Reflecting on Fame and Relationships

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Despite their religious roots, her family supported her when she was outed in her teens That life is the source of a lot of her unfiltered comedy, including her Netflix special, Wake upp There's so much I wanted to ask her about, money, fame, marriage, and what they mean in our celebrity and wealth obsessed culture Boy, did she engage Here's my conversation with the singular Robbie Hoffman Okay, an action Robbie Hoffman. Yeah, can you imagine? We're actually in your home It's weird because you guys said and I was saying this a bit. you said, o, they have to do it at your house because we want the person to be comfortable But what you do is you come to the house and you totally rip apart. like this is not Do you know what I mean? It's like, you want me to be comfortable but the couch isn't where the couch like the whole house is moved Yes So I'm kind of counteringpologies. We want the subject to be comfortable, but then you come in the house and you move everything that's good right. And I did notice sometimes when you see an interview you see them sitting in the middle of a room in their chair and I go, That's their living room How weird to walk in, but now I understand they move everything. I have these chairs, these are my chairs, but normally they're there They're very nice chairs. They're very nice chairs. The house is beautiful. Beautiful. Do you feel comfortable No Fair but I'm not comfortable a lot. so don't worry. I'm comfortable being uncomfortable. Are you comfortable making people uncomfortable too? Yeah. Oh yeah Great, then we're in for a fun conversation. We're in for it All right, so we're going to talk about more of this later, as you have often talked about, you grew up really poor. And I wanted to start with what is the weirdest thing now about finding yourself with money and fame You know, I don't know if weird is the word. I think it's tremendous. It's amazing. It's everything I've ever wanted was to make a living doing what I love doing. You know Life is weird everywhere. My weirir doesn't, you know, me seeing stuff it doesn't change necessarily based on my socioeconomic status because I still see everything now I just see rich people in their weirdness. I was poor, I saw us. you know what I mean? And I saw that. now I see new weird things. you know, It's like you go to a different level of a video game. There's other challenges and there's other weirdness. How would compare the rich weir to the The rich weird is way weirder and worse because it There's like a humanity that is missing. My favorite is of people like me who grew up poor And then by the grace of God got some money. and now we could be like, oh my God, how we are these rich people who've been like this since birth or whatever Right? Small things like when you go into a rich person's house and nobody's allowed to go in the fridge poor, have much less, but it's like when you go to their house, it's like, take, take take, you want to coke, you want to sprite. we just everybody went in the fridge But the rich, they have the biggest fridge, but nobody can go in the fridge Right. So it's a small thing like that that paints a bigger picture, a bigger problem of generosity, right? Generosity seems like a small thing, but I've mostly seen generosity in poor households. It's not to say it doesn't exist, but it is notable. Whenever I meet a rich person and they actually were helpful or great, I mention it It's worth mentioning. Are there things that have stayed with you about having really struggled because my mom came as a political refugee from Cuba with basically a suitcase. And no matter how comfortable she is, No no,. She's a hoarder. She is a hoarder because she says it's because she lost everything so young.. She can't throw anything away. She's eighty seven now and that has stayed with her Is there anything like that for you? Every Everything stays with you. The way that I am is entirely informed by how I grew up Everything stays with me. I joke about it ofent times, but you know, that's why I like being with Gab. We both kind of grew up meager beginnings and we speak the same language. I equate it to literally dating outside of the faith Dabby and I getting married, we dated inside her faith. No, she's not Jewish. Nothing to do with that, but she grew up meager, so did I. and that helps our day to day. We speak the same language. If we're grocery shopping, raspberries are seven dollars ninety nine cents for a little thing and I'm not in the mood to spend that. I don't care if the money's in the account. I'm not in a place emotionally to drop seven dollars ninety nine cents USD a little thing of raspberries We move on. She She agrees, we move on. This thing that you just said is so interesting to me that you're not emotionally in the place to spend seven dollars ninety nine cars. I think it's criminal. I'm moving on. But what is criminal? What does that mean for you? I just I've never heard that is crazy. I mean, I had a great uncle and I don't know the comparison. you know, gas right now in LA. is seven is seven dollars. Close to Yeah. Okay. Now when I was a kid, I think in Montreal goes by leader, not Gallon And I think like It used to be like seventy cents or something. When it reached a dollar, he didn't leave the house Like he was like like I Uncle Etdie, couldould you take me to my friend's house? He's like, arere