Anania Loves Anime

Summary

Podcast Summary: So True with Caleb Hearon

Episode: "Anania Loves Anime"
Release Date: October 16, 2025
Host: Caleb Hearon
Guest: Ananiah (comedian, drag performer, and creator of "Gaydar")

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Episode Overview

This episode of So True with Caleb Hearon features a lively, irreverent, and thoughtful conversation between host Caleb Hearon and multifaceted guest Ananiah. Together, they reflect on Midwestern roots, the ins and outs of queer identity, finding one’s place in performance and comedy, creative ambitions, and the joy and catharsis of anime and drag. The tone is playful and open, with plenty of banter, candid admissions, and a willingness to engage with thorny or outright silly topics (with a healthy dose of queerness throughout).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Queer Representation and Wikipedia Bios

[01:18]

• Ananiah pokes fun at Caleb's succinct Wikipedia entry:
  • “I go to personal life. It’s three sentences. The first one is, ‘he is gay.’” – Ananiah
  • This sparks jokes about representation, visibility, and the irreducibility of queer experience.

2. Spiritual Exhaustion, Busy Lives, and Moving to NYC

[02:07]

• Ananiah discusses recent life changes, including moving to a new apartment and feeling spiritually “exhausted for three months now.”
  • On adjusting to New York: “The juxtaposition of what’s in my fridge versus what’s in my closet is crazy… there’s nothing in there that could actually sustain me. But I do look cunt.” – Ananiah [08:07]

3. Midwestern Roots & the Move to City Life

[06:07], [09:29]

• Reflections on growing up in Davenport, Iowa, moments of “homesickness” triggered by tractors in NYC, and the alternate reality of small-town queer life.

  • “I could have been working, like, mid-level John Deere and sucking dick in a bathroom. You know what I mean?” – Ananiah [06:32]

• College at Emerson in Boston, dabbling in Chicago lesbian life, and ultimately settling in New York:

  • “Davenport, New York. In between… For college, I went to Emerson… Then toured in North Carolina… then Chicago… then NYC.” – Ananiah [09:50]

4. Identity, Coming Out, and the “Pronoun Pipeline”

[16:02]

• Ananiah reflects on coming out in college after growing up in a small conservative environment, and the journey from living as a “straight man” to embracing non-binary and trans woman identities.

  • “Once you turn 26, you’re kind of dead [as a queer person]… it only gets better.” – Ananiah [40:04]

• On dating: Ananiah is in a “really serious adult relationship” for the first time [04:45].

5. Drag Beginnings & Chicago’s Queer Scene

[13:13]

• Ananiah’s drag debut at Roscoe’s in Chicago, performing “Warning” by Fantasia.
  • “Probably the worst I’ve ever done in drag, but honestly, some of the most fun.” – Ananiah [14:26]
• Chicago’s queer community described as less “contentious” and more encouraging compared to New York [13:27].

6. Artistic Growth, Careers, and Ambition

[21:48], [23:05]

• Caleb and Ananiah discuss breaking into entertainment, persistence in the face of industry adversity, and mixing stand-up with other creative work.

  • “There were many years where it was not going… You try to make the case all the time… And then it starts going and you’re like, oh, they figured it out.” – Caleb [22:12]

• On big ambitions:

  • “I always had this thought that I’d have an EGOT by 30. So I’m making good…” – Ananiah [23:05] (Ananiah is 25 at recording.)

7. Travel Dreams & Life Curiosities

[23:41]

• Dream destinations include Tokyo and Venice (“I want to figure out what’s going on with those aqueducts… I want to dip my toe in that water” – Ananiah [24:12]).
• Spirals into an amusing, slightly baffled exploration of Venice’s architecture [25:04–25:20].

8. Phobias

[25:31]

• Heights and bridges for Caleb; snakes, trypophobia, and bridges for Ananiah.
  • “There’s no way you can save yourself if a bridge were to collapse and you’re on it.” – Ananiah [27:08]

9. Community, Boundaries, and Saying No

[39:25]

• Discussion about the importance of boundaries, the power of saying no, and relief in learning to only do what feels right:
  • “If it’s like I have to extend myself in a way that I don’t want to in this moment, I’m going to say no.” – Ananiah [39:40]
  • “No’s powerful. I’ve been on no for years.” – Caleb [39:46]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On drag as liberation:

  • “I felt so, like, liberated to do so. It was crazy.” – Ananiah [13:55]

• On the endurance of Midwestern roots:

  • “You in a pair of overalls, up on a tractor.” – Samantha [06:38]

• On the universality of loving Paramore:

  • “First of all, every black person you know likes Paramore… whether they know it or not.” – Ananiah [32:41]
  • “All my black friends love Paramore.” – Samantha [33:48]

• On the catharsis of anime & Paramore:

  • “There’s a certain level of catharsis in the music… same as anime. The message, the tone, the animation, the characters all come together for something that’s cathartic.” – Ananiah [34:14, 34:37]

• On creative advice:

  • “Here’s the advice I’d give you or anyone… There’s always room for more of us… Get booked on some low-stakes friends shows… If you want to test new stuff, do a 70/30, 60/40 – open and close with strong material, try new stuff in between.” – Caleb [44:40–46:01]

• On comedy heroes:

  • “Bob [the Drag Queen]… such a big inspiration. Do you know who Ali Sadiq is?… The way he navigates through a story, his timing is perfect. I love Ali Sadiq.” – Ananiah [47:33–47:48]
  • “[Monique’s] Queens of Comedy set… the most iconic sets of all time to me…” – Caleb [49:15–49:29]

• On favorite TV:

  • “My instinct is to say Naruto, but just because it’s what I grew up on… If I had to pick a western… Interview with the Vampire is probably one of my favorite TV shows ever.” – Ananiah [53:11, 54:08]

• On “So True” moment:

  • “Not to be on some Alpha Beta Omega Dynamics shit… I think men should get pregnant… I can’t speak to the logistics or the physiology, I just think we’d be in a completely different position globally.” – Ananiah [54:49–55:27]

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [01:18] – Ananiah pokes fun at Wikipedia bios
• [06:07] – Rural roots, nostalgia, queer life in Iowa
• [09:29] – Life path: Boston, North Carolina, Chicago, NYC
• [13:13] – First drag performance at Roscoe’s, Chicago queer scene
• [16:02] – Coming out, pronouns journey, community
• [17:26] – Current show: “Saturday Church” off-Broadway explained
• [23:05] – Ambitions: EGOT and goals at 25
• [25:31] – Fears and phobias: heights, bridges, trypophobia
• [34:14, 34:37] – Paramore and the catharsis of anime
• [44:40–46:31] – Stand-up comedy advice from Caleb
• [47:33–47:48] – Comedy inspirations: Bob the Drag Queen, Ali Sadiq, Monique
• [54:49] – “So True” moment: men should get pregnant
• [59:45] – On being fat and mean, fatness and boundaries
• [60:34–63:36] – “True or False” game segment (Ananiah scores 9/15)
• [63:36] – Episode wrap-up and where to follow Ananiah

