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Sam Bee is one of the most beloved Daily Show correspondents of all time and has personally been nominated for 18 freaking Emmy Awards. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s the host of an amazing new podcast called Choice Words, right here on Lemonada Media. Sam and I talked about touring for her standup show, “Your Favorite Woman”. It was amazing to hear how she deals with her inner critic and feedback from the outside world. Also, she recommended I watch her favorite TV show, Call the Midwife, which sounds amazing, but our producer did recommend I watch it after I’ve already given birth.

Please note, Funny Cuz It’s True contains mature themes and may not be appropriate for all listeners.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Sam Bee, Elyse Myers

Elyse Myers  00:11

Okay, actually, can you just pretend that you’re listening to a fully complete theme song here, I got really in my head. And I tried to make it perfect. And I couldn’t. So this is going to be the theme song right here. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Funny Cuz It’s True. I’m Elyse Myers. I’ve always admired people who live by their own rules and have like a really unbreakable sense of self. Our guest today Sambi is most definitely an example of that. Her time on The Daily Show and her creation of the show full frontal were opportunities to watch someone just at the top of their game. She holds people in power accountable through her work, and she is very funny while doing it. So two things that are funny because they’re true. Number one, listen to see if you can hear the sound of me like screeching with excitement when we talk about her tour and live comedy show your favorite woman. And number two. During this conversation, I learned what my next street meat outing will be when I visit New York next. So that’s extremely exciting for me and everyone involved. Alright, let’s get into it. Sam, hello, how are you?

Sam Bee  02:39

Hello. Oh my god, it’s so nice to meet you.

Elyse Myers  02:44

Well, I was gonna ask I don’t this has nothing to do with anything. But I literally all I’m thinking about is are you a Vanderpump fan? And do you know what’s going on?

Sam Bee  02:53

I don’t watch Vanderpump okay, I know that there’s a scandal.

Elyse Myers  02:56

The whole scandal of all.

Sam Bee  02:59

Somebody’s cheated on someone. Yeah, publicly. And then people were following someone. Yeah. And they were like, I caught you outside of Chipotle. Yeah.

Elyse Myers  03:09

You know what? Anything you can say right now it’d be right because it’s all happened what I guess what shows do you like to watch? What is your what is your vibe on TV?

Sam Bee  03:17

Don’t know what I watch anymore? I don’t feel like there’s anything for me on television right now. So I go back to you know what I really love which is so extremely dorky. It’s so dorky that I love it so much that I haven’t watched the latest season because I’m afraid I don’t want to break the seal. Okay, like I want to know that it’s there for me when I need.

Elyse Myers  03:38

Call the midwife. What is it about?

Sam Bee  03:41

It’s like midwives in postwar London. It’s incredible. It’s the most like sneaky. It’s like the sneaky feminist. Heartwarming, ridiculous show. And then every week, babies are born and you’re like, you’re like they the baby was born. And it’s like, sometimes so tragic. You can’t stop crying. And sometimes you’re just crying from joy.

Elyse Myers  04:08

My producer Claire just messaged me and said it’s so good. But please don’t watch it before you give birth because I’m about to give birth. Oh, you’re about to give birth. Like Elyse, I’m telling you right now.

Sam Bee  04:19

Do not watch. Yeah, you know what I second that I didn’t realize you’re about to get okay. Yeah. But you know what? Six months after?

Elyse Myers  04:27

I’ll have healed from the trauma of it. And I’ll be ready. Take that all in and be ready. So do you watch a lot of shows that have some kind of like underlying message like political shows or period pieces? Is that kind of your vibe when watching TV?

Sam Bee  04:41

I think it’s more like, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t watch that much comedy. But I think that’s more has more to do with the fact that I so I know how the sausage is made of comedy that makes sense. And it’s not like it’s not as entertaining to me as something that I can immerse myself in that I’m just like, how to make this?

Elyse Myers  05:01

Yeah, know all about a miracle.

Sam Bee  05:03

Like, this is so serious and dire. I can’t make that.