you kidding Gess it's a dollar I'm going to be downstairs and he just didn't leave his room I grew up like those like like the day in and the day out I don't know, it just affects me. It's how, you know, even the way I purchase things. If I'm gonna buy something, I sold out a tour I sold a show I'm writing a book. Whatever it is, I take a little off the top I make sure it's something I love. I have forever And I buy it. and then the rest of it, I try and be careful with. What was the last thing you bought that you loved? A Probably in my backpack I bought a designer backpack tour and u You know, as a dike like me, I don't buy purses or anything like that, but a backpack is a kin I've had it almost a year and I don't see it slowing down. It's a good investment. Yeah. Really good. No, reallyally good. Yeah You grew up The seventh of ten kids in an ultra orthodoxyitic family You've described growing up in pretty brutal terms What are your earliest memories of your life in Crown Heights? Really bad. I don't speak too much to this, but I can a little bit. Crown Heights is beautiful now, but there were a lot of robberies when we were kids And I do remember the summers are very hot in New York for the, you know, as the New York Times. I never get see the New York Times mug Are you getting that on camera When you asked me if I'm comfortable. The New York Times is in my house. No, I'm not comfortable. I'm always excited. The Times is the Times. So no, I'm not comfortable, but I'm excited. I don't need to be so comfortable to the question We in the summer I didn't have air conditioning, but my parents had in their bedroom, one air conditioner in the window And it was so hot, must have been over one hundred degrees. Everybody was sleeping in their underwear. My parents had the ten kids on the floor someome in the bed on others of us like on couch pillows. you know, quasi made mattresses and we would sleep on the floor in our underwear I had, you know memories. I was very afraid of my father My mother was my father was abusive to my mother. You know, I try speaking about this now, I try and give grace to not too much grace, but not you know, my parents were very young when they had us. You know, my father was thirty five with ten kids. My mother was thirty with ten kids So they were under a lot of pressure and stress. I'm not excusing him But I don't know that he had the proper resources to deal with anything. And I'm not sure how he was told to manage his family in the systems that he was a part of the religious systems. So that said, he was very abusive. kind ofvoed him. What does that mean if you don't mind asking, and you don't have to say He was physically abusive to my mother for years And so I kind of always avoided him Now he would he was not physically abusive to us. and in fact, I remember some bad fights, he would speak to us after and say, you know, but I would never hit you. But it's like, but you hit me You hit Ma And my mother is the sweetest, you know, unbelievable one herard a fly. So it's like, well, you, you know, it's like, I don't know, we kind of like, I just like I remember seeing my f like I remember once walking to the kitchen Five six. I don't even know young. I wanted an orange juice or a snack and I saw him sitting there. And I saw him and I go, oh, didn't see you there. and I you know, and I would walk away. likeike we didn't have Thats sort of a relationsation. I saw him and I'm like, o, sorry I didn't see there. I'll come back So that was kind of a tiptoe time. For sure When did you realize you were funny Probably later, later. But my whole family, everybody was funny. Hm, We just were all funny My father was very funny, and my mother is hysterical So everybody was funny. It was always brutal and funny. and Yeah, we laughed at each other, We laughed at ourselves. We laughed at everyone and anything. There was nothing off limits. And if you saw something funny nowadays that like, oh, you shouldn't laugh at my brother would hate you. see lookook at this. L, you know, like we would always catch funny with each other. Like look what's going on there. Look what's going on there So we were pointing, we were looking, we were laughing wasas funny a way to deal with the hard things? I'm sure. I'm sure it's cultural. I'm sure And you need to have rough there's a roughness to comedy. It isn't polite all the time. It's not sensitive all the time. It's just funny. If you grow up that way U pololiteness and decorum is kind of to the side because you can't you can't invest in those things necessarily. I had a joke early on in my career, which my friend Jess gives me a hard time about My sister at Starbucks And sometimes I would meet her after work and she would close up the shop. So sometimes at midnight, whatever. I don't know if it was twenty four hours, but it was like ' til midnight And she was she lived in an apartment four subway stops away. and she would walk home. She had two very long, scary blocks, dead of the winter, snow, dark that she would have to walk home, not too far, but not a comfortable walk home But she would walk home in a very unflattering and I don't know how to say this, that wouldn't be disgusting, that wouldn't be rude, that wouldn't be offensive. But she would walk home in a way that mimics somebody with physical disability Okay, she would limp or do something really crazy for the entire two walks to make herself quote unquote less desirable for a sexual