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Thematic Highlights

• Midwestern Queer Nostalgia: The unique rite of passage for queer folks moving from small rural communities to cities, and the perpetual humor and longing involved.
• Queer Community Across Cities: Chicago vs. New York – the differences in queer nightlife, support, and collaboration.
• Performance, Drag, and Stand-Up Fusion: Blurring boundaries between drag, online comedy, and live performance; intergenerational inspirations in comedy.
• Anime & Black Culture: The surprising intersection of black affinity for Paramore and anime, explored as a cathartic refuge.
• Creative Boundaries: Navigating burnout, the power of "no," and the quest for purposeful, contained output in the age of constant connectivity.
• Visible, Joyful Nonbinary Trans Existence: Ananiah’s story arc from closeted small-town kid to visible, joyful, thriving drag performer and queer creative in New York.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a great entry point to So True's blend of queer humor, honest self-exploration, pop-culture critique, and friendship. Caleb Hearon and Ananiah’s rapport is effortless and infectious, handling both vulnerable personal reflection and playful nonsense with equal ease. Even if you aren’t deeply familiar with drag, anime, or the Midwestern queer experience, you’ll find a lot to relate to—and plenty to laugh about.

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Find Ananiah:

• Instagram & TikTok: @ananiah00 (A N A N I A 0 0)
• Watch Gaydar
• See Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop (if still running)

Memorable sign-off:

“I want everyone to come.” – Samantha Irby [57:37]
“You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” – Caleb [57:59]

Transcript

[Samantha Irby]

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[Ananiah]

Show, one of the comments were like, midwest princess. And I was like, oh, not that.

[Producer/Moderator]

Oh, boop.

[Ananiah]

And I literally, like 30 seconds later, I went to go see it again and it was deleted.

[Producer/Moderator]

I was like, work. Yes, New comment.

[Co-host/Guest]

Midwest royalty. Hananiah.

[Ananiah]

What I wanted to tell you was before we actually get into it.

[Samantha Irby]

Come on.

[Ananiah]

I was reading your Wikipedia cuz every time I go on a podcast, I feel under research. Yeah, I was reading your. Your Wikipedia and I go to personal life. It's three sentences. The first one is, he is gay.

[Co-host/Guest]

And period, by the way, like, oh.

[Producer/Moderator]

Yeah, that's pretty important.

[Co-host/Guest]

I see that. I see that for him.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh my God, that is so funny. What is the first sentence of yours? Do you know?

[Ananiah]

I don't know. I don't even know if I have a Wikipedia.

[Samantha Irby]

No, I don't. Not on there. Someone needs to put you on there.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Wow. Chance that you don't just like that.

[Ananiah]

That's all right. I'll be there.

[Samantha Irby]

Dude, I'm so excited to have you here.

[Co-host/Guest]

Thank you.

[Ananiah]

I'm excited to be here.

[Co-host/Guest]

You have been.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm a little worried about my friends because you're busy.

[Ananiah]

I am.

[Samantha Irby]

You've been really busy lately and it's been. I feel.

[Co-host/Guest]

I feel like it's a lot. How are you doing?

[Samantha Irby]

Right.

[Ananiah]

First of all, someone yesterday, when I was literally filming yesterday, someone was like, how are you doing spiritually? And I was like, oh, I've been spiritually exhausted for three months now.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh.

[Samantha Irby]

I mean, to check. Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. But you know, I'm paying my rent.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Guest]

New York.

[Samantha Irby]

Got a new apartment.

[Ananiah]

I do. I just moved into this new apartment about. It's either. What day is it?

[Samantha Irby]

What day is it?

[Ananiah]

I think it might be two months now. Is it two months?

[Samantha Irby]

What's the address and unit number?

[Ananiah]

Oh, sure. So what is this?

[Samantha Irby]

This is 20.

[Ananiah]

Anyway.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, I'm so excited for your new apartment. I'm so excited that gaydar is going so well. Thank you.

[Ananiah]

And thank you for doing my show.

[Co-host/Guest]

I was thrilled to be on.

[Ananiah]

You're so versatile. We're going show for show, me and you.

[Samantha Irby]

Let's flip flop.

[Ananiah]

Honestly, Caleb, I would like to see it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah?

[Ananiah]

Yeah. I don't know if we would have good sex though, me and you. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

What makes you say that? Because I obviously was hurtful to hear.

[Ananiah]

I don't know if you're. I don't know if I'm ready. Maybe that's.

[Samantha Irby]

You don't know if you're ready for our sex?

[Ananiah]

Yeah. Like, I don't know if I'm able to receive or give you what you might need.

[Samantha Irby]

You might not be.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. That's okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Based on.

[Samantha Irby]

Based on you saying that it's fine.

[Ananiah]

Well, I'm also going off of your personal life and Wikipedia.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

You are gay.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm gay. Yeah.

[Ananiah]

So I don't know how much fun you would have with what. What I got going on.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Barbie Smooth down there.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Nothing going on. Just straight up non binary vibes.

[Ananiah]

Yes. You get it. Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay, good. I get it. I'm around for it. Are you? You know, I've gotten down with many things.

[Ananiah]

That seems like a threat.

[Samantha Irby]

No. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Don't be.

[Samantha Irby]

Don't be so sure.

[Ananiah]

Are we going to have sex? Okay. No, no, no.

[Samantha Irby]

Not on camera. Not on this camera. I've. I've. I've been. You name a gender, I've been in there.

[Co-host/Guest]

What are you. What are you after?

[Ananiah]

Can we go back just one second?

[Co-host/Guest]

Go ahead.

[Ananiah]

Name a gender.

[Samantha Irby]

Name a gender. Name a gender.

[Ananiah]

That's crazy.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm in there.

[Ananiah]

Is that your gender inclusivity? Is that how it happens?

[Samantha Irby]

I have. Look, when the time is right and when it's fun, I've been a little bit of everywhere. Now, did I have a lot of fun with. When I was in high school, I was exploring straight. Not for me.

[Ananiah]

This is also on the Wikipedia.

[Samantha Irby]

Straight was not for me.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Straight was not for me. But I gave it a good faith effort and I feel that so many people don't.

[Ananiah]

Absolutely. You know, I think that's really beautiful. I think the problem with America is a lot of people aren't inclusive with their hearts, but maybe they're inclusive with their penis.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm. I'm. I'm giving. I'm both. I'm both. I'm community heart.

[Co-host/Guest]

I'm community heart.

[Samantha Irby]

This heart's been passed around.

[Co-host/Guest]

What are you looking for?

[Samantha Irby]

Are you single?

[Ananiah]

I'm not. I have a boyfriend. We've been dating for like a year and a half now.

[Samantha Irby]

How's it going?

