Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 603
(upbeat music) - Welcome back and everyone to a wonderful new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We've got a great, great show to share with you. All of the happenings are going on at this venue. You can't see a bad show. And this show is no exception to that. Joining us to talk about her work, we have the playwright and performer Sarah Adelman. She's joining us to talk about her show Egg, which is playing August 22nd through the 24th at Under St. Mark's. You can get your tickets and more information by visiting frigid.nyc. I mean, there's a theme this year going on listeners. Some of the best shows in New York are happening at Under St. Mark's. And we are so honored to get the opportunity to bring them to you. As I mentioned, this is no exception to that. So let's jump right in. Let's go ahead and welcome on our guest, Sarah. Welcome into Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Hi, thanks for having me Andrew, appreciate it. - I'm so happy you're here. You have brought this great, great show, Egg, to talk about today. So let us start from the beginning, which I've been told is a very good place to start. So a little bit about what egg is about. - For sure. Egg is a one hour and 20-ish minute storytelling stand-up comedy show, sort of thing, you know, style of Jacqueline Novak, Brabiglia, Net, like, you know, that sort of a mix between stand-up and storytelling, but I'm holding a microphone. And the show is about my pre-comedy career as a fertility scientist, which I was super dead set on getting my PhD. I have my BA in medical sociology. I have my master's of public health. And I was doing two years of research in a sperm bank, partially and also doing all sorts of fertility research and reproductive health research. And I don't want to give away the ending to the show, but I don't do that anymore. So it's a little bit about, it's a coming-of-age story. It's about being a woman in STEM and wanting something and getting a new dream and trying to have the courage to switch careers in your mid to late 20s. - That is so fascinating, what a fun story. So I want to inspire you to pen this piece. - Oh my gosh. First of all, it's so nice talking to an actual, the theater person. I mean, no one would say pen in the stand-up world. So this was so intellectual, I'm loving it. I found that I could, I could not shut the fuck up about my job when I had it. And I found that it was what people really wanted to listen to. Like I would be at a party and someone would be like, Sarah come over here and tell this person about how you work at a sperm bank. Like I found that this was the thing in my life that captivated most people's attention. So I started talking about it in stand-up and those ended up always being my best jokes. I think just because of the conceit of it, I mean, there are no other comedians, female comedians to my knowledge who worked at a sperm bank. So it kind of became my thing. And then as my comedy career grew and I kind of got to a point where I have to start making decisions about, you know, do I want my future to be seven years of getting a PhD or do I want my future to be stand-up and storytelling and playwriting? I sort of started writing this show as a way to help myself make a decision. Just as a way to explore, well, you know, one of the big themes in the show is what kind of person becomes a scientist? Like it's very hard, you know? Like I had to take, you know, the SATs and the GREs and I had to, you know, I double majored and I wrote two honors thesis and undergrad and I tried to thesis. Like it's not easy to become a scientist and I think I kind of wanted to delve into my psyche of did I just choose this career because it impressed my Jewish parents and because it impressed people at cocktail parties and why did I actually want to be doing this? And did I actually want to be doing this? And in the process of writing the show, that kind of helped launch my comedy career in quotes, whatever a career even is nowadays. And it sort of helped me make the decision for me which is that I do want to be a comedian and I want to take a chance on myself and sort of always trying to, you know, hide behind diploma's institutions and fancy degrees. So I think that's sort of why I started writing it. And originally it was, I thought, you know, this is going to be a book, is this going to be, I'm a big David Tveris fan, I was thinking originally, is this going to be a collection of humorous essays as I kind of try to work out what I want to do with my life. And if I'm willing to leave, what I thought was my dream job behind, if that makes sense. - Wow, I love how far the show has come and where you got the idea from, this is wonderful. - Oh, thanks. - Well, I'm curious to know as you're mounting this production, you've mentioned you've done some readings, you know, you sort of developed it through standup and whatnot. I want to build on that and ask, you know, what has it been like developing this current iteration of it? - Yeah, for sure. So I was working on the show for about, I want to say like six months with my director, Eris, we sort of, she had been a scientist as well. She's in her late 40s, but when she was my age, she had been working as a scientist. She went to Brown and then she was working at Stanford. I mean, we met at a comedy show and I reached out to her and I said, you know, I see that you've, then a lot of solo shows, you know, she's won the Lucio Ortello Award. She's been drama desk nominated. She's like, have this awesome solo show career. And I said, you know, would you be interested in directing the show? And my original pitch to the show for the show was, I've been kind of this boy crazy serial monogamous, serial data and now I work at a sperm bank. Isn't that funny? And she said, yeah, that is funny, but I think your show should be a little bit more than like more than that. Like it's not