predator. And it's too bad that that's the way the world is, but these are the safety concerns she did And I used to say that as a joke and I used to do her walk. I don't do the walk anymore Of course Comedy isn't always comfortable. say it's like that was a defense that was a protective Defense mechanism. Okaykay. If sexual predators, mostly men, thank you. They're mostly into Young able bodted girl, she has to be not that So It's not always polite and it's not always comfortable. I think the idea of comfort generally, even when you ask me if I'm comfortable is a rich thing. These are concepts Even if you ask somebody how they grew up They won't even tell you rich they'll say, we were comfortable I've never heard the word growing up, comomfortable What? We're not comfortable. Nobody is comfortable Those roaches in the fucking sink, I'm not comfortable The snow has coming through the window. I gott to put sulophane on it Nobody is comfortable Right? And we're very comfortable being uncomfortable The rich are not And they dictate what is comfortable and what isn't. They are uncomfortable often. They don't talk about things. thingsings like money they don't talk about. they don't talk about politics. Money, whether I wanted to talk about it or not as a kid, we had one O phone in the main When you walk into the house, there was a table with a phone on it. That was the phone. And my mother was screaming about money on that phone from the morning till night She doesn't have it, what's going to be? what's how much does the bus passes? We heard everything. It's not like If I didn't want to hear about it, it's like The rich have their own siloed rooms. It's not like I could go into the other room and not hear her I heard her. It's basically one room and the walls are thin as hell. I want to stay with your upbringing because I do think it's a source of a lot of your comedying uncomfortable. Are you gonna kill me? No, I think it's actually really u Insightful. G on. Okay, thank you Poor people know how to chill Once we are okay, the house is a shit all it's to dump But it's Friday night, Pe back from work, schools out, whatever it is You get into a poor person's house, you got the chips on the table, Everybody's got a cooke or a sprite, whatever they want, takeake, take, take, take, take. you're sitting outside, you're shooting the shit. It's a lot more comfortable to hang poor house then when I go to the rich houses Like I hate somebody offered me. they said, Oh, these people are going to Italy. You should come to the pool. Their house is going be empty. They're going to Italy L like I don't want to go to that pool. I don't want to be somebody's house. they're not there And then I gota like, I don't know if this, you know, it's just it's it's it's just a little bit bizarre. I'll probably go to the pool But it's not you know what I mean? It's not like the most I don't know if I believe you that you're not going to the pool. I might go to the pool but I'm just saying it's not like I'm like Hm. One day is my pool, I'll be like a little bit more ah But I don't know if I ever do a pool anyway. It's a whole other conversation. I think it's a lot of maintenance, probably. It is probably I want to ask you one more thing about this period Eventually You leave Krun Heights, you moveved down to Florida. you're there for a little bit and then your grandfather. How How did you hear the Florida piece? I always skipped the Florida piece. We were there for like a year But okay, you did your research She's not fucking around. She knows her shit. We're at the New York Times, baby. Okay, go ahead. So your grandfather then comes and rescues your mother from your abusive father and you all move to Canada. You leave your dad behind? Yes. Did you become more secular at that moment? What was it like to sort of move from a religious community to a less religious environment, Well it was transition oright. Yeah, exactly. Transition is the exact word You said it good there I was kosher til nineteen So I was still we were definitely kosher in the house. likeike, you know, I got a mazza here. I mean, I'm not an animal. So there's still things you know, I don't need to die like Like there's still remnants. I don't know that I totally transitioned out When we left, we weren't immediately not religious. We were still religious. We moved to Montreal. In fact, we moved to a Montreal neighborhood that was the same sect You know, the biggest difference was not having the father in the home, which meant my mother took on all of the male religious Commandments. She did the kiddish which is Friday night blessing over the wine. and Saturday, she did the Habdalah, which is the service at the end of the Sabbath U She did All the mail Things And that is the law is if the father is not in the home that the mother takes on a lot of the responsibilities. So was it something that you wanted to break from the religious strictures or was it something that you were battling against or did you Well, I did know my family was just this year you were asking about my mother's battle Yeah My mother is the one who took us out of that insular community. It's really her story, that part of it. I was born into it. So I don't know that it was such a battle. I just this was life. this was the day in then the day out of life. For my mother she was starting to open up and say Is this what I want for my life? Is this what I want for my kids' life? My brothers, for