[Ananiah]

It's going good, I think. Yeah, I think so. I mean, this is like my, like, really serious adult relationship. My first one. So I'm really excited about it. It is kind of crazy to, like, you kind of have to let go of a lot of baggage to be in a long term relationship.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I'm always working on something. You know what I mean? But it's fun. And I love him a lot. I remember when people on Facebook took that very seriously.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, my God.

[Ananiah]

Single. It's complicated. Engaged or married?

[Samantha Irby]

That was fun. Or poking. You remember when poking meant something?

[Ananiah]

I remember poking.

[Samantha Irby]

Poking. I was poking.

[Ananiah]

I was poking bitches down.

[Samantha Irby]

I was poking.

[Ananiah]

I was poking bitches.

[Samantha Irby]

If you got a poke for me, it meant something.

[Ananiah]

What did it mean?

[Samantha Irby]

I wouldn't say. It depended.

[Co-host/Guest]

It depended.

[Samantha Irby]

Like, I would put. So crazy is I remember in, like, I had me and one other little closeted gay boy in high school that we were both closeted gay boys out to each other.

[Ananiah]

Oh, that's sweet.

[Samantha Irby]

It was sweet.

[Ananiah]

Community, sisterhood.

[Samantha Irby]

Community. And of course, it started with hooking up.

[Ananiah]

Oh.

[Samantha Irby]

And okay. But then we'd be like. We'd be like, oh, my God. One of the straight guys from school poked us on Facebook. Like, what does it mean? Like, we would try to tell, like, does that mean he's gay?

[Ananiah]

Like, and it's so nebulous.

[Samantha Irby]

You never know the gymnastics you would do in high school to try to find out if another boy was gay.

[Ananiah]

Right.

[Samantha Irby]

So intense.

[Ananiah]

Oh, good for you. I wish I came out a little earlier, but I kind of. I'm kind of enjoying this. Not late in life, but I definitely had my time to. To sit on it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

What? You grew up in Davenport, Iowa?

[Ananiah]

I did, yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Quad Cities.

[Ananiah]

Yes. We talked about this a little bit. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Samantha Irby]

How was it?

[Co-host/Guest]

First of all, I'm happy I'm not.

[Ananiah]

There anymore, I'll say that much. But I do. The other day I got a little homesick and I don't know what it was. Oh, literally yesterday we were filming and I saw two tractors go by and I was like, oh, I could have had it all.

[Samantha Irby]

You could have had it all.

[Ananiah]

I could have been working like mid level John Deere and sucking dick in a bathroom. You know what I mean?

[Samantha Irby]

You should have had everything. You in a pair of overalls, up on a tractor.

[Ananiah]

Kind of.

[Samantha Irby]

Kind of.

[Ananiah]

I think that's my next birthday shoot.

[Samantha Irby]

It's eating and it's giving and I would love to see.

[Ananiah]

Or I could do like the country girls make do. Just have my ass out in a mini dress.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

With a dripping piece of corn in the foreground.

[Samantha Irby]

Just holding a drill on something it shouldn't be on. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I recently did buy a drill for my new apartment. Pink, so I can be butch.

[Samantha Irby]

Did you get the pink set?

[Ananiah]

No, I got like a. Oh, God. Like a real, like I don't even know. Yeah, the lesbian said to get it, so I got it.

[Samantha Irby]

That's what it is, right? It's. You have to take the lesbians lead on that stuff, right? Yes. What's making you happy lately? Hmm? What's making you happy in life?

[Ananiah]

By my new apartment, There's a Wendy's, there's a Popeyes, there's a Dunkin Donuts, there's a Sonic and a grocery store. Literally, as soon as I walk out the door, I could.

[Samantha Irby]

Across the street, I could weep.

[Ananiah]

I haven't eaten anything but fried food in two months.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay. People also, I think they don't. I want people to really understand when. When the way that you're going right now, you've got gaydar, you have all your other stuff. You're in this show right now that we're going to talk about. You have so much going on that like, genuinely being able to grab a fucking chicken sandwich on the way out the door is like necessary.

[Ananiah]

It actually has been saving my life.

[Samantha Irby]

It really does.

[Ananiah]

The juxtaposition of what's in my fridge versus what's in my closet is crazy.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Like I'm pulling, like I have like all these like outfits and stuff just in case I gotta go or I have to do like a one off shoot or something like that. But in my, my refrigerator there's three eggs, Polynesian sauce from Chick Fil A. You know what I mean? There's nothing in there that could actually sustain me. But I do look cunt.

[Samantha Irby]

You do. Looks good all the time. Oh, don't worry about that. That's okay.

[Ananiah]

There's urine on the floor.

[Co-host/Guest]

Chance, can we clean up the urine?

[Ananiah]

I'm sorry.

[Samantha Irby]

Thank you. Don't be. We like that. It adds character to the show. Also, I was just noticing while you're talking how well the mic matches your boots and bow and outfit. Like, you know, you all. You have a sixth sense for these things.

[Ananiah]

Thanks.

[Samantha Irby]

Like a true diva does.

[Ananiah]

I can't wait until I'm styled instead of styling myself, though.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Chance. Trying to crawl under the cameras. This is. They're going to see this. Chance.

[Ananiah]

It's my love.

[Samantha Irby]

Just my. Get the tendrils, get the offshoots, get the tributaries. Yep. Great job, Chance. We appreciate you.

[Ananiah]

He can't help him, Lord.

[Samantha Irby]

He can't.

[Ananiah]

I live.

[Samantha Irby]

We're not cutting any of that.

[Co-host/Guest]

We're leaving all of that in you at one point.

[Samantha Irby]

Just kind of quietly, my love.

[Ananiah]

I wasn't expecting all that, but work.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay, wait. I want to know this.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Davenport, Iowa. Now you live in New York City.

[Ananiah]

I do.

[Samantha Irby]

Tell me about the in between.

[Ananiah]

I will. It's just so interesting because you're a great interviewer, and I like to think I'm a good interviewer, and you're a great interviewer. Thank you. It's hard to, like, you want to interview.

[Samantha Irby]

I know. You want to turn it back on me now I do this as well.

[Ananiah]

Davenport, New York. In between. So after that. Well, for college, I went to Emerson College in Boston. I was there for four years. Then I did a gig in North Carolina for a couple months, moved back home almost myself. And then real. I was real.

[Co-host/Guest]

Real.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay, okay. Whoa.

[Ananiah]

Moved to Chicago. I was a lesbian in Chicago.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And then I moved to New York.

[Samantha Irby]

I love that.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

When you were at Emerson. Emerson. I know you studied performance, but then you also got a minor in peace and.

[Ananiah]

Yes, Peace and Social Justice.

[Samantha Irby]

And social justice.

[Ananiah]

I don't have a fucking Wikipedia. And you found that out.

[Samantha Irby]

Maybe you think we're playing around over here.

