Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out - 119. Rosebud Baker Returns: Pregnant with Jokes and People

Episode Date: January 15, 2024

Rosebud Baker’s first appearance on Working It Out was in 2021. Since then she’s become a writer on SNL, written for That Damn Michael Che, and become a parent. Now Rosebud returns to talk with Mike about how being a parent affects comedy, and they dispel certain attitudes about filming a comedy special while pregnant. Plus, the art of pitching ideas for different types of sketch shows, and why Rosebud’s daughter has to call her grandfather “Mr. Baker.”Please consider donation to the ASPCA

What's your family's take on stand-up comedy? I think I've had some like run-ins with relatives, you know, in the past. Where it's like, you need to make a public apology. That kind of thing. But this is like way before anyone even knew who I was. I'm like, public to who? Like my Facebook? Wait a minute.

Public, we got to go to the public apology? Yeah. Was it over a specific joke? Yeah, it was a joke. I told about my grandmother who I never met, who was an alcoholic. And basically, it was like when we were voting for Hillary or something. People were dedicating their votes to other women. And I think I said that I was dedicating my vote to my grandmother, not because she would have voted for Hillary, but because she was too drunk to drive to the polls or something. It's a great joke. It was, you know, it was like an easy, fun, I thought it was fun, but my family was not. Whimsical. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a whimsical joke about alcoholism. About a woman who died of alcoholism. Oh, my God. That is the voice of the great Rosebud Baker. Rosebud Baker's a returning champion. One of my favorite comics. She is back. And since then, she became a writer on SNL. She became a mom. And she's just one of my favorite comics. She is back, and since then, she became a writer on SNL. She became a mom, and she's just

one of my favorite comics. That was always one of my favorite episodes. Before we get going, I just want to tell you this week I'm heading to the Pacific Northwest. We're kicking off 2024. I just went to Montana, and I'm heading even further into the pack northwest. Vancouver is sold out. Seattle, we have a few seats left in the third show in Seattle. I'm going to Walla Walla, which is sold out. That's going to be something I'm very, very excited and curious to see what happens. And then Portland, Oregon, which is sold out. But there are a handful of shows that I'm doing coming up that aren't sold out yet.

St. Petersburg, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Orlando, Florida, and Miami all in February. The next stops on Please Stop the Ride will be Aspen, Colorado. It's a gorgeous little theater. Gorgeous, like 500-seat theater. Similarly, in Beaver Creek, Colorado, like a small theater. Fort Collins is sold out. Denver is sold out. But the key thing is I've just added a bunch of new shows. This is one that's years in the making, Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is one that when

the brilliant Sterling Harjo was on, urged me to come to Tulsa. It's such a cool town. People have been telling me for years, I got to come to Tulsa. It is my first time performing in Tulsa. I'm at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, which is gorgeous. Chicago, we just added a second show at the Chicago Theater, one of my favorite theaters in the world. It is a marvel of a theater. Another one we added is a second show in Troy, New York, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, another place.

Years ago, I played with Chris Gethard there, and we just were marveling at how beautiful a theater that is. I just added another show in Toronto. It is a third show in Toronto at the Eldon Theater, which is a gorgeous, gorgeous spot. The same in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Night Theater, which is awesome. The same in Washington, D.C., a third show at the Warner Theater in June.

I also added Niagara Falls, right near where my grandparents lived, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, at the Fallsview Casino in June. In July, if you happen to be in New York or near the Hamptons, I will be at a gorgeous little theater called the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, New York. It is awesome. I've done a bunch of shows there before.

It is like one of my favorite places to do shows. And so we have two shows, Friday and Saturday, July 26th and 27th. All of this is on burbiggs.com. Join the mailing list. But today we have Rosebud Baker on the show. We're thrilled to have her. She's a great comic and writer. We talk about writing for SNL.

We talk about writing for Michael Che's show, That Damn Michael Che. We talk about how Rosebud recorded a new stand-up set on Netflix while she was pregnant. We talk about that. We had a great conversation. I think you're going to love this one. Enjoy my chat

with the great Rosebud Baker. You're having, like, a crazy good run right now in your career. Yeah. Like, between all the stuff you've done with Amy Schumer and SNL and Michael Che and the special you just did on Netflix, like, and you just had a baby.