Elyse Myers  05:08

That’s interesting. That’s No, that’s true. It’s like a it’s like a chef that cooks all night and doesn’t come home and make their own food. They eat a bowl of cereal kind of like that.

Sam Bee  05:16

Yeah. Or they stop it like Gray’s papaya on the way. Yeah, and they get like a papaya dog.

Elyse Myers  05:21

I’m gonna be really honest with you. I have no clue what Gray’s papaya is but Sam said it in reference to a hot dog. So I’m just picturing like a piece of papaya in a bun.

Sam Bee  05:31

Romain milkshake. And you’re like, like the greatest. It’s like sometimes my workout really hard at the end of the workout. I want a hot dog so badly.

Elyse Myers  05:43

I work out is for the point of what else? What is the workout for? Just speaking of kind of like what you do, especially in the comedy world, I know that like you have such a gift of hope of like interviewing people first of all, but then the interviews you do are always have this like underlying like, serious tone, and you kind of have to like bring the light to it either. And like The Daily Show, or like things like that. I’m really curious if you have always been that way if you’ve always if you decided to lean into that because that was your job or if it comes natural to you. Um,

Sam Bee  06:19

I think that well when it because I really didn’t sound like I spent my whole life aspiring to be interviewing people like I did.

Elyse Myers  06:27

A child just like on the playground just like

Sam Bee  06:30

To be honest, I did when I was a child, I made a recording of me doing fake news, and interviewing people in my home.

Elyse Myers  06:38

Oh, wait, tell me all about this.

Sam Bee  06:40

I have a cassette like just one surviving audio cassette that is called and I have my own, like seven year old handwriting on it. And it’s called news for goofs. news. News for goofs. Oh, and it’s a little bit like breaking the seal of not watching called the midwife because I’m afraid to listen to the tape. Yeah, I know. I think I know what’s on it. But not only am I afraid to break the physically break the tie Yeah, but I’m also think it’s maybe much better in my imagined version of it than it isn’t.

Elyse Myers  07:12

You have to go back and listen to it. And you have to use it in something because that is like such a full circle moment of I did that to at my first like big purchase was a camcorder. Not the news. But like, I never in a million years would have imagined my life would be doing the job I do now. But right. If you look back on my life, and like all the signs were there, like, I would go around with a camcorder and just like film people and you know, you couldn’t edit in anything. So you would edit within the camcorder and you would like, you know, fast forward and cut there and then do a little transition of a crossfade. And, and it was like I loved making stuff. And I would have never guessed that would have been my life.

Sam Bee  07:48

That is so cool. That is really cool. Okay, well, we should try it. We should download all this stuff, do a complete trade, and then we’ll know each other’s secrets like origin story.

Elyse Myers  07:59

Other than news for goofs, though you didn’t do any interviewing? Like guy like middle school, high school.

Sam Bee  08:04

Interviewing? No, I really learned how to do that. The minute I got the job at The Daily Show, like I’ve loved watching it, it was my favorite show. So when I got the job, I had to literally learn how to interview people. And it was really hard. It’s hard job.

Elyse Myers  08:20

It’s hard. I’m learning as I go. I’ve never been in this kind of role. And so every time I go to do an interview, I’m always just like, well, I’m probably gonna black out and I’ll see you on the other end.

Sam Bee  08:34

Go into a trance. I don’t know. I said words. Were those distinguishable. Regular sounds.

Elyse Myers  08:39

How did you get into that role then? So did you like audition for it? I did.

Sam Bee  08:45

I did. And they were not really good at auditioning people. In a way the producers of the show didn’t know what was required of you in the actual never would have auditioned people the way that they did if they had really had a comprehensive view of what the job was, because how did they audition you? They would just give you a script and be like, can you read the script on camera? And so I did and kind of Yeah, just like, can you pretend that you’re a journalist? And I was like, Yep, I sure can. Because I know exactly what you guys do at the show. 100%. Totally. Got it. And then then they were like, Okay, great. You’re going to South Dakota to interview some real people in their homes. And you have to make jokes, but also get the full story. And you’re going to be there for three days. And you’re going to film for you’re going to film for 442 hours with this family. So come back with something great. And it was that your first job was one of the first jobs I did was going to like Sioux Falls South Dakota and going to this man’s house and just being and they were like, Okay, well, I’ll just make some funny high drinks in his house.