[Co-host/Guest]

I live.

[Producer/Moderator]

I live for that.

[Samantha Irby]

We take this very seriously.

[Ananiah]

Work.

[Co-host/Guest]

What does.

[Samantha Irby]

How did you decide on that? And also, what does that look like? I've never heard of that.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. Honestly, I. I was always pretty woke. But you have to remember, I'm from Iowa.

[Samantha Irby]

Yes.

[Ananiah]

So I think during the 2020 riots with black Lives Matter really woke me up. I was like, okay, I could be doing something about this. And this is also when I started making content. And when I first started making content, it was just political. Like, I was just weighing in on, like, things like people should care about and sharing mutual aid funds and all that kind of stuff. So I decided to Just go in that direction. My peace and social justice minor really helps with, like, knowing what to do in terms of protest advocacy and research with, like, any kind of political.

[Samantha Irby]

Thing.

[Ananiah]

I guess, like, I got the minor because I never wanted to be in a position where I didn't know what to do and I could help other people figure out what to do as well, you know? So that's basically what I wanted out of it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And it was too hard for me to do a double major, so I just stuck with the minor.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. So the gig in North Carolina, what was that?

[Ananiah]

I was doing a Hunchback of Notre Dame and Wedding Singer.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, my God, like summer stock or something. Like, what was the. Yeah, that's so fun.

[Ananiah]

It was so much fun. And then we did Hunchback with an actual deaf actor. And he had, like, a shadow that was singing, singing the songs while he was signing.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, wow.

[Ananiah]

So kind. That's one of my favorite shows I've ever been in.

[Samantha Irby]

That fucking rocks.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

So did that and then went back home for a little bit. And then what was. Was the plan to go home and. And just like, hold yourself over until you could go to New York?

[Ananiah]

Yeah. Well, I thought. I thought I was gonna move to New York one year sooner than I did. I was gonna move to New York one year sooner than I did. I just didn't have enough money. Yeah. Like, it is impossible to move here unless you have X amount in your savings account. And, you know, didn't. I just didn't. I was like, what do you mean? I need to pay over a thousand dollars for one room every month.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I just wasn't there.

[Samantha Irby]

And the months keep coming.

[Ananiah]

And they keep coming, never stop. More than one month.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I was like, oh, God, no.

[Samantha Irby]

It's the first of the month every week somehow.

[Ananiah]

Right. So I literally went back home for maybe. This is maybe two months.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Couldn't do it anymore. And then I was like, I know I could afford Chicago, no shade. And I moved to Chicago.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. You moved to Chicago after school, too?

[Samantha Irby]

After college, yeah.

[Ananiah]

Chicago.

[Samantha Irby]

Chicago was where Chance and I both moved after college to do improv in stuff. Where'd you live?

[Ananiah]

I lived in Logan Square.

[Samantha Irby]

Nice.

[Ananiah]

I loved Logan Square.

[Samantha Irby]

I was in Lakeview.

[Ananiah]

Oh, gay, gay.

[Samantha Irby]

And a lot of the theaters are close to there, so it was, like, easy.

[Ananiah]

Oh, sure.

[Samantha Irby]

Like the improv theaters were over there and stuff.

[Ananiah]

I always wish I was closer to Boys Town because every time I had a drag gig, it was like a 30 minute drive.

[Samantha Irby]

Exactly. Correct.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. But Logan's way cooler.

[Ananiah]

I loved Logan Square. I miss it all the time. I miss Chicago all the time.

[Samantha Irby]

The Chicago queer scene is so fun.

[Ananiah]

It's so. And it's just like, I feel like they get it in a way that New York definitely has gotten. It's just like, not as. The word coming to my mind is violent. It's like, not as. I don't know. There's like, not as much contention with other queer people in Chicago. It's just like we're rooting for each other more, I figure. And I'm so happy I started actually performing in drag in Chicago.

[Samantha Irby]

Wow.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. I felt so, like, liberated to do so. It was crazy.

[Samantha Irby]

Do you remember your first ever drag show?

[Ananiah]

Yeah. It was Roscoe's. They have a open stage night every Tuesday.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And that's what I did. I did Warning by Fantasia for no reason.

[Co-host/Guest]

Let's go.

[Ananiah]

I don't know why.

[Samantha Irby]

Let's go.

[Ananiah]

I always thought my first drag song would be Only Girl in the World by Rihanna.

[Samantha Irby]

Yes, of course.

[Ananiah]

But then I was like, well, what if I didn't do that for whatever the fuck reason was?

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I don't know. It was probably the worst I've ever done in drag, but I honestly, some of the most fun. So you have to. You just have to start.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. I've had the pleasure because of being in Chicago, watching so many drag queens. Yeah. Get good at it. Like, they. Your friend starts, and the wig is horrible and the fit is bad and the song is not like.

[Co-host/Guest]

But then they get.

[Ananiah]

They.

[Samantha Irby]

They learn their makeup and their style, and I've gotten to watch so many queens figure out their thing.

[Producer/Moderator]

Yes.

[Samantha Irby]

It's like watching someone get good at stand up. It's so beautiful.

[Ananiah]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

It's so fun. So you're in Chicago and how long you in Chicago?

[Ananiah]

I was in Chicago just for a year.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. And then what took you to New York?

[Ananiah]

I finally saved up enough money. This is when I was doing pretty well on social media too. So I was like. I was making enough money to move to New York, and then I moved in with my best friend Cedric. We went to school together. We went to college together.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I moved to Flatbush, of course.

[Samantha Irby]

As we all do.

[Ananiah]

As we all do what?

[Samantha Irby]

You and I are from very similar places, like, small town Iowa. Small town Missouri. I moved to Chicago. You moved originally to Boston, Right? What was like the. Oh, go ahead, baby.

[Ananiah]

When you came on my show, one of the comments were like, midwest princess. And I was like, oh, not that.

[Producer/Moderator]

Oh, boop.

[Ananiah]

And I literally, like, 30 seconds later, I went to go see it again, and it was deleted.

[Producer/Moderator]

I was like, work. Yes.

[Samantha Irby]

New comment.

[Co-host/Guest]

Midwest royalty.

[Producer/Moderator]

I was like, I live. I live.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, that's so funny.

[Ananiah]

It was everything.

[Samantha Irby]

What was the biggest, like, how was that transition for you, moving from small town Iowa to Boston?

[Ananiah]

There was a culture shock, for sure. I mean. And I mean straight at the time. I was still a straight man at the time.

[Samantha Irby]

Thank you for your service.

[Ananiah]

No, thank you. Yeah, I know you get it too. Yeah, it was just a lot like, I was. I was constantly, like, surrounded by queer people in a way that I have never in my life before. Like, I think there was some kind of poll at my school, and more than 50% of. I don't know what the percentage is, but we were gay. Everybody. Everybody was gay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I was like, this is crazy. I didn't even know this, and I just picked the school.