instance, were not learning English. They were learning Yiddish and they were learning The Bible Torah And my mother is proficient in English. My mother is potentially the most well read person I've ever met my whole life. So she had a big dissonance between her kids not being able to Read the classics later on, like what am I doing to these boys that they're only learning Bible and they're not learning their own language So there were things like that that my mother has shared later that led her to be like, I don't want my kids living like this. Beyond her own abuse and what she was facing, she was thinking about What kind of people are we going to be You end up going to a private Jewish school on scholarship You said in an interview that you had to find your voice that you had been sounding Jaapian and those were your words in order to fit in at high school. Okay, I wouldn't use such language. I would never use Shout out k Yes, yes, yes. Go ahead. Japie, shout out to my Japanese fans notothing to do with you. Jewish American princess. Yes. It's a derogatory term for Jewish girl whichich I can use. Go ahead Does anyone give you a hard time back in the interview? Oh, friend. Oh really? Oh yeah Name names Not o after. okay. I can't wait for the tea Um I was curious about when you gave up that sort of pretense of trying to fit in with that crowd and that you had kind of adopted this persona. It was another transition. Right It's also a teenage thing. I think many teenagers want to fit in. I was already poor. I was the outside. I was going to this nice school which still was a huge opportunity in the end wasn't net positive and really did teach me a lot. It was hard socieconomically did not fit in. feel looked down upon, but it also created a fire in me. But It was a transition. I remember I really tried I got so lucky So I'm going to the school I'm pretty I had a great figure. So I tried to really there was two things. Not only was I hiding where I came from and then my the classism of it all, but I was also hiding the boyishness of it all But I wanted to be feminine and girly and I was always a loud kid. I was always annoying. I hated these things about me. I still hate being annoying and I'm working on it, but it is what it is But it wasn't for girls to be. L if you were like if you were outspoken as a girl or it was just like Unladylike and still like not hot, not cool So I was kind of pushing that too, and I kind of went the other way. Also one of my good friends sat me down probablyrobably in ninth grade and said like, I'm bringing down the group that like I can't wear a backpack anymore I gota I gott to have a purse, a tote We're putting all our shit in a tote. We're not doing school bags anymore. And I was like, but these books are so heavy, I can't do one shoulder. I need both shoulders I almost need the clip here You reing like these math books? Are you kidding me So I remember she was like, No, you got to get a purse like you're bringing down the group. You're bringing down the group. And there were signs early on because the purse I got was from Levi. it was a used Levi' It was a green quarterized Leviise with a Levis pocket And I would try and do things. I wanted to, you know, I tried like looking better or more feminine or whatever and leaning into my my looks and, you know, and also talking different You know, because when I moved, I would say words like Orange But you say orange So I remember doing that Well I'm going to say orange Not going to say orange anymore. Orange is for losers. Right? They know you're poor. If you say orange, they know you're poor Oranges ight. So stuff like that. I was always thinking how I look, how I sound, how I look, how I sound, how I look, how I sound And over time As I came out, as I started stand up, It was all about like leaning back in It was all about like we're just going a hundred percent. I'm still when you're on stage It gives you an excuse to be a thousand percent you. Another big transition for you. You were actually outed when you were seventeen in a way that sounds like something out of mean girls Bro, this was brutal. So I had a girlfriend Italian and this girl wanted to be out of the closet with me and I was like, I'm not being fucking gay. Are you out of your mind There's no way. I don' I'm not doing that. I'm compet I'm doing well in school Getting a great job and that's going to be the end of that. I'm not going to be doing all the skay shit. in my head And so she would say fine And I just like wouldn't talk to her in public. You didn't want to come out at this point because You just didn't feel like it was anyone's business or you were I don't even take. I don't know how long this is going to go As soon as I found out it was gay, I was already living on my own. I was already having to make rent I was in school full time. I was working basically full time too I was living a really grown up life, and I just could not have another thing You know, and I was a very good kid by this point. I was taking school very seriously. So I didn't go out too much, but I went out This is where it gets sloppy So we went to the student bar And I was with all my friends. And She was with hers So then at some point I think she texts me meet her in the bathroom So I went to meet her in the bathroom. So we went into the stall together. There's a line you know, the bathroom. So finally we got inst stalled, we got install together and we're making