Yeah. Are you, like, overwhelmed? Like, what the hell's going on? Yes, I'm in hell. It's a lot of stuff. I mean, I'm really grateful. I'm like, I feel like i'm having a lucky streak and i feel like i got a lot of stuff kind of uh a lot of what is it irons on the fire or whatever

like in before the baby came so it was like i found out i was pregnant and i like immediately went into like okay what do i have to do to like keep things rolling after the baby gets here so that I don't end up experiencing that thing that I knew I would experience and I am experiencing. But because I love what I do. Yeah. So there's this thing that happens and I'm sure you've experienced it where like when you have a kid, you're like, is this my life forever now? Am I going to like die? And the answer is yes to both. Yes.

Yes. Is this my life forever? Yes. Am I going to die? Yes. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm like experiencing that while working and it's this it's like looking for

the funny in something that is truly like the least funny I mean it's funny but while you're in it it's there's nothing funny about it like you're just absolutely you're in a dream state you don't know what's going on right like on, you had, you wrote, I cannot, this is great. I cannot adequately describe how dark it is to be crying on your kitchen floor because your pelvis is shattered and your feet are full of water, but also be like, oh fuck, I have to upload a crowd work clip. Is that, that's a riot. Like, is that, do you bring that onto the stage I haven't yet I think I mean I've tried to like explain to people what this feels like and I I still am figuring it out myself so I you know I'm trying to but I don't know if it's working and it also feels exceedingly boring

to talk to other people about. Like, that's the thing that I'm coming up against on stage. Yeah. Did you feel like that at all? Where, like, you're, like, trying to describe what it feels like to have a kid and you're just talking about, like, diapers and shit like that. And I just feel like people are looking at me like, shut up.

Like, please shut up. No, of course they are. Especially at a comedy club where they're relatively young and they're just like, I don't want to think about this. Yeah, they're like, I'm not curious about this. I don't want to know about this. Yeah. They're like, I'm not curious about this. I'm not curious. I don't want to know about it. No, of course. It's so isolating in that way.

But I'm kind of feeling that more so than the, let me find material about this. The thing that's so interesting to me about it is every time I go on stage, I have a full identity crisis afterwards. Yeah. And I don't want to talk to parents either because parents that aren't comics don't really get it. I mean, if you meet a parent who really loved their job before, then that's similar. But like, there's some kind of, there's a divide between me and my friends that have kids that don't do comedy. No, I get that. Where they're just like, this, isn't it amazing and beautiful? And I'm like, eh, kind of.

Like it has its moments, yes. But also, weren't you scared? I describe the first year of Una's life as like she's like a bag of rice, like an animated bag of rice, and you just got to make sure that she's still animated. Yes. Sometimes you're like, she's not animated. You're like, no, she's sleeping.

That's sleeping. But it's like – Yes. But it really is – but then some people don't have that experience. Like Jenny's experience was not that. Like that was my experience, whatever. But yeah, it's such a specific thing. And I think like when I wrote about it in the new one, which was my last special,

I wrote as much as possible I would perform like at colleges so that it would put weights on my feet. To be like, how do I make this funny to people who have no relationship with this? Yeah. And a lot of it had to do with like I created like a metaphor in that show about how like, you know, it's about stability and like ritual. And I talk about like my couch. Like I love my couch. And, and then, you know, uh, and that became like the entry point at the beginning of the show for like where people understand what I'm talking about. And then it's all about like, you know, the show became about

like change in life, like massive life change. And for me, it was having a baby for you. It might've been whatever else, um, in the audience. Certainly college students, not a lot of them have had kids. So it's like they're putting on themselves like what that is because you don't want to be, I think the reason why audiences recoil at it, at kid stuff, is that they're like, oh, is this going to be an hour on your kid? Right. And there's like nothing worse than in real life, a person being like, let me show you a picture of my kid right yeah no i mean i have there's one thing that i feel like has been working on stage where i talk about how it having a kid is like going to space and you come back and you're like i've been to space and you're like look at this look and they're like i've seen pictures of space and you're like no but it's my it's my trip to space.

You know, and they just don't give a fuck. They're like, I could Google a picture of space. But it's my picture of space. Yeah. So there's, but it is this kind of like, I don't know. You're like, look at the stars. Yeah. That's a real star.

Right. No, no, no. I've seen pictures of stars. Yeah, exactly. They don't care. Well, hold on, hold on. That's a cloud. You wouldn't think it.

Yeah, have you seen this kind of cloud? Have you? Yeah, it is this kind of like weird thing where I just like, I am so, so glad that she's here. Yeah. And at the same time, I'm like, have I made a horrible mistake? Yeah, I get that.