[Samantha Irby]

You're like, this is so crazy.

[Co-host/Guest]

Cause I'm straight.

[Samantha Irby]

How did I end up here?

[Ananiah]

I was like, no.

[Producer/Moderator]

This can't be right.

[Samantha Irby]

But I guess if I have to.

[Ananiah]

When I think of home.

[Co-host/Guest]

Come on.

[Ananiah]

You're right. Yeah. So I was like, this isn't gonna last long. And I literally started hooking up with guys maybe the next year. Like, the next beginning of sophomore year. I was still in the closet. I didn't come out until the pandemic, of course.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, that was how it's supposed to be.

[Ananiah]

And then it was the pronoun pipeline from there.

[Samantha Irby]

I know the pronouns start coming, and they don't stop coming.

[Ananiah]

And they don't stop coming.

[Samantha Irby]

One thing about the pronouns. Ah, once they come, they don't stop coming. I've seen it. I've seen it a million times.

[Ananiah]

Yeah, you've been in them.

[Samantha Irby]

I've seen the pronouns. I've been in there. I've been up close for the pronoun journey.

[Ananiah]

That's crazy.

[Samantha Irby]

That's crazy. Okay, so then, okay, you moved to New York. What is the show you're in right now? Tell us about the show.

[Ananiah]

Oh, I'm in an off Broadway production called Saturday Church. Yeah, it's an adaptation from a movie from 2017.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Yeah. You're singing in the show.

[Ananiah]

Oh, we're singing down in the show. Yeah. I'm having the time of my life. It's awesome.

[Samantha Irby]

Why should. Why should people come and see it? What's the. What's the draw? What's the thing?

[Ananiah]

And bear with me.

[Samantha Irby]

Stay with me.

[Ananiah]

Gay kid Gay black kids like, ooh, I sing pretty. Let me sing in the choir. The aunt's like, no, you're gay and you're in church. You can't be gay in church. He's like, but I wanna. And the mom's like, too busy because the gay kid's dad just died. Oh, my God, I'm bastardizing this real bad. The gay kid's dad just died, and the mom's like, oh, I'm gonna cope with working all the time. So then the gay kid's like, what? I have no community. So then he goes to a place called Saturday Church. Gay kids, trans people.

[Samantha Irby]

Going with trans.

[Co-host/Guest]

People on the second go round, cleaning.

[Ananiah]

That up a little bit. And they're like, hey, come, you can be gay here.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And then he gets in a fight with his boyfriend. The aunt finds out he has a boyfriend. The pastor's like, don't be gay. He runs away. He comes back, and then there's a ball.

[Co-host/Guest]

They. They need to. The social media for your show needs.

[Samantha Irby]

To clip just that minute. Gay kid doesn't want to. Churches can't be gay at church, but sings at the other place. Just clipping that down and putting it out is.

[Producer/Moderator]

Honestly, I think that's pretty good.

[Ananiah]

I think I got all. I didn't spoil. I guess I did.

[Co-host/Guest]

No, you nailed it.

[Ananiah]

You know all the good stuff. You know all the good stuff. I think people should just come see it because it's like, it's actually really important for where we are politically right now in our country. I. I think it shows the queer black experience in a way that hasn't been done before. Like, these things are, like. The things he's. Are. He's going through are very real. Like, they're not, like, absorbently traumatic. You know what I mean? Like, there is, like, some things he goes through that are traumatic, but at the end of the day, it's like, through his community and through, like, dealing with grief and acceptance and love and all that stuff, he figures out who he is and who he can be, and his family supports him. At the end of it, it's a very. It's a. It's a feel good, which I really, really like. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

A happy ending.

[Ananiah]

A happy ending. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

We don't get those very often.

[Ananiah]

Nope.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, Nope.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Nope.

[Samantha Irby]

It's nice to see them on stage and screen.

[Ananiah]

It's rare. I want to ask you so many questions.

[Samantha Irby]

You can ask me a question.

[Ananiah]

How do. Do the people know you're in Devil Wears product?

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, yeah. This is. This is okay.

[Ananiah]

How's it going?

[Samantha Irby]

It's great. I'm finished.

[Ananiah]

Oh, my God. Are you really?

[Co-host/Guest]

I wrapped?

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Producer/Moderator]

Wow.

[Ananiah]

How long was your show shooting schedule.

[Samantha Irby]

Maybe on it for? I think I was. I think I was booked for 23 days. And I ended up working for, like, I don't know, 16 or 17.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Scheduling wise, it worked out that way.

[Ananiah]

Nice.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, it was great. It was so much fun.

[Ananiah]

That's amazing.

[Samantha Irby]

It's funny. By the time this comes out, I will have already done it, but I'm doing Seth Meyers this week.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

And I'm sure they'll want to talk about that. And I'm like. I'm, like, wondering what I'll say because it was just so lovely. Like, it's like there's. There's really nothing that interesting. And being like, oh, it was a dream come true. Everything I expected, everyone was the nicest I've ever worked with.

[Ananiah]

Was there a rosebud. Thorn of it.

[Samantha Irby]

I mean, the whole thing was just genuinely lovely. There really wasn't a downside. It was like we were shooting on a soundstage, so weather wasn't an issue. We didn't, like, you know, when you're on location, you have your trailer on the fucking side of the road or whatever. We're in, like, a gorgeous soundstage, like, studio building with, like, green rooms right here. And. Yeah. In New York.

[Ananiah]

Nice.

[Samantha Irby]

And, yeah, it was just like a beautiful, fun experience.

[Ananiah]

That's amazing. Good for you.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Really, really so excited to see it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. I can't wait for it to come out. I'm very excited. And my. Yeah, my character in it is great. And I hope. I. I hope that all the scenes I shot get into the final film. That'd be great for me.

[Ananiah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

But, you know, they don't have to, so.

[Ananiah]

Exactly.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. We'll just see. But I loved it.

[Ananiah]

That's amazing.

[Samantha Irby]

It was so fun.

[Ananiah]

What? How many movies is this now?

[Samantha Irby]

This year.

[Ananiah]

Fourth.

[Samantha Irby]

Total. Total, I guess I. This year I filmed three about to film a fourth.

[Ananiah]

Wow.

[Samantha Irby]

Total. How many movies have I been in?

[Co-host/Guest]

I used to be funny. I used to be funny.

[Samantha Irby]

Jurassic World. Is that it on movies? Sweetheart's the biggest one. And my. Yeah, sweetheart's. Duh. So, yeah, I guess, like, six or seven total.

[Ananiah]

Okay. Work.

[Samantha Irby]

It's going now.

[Ananiah]

Good for you.

[Samantha Irby]

It's going now.

[Ananiah]

That's awesome.

[Samantha Irby]

There were many years where it was not going.

[Producer/Moderator]

Amen.

[Ananiah]

Amen.