Elyse Myers  09:51

No, see if this was my first gig as a reporter and someone gave me the brief of just go make some funny high jinks in his house. I would come back with like a Talk Show we created in his house to then give back to the people that hired me to go do the high jinks. And then they’d say, what is this? And I would say, high jinks. And they would say, this is not the hygiene we were asking for. And I’d say, Well, then don’t say hygiene next time. But that’s just me. I was like,

Sam Bee  10:15

What are you talking about?

Elyse Myers  10:18

Did feel like so in over here? Like, What did that feel like to just be like, this isn’t what I knew I was doing. And here we are.

Sam Bee  10:25

I knew that I was going to be doing it. But I didn’t know what it would be like, in real life when you’re talking to, you know, like, well, I know you, you know, when you’re preparing for an interview. It’s so theoretical, like, yeah, who try to anticipate what a person is going to say, yeah, you try to make a little map for yourself, you try. And then it just goes where it goes. And it’s like that in the field. But then you have to add a lot of jokes on top of it. And so you’re telling storytelling, also handling a real person, also trying to put jokes in there. It’s like, it’s very tricky. So they, the first time we went out, I went out with someone who was a former producer from 60 minutes, actually, who was working at The Daily Show. And he was like, a hard ass and I love him. He’s just like someone I treasure now. But he was out a hard ass in that really moment. He taught me. He literally taught me how to do it. And it probably took a year before I had a clue what was happening before I wasn’t just like, so scared. And shivering.

Elyse Myers  11:27

Did you have any, like improv background or anything that glad, like, I’m just wondering how that comedy mixes in with the actual reporting, because I feel like that I would never know which one to lean more towards?

Sam Bee  11:38

Well, I mean, I did sketch comedy. I was, you know, writing comedy and performing all the time. So I had, like, I had all of that. And then I had my knowledge of the show. So I had like, my knowledge of the style of the show. And then I was learning the skill of, it’s like the skill of listening.

Elyse Myers  11:58

This is like when someone starts talking about eye contact in a conversation with you. And then you become super aware of your eye contact with them. So then you do like many breaks away from their eyes, so that it doesn’t seem uncomfortable, but in this case, it was listening. So did I have a list of questions that I wanted to ask her? Yeah, absolutely. But then I became aware of them, because she said, that’s not a good thing. So now, I don’t, I don’t know what to do.

Sam Bee  12:28

Yeah, listening to someone really, really listening to them. And also, putting your own agenda into the conversation. It’s like, balancing where someone’s going with your own needs. Because you have a job, you’re bringing a job that you have to you’re trying to execute on something. So learning that blend it took it took years, and then I just did it. I mean, 1000s of times 1000s of interviews.

Elyse Myers  12:55

Did you ever have a conversation where you had like you like you had a prep with you? And then the person that was talking, you’re like, No, I’m gonna go there. And you kind of had to make like a hard right where you’re like, I might get in trouble for this. But I usually weird,

Sam Bee  13:08

though, really? Yeah, that happened just so much. There’s only so much you think you know about someone’s real life. And then when you get into the story, or you start talking to them, you’re like, Oh, they’re a real person. You’re really open being patient. Yeah. Oh, you have like you have a heart. You have a human. So you realize in the moment, you’re like, Oh, well, this was a funny story. This was a funny story. Until we learned your actual story. Because you were so generous. You told us. You know, what led to this, like what led to the funny thing is not really very funny. So now we know we have to handle you in a different way, and make sure that you feel like, treasured or make sure that we’re storytelling correctly. And like, it was great. It was, it was great. It was never what we expected. And sometimes it was funny, or weirder than we thought it would be. But mostly it was like I’m gonna figure this person out.

