It’s been two and a half long, unpredictable years since comedian Chelsea Handler last played at Filmore Miami Beach. Meanwhile, the talk show veteran caught up with therapy, recorded an insightful HBO Max special, launched her own podcast, and hooked up with an old friend in surprising new ways – all during an ongoing pandemic. With a handful of start dates for her current Vaccinated and Horny Tour in her luggage and a few dozen still on the horizon, Handler is already feeling an energy turnaround among the audience, ready to reappear, get excited and forge their own ways through uncertainty.
New Times: Did putting together a full set of material between last year’s Evolution Special and now required a different writing process or mindset than normal times?
Chelsea Handler: Evolution was a very personal special for me. It was about my therapy story and my story about my brother and my experience of how humiliating and humiliating that can be. You take five steps forward and then eighteen steps back. You think, “Oh, I’ll kill it! I’ll nail it! I meditate!” And then on the way out the door from therapy you get into a huge screaming match with the parking lot attendant and you think, “Wait, what just happened?” So the special was important to me because I wanted to use the standup medium and do something I had never done before, with strong messages and a personal story that was profound.
And now I feel like people really have to laugh. I want people’s sides to hurt when they leave the theater. I want someone to have an accident and urinate during my show. I want that kind of energy – to bring joy and just make people forget about the past couple of years while also remembering the idiotic behavior many of us have shown over and over again during the pandemic. Because if we don’t laugh about it, it’s just too depressing.
You recently completed the first season of your Dear Chelsea podcast. What have you learned about your fans or yourself since the company was founded? Does it allow you to express yourself in ways that you can’t on stage?
Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that interviewing celebrities is one thing, but speaking to real people is a completely different game. And one that I enjoy a lot. I’m a really strong person, and I’m a really strong advocate for everyone to be their best. I want to be the big sister who pushes you in the right direction like I am with all of my friends. I’m the person who comes in and says, “You can do this! You can leave this relationship! You can quit this job! You can take a leap of faith!” So the podcast is very much along those lines.
similar posts
I support
Local
Community
journalism
Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of the New Times free.
Most people have already made up their minds what they are going to do, but all they are thinking about is when and how they are going to do it. I became so immersed in therapy that I de facto call myself a medical doctor, even though I don’t have a degree. I grew up with “Dear Abby” and I love advice and I thought, “Oh, I should do that! What’s more bombastic than calling myself some kind of advisor?”
You recently Instagram official your new relationship with former Chelsea Lately panelist Jo Koy. How did you make the transition from longtime friends?
Jo Koy and I ending up together is a perfect example of therapeutic work. Because I would never have taken him seriously before I went to therapy. He came back into my life about a year and a half ago and put a lot of work into it, despite trying to convince me that I’ve had a crush on him for 15 years. But I didn’t actually see him through that lens. And until I got a little more open-minded and stopped judging everything and being so narrow-minded about my personal belief systems, I wouldn’t have seen him that way. Being able to be with him and love him the way I do and appreciate him the way I do is really what I attribute to therapy and getting my head out of my own ass .
Their views on issues ranging from voting rights to access to abortion seem to contradict those that are prevalent in Florida. Given the four upcoming shows in the state, do you generally view encountering politically charged moments as a personal challenge or more of an opportunity for discussion?
I think we’ve all been fed up with politics long ago. I certainly have. It’s pretty exhausting. So on this tour I feel a certain responsibility to come and entertain and create splitting laughter and help people forget their problems and politics and how terrible things have gotten. I hit that political drum pretty loud, so people are very well aware of how I feel. So I really just want to focus on the comedy, the idiotic behavior we’ve all shown, certainly myself during the pandemic.
How does comedy help bring seemingly divided people closer together, especially in times of socio-political uncertainty?
It is a reminder of humanity and a reminder of togetherness. We’re all in it together and keep forgetting. People can get caught up in their own nonsense, but the important thing to remember is that the tide is lifting all ships. We all want to help each other; we are all human. Laughing with others is the best mood in the world. That feeling of togetherness – when you can’t control your laughter and it hurts and your cheeks hurt and your stomach hurts – that’s humanity.
Chelsea handlers. 7 p.m. Thursday, October 28, at Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7300; fillmoremb.com. Tickets range from $ 49.50 to $ 169.50 through livenation.com.
Comments are closed.