really about boys or sperm, it should be about you. So for, you know, six months, I did a lot of writing. I wrote a lot that did not make it into the show. I'm just kind of trying to explore. And also, you know, I would like read snippets to my therapist and to my friends and my boyfriend. I was just like trying to figure out how did I end up with this job that everyone seems fascinated by and kind of like what in my life brought me here? And then I got into the Arsenova camp program, which is the comedy artists in residence program, which I couldn't believe I was accepted. I, you know, everyone else in this program had gotten BFA's and MFA's and they'd come from a theater background. And here I am the like scientist who does stand up, which is like the rawest and raunchiest in my opinion. It's like the least barrier to entry of all of these things, you know, they all knew what like a movement coach was and mine, I was like, I don't know what any of that is. But they by the grace of God accepted me into this program that it was an amazing nine month writing residency where my cohort of five other amazing solo shows and I and Mahala and Matt were our leaders met every Monday and we'd be each have about a half an hour to pitch ideas, read something, act something out and get feedback. And then Arsenova gave us each one night, the first week in June to premiere our show off Broadway. And that was so awesome because I would have never in my life imagined that I'd be premiering my show to like a sold out crowd at one of New York's most prestigious theater institution. Like it was so crazy to me and I can't believe, still can't believe that all happened. And yeah, that's sort of what I did. I also Arsenova hooked me up with this amazing, amazing coach Preston Martin who kind of taught me like clowning and movement and all of, you know, we've kind of go through the blocking. There was a big problem that was discovered in Arsenova where they were like, hey, Sarah, we've watched you perform a lot and you're not doing anything from your neck down. Like you don't seem to understand that you have like all of this stuff at your disposal, like in these toolbox, like you just kind of stand still and that's the standup in you. But have you considered using a prop? Have you considered using a lighting change? Have you considered using your foot or a voice? And so I feel like through Arsenova and working with my director or just rehearsing it on my own, I kind of could breathe life into it, if that makes sense. But I also, I keep saying if that makes sense, but I feel like there's the very high concept theater version, which was at Arsenova where, you know, there was 10 people working on the tech and item lighting changes and song cues. Then I think there'll be kind of middle version at under St. Mark's where I'm going to have one person doing tech and it's a smaller theater. And then I'm trying it, I'm doing it at the DC comedy loft in Washington in October. And that's just going to be at a regular comedy club. So I'm going to see how that works without any of, you know, the theater, Razzle Dazzle. I love that that journey for you. That is fantastic. Well, snowballing off of all of that. I'd love to know, you know, with the subject magic you're dealing with, but the way you're presenting it, is there a message or a thought? You hope that audiences take away from your work? - Oh my God. That's such a good question. No one ever asks me good questions like this. People are just like, "How did you memorize all that?" I think the biggest thing I want people to take away from it is sometimes you need to choose your own happiness over the validation of other people. And even if you thought what made you happy was getting validation from other people, sometimes you need to do your own thing. And as hard as it is for a control freak like me, go with the flow and try to be open-minded and do what actually you want. Like what you honestly truly want, not what will impress people, not what looks good on a resume. And then those things will come. But that was sort of the biggest thematic question I feel like I wanted to deal with in the show is, how do you take, how does a goody-to-shoes kid with two Ivy League degrees and obsessed with gold stars end up working, being a stand-up, which is like not exactly something that parents are necessarily proud of, if you know what I mean. - I absolutely do. I love that. That is a great idea, great idea. - Well, one other thing that I wanted to talk about was, I mean, there are a couple of things. One is, you know, the openness that you don't, you don't have to go all the way when you make changes that you can, I'm still like a validation monster. Why do I do stand-up? I perform live all the time. Like, I think I've just sort of changed how I try to get it. Another thing which I feel like people don't really talk about is being, you know, a feminist and being, loving being like a powerful woman, but also being a little boy crazy. And that's kind of a theme throughout the show as well is, you know, I think one of the original reasons I thought working at a sperm bank would be funny, is because I love flirting and I loved going on dates and I loved dating and having boyfriends. And I don't think that those two are mutually exclusive, like being a strong independent girl, boss, woman. And, you know, I've never really been single. I've boyfriend hop and I love doing that. And I don't think that, you know, it doesn't make me personally, I don't think any less of a feminist. And that was another original question when I was originally writing the show was, you know, I feel like a lot of the time when I see pieces about like feminism or coming into a womanhood or growing up or coming of age, it's like, and now I don't need anyone. And I'm all alone. I'm like, no, I still need the validation of someone who's in love with me and obsessed with me and does my laundry. - I love that. I love that. My