, I'm just going to be doing commercials and extra work. So I I was very realistic and also lazy. I'm like, I'm not going to be like this friend of mine and go out to all these auditions and never getting the job, right? So I took that one. I was like, I'll do improv, you know? So I do improv, loved it until I realized, you know, hey, I'm not— I'm an introvert. I don't like to compete with other people for the camera. And someone told me to just try stand-up, which I thought, no, that's going to be harder. But it's actually easier than improv because everything is already scripted in your head. You already know what you're going to say. So you already know what you're going to say, and you're not competing with anybody else on stage. So you're just by yourself, and you use all the time, you know, 5 minutes or 10 minutes or 30 minutes. You know how much time you have, and the audience is listening to you because you're the only one on stage. So for me, I thought stand-up was a lot easier.

Interesting.

I was able to talk about so many things about my life, and My recent show in San Francisco, I wanted to hit a milestone in terms of my content. I was doing all these like jokes, stand-up jokes. Okay, that was funny. But I want to talk about my dad who passed about like a year ago. And—

I'm so sorry.

Thank you. Um, and I wanted to create a comfort— comfortable space and a safe space for people who are in the sandwich generation, who are awesome caretakers or who have just lost someone very dear to them or losing a parent is something I've never experienced. So when Safran Skari wrote the last part of the show, I was going to try it for the first time. I was like, it's either going to fail, it's going to resonate. And there was a woman who was crying who was front, and I felt awful. I was like, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I trigger something?" And she came up to me after and she said, My dad is in hospice and it was very comforting to hear you talk about your dad. And that's what I wanted to do. I want— always want to connect with people. This time, not just through laughter, but through also like experiencing grief, the journey, but often make them laugh about my experience. Um, I mean, we're not laughing, but we're laughing So I went through it, my experience, and it worked so well that when I got back from the show, I was like, "That was one of the best shows," and I felt like I grew from that as a comedian. I took applause, but yeah, it's— I encourage you to take applause.

I wanted to do it because I did a lot of public speaking.

Yeah.

So I wasn't looking to be a stand-up. I was going to use it just for public speaking in general. And I talk to a lot of younger audiences, so I'm always trying to make them laugh, and that's one of the things I do.

Yeah.

So that's why, and I still wanna take it and I'm gonna take it at the Westside Comedy Club if they have one.

They do.

For sure.

They, they have them ongoing all the time. Yeah.

Awesome. Yeah, no, I definitely wanna take it.

Yeah.

Um, so as doctors, we just had the raunchiest sense of humor, you know, like we would just laugh, but it was always about like death and horrible morose things because we were dealing with it every day.

Mm-hmm.

We had so many ridiculous things happen. Like I did my training at NYU. So one of my first medical rotations was going up to the prison ward and taking blood from the prisoners at Bellevue. Why do we? One time when one of my best friends and she and I went up there taking blood from these prisoners and we were in these little miniskirts and walking around like, oh, we need to take your blood. And then we hear this siren go off and we had to run 'cause there was a fight breaking out and all these doors started slamming behind us. I mean, There's just ridiculous things happening every single day. My first psych rotation was seeing a guy who was testifying because he had murdered his mother, but he was hearing voices. So that, I mean, like, it was insane. So you have to have a sense of humor, right? Yeah. But, you know, it's not something that I thought I could share with the general public because it makes us seem so callous in some ways. But it was how we dealt with it, you know?

Okay. So a lot of content. Information here. One, before I end the session, I have always been intrigued to visit a prison. Like, just walk and like—

Well, I'm sure they would let you come and be their entertainment for that. I don't think that would be a tough gig to get.

I mean, I don't want to turf them, but—

Oh, you don't want to?

That could be a thing, but I— because I've seen so many movies about how scary a prison And, uh, I don't, I don't know, maybe I'm just sick in my head, but I've always liked, I like to visit. I want to visit a prison. Um, but I know people. You know people inside?

My husband used to help women in Rikers. I bet you anything they would let you come and do a gig.

Can you and I do a gig? Because I do.

What?

You and I can do a gig. You can open for me.

I was scared of prisons.

No, well, they, they Oh yeah, they're locked up again.

Yeah, no, you should do— that's funny. That's a weird fascination though, to wanna do that.

I think that's interesting. I'm very dark.

I didn't get—

um, you and hard copy.

But anyway, I have like a sick joke. So for example, like sometimes things go through my head, I'm like, oh, but that would be too sick to say. No, it's like, for example, and this is terrible cuz you were talking about, you know, parents and like sandwich generation.