Elyse Myers  14:01

You were there for a long time. Right long time. How long did you do that job?

Sam Bee  14:05

12 years? Yeah. 12 years zero. See, I did for a really long time.

Elyse Myers  14:09

Was there ever a point where you felt like I could just do this forever? Or how did you make How did you decide I guess to make that transition out and then into what you did next?

Sam Bee  14:17

I don’t know if you know this, but I worked with my husband did the same job as me. So we were out to daily show together. We were really intentional about kind of like building a business together. And we always knew that our next job should be something that we personally made that we needed to like, kind of put those building blocks in place while we had a good job. So we were always trying to make something work like we were selling TV pilots and like, waiting for one to be greenlit. Yeah, and it just we just got extremely, extraordinarily lucky, actually that one of the pilots that we wrote together did get greenlit and then John announced that he was leaving and then the same now Mark offered me a show so it all happened all at the same time. In the spring of 2015, or something like that, it was crazy.

Elyse Myers  15:08

What was it like being at the helm of it you are now it like you had to make all these decisions like what was it that week to week like for you? And how does that differ from working on someone else’s show?

Sam Bee  15:18

Well, it’s it’s great and it’s difficult because you if you work for someone else you can be can blame them for a lot of stuff. Oh, ya know what I mean? Like you can really, like you’re not responsible for people’s happiness. You can be a complainer you can be like, Oh, no, no, no, no, I don’t like the way we’re doing this. Not sure about that. And also, if something goes wrong, or like something hits the audience wrong, or like a controversy emerges, it’s not your responsibility.

Elyse Myers  15:51

You’re like a face of it.

Sam Bee  15:53

You know, at the face of it. Yeah. And so that, that was a real, that’s the transition, like being solely responsible. And you’re not, ultimately you’re not the only person like who’s you have, like a whole team of people who are creating, but you’re the face of the thing right at the receiving end of praise, and you’re on the receiving end of like, anger or hatred, or like controversy, or whatever.

Elyse Myers  16:16

Everything Sam just talked about is like everything I love about being a business owner, because there’s nothing worse than not loving something and then just not being able to change it or do anything about it. So all these reasons that she’s listing are like reasons I started my own business. Did you find that that changed or affected the way that you wrote and created things? Because now your face was on it? Did you feel more timid in your creativity? When you first started out?

Sam Bee  16:40

No, I felt very bold, actually. Oh, really? No, I really thought we would have six episodes to just like, say everything in and then get cancelled because I’m like, you can’t have these opinions and be so loud about it and be on TV like, no one’s gonna go for that. Yeah. And in the end, it just timed perfectly with how people were feeling so it went on longer.

Elyse Myers  17:03

Okay, time for a quick break. When we come back, Sam tells us about her two or your favorite woman. You’re doing a tour right now, right? Yeah, from what I’ve seen him to show I like perked up when I got to see that you’re doing like a combination with this tour. The name of the tour is your favorite woman. Right? Okay. So that I saw that you do like a combination of like digital content and then live performance and like, if I were to ever do a live tour? That is exactly what I would do. And so I really want to know how you got to that point and like, how do you make those decisions? And what is that like for you to kind of creatively produce that?

Sam Bee  20:09

Well, you know what, it’s exactly that what it’s exactly like what we were saying. It’s, that’s what I would want to see. Yes, I crave dynamic variance and things like I crave something that takes me here, it takes me there, show me a thing I kind of need to. There’s nothing. I mean, I love live performance. I go see stuff all the time. But there is always like a lag period in a live performance where you’re like, kind of fall asleep. And you need to be you need somebody that even if it’s like the greatest performance in the world, often you’re just like, your attention wanes, or you Yeah, you your mind wanders.

Elyse Myers  20:50

I just saw the musical parade on Broadway. And about halfway through like right before intermission, I got lost in a train of thought about how strong the chandelier was that I was sitting directly underneath. And if it really was possible to swing from the chandelier, like the CSR. And then I started humming the song underneath my breath, as I was just staring straight at the ceiling, when all of the action was happening on stage, like so far down below us right in front of us. So then I got asked if I was okay. So I get it.