out an install. L' seventeen, who cares? And the door sprung open. And so we were left Like we pulled our embrace apart and a girl that I had gone to school with. P partart of the Jewish community saw me, this popular girl Didn't see me kissing, but something was what was going on And yeah, by the next day it felt like everybody knew. It felt like the scene from a walker. remember I was just walking through the cafeteria and everybody was like She's fucking gay So was really, I really I'm like lucky to be here. I really thought I it was the worst time in my life I lost all my friends overnight ' seventeen. Wow. Yeah, all but two. My friends told me they thought it was just weird and I don't know. Yeah, they just thought it was weird. And again, it wasn't a time where nobody was gay, just we were in still a pretty conservative environment And then I had a couple friends, my friend Malay, She out out to Malay. She messaged me, Yo Dg Like, I don't care what's going on. here to talk if you want. And then my friend Allie, whose mother was always nice. She was like, I don't give a shit, whatever. I hear stuff's going on You can talk to me, you don't have to talk to me. There was a couple people who were a bit of a lifeline That's terrible. It was really bad All right You eventually go to McGill You study accounting?. You started doing stand up. Yeah And you were getting your first study paycheck as an accountant after you graduated But you continue doing standup, going by Rifka, your given name at work, and Robbie in the comedy clubs. Talk me through that. Was that like an alter ego? You saw them as two different people or No, no, it wasn't like a Beyonce, Sasha Far. It was literally a practical decision. My name is Rfka But I didn't want the accounting firm to think that I did standup or I wasn't living for the firm because it was a very big culture at these professional jobs that like you live and die for this firm. So when I started standup, I didn't want really people knowing that I was leaving to do standup like leaving at seven PM to go do stand upp shows. So I just didn't want my name on any flyers or anything. So that's why I went with Robbie. Um It was my uncle's name. It was an R initial I watched a TedEX talk you gave in twenty four.ate that that's still up there. It's it makes me cringe beyond, but go ahead I don't know why. I someomeone who researched you, I found to be very right. First of all, it was poignant. It was good. Good job, younger Rob I don't know why I'm salty about, shit, I shouldn't even be salty about. I look for problems. This is what I do. to complain is to enjoy for me. And so I can't even look at something good and say, you know what? That was a good thing. fine So one thing you said is comedy chooses you. Oh yeah. And you also said the stage understands me and it's where I'd like to live. It's crazy because I'm like the most uncomfortable to bring it back to comfort Probably one on one. Probably like little small talks or kind of little dinner parties or something like that where I can be a little bit socially. But on stage, when everything goes black in the room and the lights are on me, I feel like I'm in a womb I feel like likeike I'm free. And I always worked small and then bigger, bigger, bigger. and now I'm working in large. I feel like You know, like there's some artists who paint still lies on eight by ten canvases and small works. and then there's like the Jackson Pollocks that need like a bucket of paint splashing from here to the other room onto a canvas the size of this rug. And I feel like I' like these stages are those I'm working in massive scale now bigger sale and I feel at fucking home. Really? I'm like these theaters are my shit Why do you think that is? I don't know, it's amazing. I don't know how to explain it better than that. But I do think that comedy chooses you I think you can choose it and the people who choose it, you know, some of them. You can tell they chose it and it didn't choose them. and you know, its everybody's on their own journey But I also, you know, it's very difficult because as soon as I started Sanup, I was like I gott to do this now This is really throwing a wrench into my plans. I was going to marry good Get a good job and just live. Like middle class, like whatever, like you know, I just consistently live mayaybe have a condo have a husband that now I'm gay. Now the job's going. Now I got to I have to really consider pursuing art whichich seemed like the poorest thing you could do. And I'm trying not to be poor anymore. And now I'm like I could be really poor. This is no joke Rub I just I felt like it was a calling becausecause yeah, I don't want I wanted not to be, but it was like Well, I do have this shot and I do have it So I can't believe it, but I have to do this You said earlier that growing up, nothing was too taboo to joke about. and know in your comedy, it is true Nothing is off limits in your material You said in a recent interview that anyone can do anything I just want to explore a little bit about like how you think about your comedy. Okay, yeah. you know, do you mean you don't have to be part of a group to make fun of it? I think anyone could do anything but you're at your own risk So for instance, Chappelle can joke about trans people He's not trans So on the transnd spectrum But he can he can do it people can clap back I think you can do whatever the hell you want, but also know that it could perceive