Yeah. It's so dark. But you haven't. You haven't. Yeah, no, I don't feel like I have because when I think back about where I was at with my life before, which was awesome. Yeah. I did whatever I wanted. Yeah.

My time was my own. I could do anything. Yeah. I go, and I was still bored. Yes. I was my own. I could do anything. Yeah. I go, and I was still bored. Yes. I was really bored. I was like, I love my life. Everything's great.

Yeah. And there's got to be more to it than this. Right. You know? But I think like one of the things that's positive that's happened in the last decade is like on your Netflix special, you're pregnant. Ali Wong was pregnant.

I think Schumer was pregnant in one of hers. Like that's new, which is great. Yeah. So baby steps, I guess. Yeah. No pun intended. Right. Yeah, it's huge. I mean, it's still at the place where people go,

oh, you know, I think I got like one or two comments that were like, oh, are you going to do the Ali Wong thing? And I'm like, it's not a fucking shtick. It's not a thing? It's not a shtick. Do you know what I mean? It's like, it's a thing that happens to us. So it's like, there's still that, but-

You know, Ali patented being pregnant yeah i know i know that's that was an amazing patent she has made so much money on that only female comic to ever be pregnant yes that's the thing that and even i was thinking that like i was doing that to myself going into it where i was like oh great i great, I'm going to do the pregnant thing. And it's like, it's not a thing. It's not a thing. It's not a thing. It's not a thing. You know?

The goal is that so many people do it that it's not even discussed as like whatever. Exactly. That's just what life is. Exactly. You can compare it to any number of life experiences, but it's extreme. Yeah. It's an extreme life experience. Yeah.

And so I feel like if you go into the mouth of the lion of how extreme it is, which I feel like you're doing so far. Right. Like that'll be good. I mean like even like when you lift up your outfit and you show the belt in your special. What is it called? Like an ADR belt?

It's like a belly band and there was a – I don't know what the bottom part of it was called. It was like two – I had to buy like three different belts and wear all of them. So basically, for the listeners who haven't – if you haven't seen this Netflix verified comedy special, Rosebud is one of the – Dulce and a handful of other comics. Yeah, and Amish. There was a bunch of comics on it. Yes, a bunch of comics were on it. And in the middle of your set, you go –

can I describe it as the baby was too heavy? Yeah. So it was – I had something called SPD, which I still can't pronounce. I don't know how to say it. But basically, the ligaments in your pelvis loosen because of the hormones. And the weight of my baby was heavy enough that it actually caused my pelvis to split. So basically, the doctor was like, you can wear this belt and it will tape your pelvis together, essentially.

Wow. It'll like hold your pelvis together. And just by the end of my pregnancy, I couldn't walk. Oh, my gosh. So, I was like eight and a half months pregnant and I could get to the stage. Yeah. And I could get off the stage. Yeah. But I just immediately had to lie down like from the time that I got to the venue to the time that I like left.

Wow. Like it was just, it was so painful to stand. I mean, I got to hand it to you. It's like the amount of people who would not have done that is many. Well, yeah. I mean, they probably respect themselves. I mean, it's like, that's so hard. You could have not gone. I could have not gone.

Yeah. I love that you did. I keep looking back and going like, did I have to do that? Yeah. But I think that I, the other option was like sitting at home on the couch and just thinking about being pregnant. Yeah. Which was awful. Like that's an awful option.

Right, because as comedians we're all just in our heads anyway. Yeah. And so you're probably going to think about the worst possible outcome. Right. I mean, I look at how much I worked during my pregnancy and I'm like, oh, that was all just because I couldn't just sit there and like think about what was, I couldn't just sit there Googling my symptoms all day. Like that's what I would have done. Yeah.

You know. Do you have advice for anyone who's attempting to do what you did? Which is like have a baby while at the same time pursuing, like being a performer? Yeah. I mean, just do it. Just keep doing it.

I guess, like, the one thing that I really think I did right during my pregnancy was I trusted my own opinion. Like, I didn't want to breastfeed, and I knew that I just didn't want to do that. Yeah. And I knew that I just didn't want to do that. And part of it was a little bit of like a fuck you to society because I felt so much pressure to do it. And there's all this shit about like how if you breastfeed, you won't get cancer. And I'm like, that is basically fear mongering on a different level in a different like around the back door. So I just, and I knew I had to go back to work and I wasn't gonna like stop in the middle of a sketch to go pump I'm just not right so I knew that that wasn't for me and I didn't feel regret about it I didn't feel like I I just knew

that I'd wanted to do that so I feel like for any woman who's pregnant, whether they're a performer or not, like if you have an opinion about something, if you know that you don't want to do something, that's fine. Just don't do it. Like that's, that would be my advice, is just trust your own opinion. I just started watching that damn Michael J. Oh, yeah?

