Happy holidays, everyone. It's Mary. This week, we are returning to episodes that we just 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. Our guest had just lost her mom to the coronavirus, and with more and more people losing their own relatives every day,

we thought this episode might be even more relevant now than it was when we originally taped it in June.

Lori Kilmartin is a comedian and writer based in LA.

She's used to making people laugh by getting up on a stage, going on tour.

But the coronavirus put an end to that.

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

Is that weird?

It feels weird.

It's incredibly strange.

The fun thing about stand-up is being with a crowd and knowing that things can go off

the rails at any second.

I think that's totally lost on Zoom.

The audio delays are, they're like only two or three second 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.

Yeah, in a frustrating way. And it happens multiple times in a show.

So it gets less funny every single time when someone starts chewing during your set.

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

It's still weird.

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