'No Audiences Are Ready To Hear All The Jokes A Woman Has To Say': Comedian Alice Wetterlund On New Amazon Comedy Special
(CBS Local)-- Minnesota native Alice Wetterlund has a lot to say in her new comedy special "My Mama Is a Human and So Am I."
Wetterlund's special hits Amazon on August 23 and she tackles everything from politics to drunken fights in the streets of New York. The material took 10 years to create and and Wetterlund has enjoyed building out her career.
"I love standup. It's my favorite thing to do and favorite thing to watch," said Wetterlund in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "Writing new material feels really good to me. There's absolutely nothing like standup and I do believe it's an art form. There's no art form where you're closer to your audience. There's no separation between you and your material. I love the immediacy of it and I love going around the country and see how people respond. Bad crowds make a better comedian."
While Wetterlund has enjoyed success as a comedian and an actor in HBO's "Silicon Valley," the Minnesota native says things are still difficult for women in the comedy industry.
"I think Dave Chappelle said recently that I might not do this anymore because no matter where I go and what I do, I get a pretty good reaction. I don't think women have that yet," said Wetterlund. "There's no majority of audiences that are ready to hear all the jokes a woman has to say. It just isn't the way the reality works right now. It would be cool to get to that point, but I don't think we're there yet."
The biggest comedic inspiration in Wetterlund's career has been Chris Rock. Wetterlund started doing comedy around the time Rock was doing one of his specials and she can still feel his impact today.
"I remember he was doing something with his standup and I thought this is bigger than what I thought standup was," said Wetterlund. "He took over the stage and was doing something larger. He was keeping this audience in this room captive. His writing was phenomenal. I started improv and then I found all these other comedians like Sarah Silverman."