Sam Bee  21:18

I think that having a multimedia experience wakens you out of that it kind of it just like shows you something in a different way. It’s instantly gratifying. I like that for myself.

Elyse Myers  21:32

Okay, so you you do the combination of mixed media? And how like, was it overwhelming to kind of plan to do that? Totally. Did you have to sell people on it? Or were you were like this, what I’m going to do.

Sam Bee  21:43

I just saw a few people on it. And I’ve more or less had to sell people on the fact that I was actually interested in doing it. Because I’ve been so resistant to it, because I just have been too busy. So people were like, really, you’re gonna do that? And I was like, No, I love being on a stage. I do. I’m so completely comfortable on a stage, when I’m very prepared when I have like, lots of material and I’m proud of it. I feel great. Yeah, I’m getting there is really terrifying. And I think a lot of people who truly know me were like, are you really up for this? This is what you have you me? Yeah, you want to put yourself in a place of total discomfort for a really long time. Yeah. And it’s not wrong, that you have to place obstacles and challenges in your own path sometimes to see yourself punched through them, I encourage you to do it. And to do it in exactly the way that you want to do it. Because it’s invigorating.

Elyse Myers  22:43

The thing for me is kind of like when we were talking about like breaking the seal earlier of like, I don’t want to open that thing. So I wanted to like not meet my expectations, but like, I’m afraid of live shows being this thing, where what I do is so I never have an audience in front of me, I do everything by myself. And I am very sure of the creative decisions I make in a vacuum in my room with a camera. And as soon as you have to bring other people into it, like an audience, now, their the volume of their laugh will give you a direct answer as to whether what you did is funny. You can’t convince people by how much you love it. And I think that really scares me.

Sam Bee  23:25

Yeah, right. That’s the that’s the that’s the joy and the pain of edits, like because you’re so scared, it’s telling you that you should try it. And you should try it because you’ll probably really like it. But the first I would say, I think for four to six months, you’ll be really mad at yourself. Really?

Elyse Myers  23:43

Where is that? what your experience was?

Sam Bee  23:46

i Not that I’m not mad at myself, but I was just, you know, sometimes you, you, you always feel it in the back of your mind. So it’s hard to like, it’s hard to like, truly relax. Because if you’re at Thanksgiving, and you’re like, This is so fun. Look at all these smiling faces. You’re like, Yeah, but I have to write a show, man. Yeah, like, I have to go but I’m going on tour in April.

Elyse Myers  24:11

Like always the back of like your mind.

Sam Bee  24:14

It’s always there. But then once you started and you you know, you have like a little nest of people who are creative who do you know, you can collaborate just like with the exact right people in your life who support your ideas, who will also tell you if your ideas are not good. Yeah, someone in your life who says no, that’s terrible.

Elyse Myers  24:39

That’s terrible. Don’t ever do that again.

Sam Bee  24:41

No, sorry. Yeah, no, don’t do that. I didn’t. I found I think that was offensive.

Elyse Myers  24:47

Yeah, you know, I’m offended. I don’t know.

Sam Bee  24:52

Um, and then you do it is it requires a lot of trust in yourself. But also you have to think like people are hoping to see you. And if they’re coming to see you, that means they like what you do and who you truly are. And so whatever comes out of you is going to be an expression of that. And there they are. They’re going to like it. They’re going to love the experience.

Elyse Myers  25:15

Yeah. Did you? Have you found that now that you’ve started actually touring it, that it was what you thought it would be? Is it better? Like, what actually like actually making it happen?

Sam Bee  25:25

It’s more fun than I thought it would be. Actually, I definitely because I really came to a place where I really, I really, this is so crazy, but like, I’ve just come to this place where I’m like, I these are things I need to say now. I have no hesitation about there’s nothing in it. There’s nothing in the show that I’m like, Oh, I don’t know about this. I like it. I don’t expect everybody in the audience to like, like every second half of it, or agree with every second of it. I don’t I’m like, This is me. I don’t know, this is what I like. I’m presenting it to you. I’m proud of it. Like it or not.