Because I didn't have Max before, and I think that's where it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you—two seasons, right? Yeah. And did you write in both seasons? Mm-hmm. The show's brilliant. I love that show, yeah.

It's one of my favorite, it's one of the shows that I have worked on that I'm most proud of. Like, it seems like groundbreaking to me. I know, same. Like, I mean, there's this episode about his friend getting shot. Yeah, refusing to take an ambulance. Trying to take a cab to the emergency room. And it's like devastatingly like real, but also funny, but also dramatic. Yeah.

And then like, but also with tons of jokes and dark. But I don't know. Okay, when you're pitching at SNL versus when you're pitching at that Dan Michael J. show, how different are those two experiences? It's just completely different. Like almost opposite. With SNL, first of all, time is limited. So you go into a room and you go like this this is the idea okay somebody's like you know um a guy gets a pig heart right and and then that's the sketch okay he's just had a pig heart in like um surgically implanted and that and you know and then you have a couple of moves. Yeah. Right?

With Che. If this, what else? Kind of like, if the pig heart, then beat two, beat three, beat, you know, four. With Che, somebody walks into the room and goes, hey, I was reading in the Times this morning that this happened. And then somebody else would go, oh, I just read an article in the Times about how a guy got a pig heart implanted in his chest. And then we'd go, wait. And then somebody would go, that's crazy. He's got to be dead. And then somebody else goes, obviously, he's dead.

And then we would find a way to build a sketch around that idea. But it was all so conversational. Oh, interesting. That it wasn't like, hey, I have this pitch. What do you think about this? We would just sit down as comics and start talking. Yeah. And somebody would say something that felt like a sketch.

Yeah. And then the sketch would come out of that. And it was like one or two people would write that sketch, but the whole room came up with the sketch and the moves for it. It was all just riffing. Yeah. Yeah, so it all felt really organic. Here's the thing I'll say about that show that is a marvel to me.

It's so vulnerable. Yeah. Like particularly when he has the dating episode and in the first like scene, he's like with a woman out on a date and he says a few lines that are witty. Yeah. And then the last scene, it's someone else and he says the same lines. Yeah. And it has this kind of like, it's like a cinematic experience of like, what is, I mean, mean look it's that damn michael chay shows it's like it's him yeah he can't say it's not him yeah and it's like very vulnerable i know yeah and i think that

that was something that over the seasons got better and better like i think that he got um i mean we only had two yeah but I was like I think he resisted it a little bit but I think he was willing to go okay yeah if it's my show I gotta like say what I'm kind of like going through and dealing with you know and I think that

that came from he had women in the room in the writers room and the writer's room. And all of us were like, well, you're alone because this, we were more than happy to be like, this is why you're alone. Oh, my God, that's so good. You know?

And he'd be like, what? But, you know, Che's always like, what? And then he'd be like, yeah, you're right. You're not wrong. What? You know? So he'd be like, yeah, you're right. You're not wrong. What? You know? So he was like willing to go for it. Oh, that's great.

It makes me so happy that that was the process. Yeah. I wish more of the writers' rooms that I've been in had that kind of process because it felt so much, and I don't know why we don't because it's the most natural way to like build something together it's how comics interact it's we sit around a table we shoot the shit we we end up somewhere and there's and because all of us are like programmed to think what's the bit yeah you get there and you get there so much easier than if you're like, all right, I got to come up with a sketch and this is what, all right.

So if I go into this room and I have all the moves planned out and then it's already built and there's no camaraderie. Well, it's like, it's more like college improv, honestly. Yeah. It's more like a bunch of best friends just being like, what about this?

What about this? What about this? Let's have breakfast. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Let's have breakfast. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Let's have dinner and breakfast and lunch. I know. And dinner again.

I know. And it feels so good. I love that feeling more than I think anything. Yeah. Season three, come on. I know. Who? Did he decide or HBO decide?

Who decided that wasn't a season three? I think it was probably like Max got sold or they were ending Max and then somebody new comes in and you know how it is. Right. It's always like a network exec turns over and then somebody else. Those guys are hilarious, by the way. I know. How is that not a category at New Faces?

I know. Newaces? I know. New Executives? I know. Montreal New Executives? Oh, my God. Zaslav's killing. Yeah. What masterpiece did you throw out the window to put your stamp on it?

