THE PAST... THE PRESENT... AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE FUTURE: REID #174

Capiche?

Jan 30, 2024

SHORT:

Ahhhh!!!! I gotta memorize the alto line of my teacher's psycho Lacrimosa arrangement in time for the winter concert stat or else I'll fail choir!!! Oh wait just kidding I’m 27 and work in advertising.

MEDIUM:

When I was 21, I thought it would be funny to order checks with sexy M&Ms on them. Now that I’m older… they r still so funny 2 me. Every month my landlord sees this guy:

“You're always in tension between what you aspire to be, what you used to be, and how much you've changed” — Theda Hammel, in an interview about Stress Positions, a movie I streamed twice this weekend via Sundance online.

Unrelated-but-related, I’ve decided to get beautiful skin and big boobs so gay guys book me on their comedy shows again.

LONG:

Late Stage Live Ep 3 comes out tomorrow. I’m really proud of how the show is evolving. I wrote a Hillary Clinton x Monika Lewinsky joke for this episode that is soooo stupid. I also wrote a joke about “voting YES on Proposition Ur Mom” — but it was vetoed… Guess being Head Writer means NOTHING! (kidding, of course) (it means texting “plz drop monologue jokes into the monologue joke document” about 15x a week).

If you’re a person who writes about things and wants to cover Late Stage, let me know.

Micro-Pitch:
Nearly 30% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+, but there is only one transgender writer in all of mainstream late night comedy/news and zero trans or queer hosts. Late Stage is a trans and queer-led late night comedy news show on Brooklyn Public Access with a 20-strong team of Gen Z writers, producers, correspondents, and crew members. We film monthly in front of a live studio audience and then post full episodes online here. We’re not in the business of knee-jerk reactions or 30-second takes. Our episodes are thoroughly researched and fact-checked. We offer an authentic leftist Gen Z perspective that is inherently linked to online alternative media. Our Episode 3 desk piece explores this complicated landscape (and how we got here).

If you want to support the show, you can subscribe to our Patreon.

And follow us on IG.

Thank you to everyone who commented on last week’s newsletter with prompts and questions. Keep ‘em coming in the comments down below. I will give a short answer to a biggie dropped into the comments by Allie: “how [do] you make a place for art / fun in your life in a world that wants us to commodify everything we enjoy?”

This is so hard. Especially for me re: writing. I will say, this newsletter (allowing myself to keep it messy and fun) as well as standup, has really helped me. With standup, I used to get very worked up about whether I “proved myself” to “x people” in the room with each set. Now I set a personal intention that has something to do with having fun or taking a risk onstage right before the host calls me up. I keep it in mind as I move through my set. This keeps me grounded in-the-art-making-moment-etc and focused on personal fulfillment instead of what other comics on the lineup/the audience thinks of me. Does that make sense? Basically my answer is “I try and make myself laugh”. With everything I write/make/do. And also try and not be on social media every second of every day comparing myself to other comics and writers who have absolutely perfect lives and are achieving everything. Easier said than done!

Snack Of The Week: mozzarella sticks. I’ve had about 52.

C U Next Tuesday