In the sweet and snarky comedy “Obvious Child,” opening June 20 at the Ritz, comedian Jenny Slate plays Donna Stern, a stand-up comic who gets dumped by her boyfriend, loses her job and — a few weeks after a night with Max (Jake Lacy) — finds herself with child. As Donna decides to get an abortion, she confronts her situation with humor and heart. She also relies on the support of her parents (played by Richard Kind and Polly Draper), as well as her roommate Nellie (Gaby Hoffman) and her gay best friend Joey (Gabe Liedman).
The openly gay Liedman, who hails from Center City, chatted with PGN about “Obvious Child,” stand-up comedy and more.
PGN: How did growing up in Philly shape your sense of humor? GL: I grew up in Center City and was always kind of a streetwise kid. My school bus used to go down Pine Street, and I’d pass by Giovanni’s Room through the Gayborhood, which made me aware of cool, hip gay guys and what I wanted to be. It made me who I am.
PGN: Are you a cool, hip gay guy? GL: I think. If not, I’m doing everything wrong. I’m trying my best to be one.
PGN: “Obvious Child” tackles the tricky topic of abortion with humor. So, to quote John Waters, “Do you wish you were a girl just so you could get an abortion?” GL: OMG! [Laughs] I wish I was a girl for a lot of reasons — they make better clothes for girls. Socially, I’m always with girls. I would not want to be a woman “just” to have an abortion.
PGN: The film has you doing stand-up comedy. Is this your métier? GL: Yes … What does métier mean?
PGN: Something you are good at. GL: Stand-up is my raw art form. It is when I’m at my most artistic. Writing is when I am at my most professional. “Obvious Child” is my first acting job. I would be a fraud if I called myself an actor.
PGN: How or why do you draw on your life for your humor? Is it cathartic? GL: It is like getting naked in public. I tell stories in my stand-up routine that I would be shy to tell to friends or in a dinner party. It’s like Jenny [Slate] in the movie. The best stand-up is spilling your guts. My jokes are totally confessional and deeper, darker stories that I could tell 100 people at one time in the dark that I would not tell in a better-lit room to just one person. I’m shy and quiet off stage. On stage, I scream and talk about fucking and shitting. Stage gives me the excuse I need to be more of an animal.
PGN: Do you gravitate towards vulgar humor like Donna does in “Obvious Child”? GL: Yes, I do. I think that a lot of people think vulgar humor is just for shock, but that’s how I think and talk — in explicit, disgusting, curse-filled rants. When I taped my stand-up special, Comedy Central sent me a list of what I can’t say that would earn me a bleep. I thought I’d say “fuck” and have a few bleeps, but I said “fuck” every time I meant “um,” as a rhythmic placeholder. I have more bleeps in a half-hour than any other special. It’s how I fucking talk. I won’t ever change it. I grew up in a household where my mom and dad were extreme pottymouths.
PGN: Donna has an especially bad night doing stand-up. What is the worst comedy you’ve ever seen or had? GL: Oh, my God! I’ve seen a lot of really bad stand-up [laughs]. The worst night I ever had — everyone bombs. That’s part of the cycle. The worst was a couple months ago. I’d not done it for a while and thought I wrote a good new joke and I got booked on a show and I was [glad]. But I didn’t write the joke down and I got up there to do my joke and it was a total nightmare. I forgot the joke and was rusty and I tried to dig my way out of the moment, and instead of telling my joke, I told a sad story that bummed everyone out badly. It was clear that I used to do this, and I could have dug my way out, but I was out of practice, no one laughed and I was making people sad.
PGN: You play the gay best friend in “Obvious Child.” How are you supportive of your friends when they fail epically, or make tough or even bad decisions? GL: I’m a good friend. My friends see me as someone they can confide in. I’m too supportive. I would never say, “We need to talk” at an intervention for alcohol. I’d say, “She loves her drink! Let’s let her keep it.”
PGN: There’s a scene in the film where Donna, Joey and Nellie are discussing Donna’s options about being pregnant, and both Donna and Joey joke as a way of masking their insecurities. What about using humor as a defense or coping mechanism? GL: Humor provides a way to cope with being a weird, fringy outsider. I grew up fat and weird, in addition to growing up gay. My family has a gallows-humor approach to how life is. I had laughter at home before I took it public. But between my parents, my siblings and me, I’d be at the bottom of who is the funniest. My older brother was the funny one growing up.
PGN: In Joey’s stand-up routine in “Obvious Child,” he jokes about dating and men. What experiences with dating and men can you discuss? GL: I am single and dating. I’m going on a lot of first dates. When I was younger, it was a lot more exciting. You’d get drunker, and you’d have a weird story if it went badly. But now I’m in my 30s, and everyone is so responsible and polite and it’s so fucking boring. I go on multiple first dates a month, and I can’t stand it. I’m a big online dater and on every app, and I’m looking for a fucking husband already. No one has ever set me up. If you want to be the first, go for it!
PGN: Donna is told her creative energy comes from her lowest point in life. Do you feel that to be the case in your career? GL: The first five years of my comedy career were extended low points of every other aspect of my life. I was forged in the fire of being hungry. I was bored and angry and poor and lonely. And now I am none of those things, and my stand-up bums people out.
PGN: You are currently a writer for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” on Fox. What plans do you have for the future? GL: I am psyched this visibility is happening. I’m still grateful. I watched sitcoms, not stand-up, growing up. It’s how my comedy brain works. That I am in Hollywood and writing a critically acclaimed sitcom is … Holy shit! I can’t believe it. I’m writing some movies, and if more people like Gillian [Robespierre, the director of “Obvious Child”] want to give me parts, I’m not going to say no. I am open to what the future will be. I could not have predicted what has happened so far.