final question for this first part, I'm really excited to hear your answer. That is who are you hoping to have access to egg? - Oh my God. I mean, my dream is any girl or anyone really who works in, okay, my first answer is like women in STEM. Like if I could have young women in STEM in the room, because I don't think that the show is anti working in science. I think it just wasn't right for me anymore or I have changed. But it would make me, there are a lot of sort of inside jokes, there are a lot of Jewish inside jokes. So I'd love to see a lot of Jews there and there are a lot of women in STEM inside jokes. And I'd love to see a lot of female scientists there. I'd also love to see people kind of going through growing pains, whether that's going through your first big breakup, you know, losing your first big job, getting your first big job, graduating college and not sure what you want to do. Like, I feel like, you know, if you feel like your life is sort of primordial soup and you don't really know what's going to happen, but you feel like something is coming, I feel like this show is a lot about the growing pains and growing up and coming of age and figuring out what kind of life you want to live. Basically, I want an audience full of depressed, anxious people is what I'm saying. (upbeat music) - Over the second half of our interview, we love giving our listeners a chance, gets to know our guests a little bit more. Cool the curtain back, if you will. And I'd love to start by asking you, what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers, or shows have inspired you in the past? - Oh, wow. - Or just some of your favorites. - I mean, I love like people that I think are kind of like freaks, like weirdos, like people who just have balls, not 'cause they're dudes, but like, okay. Sasha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, the latest season, I forget her name, but Filomena Kunk, Kunk on Earth, I think on the BBC, like people who go out into the world and just cause mayhem and do it for the sake of comedy, Eric Andre, like I think that that's so funny. So that was kind of like my first love of comedy was just watching these sort of, like watching Borat was just like, I was like, I wanna do whatever that is, like I'm obsessed with whatever is going on. So I love that sort of style of comedy. I also love these professional storytelling, one man, one woman shows, like, you know, Alex Edelman and I just saw Judy Gold show this year and Jacqueline Novak and Brabiglia, you know, these people that, you can walk away from the hour of the show being like, that was really funny. And also, I really learned something about this person. I felt all these ranges of emotion. I don't know, I just feel like, I feel like when I first thought about doing an hour, I was like, I could definitely do an hour of all the jokes that I have written and I could do an hour, no problem, or I could take, you know, people through a whole cohesive piece and like show a true narrative arc, a true story of growth and, I don't know, I just wanted it to pack a bigger punch 'cause I do stand up all the time. So I feel like I was looking towards people who I felt like we're doing more with an hour of stand up or storytelling than just telling jokes. So I would say probably Brabiglia was, I saw him live all the time in college and he was the first person where I was like, okay, this person is clearly as funny as a stand up but is doing something as impactful as, you know, like the moth or storytelling or this American life or that sort of style. So those are the sort of comedians. I mean, I love Joan Rivers. I'm trying to think, I think Julia Louis Dreyfus is the best comedic actor who's ever lived. And I also read a lot. I love literary fiction. I just think books are so funny. I really wanna write a novel. I have the beginnings of one and I could just read forever. I read every morning when I wake up. It's like probably my favorite part of the day. - I love that list of inspiration. This is such a wonderful list. - Oh, thanks. I have some more, okay, I forgot to mention some other people I've inspired. David Stairus is like, was the first, I didn't know that you could read written words and laugh out loud until I read David Stairus when I was in middle school. And I've read every single, I have all of his books in print. I'm like, looking at them right now. He is my like, God, I'm obsessed with him. And I think that like he would do a fantastic solo show, you know, because all of his stories, they're laugh out loud, but they pack a punch and it makes you think it's telling a small story that reflects the nature of the human condition that we can all understand. And that to me is just the pinnacle of art. So I love him so much. I've seen him live. He's amazing. He's like this tiny, tiny man. And he kind of like Sacha Baron Cohen and Nathan Fielder and those types of people. Like he just puts himself out there into the world. He's so fearless. He's so badass. He does crazy stuff so that he can go right about it. And he has such a clear voice. And he's so sardonic. I think he's great. Like Fran Leibowitz, I think they're so funny. And I can't believe I forgot to mention, but Phoebe Waller Bridge is like another God to me. She's amazing. She has the exact sort of, if she was a standup, that would be kind of the exact sort of career arc that I would love. You know, you have this solo show. It gets optioned into a pilot. I have a pilot like version of my show. That would just be like a dream. So those are my two big ones I forgot to mention. And then I also love movies that kind of glorify the most horrible parts of ourselves. Like Gone Girl or Amadeus or Shiva Baby or Promising Young Woman. Like these kinds of movies. And then I love Stoner movies. Like I love A Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen. I've seen every single Judd Apatow movie. Those are also my favorites. - That is a wonderful addition