811: Ophira Eisenberg: Parenting is a Joke

Ophira Eisenberg is a standup comedian, writer, and the host of the new comedy podcast Parenting Is A Joke with iHeart Radio and Pretty Good Friends. She also hosted NPR’s Ask Me Another, where she interviewed hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Harris, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Awkwafina, Roxanne Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handle, and more. She’s appeared multiple times on CBS’s The Late Late Show, Comedy Central, HBO, The New York Festival and is a regular host and teller on The Moth Radio Hour. Her stories are included in three of The Moth’s best-selling collections, including the most recent: How To Tell A Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth. Her memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy was optioned for a television series, and her new comedy special, Plant- Based Jokes is streaming on YouTube. Her solo show, Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars, recently made its Off-Broadway review to rave reviews and won the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts.

Ophira came back to the SMA for a second time because I adore her, and so she and I could talk very irreverently about motherhood - again. This time we also discussed what it means to be an “aging” woman or mother in your industry - the good, the bad, the ugly.  

Listen in to hear Ophira share:

• Her journey as a stand-up comedian working evenings in NYC who was also a mom and having no other moms around her living that lifestyle
• What inspired her podcast, Parenting is a Joke
• What it's like to be working in comedy as a mom in her 50’s vs her 20’s & 30’s
• The contrast of what is universally experienced for men, vs women comics
• How she prepares herself to be confident on stage - even if she feels like she’s faking
• The tenacity and resilience she has navigated having been in comedy for decades in an industry that requires constant reinvention

Links mentioned:

• Join my October Retreat for Women Entrepreneurs: Influence & Ignite: Be the CEO and Thought Leader You Were Born to Be: shamelessmom.com/bizretreat
• Connect with Ophira: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/
• Ophira’s Podcast: Parenting is a Joke
• Ophira on IG/Twitter/FB/TikTok: @ophirae

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