[Samantha Irby]

Just begging. You're trying to make the case all the time. And it's like, I Mean, the particular thing for me is, like, when they wanted somebody fat, they wanted, like, a. An old, gruff, like, masculine construction worker guy. And then when they wanted somebody gay, they wanted, like, a thin, white twink.

[Ananiah]

Absolutely.

[Samantha Irby]

And so it's just like, I never feel. I never felt when I was starting out like anything made any sense for me ever. And so just like. I mean, we all have our versions of this, right? Of, like, trying to convince someone that I have a place in this.

[Ananiah]

Absolutely.

[Samantha Irby]

And then it starts going. And you're like, oh, they figured it out. Yeah, they figured it out.

[Ananiah]

I'm in that phase right now. I feel like, where I'm, like, so close. Like, I can feel like I could break through at any moment. Yeah. And I'm going to.

[Samantha Irby]

And you are going to. Well, somebody. Somebody asked you recently where you want to be in five years, and you said happy, rich, and a Tony winner, right? Yeah. Yeah. Is that the goal still?

[Ananiah]

I think so. I always had this. This thought that I'd have an EGOT by 30. So I'm making good.

[Samantha Irby]

How old are you?

[Ananiah]

I'm 25.

[Samantha Irby]

You got time.

[Ananiah]

I got time.

[Samantha Irby]

Five years and one for Buffer.

[Producer/Moderator]

I think that's pretty good.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

One year off, Right? One year off in there.

[Ananiah]

Right. I can go one a year and then one year time and just chill out for a year after I get my Oscar.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Chilling out, that's for sure.

[Ananiah]

That's where I'm at.

[Samantha Irby]

That's where all the Midwestern gay guys go to Vegas. Snowbird. All the older gay guys in Missouri are snowboarding in pv.

[Ananiah]

I changed my mind. I want to go to Cherry Grove.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. There we go. Make it happen.

[Ananiah]

I want to be free.

[Samantha Irby]

What's where. What's like, your dream, like, bucket list, like, travel, destination that you haven't been.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, my God.

[Ananiah]

Good question. I think I have a list. My phone's over there. That's on the top of my head. I know. I want to go to Tokyo really bad. I've been to Paris. I've been to London. I want to go to, oh, Venice. I want to figure out what's going on with those. Those aqueducts.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ananiah]

That's called canals.

[Samantha Irby]

Canals, right.

[Ananiah]

Canals. Yeah, that bought. I want to know why the buildings are in water.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. And why are they.

[Ananiah]

Frankly, I don't.

[Samantha Irby]

Amsterdam. Same deal.

[Ananiah]

I feel like I just need to. I need to dip my toe in that water.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Really? I think it's because how they used to transport stuff. Sure. They're so old, but, like, what's the.

[Ananiah]

Foundation of the building.

[Samantha Irby]

Under the building.

[Ananiah]

Right.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. That scares me to think about.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Well, you said all those, like, buildings, all those houses that were built on stilts on the beach in North Carolina now. Yes. Are like getting taken out to see. That's kind of interesting.

[Ananiah]

That's what it feels like to me. Like, that feels like the next step.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Is that they just go out there.

[Ananiah]

Venetians. Weigh in.

[Samantha Irby]

Venetians. Let us know what your buildings are on.

[Ananiah]

Are they called Venetians?

[Samantha Irby]

Venice.

[Ananiah]

From Venice.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Right.

[Samantha Irby]

Venetians.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

And I've got it here. Firstly, the city's lagoons provided a natural defensive barrier against invaders.

[Ananiah]

Lagoon, like the Middle Ages.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

But what are the buildings on Chance.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

What are they on? They're on. It's on a lagoon and they're through canals and they're on stilts.

[Samantha Irby]

They're on. Still kidding me.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Wow.

[Ananiah]

That's crazy.

[Samantha Irby]

I don't understand architecture one bit.

[Ananiah]

It just feels like that's a lot of faith in a couple of sticks.

[Samantha Irby]

Especially old timey like back then. Like you imagine when they built like the San Francisco, like the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh my God, how trusting.

[Ananiah]

You had to be terrified of bridges for sure. Do you have any phobias?

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, but they're all politically incorrect.

[Producer/Moderator]

Trans.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, there's that. And then if heights can get to me.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Heights can get to me. Not always, but I can get scared of a height.

[Ananiah]

Is it that you're. You're scared you're gonna fall? Like you're. What is it about the height?

[Samantha Irby]

I like to have control. Sure. In general. I'm with you on that. And I don't have control when I'm up high.

[Ananiah]

Right.

[Samantha Irby]

Because the height has the control.

[Ananiah]

Well, you obviously had control in that moment because you're still here.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. I mean, that's a nice way to look at it. It just doesn't feel that way. I feel powerless when I'm high, you know?

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

When I'm up there. Yeah. Well. But anyway, what are your phobias?

[Ananiah]

You have any snakes?

[Samantha Irby]

Wow.

[Ananiah]

Tripophobia. Like the little clusters of small holes.

[Samantha Irby]

I have some friends with that. Yeah.

[Producer/Moderator]

Oh.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, yeah. I don't like thinking about that.

[Ananiah]

And I just said it. I forgot.

[Samantha Irby]

Snakes. Trypophobia.

[Ananiah]

Bridges.

[Samantha Irby]

Bridges. Of course.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. I'm scared of bridges.

[Samantha Irby]

My mom has a. I don't. Maybe she got over it. She had a. Fewer bridges at one point. I haven't checked in.

[Co-host/Guest]

I don't want to speak ill of her.

[Samantha Irby]

If she's cool with bridges now.

[Ananiah]

Right. She's Allowed to grow.

[Samantha Irby]

Can you go over bridges? Like, what is your.

[Ananiah]

Absolutely. I have to. I mean, I grew up off the. The Arsenal Bridge in Davenport, so I had to. But it's just like sometimes maybe it's because I'm catastrophizing maybe 80% of the time. It's just like there's no way you can save yourself if a bridge were to collapse and you're on it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. You know, it's over.

[Ananiah]

Like, those kind of things where you can't find a way out kind of stresses me out a lot.

[Co-host/Guest]

It's big over.

[Samantha Irby]

If you're in the middle of a bridge and it goes down, that's the end for you.

[Ananiah]

Like, you can't jump to the other side.

[Samantha Irby]

There's nothing.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. And also things are clanging around. It's like too. It's too scary.

[Ananiah]

Oh, my God.

[Samantha Irby]

But it would never. Yeah, it's not. No, it's. It's not going to happen. It's not our truth. Yeah. Not our story.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay. Now I know what you have phobias of.

[Ananiah]

Right. And if you look under your chair, you'll find snakes.

[Samantha Irby]

There are trans snakes in the studio.

[Ananiah]

There are transsexual snakes.

[Samantha Irby]

Whoa. That'd be kind.

[Ananiah]

That's just Brooklyn.

[Co-host/Guest]

Bushwick.