to that. Those are one of the inspirations. I love it. Now I know you're busy getting ready for Egg to open up at under St. Marks, but I'm curious to know, have you seen any great theater lately? You might be able to recommend to our listeners? - Oh my gosh. Yes. What have I seen? Well, last night I saw my friend, Brit Meg's show Dolphin Mode, a caveat. That was super good. All of the other shows in my Arsenova cohort were awesome. Straight icons, which I think is going to be going up a caveat soon, is super funny. My friends, Marit, Marina and Emily do a show called the Supermodel Show, which is like a clowning feminist experience. They put it up at asylum. And I think they're going to do it again in the fall. My friend, Lita, did a show called One Clown Show. And my friend Kurt did a show called Let Me Get a Spotlight, which is sort of like a boat burn a musical experience. But I need to go to more solo shows for sure. Oh, I saw Anthony DeVito's show. I think he renamed it. I think now it's called Jersey Boys, but I loved that. But I feel like my attention span is really, I think I want too much regular standup in 10 minutes sets. So it can be hard for me to go to like a one hour show, but I need to start going more to more solo shows 'cause I really love them. I love that that's some wonderful, wonderful suggestions there. You've mentioned several times, you know, of course you are a standup comedian, but you are now also a playwright. So what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - Oh my gosh, first of all, everyone is so much nicer than in standup. Like in stand, the theater is much more collaborative, you know, and in the theater, there's so many people that work in the theater, but aren't trying to be the person on the stage. So, you know, you meet all the amazing people who do tech and who do lighting and do directing and dramaturgs and you meet the stage managers and like all of these people that go to support you, whereas in standup, I have to be all of those people at once, like I have to be the writer and the performer and the director and I need to know when something isn't working and I have to switch it up and so nice to like do a team project when you're used to doing everything on your own. So I think that that made the transition to theater easier. I still have trouble identifying as like a theater person, playwright person, like I still, you know, when there's a lighting change, like that's scary to me and I have to remember that people know that they're going to a theater show and that's normal and what they're expecting. But yeah, it's also just been nice, you know, I have to, when I'm at a comedy club, I'm trying to get as many laughs per minute as possible. Like I'm like, you know, the booker's watching, I have 10 minutes, I better get a big laugh every 15 seconds or else she's not going to book me again. So I'm not focusing on sharing my truth or my story or whatever. I'm doing dick jokes as much as I can to drunk tourists in the middle of the night, which I love and is one of my favorite things on earth to do, but it's also been really fun. In the theater, you know, there are moments of egg where I'll go three or four minutes without getting a big laugh. I'm just talking about a breakup I went through. I'm talking about what it was like, you know, studying for the SATs and being so nervous for them that my tutoring company ran out of practice tests to give me and what that was like or talking about how my younger brother was just, this really intense, difficult kid and how I felt like I didn't get enough attention because he was sucking all the air out of the room. Like, I feel like I would never ever a million years get to talk about that during stand up. And if I have talked about it, it's been in a written form. So I don't get to see people's reactions. So like, to be able to perform egg and I see people like do things that I never see in the audience when I do stand up. Like, people will clutch their chests or people will put their head in their hands or people will look at their friends and say something. Like, I can bring people on such a wider range of emotions than I can during a regular set at a comedy club that feels very powerful and cool and daunting. And I feel bad, like, making people feel sad. But then I feel so excited that I know I'm coming in with a big joke and I'm gonna rescue you. So taking people on that ride has been, it's so gratifying and really fun. - That is such a wonderful answer. I love you. We love someone that enjoys the journey as much as we do. So that is really fantastic. Well, that leads to my favorite question to ask guests and of course that is what is your favorite theater memory or what is it? Oh my gosh. Well, I feel like I've had a much shorter shelf life, shelf life of theater than I'm sure most of your guests. But, wow. I think just like the first time I did, I mean, getting, I got a standing ovation, which at my premiere, which was like probably one of the best feelings in the world. But I think before that other than that, I have had a bunch of girls message me on Instagram or email me since I've been doing the show being either like, you know, I have been thinking about doing pre-med in college and I really wanna do it because your show was exciting to me or I didn't think science could be cool. I thought you had to feel like a super dorky to do science, but I feel like you and some other science people I've met through you are cool and it makes me wanna do it. Or girls who are like, I was the nerdy, goody two shoes, round nose or kid and this show like made me feel seen. So I think those are my favorite moments offstage, onstage. It's been so exciting when new theatrical things that I've tried to learn over the last year. Like I do an accent for my Bob Mitzvah teacher tutor, for example, or my Bob Mitzvah party planner. Like I would have never done an accent on a like a comedy club stage, but doing the accent during the show and having that be like one of the biggest last of the show was so gratifying. And in that moment, I felt like an actor, like a true actor. So that felt good too. - Those are such wonderful memories. I love that. - Yeah, it's really nice. - My heart warms to hear that you've inspired young women to go and do these things. This is so wonderful, wow. - I know, it feels good. I mean, I wasn't expecting that at all. So it's been really nice. - I love that. Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to know, do you have any other projects or productions coming on the pipeline we might be able to plug for you? - Oh my God, please. I always have irons, what's that saying? Irons in the freezer instead of the fire. I try to have a couple of, I try to make my surface area as large as possible to increase my chances of striking gold. So I, so yeah, so I have egg. Then I have my short film, "Busted," which shot last month or the very end of July, beginning of August. It was a three-day shoot and that's gonna be a like 12 to 15 minute short film about my last day in research and leaving, which I don't wanna say too much, 'cause it'll ruin the end of egg. But that is the final cut. We're hoping to like send it out to festivals in October and hopefully we'll be releasing an online version on like Vimeo or YouTube, this fall or winter. So if everyone could click on that, whenever that comes out, that'd be great. We have like a little busted mailing list on my website. So I'm working on that. And then I have a pilot version that I'm still tweaking kind of of the world of egg where my character Sarah Shapiro in the universe, in my pilot and short film universe, kind of is balancing the lifestyle of being a comedian while working at the sperm bank and hoping that her job doesn't find out about her second career, which is sort of the life that I lived for two years. So if you're a big Hollywood executive listening to this and wanna read my pilot, please let me know. And then I'm working on a treatment for a feature kind of in that same voice, but more of a closed story. And then trying to pitch in a novel sort of novel vibes. I have the first three chapters written, but that's just sort of a longer term project. And that's about, I'm very interested in like female friendships and jealousy and how jealousy can corrode friendships and how to at least in stand up, you and all of your best friends are also all competing for the same spots and kind of what does competition do to friendships? And can you truly be happy for other people if it means that they're getting an opportunity that you're not getting? So that's sort of what that's exploring. So I got a couple things in the works. - Love that. As you said, some irons in the freezer or in the fire, whichever one you wanna have in these days. And that is a great lead into my final question, which is if our list was like more information about egg or about you perhaps would like to reach out to you, how can they do so? - Oh my gosh, please reach out to me, DM me, email me, whatever. You can go to sarahadelmancomedy.com S-A-R-A-H, my last name is A-D-E-L-M-I-N or I'm Sarah Adelman one on Instagram. Sarah underscore Adelman on TikTok, but please don't watch my videos. They're really cringe or shoot me an email. My email's on my website. My reps email is on my website. If that's of any interest to you or come see the show, come see the show in August. Hopefully they'll all sell out. It's three nights only and I'm hopeful that, you know, I can do a longer run at understate marks in the future. I'm also doing egg in DC and hope to do some more venues on the east coast. So especially if you're a woman in STEM or interested in that world or have had a big life change, please come out. I'd love to see you there and give you a big hug after the show. - Perfect. Well, Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, for sharing not only your amazing show but the amazing journey that you and this piece has gone on. I truly appreciate it. So thank you for your time today. - Oh my gosh, Andrew, this has been such a pleasure. I feel like I never get to talk about the show in like a philosophical or deep way. I'm always just telling people, you know, I need to rehearse or this is what I'm doing yet. So this has been, however fun this was for you, it was 10 times more fun for me. So thank you so much. - Thank you. My guest today has been the incredible playwright and performer, Sarah Adelman, whose show "Egg" is playing three shows at "Under St. Mark's" August 22nd through the 24th. Get your tickets before they go. You can get those tickets and more information at frigid.nyc. We also have some contact information for our guests which we'll be posting in our episode description as well as on our social media posts. But like I said, three shows. This venue is not huge. It has great works, but it doesn't have too many seats. So get them before they're gone. Head to frigid.nyc and get your tickets for egg playing August 22nd through the 24th. But we want to add for our American listeners that election day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote and do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register to vote by visiting vote.gov. The future demands that we fight for it now. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. - In a stage whisper. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - If you like what you hear, please leave a five star review, like and subscribe. - You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at stagewhisperpod. And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpod@gmail.com. - And be sure to check out our website for all things stage whisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets and more. Simply visit stagewhisperpod.com. Our theme song is Maniac by Jazzar. Other music on this episode provided by Jazzar and Billy Murray. 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