LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 To rising comic Hannah Einbinder, her bits are for more than just laughs. She says her jokes are a coping mechanism she uses to process the tough topics she tackles in her material.
Einbinder, known for matching quick wit and comedic timing in released her debut standup special on Max on Thursday to critical acclaim. Throughout her set, she takes on several difficult subjects, including sexual identity and climate change.
鈥淐limate change is something that I think about every day when I look out the window at the Earth, before my eyes, so that is something that I definitely wanted to hit on,鈥 Einbinder tells The Associated Press. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just something that overwhelms my consciousness and so I write about it.鈥
Einbinder says she thinks about 鈥減retty much everything through the lens of comedy,鈥 adding that the habit is a 鈥渃lassic coping mechanism鈥 or 鈥渟urvival instinct.鈥
The special, 鈥淓verything Must Go,鈥 was the product of steady touring and workshopping bits as Einbinder took the show across the U.S. and abroad. She says audiences let her know 鈥渞eal quick鈥 if a joke was flat and she constantly refined her comedic bits to figure out 鈥渨hat lines stick.鈥
鈥淢y jokes are very long,鈥 she adds. 鈥淓ach joke is very long, and they鈥檝e been much longer. This is as short as I鈥檝e made them 鈥 they鈥檙e very long and they鈥檙e still cut down. I write a lot and then I trim, but yeah, just keeping the stuff that feels high octane and that is good enough to stay in.鈥
In one memorable bit, Einbinder sings a Hebrew song to enhance a story, one she says is genuinely true. She said she knows the moment is unconventional for a standup special, but she enjoys leaning into that.
鈥淭hat is a choice where I am choosing to build tension and then ultimately build it up to a point and build it up to a point 鈥 and then release that,鈥 she said.
The 鈥淗acks鈥 star, who is the daughter of 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥 alum and comedy writer Chad Einbinder, also said she鈥檚 not afraid to incorporate her more personal stories on stage because she鈥檚 鈥渒ind of an open book.鈥
鈥淎ll comedians are presenting themselves exactly as they want to be seen, which, I think, is not always even a very vulnerable thing, actually,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually kind of like, 鈥楾his is my version of me, this is the heightened version of me. This is the most packaged version of me with a bow.鈥欌
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Lefferts reported from New York.