Oh, my God. Okay, so these are slow round questions. Do you have nicknames in your life that you were particularly good or bad? Nicknames in my life that were particularly, um, my mom calls me Rosalby. I like that. I like that. That's a good one. That's a fun one.

Rosalby. Yeah. I don't even know how she came up with that. I like that. That's a good one. That's a fun one. Rose will be. Yeah. I don't even know how she came up with that. I like it. It feels like she stuttered while saying my name. Yeah. And then just stuck with it. That's what I like about it. That's very warm.

Is your mom warm? Yes. Because you allude to the fear of being cold as a mother. Yes. My mom is very warm. But you have a fear of being cold? Because I'm my father. Oh, interesting. I am 100% my dad. Okay. And my dad is cold. Oh. Now, it took me probably until I turned 30 to really enjoy that. Like, to really, like, sit and watch my dad like like i asked my dad what he wants to be called

like for my daughter yeah i was like what do you want her to call you like grandpa um what whatever you want yeah um he goes uh she can call me mr baker i was like all right mr baker it. Baker it is. Mr. Baker? Yeah. Come on. Yes. He wants my daughter to call him Mr. Baker. Absolutely not Mr. Baker.

And then he was like, I was like, all right, fine. You know what? That's perfect. I was like, that is perfect because that is who you are. And also I had to call my grandfather chief, which was his job title. Because he was. He was chief of staff. Chief of staff for the Reagan presidency. Yes.

Yeah. So your grandfather was chief speaker? Who's chief of staff for Ronald Reagan? You had to call him chief? They wanted us all to call him chief. No way. I swear to God. You didn't call him grandpa.

You called him chief? I called him cheech. Cheech? What do you mean, cheech? Which was my attempt at Chief. Oh, okay, okay. Because I was too little to understand or how to say. I mean, this is madness. I know. No wonder you're a comedian. Of course you're a comedian. This is madness. None of this makes sense. I know. So Mr. Baker and, I mean, sorry, I'm just sitting in that because I'm just like, that's sort of a marvel of a thing.

Right. But you're saying you've come to appreciate him over the years, his coldness, as a thing that you enjoy. Yes. Why? Because it's funny. Oh, you just think it's funny. Because it's really funny. And you think the way that you're funny.

Yes. Right, right, right. Yeah, I mean, it took me so long to understand that, A, I am my dad. Right. And once I realized that, then I was like, oh, he's easy to like. That's so funny. Now that I understand. He's easy to like.

Now that I understand we're the same. That's your takeaway. He's easy to like. Somehow that's your takeaway somehow that's your takeaway yeah it just happens that now i completely understand everything everywhere he's coming from let's unpack that he's easy to like but also challenging also i yeah he was challenging my whole life. Yeah. And now I had like a glimpse of it in my 20s. Yeah. When I had just quit drinking and my dad came to pick me up from the bus station and he had clearly been drinking.

Yeah. And I was like, I had taken a bus in. I hadn't talked to him in like a year and a half because we had a couple of times during my life where I was like, I'm just not going to talk to him. We didn't talk for like a year, two years. And had a couple of times during my life where I was like I'm just not going to talk to him we didn't talk for like a year two years and this was one of those times this may have been the first time where I was like I'm just not going to talk to my dad for a while um I get to I go to visit him and I've been sober about two years he comes he's like clearly been drinking and he's driving and I was, dad, this is the whole time. I'm like, you shouldn't, I was furious.

I was so mad. And he decides, let's pull over and let's get you some food while we're here. So I'm standing in the aisle of some Safeway or something. And I asked him if I could get agave. And he was like, what the fuck is agave? And I was like, it's just sugar. and i was like it's it's just sugar it's dad it's sugar or something and he was like um he said something like agave or something he like basically was like he made agave into a slur yes he made it he made agave into a slur the feat of

madness right and i was like okay i was like um I was like you know you're like the worst dad I think I said you're the worst dad and then he looks back at me and he was like I'm your only dad and I it was literally a moment where I saw the humor in it because I was like, you are. Yeah. You're the only one. Yeah. Like, I don't get another one. Yeah. And I kind of was able to, like, laugh at myself and laugh at him. Yeah. And both of our just extreme misunderstanding of one another.