Test tube, you said? Yeah. Sorry, girl.

So unfortunately, I lost my parents a while ago, both of them.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, to like alcoholism when I was, you know, just about to go to med school. And then my mom, um, when my kids were little, I lost her to suicide.

I'm sorry.

And so, um, thank you. I mean, like, at the time, nobody else was losing their parents. So, you know, my friends were very nice to me and they're, "Aww." And now the joke is like, now everybody's losing their parents and I'm just like, "Oh, I did that a while ago." Okay. Isn't that terrible?

No, it's not. It shouldn't be.

It's practice.

It's not.

And I just laugh by myself in my head.

No, I'm laughing.

But I'm like, "Oh, that's sick." It's not.

I'm laughing with you because that is, that is, I think, I just think you have so much You being a doctor, losing your parents, Harvard graduate, you've got kids at Harvard that graduated?

My son graduated, my daughter's at Princeton, and I just graduated from Harvard because I got another degree.

Okay. Okay, I'm a genius, right? Uh, project about your parents. Comedy is all about tragedy and pain, if you're willing to share it. But if it's your own pain, you're allowing people to laugh with you. It can be a very good joke that you craft because it's very unique. It's very just, it's you. I can't tell that joke because I lost Fredon because he, you know, it was too— but my joke about him was very different from the way you lost Fredon, right? So I think That is, it's not dark. I think what you have there is the beginning of something great.

Thank you. I mean, like, I've never said that out loud to anybody, so thank you for it.

I'm so glad you shared that with me. I would love to just, like, help you craft a joke about that, you know, like a story, like just a little story.

Oh my God, thank you. That's so cool.

It's a very unique scenario, right? Because you also, when you were young and And then your mom's suicide. I know it's dark, but—

Very dark. It's very—

a way to talk about it.

That would be so cool because I do, I mean, I find humor in everything. Like I told you, because we went through such extremes in training as young doctors, there is so much that we laughed at. And, you know, and I think that's really interesting that you're talking about comedy and darkness. I'm a radiologist, so I look at disease from the inside out. Horrifying. Girl, it's horrifying.

You need to do some comedy. I'm stopping. You have— you'll never see a radiologist Asian graduate from Harvard on Kim Bok-shin. All your stuff is going to be so unique. And you're funny. And you're dark. I know I'm dark. That's like the perfect recipe for a good comedian. And then we'll go on tour together.

I was going to ask you that. What is the line between anger Frustration and comedy, because I know a lot of your comedy is like you're frustrated with mom life.

Yeah, things all kind of like intersect.

And menopause.

They all intersect. You just never have— you just never punch down, you know? You never— like, if I talk about my kids or if I want to call them, let's say, can I say asshole? Like, just your delivery.

That was so funny.

Yeah, my kids are assholes. People are gonna do like, "Ew, that's not nice. Why would you say that?" But I can say, "Hey, you know, it's great to have kids. They're very honest." My 8-year-old was like standing on the top of a chair and he was looking down on my hair and I had a lot of white hair, right, my roots. And he goes, "Mommy, it looks like a bird pooped on your head." And like, see, it's great to have kids 'cause it gives you a reason to call them an asshole. But if I tell them that my kid was, you know, insulting me, I like to give them more of reason to safely laugh. Like, you're allowed to laugh because my kid just said that to me. Wow.

That is a craft what you just did.

It's art what you just did.

I mean, the way you described it and the way you said, can I call him an asshole? Like, I mean, that's so good.

Oh, thanks.

I'm so fascinated about how you go from, like you said, all these taboo topics and then turn it into something funny without you really truly offending anybody. I mean, I guess people do get offended, but people do. But like, you know, it's in the— it's in comedy, right? I was watching a lot of different comedians recently and I'm thinking like it might have something to do with the place they're coming from. Like they have a big heart. For example, the way you said it, it didn't sound like you were a total jerk of a mom. Like you just sounded like, Yeah, that was an asshole thing they said. But that fine line again is the art, right? Is that the art part?

And you totally get it. I'm not surprised you're smart. Um, probably for smart people and I totally get it. Like, my husband, for sure, he'll do things that annoy me and then like putting, like he drinks water and he puts it down, but he drinks it And then I'm like, there's 8 cups. And what's— I know. And I'm like, I'm gonna make a reel about this.

And I'm like, I saw that one.

Yeah, I was mad then too. I was like, you know what?

You're like, everybody's hydrating.

And I'm just putting extra cups.