[Samantha Irby]

You've been called out.

[Co-host/Guest]

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[Co-host/Guest]

Look, your sexual and reproductive health decisions, like abortion.

[Samantha Irby]

Whoa, okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Belong to you.

[Samantha Irby]

Not some unqualified lawmakers, not some anti.

[Co-host/Guest]

Abortion rights organization and not some transphobic group.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay?

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Damn.

[Co-host/Guest]

As the nation's leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care and sex education, Planned Parenthood.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay, yes.

[Co-host/Guest]

Is committed to serving people from all walks of life. No exceptions. But the attacks on our health care and our basic rights, they just don't stop. You know what else doesn't stop?

[Samantha Irby]

The taxes. No. Just kidding.

[Co-host/Guest]

Planned Parenthood. Every year, Planned Parenthood health Centers provide.

[Samantha Irby]

Over 9 million services to more than 2 million patients.

[Co-host/Guest]

They get patients, STI testing and treatments, Pap tests, exams, breast exams, birth control, HPV vaccines and more, AKA essential super important health care. Despite serious threats to sexual health and reproductive care, Planned Parenthood never abandons their commitment to care. And together with people like you and.

[Samantha Irby]

Me, they can fight every day to build the future we deserve.

[Co-host/Guest]

One where everyone can get the care they need, no matter who they are.

[Samantha Irby]

Or where they live. Supporters like you power this work.

[Co-host/Guest]

Donate to support Planned Parenthood now@planned parenthood.org defend this episode is sponsored by Filo. Filo is a streaming service that brings together all the best TV and endless entertainment with a single subscription. Philo offers an accessible way to stream live and on demand TV and enjoy premium apps for just $33 a month. When you sign up at Philo TV that includes over 70 live channels, including fan favorites like AMC, A&E, MTV, BT, BET, Discovery, VH1, Food Network, History Channel, Nickelodeon, owned TLC, Life. God damn, was it every channel, TLC, Lifetime, Hallmark, Paramount and more. Plus, they offer a better way to bundle. Get access to Discovery plus and HBO Max Basic with ads where you can watch shows like Peacemaker, the White Lotus, or even my special Model Comedian at no extra cost. So you can enjoy all the best reality blockbuster movies and original series with one subscription. And of course, they offer unlimited DVR space. Save tons of movies and shows for up to a year and skip the ads. The best part is Philo has no long contract. So when you sign up, you're free to cancel any time. But with all this amazing content, you might never want to Philos, where all the best TV comes together.

[Samantha Irby]

Sign up at Felo TV to start watching. I'm going to ask you this question, okay? And I want you to be so honest with me if you for the rest of your life could only hear two albums. And I mean, I don't love this. I'm talking like when you're in the grocery store. When you're in an Uber, when you're watching a movie. The only music you hear for the rest of your life has to come from two albums. Cannot be a greatest hits album. What two albums are you picking?

[Ananiah]

What do you mean by greatest hits?

[Samantha Irby]

It can't be a greatest hits album. It, like, can't be, like a compilation. It has to be two albums that are like technical albums. Mine, usually, just to get you started, I'll usually say Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Oh.

[Samantha Irby]

Taste and Fly by the Chicks.

[Ananiah]

Oh, Work.

[Samantha Irby]

Two incredible albums.

[Ananiah]

Oh, my God. Okay, I think I'm gonna have to go. I think I'm gonna have to go. And I'm thinking, like, for the rest of my life, I'm gonna say Brand New Eyes, Paramore.

[Samantha Irby]

Wow. And.

[Ananiah]

I'm torn between Bidet and Cowboy Carter. Wait, rest of my life. Bidet. Cowboy. I want to say Cowboy Carter.

[Samantha Irby]

Really? I was gonna go B Day.

[Ananiah]

I love B Day's my favorite album, but I think, like, where I'm at as a 25 year old, like, Cowboy Carter really made a lot of sense to me. Like, I felt connected to that story.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

So I'm thinking about for the rest of my life. I think it's only gonna. I think Cowboy Carter is gonna age much better than B Day did.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

In 50 years. You know what I mean?

[Samantha Irby]

Tell me about Paramore. What's your connection to Paramore?

[Ananiah]

Well, first of all, every black person you know likes Paramore. I know that whether they know it or not.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

My sister was the one who got me into it. Really? Because she used to listen to it a lot growing up, and my sisters and I were 10 years apart. I have a half sister who's, I think, five years older than me, and I have a younger brother who's three years younger than me. But my middle sister, she's 10 years older. She left the house when I was like, what, nine? For college or something like that. But she left all of her, like, her CDs and stuff. So I was listening to like, Wicked Paramore. I was reading the Twilight books, like, all of these things at the fresh age of nine.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

So I remember listening to the Paramore stuff and I was like, this is loud. Whatever. Whatever the fuck this is, whatever. And I put it down for literally 10 years. And as soon as I got to college, I was like, I know this band and I know they're good and I know ain't it fun and still into you, but what else do they Got.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Blew my mind. Absolutely blew my mind.

[Samantha Irby]

So. Yes. So black people love Paramore.

[Ananiah]

Black people love Paramore.

[Samantha Irby]

This is a constant in my life.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

All my black friends love Paramore.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

And I love Paramore. Do you. What.

[Co-host/Guest]

What.

[Samantha Irby]

What is that? Is it because Haley Williams, like, came up in the church as an incredible vocalist? Or, like, what is the connection?

[Ananiah]

Well, I've. I've been theorizing what this might mean. I think it's kind of why black people love anime, too. It's like there's a certain level of I'm so gassy.

[Samantha Irby]

It's the Red Bull.

[Ananiah]

It's the red.

[Samantha Irby]

It's the Red Bull.

[Ananiah]

There's a certain level of, like, catharsis in the music. I guess it feels good to have that kind of, like, a mixture of the bpm, the vocals, the message, all that comes together, and it makes, like, a really powerful message, at least for me.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Because I'm not the. I'm not every black person, you know? Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Or not.

[Samantha Irby]

I hadn't thought about that.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Ananiah]

And I say it's the same as anime, because when I watch, like, especially, like, a shonen, like, action anime, it's kind of the same thing. It's like the message, the tone, the animation, the characters all come together for something that's cathartic.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

In a way, I think that's my. I think that might be why.

[Samantha Irby]

I don't know, you kind of just really made me want to watch anime because I'm not an anime person.

[Ananiah]

Are you not?

[Samantha Irby]

I've never really watched anime.

[Ananiah]

Have you ever watched an anime? Can you, like, think of one that you might have?

[Samantha Irby]

What's a really popular anime?

[Co-host/Guest]

I.

[Ananiah]

My favorite one's Naruto, and it's probably the most popular.

[Samantha Irby]

Never seen it.

[Ananiah]

Okay, that's crazy.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

You've seen Dragon Ball Z a little, right?

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, sure. Is that. That's anime? Yeah.