Yeah. And that was, like, the first time I got a little glimpse of it. And ever since then, every time I have let my father down or my father has let me down, to me, it's like this massive like comedy of errors where it's just like, oh, God just mismatched like our expectations of each other. And there's something to me that's so funny about two people that want something from one another that they're never gonna get. Yes. And also,

their expectations being based in the fact that they are two different versions of the same character structure. Yeah, yeah. Like, to me, it's very funny that we are just... Yeah, yeah. We're stuck together. I have the same thing. Like, my, to me, it's very funny that we are just— Yeah, yeah.

We're stuck together. I have the same thing. Like, my, you know, the old man in the pool, which we were talking about earlier. Yeah. I talk about how my parents don't say, I love you. Yeah. And then, like, my daughter forced me to call my parents and tell them I love them. Yeah.

Because of the special coming out. Yeah. And I did. And then my mom said, I love you, too. And then she said, Vinny, do you have anything to say? And he goes,

it's a little syrupy. But then, but then, It's amazing. Isn't it amazing? Yes. But that's, that's,

that, what you're, it, the only reason I bring it up is that Jen, my wife, was like, that's his way

of saying I love you. Yeah. Is making a I love you. Yeah. Is making a joke about it. Yeah. So. I mean, my expectations of my dad were, okay, so I watched your special with him. But my dad truly, like, is the worst person to watch a comedy special with. Because any line he likes, he'll repeat and giggle to himself.

Oh, wow. He's like, pizza and plaza. Like, he's just dying. And then you get to the part where you talk about how your dad doesn't say I love you or your mom doesn't say I love you. And I look over and I swear to God, my dad was snoring. And I was like, of course. I was like, the whole time I'm watching and I'm going like oh my god there's gonna be a moment where my dad finally gets to see like what this is really about and I

look over and he's fucking sleeping and I'm like well of course of course he's sleeping can't take it it's just the constant you you're always left hanging. Yeah. You know what I mean? And there's nothing funnier than a dynamic that never changes. It's like that's every sitcom character. Yeah. Wow.

Okay. Can you remember a scene or like a moment in your life that changed everything about your life? And at the time you didn't really know. The only thing that I could think of is when my sister died. But I think I knew at that time. I'm trying to think of like...

Did it change just your entire perspective of life and existence? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. I think like when you experience a death, it's a lot like experiencing the birth of a child.

Right. So that would be the thing that – and I knew that it would, but I didn't know that it already had. You know what I mean? At the time. You mean your sister dying? Yeah. Oh, interesting.

I remember being like, oh my God, this is going to change everything. But it was like, I was scared that it was going to change everything. I didn't acknowledge that it already had changed everything. Right. Like it happens instantly. Oh, interesting. had changed everything. Right.

Like, it happens instantly. Oh, interesting. And I think in a way that does influence comedy for sure because so much of comedy is, like, existential. At least for me, there's, like, an existential element to it. I don't know anyone for whom that's not true. Yeah. And the only people I can think of are, like, not great. Yeah, they're like birthday clown true. Yeah. And the only people I can think of are like not great. Yeah, they're like birthday clowns.

Yeah. Did it make you more ambitious? Like did it make you like seize the day? Kind of like I need to do things now. I think need to live a fuller life. No, but it made me want to turn off the lights for a while. It it was a long it was more of a long game so if like it happened and i was like i i can't feel any of this for a long

time and then once that kind of ran out once like the alcohol and shit stopped working yeah then all of a sudden the lights were on and i was like, oh, now I have all of this energy, this like addict manic energy, and I don't know what to do with it. And so all of it started to kind of percolate in a creative way. Do you have any new jokes, half-premises, half-things that you're working on? I have a couple things that I've jotted down that I was doing this weekend. Why don't you go first? Okay. couple things that I've jotted down that I was doing this weekend. Why don't you go first? Okay.

We, this is a hundred percent half-baked idea, but I'm like, I've been going into a lot of stuff on stage. I've been free associating on things I didn't understand growing up and thinking that my parents understood these things. And then now I'm a 45-year-old dad and I'm like, oh, I have no idea what these things are. And so I have to teach my daughter. And I'm like, I don't know. But anyway, I've been just trying to like riff on this idea of like the amount of things that I didn't understand. And like I still don't. Like I went, Una hurt her foot and we took her for an x-ray. And she says, dad, what's an x-ray?

And I was like, well, you know, I'm like, I know what the outcome is. Right. Like I know that at the end there's an image of your bones. But I don't really know what happens in between. I know that everyone in the room wears a lead suit except you. And also you are the only one left in the room. Everybody, they put you in a lead suit and then they run out of the room. Oh, I know.