You know what I did when everybody in my household did that?

Yeah, you should've fucked her.

No, I, I threw out all the cups except for like 4. So everybody had one only. I hid them.

I hid them.

I threw out a lot of them and then I hid a lot of them into storage. And then everybody had one plate, one spoon, one fork. I'm a minimalist.

Oh, I love that. We love that.

But mainly because I have to, cuz I get so angry. And, um, and then guess who didn't wash their plate?

Right. Me.

So I had to bring all the cups and everything. And I saw the reel where you were like, can you take out the garbage? 30 seconds too long. So funny. Yeah.

And I get a little raging on my social media and I think that's like therapeutic for me. I'm just like exaggerating. Like some people are like, you shouldn't have to do that. You shouldn't have to fold all your kids' clothes. I'm like, it's comedy. Trust me. I don't fold all the clothes. Oh God, the comments I get sometimes, I'm like, are you crazy? You're obviously not smart.

Well, I love that you're taking all of this and making it into something funny and like relatable. And I think you were laughing cuz I said comedy is brain food.

Oh, which one did you say that?

So yeah, I said that I think on one of our DMs, but I think, oh my God, you know, I, I talk about the brain, I teach kids about their brains and humor is something that I've always incorporated into my classroom.

Love that.

Because it's something that is literally medicine.

Yeah. Wow.

So after each podcast guest, I have like a solo episode where I talk a lot about the science.

I know.

So next week I'll be talking about the neurochemicals that are released and also the laughing. You know, when you're laughing, you're doing something that you, your body never does otherwise. Mm-hmm. Like your belly and all the way your diaphragm moves, your lungs. It's crazy. And like you said, it's a community thing. It's a social thing. Most people don't laugh alone.

You're right. You're right.

Like, even if you laugh when you're alone, it's in your head. It's not like you're laughing out loud, right?

And it's contagious. Like, if you're in a room and, you know, like, I tell people, come alone if you can't find a friend, because when you're in a comedy club, live comedy is so different from what you see on screen. And you're laughing together, the whole room gets the joke. There's unity about that. And there's like instant connection and it feels good when you connect with other strangers. Mm-hmm. Like you said, like there's endorphins, there's like even your immunity goes up, right? Like it's, there's so many health benefits.

And I think, I think comedians are like healthier now cuz like the old generation, they were like doing so many drugs and they died off and like now they're, it seems to be healthier.

Yeah. I do it like once a week only now. I don't do drugs. I don't, I don't drink. I don't smoke.

I'm a healthy girl. Really? You don't drink?

I'm allergic.

So you have the Asian allergy thing?

Oh, I have.

I get stuffed up. There's this whole thing now with Asians. They take antihistamines.

I know. And then it's really, is that worth it?

Like, no, it's not. My dad was an alcoholic. It is not worth it. Right.

And then you feel shit the next day and it's like, well, we want it drink with other people and forget all ties. I look so gross. I'm like, I'm like, no. I'm like, you know what, if you have a good personality, you don't have to drink.

That's like one of our alcoholic friends used to say, like, grab a drink, get a personality.

Oh, my husband's like, he can drink and he's alone. I can tell when he's drunk, but everybody is like, ah. But also he, like, when sober, he's fun.

Amazing. Yes. You are flying around giving shows. How do you do all this?

I have a very supportive husband.

I talk a lot about mompreneurship. You must have an awesome work ethic. You must.

I must. I'm Chinese.

There's no way you're getting all this done.

I, um, overcompensate when I leave. I overcompensate.

And you also take them. I've seen you take them to your gigs too. It looks like on Instagram.

Feel bad when I do that, but I'm overcompensating. They're like, "It's all a trip and let's go bike riding as a family." You know, like it's— and then they're like, "We wanna stay at this hotel." I'm like, "That's really expensive. I can stay at like a hotel 6, but with you guys, I have to now spend extra few hundred bucks." Like, I'm moving money when they come with me, but I'm like, dang, overcompensating, right? Oh, but I, I'm just so glad they're all so well hydrated. You know, but no, Vegeta with me and it's not just because my husband would drive, that it was the word, drive, but also like it's nice because I guess lonely, you know, on the road yourself.

Well, I'm going to be your groupie now. Okay.

And we're going to go to Rikers, right? We're going to have your first Juna Bobby MD.

First the Italian restaurant.

Let's do that. First the Italian restaurant. Let's work out your jokes.

