Jessi Klein: ‘I Love That for You’

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the most influential comedy voices of her generation, Jessi Klein spent years working as a development executive at Comedy Central before making the leap to stand-up, SNL and then head writer for ‘Inside Amy Schumer.’ Now, in addition to her long-running role as the angsty tween Jessi on ‘Big Mouth,’ Klein has taken on the role of showrunner for ‘I Love That for You,’ a new Showtime series co-created by and starring fellow SNL alum Vanessa Bayer. In this episode, Klein opens up about her unconventional road to comedy success and why SNL wasn’t the best environment for her. She also talks about her new book of essays on midlife and motherhood and tells hilarious stories about working with Amy Schumer, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon and more.

Follow Jessi Klein on Twitter @jessirklein and Instagram @youracquaintancejessiklein

Follow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilstein

Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod

Buy I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You may recognize the voice of my guest on this week's show from her role as the
0:04.4	angsty tween girl Jessie on the Netflix animated series Big Mouth.
0:09.1	But she is so much more than that.
0:11.8	Guys have said to me, you know, Jesse, part of what makes you so pretty is you have no
0:20.7	idea how pretty you are. And then they're just like,
0:23.6	enjoy. And I'm like, that is not nice. You know, that is like at best, that's like a backhanded
0:35.1	compliment. And at worst, that's just like a forehanded insult
0:39.4	because I know that what that sentence really means is part of what makes you so pretty
0:48.5	is that your self-esteem is so low it's easier for me to fuck you.
1:01.7	This is the last laugh.
1:06.7	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and that was how Jesse Klein introduced herself to the world in her 2011 Comedy Central stand-up special.
1:13.0	Jesse may not be the most famous comedian we've had on this podcast, but she is among the most influential comedy voices
1:18.0	of the past two decades. After helping to develop shows like Strangers with Candy and Chappelle's show
1:23.9	as a behind-the-scenes executive at Comedy Central, Jesse went on to a prolific
1:29.0	writing career of her own, including a one-year stint at Saturday Night Live, before taking on the
1:35.2	role of head writer for Inside Amy Schumer. Now, in addition to her incredible voice work on Big
1:41.3	Mouth, which just got picked up for a seventh season.
1:49.9	Jesse is the showrunner of I Love That for You, a new Showtime series co-created by and starring SNL's Vanessa Bayer.
1:52.6	Here's a clip from the new show in which Bayer, who has just landed her dream job at a QVC-like
1:57.7	home shopping network, runs into her childhood hero, played by fellow S&L alum Molly Shannon.
2:04.3	I'm Jackie.
2:05.5	I know who you are.
	...

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