Sam Bee  26:09

I’m very proud of it. I hope you do. But you don’t have to have to

Sam Bee  26:14

Also I love you. You love you. I hope you walk away having some kind of like catharsis or like a moment that you’ve really truly like laughed. Yeah. And and if not, don’t tell anyone that you didn’t.

Elyse Myers  26:30

Like just delete the memory from your brain. And this never happened. We wouldn’t have talked about it.

Sam Bee  26:35

We don’t have to it wasn’t that long. So it should it should erase with just like a couple of margaritas and it’s gonna be gone forever. Don’t worry.

Elyse Myers  26:43

I love that you’re like, the back and forth of like, I’m so confident in myself. It doesn’t matter. And also I I only really want to hear about it if you like it.

Sam Bee  26:51

Yeah, and I don’t I’m not gonna listen to you like, and I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t read anybody’s view. I don’t want to hear anybody’s feedback. Good or bad. I don’t hear I don’t I excused myself from it. Yeah, I just had to, I don’t pay attention. Yeah, anybody’s says because I can’t.

Elyse Myers  27:08

I think it’s healthy, that that’s why you have to have people in your inner circle that will be honest with you. Because you know that everything they say is going to be out of love. And also they want you to succeed and win. And so it’s like, you need to keep those people in your corner. And you can’t just like let that you know, responsibility fall on people that have never met you before and don’t care about you. And we’ll never see you ever again. You can’t have that at all.

Sam Bee  27:30

Yeah, you cannot have your self worth invested in strangers as much as we love. We love the strangers who love our material, of course. But your self worth cannot be contingent on acceptance of anything you do or say.

Elyse Myers  27:45

There was just like this person that really latched on to my content and hated me and follow me and it was like a hate follow. And it was just a really like, they just made it their life’s mission to like, make spoofs on every video I posted. And it was just so I am not that kind of person. I couldn’t imagine being that kind of person. No. So I was trying to empathize and understand and like, fix if I needed to fix and I just there was no reasoning with it. And it was like, I just had this like this, like, visual in my mind of like, this one person, it’s like, by focusing so much on them, I was giving them the keys to this whole platform and like, giving them over all of these people that really love me and support me and, and are learning from my contents like what, like it’s making the millions of other people that love me and want to support me, like suffer with me. And it’s so silly. It can just be a lot. And so it’s very smart of you to just be like, This is what I love. I want you to see it and I’m proud of it. And if you don’t like it, that’s all good. Go eat a hot dog and have a great day. Okay, fun fact, I was just informed throughout this interview that Gray’s papaya is actually a very famous hot dog chain in New York. And as a street meat enthusiast, I’m very ashamed that I’ve never heard of this place in my life. And I feel like I need to go to New York now just to go to Grace papaya. So stand by on that.

Sam Bee  29:06

It’s a struggle. It’s very, very hard to tune that stuff out. It’s actually hard, especially if it’s your business. To be engaging with people. It’s hard to like skip over people who say terrible things. And there’s a lot

Elyse Myers  29:21

it’s hard because like I have made it a very big goal of mine to be very present in the in the community that we’re building and in the comments. And so I hold the comments on my videos very dearly to me. And so you can’t you can’t like respect and appreciate your comment section without also very much caring about seeing something negative about you because it’s like you know, you appreciate the love and then you fear the hate so I just have to understand that I’m going to see things that people don’t you know, that don’t ever think I’m going to see it and then it kind of ruins my day. And I try not let it and then I move on and you know you get Little desensitized to it, but it doesn’t go away. I think that it’d be silly, it’d be like, I’m not affected by it. I’m a robot, because that’s just for me at least not it’s impossible.

Sam Bee  30:09

Impossible, like you can’t. And it’s actually weird how the ratio works.