Okay. Yeah, no, I could get you into Rikers probably. So before we go, I want to ask you, what is your process? Because in classrooms I have the kids bring jokes, and a lot of these kids, they're really super smart. They spend a lot of time studying or practicing violin, and I would love for them to practice maybe even writing something. I used to tell jokes when I was in middle school. We used to move a lot.

Oh, we did.

So when we went to like a new school, I remember being in the playground telling my 3 jokes. And then people would instantly like me.

Okay, girl, you and I are the same because when I was like 9 or 10, I was very quiet. I got teased a lot and I had 2 best friends and my teacher's like, "You're a mute. You don't talk in class." She gave me like straight beans. I didn't do my homework and she's like, "I'm separating you from your friends next year in 5th grade." And so you're gonna have to make new friends. I'm like, how do I do that? And I, I studied a book of jokes and, uh, my aunt gave it to me called 101 Dirty Jokes. And I didn't know what I was reading, but I was like, I've gotta rehearse this shit and tell it to all the kids next day. And I told these dirty jokes to these boys. No one, like the boys gave up their recess just to listen to these jokes. And that's when I felt my first kind of felt validated for making people laugh. I think that's when I first, I was like, I like to do this. And then I'd start being like the class clown and did like impersonations of like Richard Simmons. But I got it, like the whole like, you know, jokes as kids, right? And making people laugh.

Wow. That's so funny. So you were always a comedian.

Yeah, I was.

What was your favorite comic? Did you like Mad Magazine? Did you like Saturday Night Live? What was your favorite thing?

Mad Magazine, loved it. Redfall, Archie books.

Oh yeah, Archie.

Mad TV with Bobby Levy when he was like pretending to be Sandra Oh, like character sketches. Always loved Saturday Night Live. I love the classic Saturday Night Live.

Who's your favorite comedian right now?

Well, he passed, Norm Macdonald. He was Saturday Night Live's Kevin O'Connell. Kevin Nealon. Love him. So lovable and likable. Um, tear down a burger and a football sandwich for like 40 minutes and just kill it.

Do you like Seinfeld?

Love him.

He's like, he's one of the few people who doesn't say anything dirty. Like no, no cursing or anything.

No.

It's amazing.

No. Like it would be so off-putting if he's comfortable with sex. I wanted to talk about raisins.

Finzer is Sock, the sock in the dryer. Yeah, he talks about Don't Break the Chain, where he wrote 3 jokes every single day and put a big X in the calendar. Cool. So when you come up with new material, usually is it something that pisses you off, or is it something that made you laugh?

I usually— it pisses me off. I love it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm become a serial nerd or comedian. A lot of stuff annoy me or piss me off.

How do you turn that into a joke?

Um, do you write it down?

Like, what's your process? Do you write it down or you try it with your kids or your husband? Like, what's happening?

I never try it with my kids because everything I say is not funny. They would destroy my career if I relied on them. I write it down and I just keep writing it, writing it, and then I actually read it on stage at some points to take it on stage and see what the feedback is with the audience. And sometimes I'll pivot, and if this turns out it doesn't feel neutral, I'll say something else. And if it works based on the audience response, then I'm like, "That one worked." And sometimes if it doesn't work, then you're like, "Back to the drawing board. I gotta rewrite that." And then you just rework it and tweak it, tweak it. And there's this one joke that I'm doing, like, 10, 12 years ago when I first started, that it was okay. And then I brought it. I haven't said that joke forever and brought it back, but it was so impromptu and I changed the last word and it was amazing.

Wow. Do you have like a file of jokes like on your computer or even?

I am very disorganized, usually it's in here, but then I'll like every show I'll write This is my 1-hour set. This is my 10-minute set. So every time it's a new time limit, I'll have like different jokes. And then sometimes it makes me too nervous to write everything down and I'll just like do bullet points. I'll be like, the first section, just my mom and dad, the conception, parent, I mean kids, and here are these punchlines. So I just kind of like have to remember the keywords and write down. As I go. Wow.

You do 1-hour sets. That's unbelievable.

When I headline, I do an hour. But a lot of it is 20% is like crowd work. So I like to get my crowd, you know, it's so every show is different based on the crowd. But I get things down. And the better and the more engaged the crowd is, the better the show is.

This was so much fun. Really excited to have this time with you, Alice.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Oh my God, are you kidding? Thank you. I can't wait to hang out with you in town.

Oh, we're doing it, girl.

We're doing it. I'm so excited.

That's fine. Let's plan a date. Okay.

Thank you, Alice.

Yeah, thank you. You're the best.