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Q&A with comedian Cameron Esposito
Self-proclaimed “Purveyor of Fine Jokes” tells us what makes her laugh

By Bailey Berg

 
Former Chicagoan Cameron Esposito made waves after her network debut on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” in September, and she’s been busy ever since. How can she not be when Jay Leno called her the “future of comedy”? Think Mag caught up with Esposito to talk about what’s next, her circus past, LGBT rights and the hilarity of The LEGO Movie.

TM: What’s your connection to the Midwest? Why’d you leave?
CE: I grew up in the suburbs right outside Chicago and came up as a comic in the city. Lived in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood for six years, doing shows, riding my bike around and loving the city. I left to pursue my next level of career goals.

TM: What was the biggest surprise about leaving the Midwest?
CE: I didn’t realize Chicago was such a big bar city until I moved to Los Angeles. Chicago has an awesome public transit system and a huge bar culture. It’s so cold in the winter and so hot in the summer that drinking beer to either warm up or cool off makes a huge amount of sense and then you can just grab the train home. Not that everyone’s hammered all the time or anything, I just mean most of my social life used to involve bars as a meeting place, hangout spot, public house, if you will. There really isn’t the same bar culture in LA, so when I moved out here I just couldn’t figure out where folks go to be social. Turns out it’s like hiking and stuff. Bizarre.

TM: We heard you used to be a circus ringmaster.
CE: I worked with Chicago-based punk rock circus company El Circo Cheapo Cabaret for several years, both in Chicago and when they toured across the country. Got to spend a lot of time with driven, strong women who happen to swing from trapezes and flip around in the air for a living. I learned stilt walking and some very basic tumbling, but also that circus performers train impossibly hard and go through a lot of pain to look that graceful. I was happy to spend most of my time telling jokes and not busting blisters.

TM: Did you always know you wanted to do comedy?
CE: Nope. I didn’t have a clue. Mostly because I didn’t realize this was a job one could have.

TM: How did you get started in comedy?
CE: I started doing improv in college and auditioned to be a cast member at an improv theater the day after I graduated. Somehow that worked out. I began doing one professional show a week, then soon was doing six. I moved back home to Chicago to continue my improv education but quickly gave it up for standup instead.

TM: Being an out lesbian seems to be a big part of your act. How do you incorporate that?
CE: You know all comics just talk about their lives, right? And I’m a lesbian, so my life involves being a lesbian. Like how straight dudes are like, “I have a girlfriend.” It’s like that. It’s especially important for me to be open and real about my life right now — as the fight for equal marriage and being treated like full human beings continues across the country — but I really can’t imagine how or why not I wouldn’t incorporate my personal experience into my standup.

TM: What are you doing now? Who are you all collaborating with?
CE: I’m doing a lot of touring, recording an album for indie music label Kill Rock Stars in May, and I run a show every Tuesday night at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre called Put Your Hands Together. I’m lucky that my greatest collaborator and comedy partner is also my fiancé, the hilarious Rhea Butcher. She and I are developing several projects for the Internet and TV right now.

TM: Tell us about life since being featured on Craig Ferguson’s show.
CE: That appearance really helped move me onto the national comedy stage. I was booked for a bunch of “Chelsea Lately” spots afterward and have been approached by so many media outlets and comics I respect to talk about the set. Just a very unusual first late-night experience. Usually, late-night sets are a great career moment for the comic performing but don’t necessarily garner conversation or widen that comic’s audience a bunch. It can take many TV appearances and late-night sets to create a lasting impression. I was so lucky to have that perfect storm of improvisation, two late night hosts and some great banter launch that set into people’s minds.

TM: You were labeled the “future of comedy itself.” How does that make you feel?
CE: I think Jay Leno really low-balled it. I am the current of comedy itself.

TM: What makes you laugh?
CE: Oh, honestly, this is the worst thing to admit: almost nothing. I love watching my friends perform and there are so many comics I adore — folks like Kurt Braunohler, Kumail Nanjiani, Katie Crown, Ron Funches, all of whom are rad, up-and-coming comics — but so often when I watch comedy, I find myself interested and engaged from a professional standpoint. If I’m watching someone create a great moment or deliver an amazing joke, I’m always watching to see how he or she did it and marvel at his or her intelligence. So I mostly watch action and sci-fi movies to relax. Oh! And I can’t recommend The LEGO Movie enough. That’s something that recently made me laugh. Rhea and I saw it together and were so stoked to be laughing our heads off about it. Great writing in that film. See it.

Follow Cameron on Twitter.

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Photo courtesy of Cameron Esposito

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