Elyse Myers  30:15

Really quick. I don’t know if you know who John Gottman is, but he’s one of my favorite authors. And he’s like, a scientist around love, which is really interesting. And he has this thing called the Love Lab where he like studies, fights with people and how to like predict divorce rates. It’s really crazy. And I love all of his work. But one thing he talks about is the magic relationship ratio. Basically, it means every good thing that happens, it’s like a five to one ratio. So if you have one negative thing that happens, you have to have five positive things to counteract your brain to like, not be a negative sentiment override. And this just reminded me of that, because you can have so much like positive feedback from people, but then you get one negative comment. And it’s going to take five positive comments, you know, to come combat that?

Sam Bee  31:04

It’s very upside down, because you could read 1000 great comments. And you would just be like, I’m really, everybody’s really loving this. And then one person will be like, well, you suck, balls, your dad stink, what is this shit? And you’re like, oh, no, I am terrible.

Elyse Myers  31:23

It’s like the 99,000 comments that are kind are like become white noise because the one comment that is mean is hitting an insecurity that I have. And that’s just I, it says more about my relationship to myself than it does about their relationship to me. And it’s just constantly reworking that in my brain, and convincing myself of that,

Sam Bee  31:43

you know, there’s like one person that you know, who’s just so good at cutting to the chase of Yeah, someone’s deepest insecurity. They just know exactly what it is. They zero in on it. Like if someone had said to me in high school, they’d be like, Oh, you’re wearing knockoff Nikes? Like, I would have died like they would die. Yeah, and those comments are like that.

Elyse Myers  32:05

I mean, yeah, they just embed in your soul. And then it’s like this thing that like when it was you were younger, like it plants and then every time someone like says something that aligns with that it like waters it and then it’s all of a sudden, like coming out of your head whether you want to or not this like tree of like shame. Just like what is going on? And yeah, it’s a it’s a whole process. But I think that it’s one thing that comes with a really, really, really cool job and it’s like I just have to constantly reorient and just be like, I love what I do so much. I’m so fucking lucky to get to be a creative person for a living. Yeah, that was a total derail?

Sam Bee  32:40

No, I love it. I love I love talking about it because I think that it’s not like I often do I wonder I’m like, Oh, does JLo read everything that is she can’t possibly like can’t imagine. It’s It’s too hard. You can’t actually do your work. If you’re caring too much what people are saying about you are like their theories about you and like the rabbit holes. Do you just like cannot pay attention to it. You have to just do the minimum engagement with negativity.

Elyse Myers  33:08

All right, time for another break. When we return, we hear about Sam’s new podcast Choice Words. All that to say so you’re doing a tour. It’s going awesome.

Sam Bee  35:38

I want you to do one, I want you to do one.

Elyse Myers  35:41

Yeah, I’m gonna pop a baby out. And then yeah, after that, all like heal my body. Yeah. And all like, what our family will figure it out. And then we’re going to do a tour. That’s like my goal. Maybe I start writing it next year. And if not, it doesn’t go out on the road next year. And the year after that. That’s like, I’ve got to do it. I’ve got to make it happen.

Sam Bee  36:01

Many creative thoughts when the baby comes out. I feel like to have when you’re just spending all that time sort of just like sitting.

Elyse Myers  36:07

Something else. Yeah, feeding a baby.

Sam Bee  36:10

You’ll be like, Alright, let me think about this.

Elyse Myers  36:13

Okay. So then on your on your tour, when did you start the idea of a podcast? How did that happen? Like, well, that

Sam Bee  36:20

was something that because at when I was doing full frontal, we had we had a podcast that we had, okay, onion podcast, and I just loved it. I don’t know, I really was right. This was, it’s something I actually love to do. Like, we’re having a great conversation here. It’s just my favorite thing. I love it. And so many of the interviews I’ve done in the past have been like, oh, great, you have this great conversation with someone for a full hour. And then you need 45 seconds of them saying three sentences. And that’s what you use from this whole thing that you did with them. It’s so easy. Yeah. And you like exchanged phone numbers. And you were like, I’d love to talk to you about this further. And then it’s just just down to this tiny thing. So doing a companion podcast of the show, made a lot of sense. It was really fun to do. I loved it. And so I was like, in the spirit of that was just the one thing that I wanted to, like, I knew I would do a tour. But the one thing I wanted to keep going was that because I do I love it. I just personally love it.

