When Beat speaks with Jen Kirkman from her LA apartment, the comedian and author is at war. Not with terrorism, racism, or even herself. Instead, she’s in battle with a new sub-sect of Twitter trolls known as ‘Bernie Bros’ – those that want to make their love of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders known via a continued tirade and abuse of Hillary Clinton. “It’s just crazy,” says Kirkman. “I love Bernie, and I’ve been quite open about that, but there’s something about the young men that are behind him that really doesn’t sit right. They’re all talking about how they’re not going to vote at all if he’s not the nominee. It’s things like that which are going to lead us to President Trump.”
It might be heady times over on Kirkman’s social media channels, but the woman herself is otherwise in high spirits. Her Netflix special, the R.E.M.-referencing I’m Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine), was released last May to some of the best reviews of her career. Next up is the release of her second memoir, entitled I Know What I’m Doing – And Other Lies I Tell Myself, which also doubles as the title of her newest hour of stand-up that she will tour as a part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival along with one-off shows in Auckland and Sydney.
“My last book [I Can Barely Take Care of Myself] was very specific,” says Kirkman. “It was a very specific response to a very direct line of questioning that I had faced. This book is one that I was thinking about the entire time that I was writing the first one – all this interesting stuff was going on in my life, but I’d specifically [been] contracted to write this book about not having kids. This book is about everything from to divorce to travel, to family to living alone. There’s all kinds of stories. There’s something for everyone in this book.”
Although Kirkman will unfortunately not have time for either book talks or live versions of her solo podcast, I Seem Fun, she hopes to appear on a few other podcasts while she’s here. No doubt many Australians have come to know Kirkman, in particular, from her appearances on Wil Anderson’s FOFOP – including the episode, famously, where she went toe-to-toe with him for three hours straight. The episode was literally titled The Best Episode Of FOFOP Ever.
“I love that so many Australians know me for that,” she laughs. “I’ll have to buy Wil dinner. I think the best part about it is that when I’m on FOFOP, I’m just being myself. If people like me on that, that means they really do like me.” She also notes that the variety of things she is known for – stand-up, writing, TV, Twitter and podcasting. Ultimately, it means there’s always something to work on. “It keeps the mind going,” says Kirkman. “If you’re only known for one thing, you can easily be forgotten once that thing ends. My plan is to just keep working.”
BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
