We’re pretty confident you’ll not only like comedian LAURA SANDERS as an amazing laugh maker, but as an all around amiable human being. She’s been traveling the land gathering followers like one of those presidential candidates, only way cooler. She’s, no doubt, garnered even more fans with the debut of her comedy album OH GOD PLEASE LIKE ME, recorded in front of a live audience at the Garden Theater in Columbus, Ohio. The album is rich with jokes about her family, her friends, her physical form, and, yes, even the snake museum Nate Bargatze toured before her. Sanders has shared the stage with comedians such as Kyle Kinane, Rory Scovel, and Sandra Bernhard. She was featured on Fox’s LaughsTV, and in such great lineups as Chicago’s Comedians You Should Know, LA’s Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen, Bloomington’s Limestone Comedy Festival, Wilmington’s Cape Fear Comedy Festival, and more. This March you can see her in Viceland’s Flop House, which we’re all pretty much addicted to. Read more about the comedian who will have you in the palm of her hand before you know it. DO IT!
COMEDY CAKE: GIRLFRIEND, you’ll be happy to know we really like you and the album (and hugs)! What was the process like preparing for this recording?
LAURA SANDERS: Thrilled to hear it! I recorded Oh God Please Like Me at the same show Michael Meyers recorded his half-hour album, so I got to share a lot of the prep and nerves with him. Some parts of the process I expected: I went to other cities to run the album, found the beautiful venue, gathered up talented friends to perform and help record it, and agonized over what the final setlist would be. Not as expected was how fun the “Comedy Carwash” Michael and I put on to raise money for operating costs would be. Trying on shape wear days before the show was equal parts hilarious and sad. Nothing says ‘feel confident on stage!’ like picking out what sausage casing your body looks best in.
CAKE: You mention your parents and siblings on the album, do you usually get your family’s permission before you do material about them or is it a no-holds-barred situation?
LAURA: If I was a more thoughtful person I’d say, ‘always, in writing!’ But with family jokes, I always want to make sure they are funny before I tell my family about them, and by the time they are funny I want to keep them. Luckily, my parents and siblings are where I got my humor, and they are willing to laugh even if they are the butt of a joke. I was on the phone with my mom today and it was a big relief when she told me my brother listened to the album (he lives in California and couldn’t make the recording) and thought it was funny.
CAKE: Is it weird doing more intimate material in front of your parents?
LAURA: My mom found out I wasn’t a virgin anymore via a joke that was posted on YouTube (I was 23 and in a committed relationship, so it wasn’t earth shattering news). She was incredibly sweet about it and said, “I thought it was funny and I’m not surprised.” I used to be very anxious about what material I told around my parents. As I got older, I realized they are reasonable adults who have heard worse, and so am I. All that being said – I was still happy during some of the jokes that they were in the very back of the theater.
CAKE: I enjoyed the track where you discuss looking smart in front of brainy people. Have you found yourself in these situations a lot over the years?
LAURA: Thanks! My sister, boyfriend, and many other friends and family members are incredibly intelligent. While they often know more than me, I’m clever enough to surround myself with people I can learn from. This makes all those let-me-secretly-wikipedia-that-on-my-phone-while-we-talk moments worth it. Some of the best comedy comes from someone confronting their own ignorance. If I ever feel like the smartest person in the room, I’ll know I should find a better room.
CAKE: Did attending an all-girls Catholic school help considerably with the joke making process when you started out in comedy?
LAURA: Absolutely. Nearly seven hundred young women letting it all hang out (sometimes literally – we had no clue how to sit like ladies) is ripe for humor. Even more helpful was the confidence I gained from spending my 14-18 year old years learning in an environment where it never mattered that I looked like a can of spam in a plaid skirt. I got to unapologetically be a speech team, stage crew, and student council nerd. I always had the desire to perform and make people laugh, but those experiences gave me the skills to do it well.
CAKE: We really need to hear more about the trip you took to the Serpentarium. It seems like a place Sister Mary would warn you about.
LAURA: You can follow that serpentarium on twitter @CapeFearSerpentarium! I am one of their 20 followers. They haven’t tweeted yet – I’m guessing because snakes don’t have thumbs. I went there in 2013 when I was at the Cape Fear Comedy Festival and had a blast. Just last year I saw Nate Bargatze perform in New Orleans (he was amazing as usual) and he had a hilarious story about the same serpentarium. I love that the man who owns it has no idea he’s becoming a muse for comedians throughout the country.
CAKE: On the album you talk about an interaction you had with an audience member regarding your birth control bit. Do you often get confronted about material that may be give rise to public disagreement?
LAURA: That incident stuck out so much because it’s very unusual for me to be confronted like that. I’ve had some jokes that after chatting with audience members or seeing how a crowd reacts I edit to make them funnier or easier to connect with, but someone directly telling me they don’t like how I control my amount of birth was definitely going to make the album.
CAKE: What’s the story behind the “Crazy Trigger” bit?
LAURA: A comedian’s insecurities will never be satisfied! Other than the toothpick violence, that joke is completely true. A comic who I really respect said I had pretty eyes after a show we performed on together, and instead of saying, ‘thank you’ I got a little fighty. On any given day, I would love a nice, non-creepy person complimenting me on my looks, but I get a little bristly about that right after a performance. It’s like you just spent a half hour tap dancing for a crowd and they are like, ‘those are some really dope shoelaces.’ My next album should be called, “Oh God Please Like Me, and Call Me Pretty but Call Me Funny First.”
CAKE: I’d have to say there’s a tie for supremacy between the “Crazy Trigger” and “Darwin Internet” tracks for us. What’s your favorite track on the album?
LAURA: I’m trying not to perform any jokes from my album live now that people can listen to them. So while I can’t pick an everybody-listen-to-this-one favorite, the thing I’ll miss saying out loud the most is the very end of Let’s Wait. Wayne Memmott, a comic out of Cincinnati, suggested that tag just about a month before I recorded the album, so it still had that fresh ‘oh I can’t wait to say this part!’ feeling.
CAKE: What comedy projects do you have planned for us in 2016?
LAURA: It was so thrilling to be able to share the album with people all over the country. So this year I’ll be focusing on delivering comedy – whether it be in person or on via the internet – to more people in more places. This will involve setting up more tours, writing more essay-style pieces, and figuring out my long-distance relationship with my Ohio-based writing partner and other half of sketch group Berry Sanders, the wonderful Lisa Berry. At this point, I’m the person who books all my shows – so if someone reading this wants me to perform hit me up!
CAKE: What’s the best dessert on the Weight Watchers plan? I sure hope they have cake as an option.
LAURA: Today I said to my boyfriend “if cake was poison I’d be immune.” So it’s safe to say I’m not great at figuring out the healthiest food options. All I know for sure is that fat free cheese is some bullshit.
Mentions: Oh God Please Like Me is available RIGHT NOW. Pick it up TODAY! Follow Laura on Twitter like a good minion. Feature image by Megan Leigh Barnard.