be perceived by people however the hell they want How do you think about what you would or wouldn't do, because you've joked about AIDS, pedophilia, late term abortions Is there something that, I know that's quite a list. Gotta go listen to the jokes. You can't just listen No, exactly. I want to make that clear. G gototta go listen to the jokes.. It's hard to talk about comedy actually out of context. Thank you, please. I want to say But is there something that you won't joke about or haven't found the right way to joke about I'm sure. I don't know how to answer that I really joke about Jokes come to you. it's Divine. it's I don't choose idea. Where do ide gets philosophical, Where does an idea come from Yes, you know you're informed by your life and all of the experiences and then one day you're walking you're like, oh, that would be funny Oo, canan I do that? Can I not? Well, I'll have to try Is there like a Robbie Hoffman Like is there because you have very distinctive style, All the great comics do you, right? Like I think you'd be better able to describe What Robbie Hoffman comedy is like, then me. It's very hard for me to objectively see myself. It's fair, you know, it's like, whatever I talk about it's because it came to me wasn't it wasn't that deep. It can go deep as I explore the topic And oftentimes probably I've been told that it's like not what you expect How do you feel about being controversial? Because you said, people can be make jokes and people also have a right to clap back. I mean You know, there is this continuum where the more famous you get, the more scrutiny you get, the more backlash you get I can see that through line in your career already. mean you just had the Celiacs come after you. Yeah the only two communities that have come after me historically enough have been the pitbull community after the special in which I said some of I talked about some of the topics you listed so elegantly a couple minutes ago All the things I said in that special Raising the age of abortion till ten years old peopleople came after me. Turns out they're as scary as the dog. I did not know this Okay The only other people to come after me is the Seliliac community. I mean, you can't make this stuff up Ry and Celiac is a real disease that affects mostly women who are privileged to have healthcare to get the diagnosis Right, People of color tend to be less aware or not diagnosed with these things as much because they lack health care, unfortunately in this country. So it was a funny, you know, I was asked a silly question about it. I was asked about gluten in a hard hitting interview with Caller Daddy. and I responded jokingly as I always do. M Nothing more serious than that. But of course, rich white women came after me as, you know They're at the helm of both a pit bull and the Celiac community. So that made sense for me. But of all the things that I've ever said, Rich White women are at the head of the Pit buull community Yeah, they like to rescue dogs Which is great. I'm just joking Right? Just like I joked about those other things, you know, they're not upset. It's amazing that more people from other communities haven't. It's always like the people who are like I don't know. I have a problem too. It's like, yeah, we all have problems bitches. It's fine, you know, It's kind of like I shouldn't get in trouble. I will get in trouble for this. but It's kind of like how I feel about anti Semitism, like antiemitism is bad I don't want antiemitism. I get that. But is it the worst thing No, to me right now, it's not, especially living in a country where there's massive anti Mexican sentiment and Mexican people are currently being rounded up or made to fear that they're going to be rounded up. So sorry if I'm not screaming as much about anti Semitism as you want me to. Right now, I have bigger focuses on some of my neighbors that are going through horrendous. anti Mexican sentiment. So yes, it's bad I'' not such a person that thinks, o, I'm going to live a life free of any problems You asked me about being offended with my comedy and all this stuff, okay I don't think being offended is the worst thing I think being porous For me Ascended Some people expect to go through a life of not being offended, I guess? Not me Born offend My whole circumstance was fucking offensive Again, like I said, if I hit your community, I'm also hitting my community, they're hitting me, you're hitting me. It's all fair game. It doesn't mean anything more than that, but that it's a more inclusive approach. I'm including everybody. Nobody is above. I was asked a question. wouldould I go out of my way to talk about Celiacs never in a million years, I don't even want to know about it Okay. That said, did I happen to bring more awareness to Celic than anybody else has? Look what that did. In the end, how many people are more aware of it? So look at God. He sends us gifts in ways we don't understand Yeah, everything is fair game. and I don't expect to live a life not being offended And I don't I think it's okay for something to bristle you and to make you think something or feel something or react somehow Well, you're articulating a Robbie Hoffman joke. I mean, in a real way, you're articulating something that you to make people I don't like. I just do, I guess. my existence. It's not like I like. I didn't set out to do anything I'm acting in the moment reacting to stuff that, you know, it's not that serious. I'm