Elyse Myers  37:22

I got to listen to four minutes of because our podcasts are through the same company for people that don’t know through laminata. And I got to listen to that like some like four minutes of your an episode of yours and be like enjoying it. And it was so good. And you really sound so comfortable. And I just couldn’t have imagined feeling that comfortable my first time recording. But obviously you have so much experience and you’re like this, you’re used to just doing this, you know, life and job and you sound so comfy. And I just I want to encourage you that it’s like I’m really excited for you.

Sam Bee  37:52

Thank you so much. Oh my god, this is this is one of those nice conversations. This is a great conversation that I feel could go on for three hours. It’s lovely.

Elyse Myers  38:02

For people that don’t know yet Can you explain what choice words is about?

Sam Bee  38:06

Yeah, it’s it’s really a podcast about people’s choices, because obviously, I’m pro choice. But I’m also literally pro choices. And I love because I feel like this has been for myself, I’ve just been at this crossroads. It’s just figuring out the rest of what my life is going to look like. And so there have been so many crossroads where I’ve made such strong choices, like either successes or failures. And I love hearing about the choices that people made that get them to the place where they are, yeah, it’s often like your whole life can turn on the smallest little decision that you make.

Elyse Myers  38:43

It was like we were talking about earlier, when we were like the writing was on the wall with our camcorders. It’s like you don’t realize but then you like recount your life and all these little things added up to where you are now. Like a really cool thing to look back on and see.

Sam Bee  38:55

If you have a handle on that. Like if you can think back, like some deep like deep dive choices that were made and choices not made. And like those are important to do you know what I mean?

Elyse Myers  39:05

Yeah, that’s an interesting concept. I’m excited for everyone to get to hear all of it. Thank you.

Sam Bee  39:09

I love hearing about other people’s successes and failures. It’s one of my favorite things is to hear like Michelle Obama talk about when she really failed at something. I’m like, yay.

Elyse Myers  39:18

Is Michelle Obama a guest that you want to have on the show?

Sam Bee  39:20

Oh, well, of course, but that’s kind of.

Elyse Myers  39:22

Dang, girl.

Sam Bee  39:23

I know. It’s hard to get no like Michelle. Whatever. Just starting with what’s her name? Michelle. Oh, no, but just listening to her. I like yeah, hearing that stuff. I need to know that like Judy Blume made some bad decisions. I need to know.

Elyse Myers  39:37

I need to know. Sam, thank you so much. It was so good to meet you. And I feel I’m like so excited for your podcast and all of the things I just cannot wait to hear all the full episodes.

Sam Bee  39:47

So happy to be talking to you. This was total pleasure.

Elyse Myers  39:50

Thank you say okay, thank you. All right. Thank you so much for listening to my conversation with Samantha Bee. Make sure to check out her new podcast from Lemonada Media, Choice words. Wherever you’re listening right now, and while you’re at it, if you like this show, give us a little rating and a review. It helps more people find us. Alright, be back next week. Bye. There’s more Funny Cuz It’s with Lemonada Premium get access to all of limonada as premium content, including my five questions with Sam Bee coming out this Friday. Subscribe now and Apple podcasts.

Elyse Myers  40:18

Funny Cuz It’s True is a Lemonada Media and Powderkeg production. The show is produced by Claire Jones, Zoe Dennis and […], our associate producer is Tiffany Buoy. Rachel Neil is our senior director of new content and our VP of weekly production is Steve Nelson. Executive Producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Jessica Cordova Kramer, Paul Feig, Laura Fisher, […] and me Elyse Myers. The show is mixed by Brian Castillo and Johnny Evans. Our theme song music was written by me and scored by Xander Singh.