meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Slate Daily Feed

What Next: Grief, Comedy, and COVID

Slate Daily Feed

Slate Podcasts

News, Business, Society & Culture

41.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2020

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Over the summer, comedian Laurie Kilmartin took to Twitter to joke about something that wasn’t funny: Her mom was dying. JoAnn Kilmartin, Laurie’s mother, had contracted the coronavirus in her nursing home and was on her deathbed only a few miles from Laurie’s home in southern California. Guest: Laurie Kilmartin, comedian and author of Dead People Suck: A Guide for Survivors of the Newly Departed. We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in June, 2020. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Happy holidays everyone. It's Mary. This week we are returning to episodes that we just

0:06.7

couldn't stop thinking about this year. This one is about how to keep laughing even when you're in the middle of terrible grief.

0:15.0

Our guest had just lost her mom to the coronavirus,

0:18.0

and with more and more people losing their own relatives every day, we thought this episode might be even more relevant now

0:26.6

than it was when we and writer based in LA.

0:39.0

She's used to making people laugh by getting up on a stage, going on tour. But the coronavirus put an end to that.

0:47.0

As a stand-up now, I do my job on Zoom in my bedroom where exactly where I'm doing this podcast.

0:55.0

Is that weird? It feels weird.

0:57.0

It's incredibly strange.

0:59.0

The fun thing about stand-up is being with a crowd and knowing that things can go off the rails at any second.

1:10.4

I think that's totally lost on Zoom. The audio delays are, they're like only two or three second

1:18.6

delays, but they kill jokes. They kill timing. Yeah, it's funny because you said, you know, stand up is all about something could go wrong, which is so true and stuff goes wrong on Zoom all the time, but in like the least funny way.

1:33.2

Yeah in a frustrating way and it happens multiple times in a show so it so it gets less funny every

1:41.1

single time when someone starts chewing during your set.

1:47.0

Lori's been to Zoom shows with designated laughers, folks who try to make it all feel more seamless. It's still weird.

1:55.0

I mostly just try to slam in as many jokes as possible on Zoom. That's my style.

2:01.0

And then get out of there?

2:02.0

And get the hell out of there.

2:02.7

And get the hell out of there.

2:05.1

And do the dishes or whatever.

2:08.0

Yeah.

2:09.0

Do you talk about COVID in your sets?

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.