So that's the part that's scariest. Right. And at some point, and what I realized is at some point I did understand roughly what an x-ray was. I've probably read about it maybe 20 years ago. And what I found about knowledge is that with age, it does not ripen. You don't go from like half understanding things to being like, I'll tell you a few things about radiology. Yeah. You get wiser, but you do get dumber. Oh, that's a good way to put it. Yeah. Wiser. Let me write that down yeah wiser but dumber yeah because that that's what it is it's like we're wiser but not smarter yeah kind of the way wiser but but less smart

yeah um i think dumb is a curse word at my daughter's school but i swear to god i swear to god you can't say stupid you can't't say dumb. It's like, anyway. I think. She has a whole list of words she can't say. And then when my wife and I say the words, she gets angry at us. Yeah, it's a whole thing. If Minnow brings home a list five years from now, from school, I feel like my inclination will be just shredded in front of her.

Oh, my God. First of all, you should be roasted for calling your child Minnow for, like, weeks. I know. For weeks in a row. I know. I know. But it's a family name. Everybody's like, why did you call her Minnow?

I'm like, it's a family name. It's my aunt's name. So I'm like, every time I'm like, it's not after the fish. It's after my aunt. You saying it's not after the fish is a cry for help? Well, it's too late, Mike.

It's too late. That's her name. Her middle name's Baker. So we can't switch to that. We can't just call her Baker. So do you think she's gonna start being mocked by other children at age two or three i feel like i went here's the thing i went around the room at snl and i was like who i was like if i name my kid minnow my god jesus christ i was like tell me what you would tell me what you would come up with.

Like, give me some nicknames that you would come up with. And they were like, I don't know, like fish sticks? And I was like, that's not that bad. Not that bad. I was like, I couldn't, nobody could, it's a room full of writers. And I was like, give me your best. Like, I need you guys to make fun of the name. And nobody gave me anything.

Right. So I was like. Not that bad. It's not that bad. Right, right, right need you guys to make fun of the name. And nobody gave me anything. Right. So I was like. Not that bad. It's not that bad. Right, right, right. I get that. I don't know. All right, do you have anything? Okay, let me look.

Let me see what I got here. Okay. This is half an idea. It's not really. Sure. But I want to talk about how I i feel bad telling jokes now oh yeah that never happened before yeah like i read an article about a guy who got a pig heart transplant and he died obviously so i was gonna write a joke about that but then i was like what if my daughter

needs a pig heart do you know what i mean yeah everything now is like um I just feel like a simp yeah I'm like there's something about and I don't know if this is funny I don't know if this is if it just ends up being like navel gazey and fucking nobody gives a shit but how I like left behind like the coolest life to become like a simp for a baby that doesn't know she has hands. That's really funny. Yeah, no, it's weird. Like there is this kind of double life situation with being a comedian. Yeah. Which is you want to tell jokes that are pushing the envelope and like are crossing the line or close to the line. Yeah. But then like you have to be, at a certain point,

if you choose to be a grown up and a parent, you're just like, okay, so I'm not going to say any of that stuff here. Right. With the parents. Yeah. But then I'm going to say it to a basement full of strangers. Yeah, yeah. And then I'm going to go back and I'm not going to tell them that I said that.

Yes, yes. And then I'm going to go tell what happened to the basement full of strangers. Yeah. And it's so weird. Right. I think that's the life of a comedian. It's like you can't actually say the things. And then you can't.

And it's like you don't tell them that you're saying these things, but then they watch it. No, I know. You know what I mean? No, literally. I have a joke recently on stage where I say like, these other dads are losers. Yeah. And I go, they're not like me. You know, and of course the audience knows

that they are like me. Right. And then I go, and don't tell them I told you. And of course the joke is like, eventually they're just going to see it. They're going to know. And. That is so funny.

I know. It's like, I don't know. Can I just say what you're really good at is like you're making a map of things in your head that are all connected. And you're always seeing the connections between them. Oh. And I'm always like, God, that's so – I don't even think that's something that you can just like learn. I think that's something that your brain does.

But I think yours does too. I think everybody's – everyone who's a comic is kind of doing that, I think, in a certain sense. Yeah. But I think that, you know, I'm a lunatic. Like, they look around me, it's like all these cars. I always think in relation to everything being causal. So, like, I'll do, like, Gary was opening for me in D.C. last weekend, and he was like, how come you took out such and such a joke?