not a journalist. I'm not from the New York Times I'm a comedian You know what I mean? So I might not know everything and I'm wrong a lot. And that's fine too. I'm not expecting to be right all the time,m not expecting to live An offensive free life. I just don't have expectations like this. So I guess Just to bring up I'm not trying to do anything but just be me And when I get an idea, bring it to you We only have a few minutes left love you I'm haveving a good time actually. Good. Me too. You're in the TV show hacks, which just ended. What's the experience meant for you? Oh, amazing. It changed my life I mean, changed my life. I'm Emmy nominated actor now Congratulations Thank you. Six lines, Eemy by the grace of God And yeah, it's just It's been an amazing experience. I don't know. It's just's everything you would want, a part written for you and gets you an Eminome It's amazing I have no complaints there I was really entertained by a recent article. Oh where I saw the headline, How Hacks botched its Yiddish line It was in response to a cutaway gag from one of the last episodes of Hcks, the scenes, just a few seconds. and you say, it' line and Yiddish And the author wrote that the line was grammatically incorrect and then said, veryer archly, quote, as any flluent Yiddish speaker will confirm. I asked my mother how to say, what was it? free? I was using the word fy and my mother said Menum So I add the first part of the line, which maybe was grammatically incorrect. Who cares? the Camadia It's not a very used word in Yiddish to say a comedy show Kind of an English sm in Yiddish So it's like This is what annoys me about Jews. It's like they want me to speak about anti Semitism. we get Yiddish onto the show. And then this Jewish publication has an issue with the Yiddish So yeah, I may have gotten the grammar wrong on there, but my mother got the word right. And it's like, which any Yiddish speaker would know? My mother is fluent in Yiddish She I asked her one word on the phone She doesn't need to be indictited for this. Feels like it hurts you That' still bothered me. annoyed You see, it goes to your thing of like u with more fame you know, you have like the scrutiny And you know, my little sister gets excited about all these things because she's like we're going up, up, up, up You know, when you have the hater, she's like, you have to start having. So she gets excited with all these listen because it means they care. Hm Right? Like if I'm being scrutinized, well, I'm not a nobody to be scrutinized anymore. They wouldn't scrutinize me if I was a nobody But of somebody now everything I say is did she, did she Come on, we have other fish to fry All right. We are going to talk again with Thursday for now Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you guys break I talk to Robbie again and ask if the pressure of being famous is getting to her The whole point is I'm new to this. I think people are Curious about that. I'm new to this and you know, I don't want anyone or I don't need anyone coming for me This podcast is supported by Simon and Schuster. What's really happening inside Donald Trump's White House? In regime change, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan deliver the explosive inside account of power, conflict, and decisions reshaping America. Reime Change, wherever books are sold. This podcast is supported by UJA Federation of New York Right now, it can feel like everything is pulling us apart. 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You're stretching ' you're you're on the east coast now Yes, I worked last night. What does that mean? Were you doing standup Yeah A, fun. How was it Really good actually. Yeah It's been good. It was it was a late night, but it was a good night. O, this is pulling, but I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Okay Um You know, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is not only because I've admired your work But I'm also really interested in transition periods in people's lives. And we spoke about sort of many of yours in our first conversation And about how this moment, you've become a lot more famous and there's a real big period of transition for you now Yeah, that's true You know, and I just sort of wondered because of that You know, we did talk about in our first conversation some of the criticism that you might have received I wonder if it just feels hard to deal with I'd say, you know, I'm so used to so many changes. My career has again been very slow and steady I think that by the time you're ready for a promotion, it might be too late So I think I'm ready, but it is interesting. you know, the whole point is I'm new to this. So I think people are curious about that. I'm new to this and you know, I don't want anyone or I don't need anyone coming for me. But I think the big thing for me as I navigate this next level is like what Why am I successful? Why are my shows successful? Why does everybody come together? And I think it's because I don't need to be a part of like big machine of dividing us by having a squabble about this and that, the red and the blue of it all, you know what I mean? I'm like, it's enough partaking in petty squabbles when we have bigger shit going on You know what I mean? And if you want the us versus them core, it's always been about the rich versus the poor. And that's what we, you know, I think we need to focus on. I always bring it back to that. You know, I think Struggle brings us together, and I've just been screaming about this since growing up the way I grew up. And whenever somebody tries to like grab me into their thing, it's no problem. I happen to be a part of a billion communities, but I don't need to get lost in the tit for tat. Part of your fame is also compounded by your relationship with Gabby Windy, who you married last year. She's unbelievable. Thank God for her Yeah, she was on the Bachelor and Bachelorette. and she was also a breakout on the Taders, which I love. The Bambes. