Tiffany Haddish is a comic’s comic. As I speak with her during our interview, she repeats her answers several times, playing with her word choice, timing, and delivery each time, and I can see her writing process in real time. Even when she’s not specifically trying to be funny, she wants to get her point across just right, with an economy of words and the biggest impact.
And it makes sense. Haddish, who landed in the foster care system after her mother was seriously injured in a car accident, found herself at the Laugh Factory’s comedy camp for kids and, as a teenager, learning from legends such as Richard Pryor and the Wayans brothers. In other words, the vast majority of her life has been thinking about and getting better at stand-up comedy. In her own words? It’s her love and her addiction.
The result has been that the Girls Trip star has made it to the top of her field — a winner of the Best Comedy Album Grammy and the first Black woman to host “SNL,” just to name two of many accolades. Her high-energy personal narrative style leaves you not only rolling but feeling like you’ve been talking with a friend telling you her last epic story.
I have a problem: I want to hear a room full of people laughing. I want to see a room full of people smiling. It is my thing. If I could just look at people smiling, I would be good.
Like many comics at her level, Haddish’s career hasn’t been without controversy. But her ability to completely show her heart on stage — and her constant striving to evolve herself and her art over the years – is what puts her among the greatest performing comics we have working today.
The Pulp caught up with Haddish in advance of her gig at Missoula’s Wilma Theater on May 3 to talk about joke writing as a daily ritual, chasing the comedy high, and why you might want to wear glitter to her show.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Pulp: I’d love to know what material you’re working on right now and what subjects are interesting to you right now on stage?
Tiffany Haddish: What’s interesting to me right now — the material I’m working on – is stuff about me. That’s what I know. You got to talk about what you know. So I’m talking about dreams that I’ve had that I want somebody to translate. I’m talking about fashion, talking about what it feels like to be a woman talking.
Somebody said they felt like they was in the best biology class they’ve ever been in their whole life at my show. They feel like they learned a lot, and I think that’s important if you’re going to be standing on the stage in front of people, that you want them to walk away with some type of new knowledge.
I kind of talk about politics, but not really. I just talk about what I would do. I don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, but if it was me, this is what I would do, and that’s it. It’s just fun. You going to feel like you back in high school and hanging out with the girl that kind of talks a lot in the circle, but every time she talk, y’all laughing.
You mentioned politics. How are you approaching these notable times that we’re in as far as your stand-up comedy?
I’m not talking about what they’re doing. I’m talking about what I would do. A lot of times people want me to do more racial injustice but I don’t know. I don’t really subscribe to that. I mean, I see it. It is blatant. I see it out here. I mean it’s real evident who really is benefiting from how they’re being treated, and what’s the point? I just talk about what I would do. And it’s funny what I would do. I just live in that world because what’s happening is not funny.
You’ve been doing stand-up for so many years. Are you still learning about how to do it better? What have you learned recently?
Every time you get on stage, you learn something to do better. If you don’t get on stage, you won’t ever get better,
I’m learning more of the business side of it. Well, I know a lot of the business side. I’m just learning how to expand that more.
When I first read your first book, “The Last Black Unicorn,” I was so taken by you learning to do standup at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp, and I know you’ve gone back and taught that class to kids as well. What do you teach the kids who are just starting out?
That it’s OK to be you? That’s the most funniest thing.
In order to be a good comedian, you have to be willing to look at yourself and not run from that. You have to be OK with you. A lot of comedians are not OK with themselves. Some of the best ones are the most insecure people I’ve ever met in my entire life, but they know what’s wrong with them and they know what’s right with them and they know themselves.
Know that it’s OK to change and evolve. It’s OK to, and although it may feel uncomfortable, it’s easier if you roll with the change as opposed to resist the change. The change is going to come. It’s going to happen.
Do you think that your comedy is evolving as you evolve and what does that look like?
If my comedy wasn’t evolving, then I’m not evolving, and then I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I wouldn’t be going to your town. Shit. The only reason I’m going to your town is because I’ve never been to that part.
It’s a great time of year to visit.
Salt of the earth stuff; beautiful skies! I’m looking forward to it.
Do you have any updates on some of your movie projects for us? I keep hearing rumors about Girls Trip 2.
All I know is that they’re getting the script together.
I’m working on me. I’m creating content in my own IP and I’m enjoying it. And then I got three movies that I’m getting ready to shoot. A thriller, a comedy, and an action movie. More cartoons getting ready to come out, some more music.
What up-and-coming standup comics are you watching right now?
None.
None?
None! I don’t watch nobody. The only time I watch comics is if they ask me to or if it’s a good friend and their special’s coming out, I’ll watch their special to support the special and tag it, promote it, but actively watching somebody, none.
I do know a lot of them. They’re my friends. I don’t know if they’re funny or not. I don’t. I’ll step out of the room if I hear people laughing on the other side of the wall. They must be funny.
If they ask, and if it’s a new person and they want me to see them, I take a look. If they send me a video or something, I’ll watch.
People will try to say, oh, you’re doing my joke. And it’s like, well, I never watched you. I never watched you. How could I do your joke?
When I’m sad and depressed and down, I will pull up YouTube videos of babies laughing and it brings up my vibration. Just the sound of it just brings me up. And if I’m really, really sad, then I watch turtle sex. But that’s a whole other thing that’s just for me.
How do you write?
Bare minimum 10 minutes a day. Normally it turns into two hours, but writing jokes every single day, every day I’m writing something. The intention is to write a joke. It might end up being a short story and some anger shit, but whatever. That’s the beautiful thing about comedy is just tapping into all those different feelings and feeling out where the funny is.
Sometimes I sit at the desk. Sometimes I’ll sit outside by my bees and just writing a notebook in the grass. I might be in the car and be like, oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll pull over and write it down. I might do a voice memo, record my voice, and then play it back and listen to it and be like, no, that’s not funny, but that is kind of funny. And then write it down and change this and change that. Yeah. It’s a process, but it’s your process.
It makes me feel better mentally.
Do you see it as a form of therapy for you?
It is a drug. I’m addicted to it. I guess it is some form of therapy getting that dopamine fixed. Getting that little therapeutic medication giggles. Therapeutic giggles. I’m addicted to it.
I have a problem: I want to hear a room full of people laughing. I want to see a room full of people smiling. It is my thing. If I could just look at people smiling, I would be good.
When I’m sad and depressed and down, I will pull up YouTube videos of babies laughing and it brings up my vibration. Just the sound of it just brings me up. And if I’m really, really sad, then I watch turtle sex. But that’s a whole other thing that’s just for me.
I can’t think of a scenario where a room full of people are all laughing because one person says something and then they go, now let’s murder them. No, you just got that whole room of people high.
Our time’s up. I just want to say I’m excited to see you perform!
I’m excited to be there. Tell everybody: rest up. I’m coming in the evening gown, darling. I’m going to bring fashion back to comedy like it was back in the day. Back in the day, you couldn’t walk into a comedy club with flip flops on and some jeans. Not that I’m asking my fans to go out spending some money they don’t have, but I know you got a church dress in there. You got some kind of dress that you wore to a party that you never wore again. You ain’t had nowhere to go to put that dress on. Let’s just put your funeral suit on, damn it, and put some glitter on the shoulders, come out looking nice.
Tiffany Haddish performs at The Wilma on Sat., May 3, at 8 PM. Info and tickets.