And I was like, because I couldn't pair it with other jokes. Right. You ever have that? Yes. I'm like, because it's't pair it with other jokes. Right. You ever have that? Yes. I'm like, because it's a one-off. Because it just exists on its own. Yeah. And until I have something to really segue into it, there's no reason for it to be there.

Yeah. I get, yeah, because it... That joke was, by the way, and I think it's a funny joke. It's like Una and I were watching tennis. And like it was from a few years ago. It was like a documentary about tennis. And she goes, I hope Serena wins this match because she's black. And I thought, I'm glad this didn't go the other way. Right. I appreciate what's in your heart.

Right. But maybe we'll keep that in the house. Yeah. And I took it out because I just didn't have anything that's similar. Yeah. But it's a funny thing to occur. But it's a little bit in the category of kids say the darndest things. Right.

Where it's like, unless you have a really good kid say the darndest things. There's really no. Why don't you keep that kid say the darndest things to yourself? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's tricky. There's so much of that that I'm running into right now where I'm just like,

and she doesn't even talk, but I'm just like talking about like how she barfed down my tits and shit in my hand at the same time. Done. Who needs a punchline? I was saying it's like a full-body screenshot. Wait, it's what? Like a full-body screenshot where you press both the buttons at the same time. You know what I mean?

Have you done that on stage? That's so funny. I did it on Sherri Shepherd like a week ago and it worked. But I was like, that was the first time I'd said it. That's great. So I was like, okay, that's like fun. Can you unpack full body screenshot as an idea? Yeah, but I feel like it falls apart when I try to unpack it.

Because if I, it's like you press two buttons. It's like the power buttons. Oh, yes. And it powers it off or, you know, it takes a screenshot. I don't know. Like, you know when you got, when you get a cheat code on a, on like a video game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. A, B, A, B.

A, B, A, B, right. Left, left, right, right. Barf, down, tits, shit in hand. That's good. That could work, yeah. That's really good. And then you get another life at the end. You could do just that part as a bit and literally free associate on stage about like

how she feels in that moment and how you feel at that moment. Yes. I think people would lose their mind laughing because it's so relatable. Because even if you didn't have a kid, like the relatability of like everything always happens at the same time. Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. That's something. Yeah.

That's so unfair. It's so unfair. There's definitely, yes. Right. It's like, you know, when you, you're going through a breakup and your best friend's getting married, it's like, it's not fair that that's happening at the same time.

Right. Or it's like, it's almost like if it were raining and then it were snowing and then someone threw up on your tits. I love that. I always love the comparison that's going a different direction and uses what actually happened as the punch. I love those jokes. The last thing is working out for cause, which is what's an organization that you like to donate to that I will donate to and then we'll link to them in the show notes? I always go for ASPCA. Oh, great. I always love the ASPCA.

Great. So we will donate to the ASPCA. We'll link to them in the show notes. Rosie, this is so fun. Congratulations on it all. Thank you. And just keep in mind, it's all going to work out. Yeah.

Because I know very well. I know the answers to where it's all going to work out. Yeah. Because I know, because I know very well. I know the answers to, I know where it's all going to go. You could be lying to my face right now and I would hold on to it like it was the most important thing to remember because I truly, it's just hearing that from another comic who's a parent is like, that's everything. That's going to do it for another episode of Working It Out. I love talking to that Rosebud Baker.

Look out for all of her upcoming specials, her tours. I see she's going to Hawaii. You can follow her on Instagram or on TikTok at at Rosebud Baker. And you can watch the full video of this interview on our YouTube channel. We're up to 30,000 subscribers. You can't believe it. We just launched it this year. That's been really exciting.

Check it out. Subscribe. We're going to be posting more videos soon. Go to berbiglia.com and sign up for the mailing list to be the first to know about my upcoming shows. Our producers of Working It Out are myself, along with Peter Salamone, Joseph Berbiglia, and Mabel Lewis.

Associate producer, Gary Simons. Sound mix by Shubh Saran. Supervising engineer, Kate Balinski. Special thanks to Jack Antonoff and Bleachers for their music. They just announced their album's coming out in March. The songs they've dropped so far are so good. Special thanks to my wife, the poet J-Hope Stein. Special thanks, as always, to our daughter, Una,

who built the original radio fort made of pillows. The legend lives on. Thanks most of all to you who are listening. If you enjoy the show, rate and review it on Apple Podcasts. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Look, it's 2024. Maybe you don't have enemies anymore.

Maybe that's our New Year's resolution. No more enemies. All right. I'm going to be optimistic till next week. See you next time.