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I've got a question. firstirst, did you think she was traitor material or did you always see her as a faithful I thought she was a faithful. She doesn't need all the stress of lying. The problem is we can't really lie. That's probably why we get in trouble. Sometimes we say this, we say that Some people ask me like, oh, you would be on the show. I'd be out first Look, I would literally be out first. firstirst of all I' be like I'm a trait, you got to getid of me. Like I would be too nervous. Like I would need to go home I don't have the temperament for it. You know, I'm simultaneously again the most nervous and confident person I don't know how that happened either But I'm always this dichotomist I'm always non binary, not just in the gender sense. I'm Canadian, I'm American, I'm nervous, I'm confident. The whole thing is a disaster. So I don't think I have the temperament for that show. that said She is a fighter She did amazing. and I said When she would call, I got one call a week with her And I would just say, just take the money and come home. Fuck them. just this is a game. And that's that I don't know if you can swear Yeah. ye. Really? Oh, I'm stuck again, Seth. My hair is stuck. Seth will come and save you She keep I have a man in my hotel room. It's been a minute I gotta say, since I met a man in my hotel room I lost my virginity actually with a man in a New York City hotel room Bobby's doing the job so I'm just gonna to remove this clip altogether. Okay, fantastic, you got it. Okay, sorry about that. Thank you for sharing that Yeah. It fine. Three thrusts maybe Okay So Back to Gabby, your wife. I've seen you talk about her with so much love and so much respect. Absolutely incredibly beautiful. Thank you. Have you had to figure out what a good relationship looks like because of the chaos of your upbringing, the chaos of her upbringing? Yeah, of course. I mean You know, we met in our thirties Because of the ways we grew up, like I grew up yes single mom household poor. but I did have in a way, a pretty stable. I know I moved from New York to Montreal and there was that cent to Miami, which you caught Lou who doesn't miss anything But u My mother was home Every day this woman was cooking and cleaning, cooking and cleaning, cooking and cleaning. I knew every day where my mother was to this day. If I gott to go find my mother, I know exactly where she is. Gag and havea Gab didn't have that Gab had, you know Maybe, you know, a parent who was not there Oftentimes didn't know where the parent was You know, then went to live with her dad, but I'm just saying she didn't have that consistency. So Gab used to think that bringing up something with me would be that I would leave if she had if she thought I was annoying, which we've established, I've long been annoying, and I apologize So she used to like if if something hurt her feelings or if I don't know. She didn't like the way that I did something if I left the cabinet open. it could be tiny, she just wouldn't say because she wouldn't want me to go away. but I was like, I'm not cllose the cabinets This is insane We can't live like this Try me, try me So she had to get comfortable Tusting that And I had to get comfortable that she was tepid about everything. So Um, it just worked. It's kind of like It's not our job to heal each other, but Through the relationship, we are healing each other. It's not the job, but it's the cherry And it's just really nice to like design kind of the life you want to live. It's like I've said with Gab. When I was a kid and I hated my brothers. I would just come home and complain about my brothers all the time. And my mother would say, you don't choose your family. They're your brothers And then I realize there's a loophole If I marry Gabby, I choose my family. That's the one time you choose your family. choose wisely Last question. The theme That's it. Last question Yeah, we're just. So The thing that you've made clear, I think throughout our entire conversation is that class is at the center of how you want to communicate your comedy, your work. And know, it made me really reflect about, in many ways how America always wants to present itself as so aspirational and to hide the ugliness, the trauma, the poverty that underlies it all. And I think what makes you so provocative is that you are really trying to put that front and center in a way that I don't think many people are Have you felt that dissonance? Have you do you feel I do feel it. especially doing more oats or elite publications. That's why I'm nervous like with the times or things like this. You know, I'm always you asked me if I was comfortable in my own house last time. No, I'm not comfortable. So I just think that like cognizant to Just always be me stand what I stand for no matter what and we can start really changing the focus to not be distracted and to focus on