[Ananiah]

In Pokemon, maybe.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

I've seen.

[Samantha Irby]

I've seen these when I was a kid.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

But those aren't. I feel like when I think of anime, what are like. I feel like that's not what I think of as anime. Why do I think that? I'm just wrong.

[Ananiah]

I think maybe because it was. I guess it was given to, like, Western kids as, like, a children's show.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. I thought maybe there was, like, more. I thought there was maybe, like, deeper anime that people were into as adults. When people say they're into anime, are they watching Dragon Ball Z? Is that what they mean?

[Co-host/Guest]

They can.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Okay, cool.

[Ananiah]

It's. It's like, for like. Some of my favorite anime are Number six Naruto Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I would say Given Raced Death Parade. Like, all of these are, like. They have really adult themes. And most of these anime is Sailor Moon anime. It is.

[Samantha Irby]

I know about Sailor Moon because so many queer people dress as that.

[Ananiah]

Yeah, she's pretty iconic too.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I think there's a gay girl in the show.

[Samantha Irby]

There's a gay girl. Ulta.

[Co-host/Guest]

Some. We're gonna dub that over. You just sang it perfectly with this.

[Samantha Irby]

Look, and then it just.

[Ananiah]

It's just good editing.

[Samantha Irby]

It's a dub. Anime. Okay. Maybe I need to tap into anime.

[Ananiah]

I think you should. Yeah, I think you should. I mean, if you ever. I have a Google Doc of anime.

[Samantha Irby]

Recommendations legitimately, please send my way.

[Ananiah]

Will do.

[Samantha Irby]

What are your favorite musicals of all time?

[Ananiah]

Good question.

[Producer/Moderator]

Okay.

[Ananiah]

I knew you'd be excited. Oh, I feel like Jill Scott and why did I get Married? And she goes, oh, God, that movie.

[Samantha Irby]

Is horrible for her.

[Ananiah]

Oh, yeah, it's been. I would hate to be meme to hell like that. My favorite musicals Next to Normal, the Color Purple. Safe.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I like this musical called title of Show. There's a pretty racially questionable moment in it, but I think we can get past that.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Seems like it's probably not up to me to decide, so I'll take your word for it.

[Producer/Moderator]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ananiah]

It's just a matter of perspective. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay.

[Ananiah]

Sure.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I really like falsettos. And then, like, you know, like the easy ones, like Wicked.

[Samantha Irby]

Rent Chicago is Falsetto is the name of a show.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay. I didn't know if you meant, like, the concept of falsettos or a show called Falsettos.

[Ananiah]

No, it's a show called Falsettos. I did really get that.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm so sorry. I love to learn.

[Ananiah]

I'm impressed.

[Samantha Irby]

I would see Falsettos.

[Ananiah]

Do you want to go see Falsetto?

[Samantha Irby]

Is it on right now?

[Ananiah]

No, it's not.

[Samantha Irby]

I was like, yes, I'll go with you.

[Ananiah]

Musicals do.

[Samantha Irby]

What?

[Ananiah]

Are you a musical person? Do you have favorite musicals?

[Samantha Irby]

No. Okay, well, which ones do I like? Okay, Chance, you know what ones I like?

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Legally Blonde.

[Ananiah]

Ah.

[Samantha Irby]

Love Legally. I guess I liked that. I don't. I don't like when people. When the emotion gets really big and all they can do is sing. That kind of bothers me.

[Ananiah]

So should I fucking myself or.

[Samantha Irby]

I like seeing my friends.

[Ananiah]

I want you to know that's my job.

[Samantha Irby]

I like Seeing my friends in anything. I want to come see your show. I went to all chances. Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I don't really like when people make jokes on a microphone.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Is that anything?

[Samantha Irby]

That was tough to hear.

[Co-host/Guest]

That was really tough to hear.

[Samantha Irby]

That was really tough to hear.

[Producer/Moderator]

What do you think?

[Ananiah]

Okay. It's all right. It's okay.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Caleb came to see me in Runaways.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

I did. I saw all chances of shows in college, and they were, you know.

[Ananiah]

Did you like it?

[Samantha Irby]

I love supporting my friends.

[Ananiah]

Oh, God.

[Samantha Irby]

It means the world to me to support my friends. Caleb. Musicals are just hard because also the theater is hard in general for me. I love the theater. I have so much respect for the theater. They need to do something about the chairs.

[Ananiah]

Oh, absolutely.

[Samantha Irby]

Sorry.

[Ananiah]

I'm with you 100% on that.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm tall, I'm fat, and I can't be living like this.

[Ananiah]

It feels like this. It's akin to, like, being in a plane. Like, it's the worst feeling ever.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. And it's a night out. Yeah. When you go to on a plane, you're like, I have to do this to get somewhere.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Going to the theater and being uncomfortable for two and a half hours is like, I'm do. This was the activity.

[Ananiah]

If I don't get an aisle seat, I literally cannot sit in the chair.

[Samantha Irby]

It would be like if your friend was like, I'm a flight attendant. Would you come sit middle row economy for a couple hours and watch me do my thing? It's like, well, yeah, if you really want me to, but I'm gonna have a bad time.

[Ananiah]

I don't know if I would.

[Samantha Irby]

It's hard.

[Ananiah]

It's hard. I don't know if I would.

[Samantha Irby]

It's hard, dude.

[Ananiah]

I've been in an era of saying no, and I love it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I love saying no.

[Samantha Irby]

You're in your no era.

[Ananiah]

I love it.

[Samantha Irby]

You're no right.

[Ananiah]

I love it.

[Co-host/Guest]

Whoa.

[Ananiah]

Well, my thing is, like, if I genuinely know I can do good by you or for you, I will do it.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

But if it's like I have to extend myself in a way that I don't want to in this moment, I'm going to say no.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I'm going to say no.

[Samantha Irby]

No's powerful.

[Ananiah]

Love it.

[Samantha Irby]

I've been on no for years.

[Ananiah]

Good for you.

[Samantha Irby]

I've been living in no for a.

[Ananiah]

Long time because it feels like, like mid-20s right now. It's like, how have I not been doing this my entire life?

[Samantha Irby]

You're so young.

[Ananiah]

I don't feel that but yeah, so young. I don't feel that at all.

[Samantha Irby]

I feel that I've been here many, many years.

[Ananiah]

But you know, being queer, it's like once you turn 26, you're kind of dead.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm 30.

[Ananiah]

Damn.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. You're saying that to a 30 year old.

[Ananiah]

And isn't your birthday in January? Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

So it'll be 31. So you think I've been dead for four years?

[Ananiah]

What kind of flowers would he might want?

[Producer/Moderator]

Tulips.

[Ananiah]

Tulips. Outdoor dash.

[Samantha Irby]

You know what? I have good news for you.

[Ananiah]

What?

[Samantha Irby]

It only gets better. Okay.

[Ananiah]

I'm excited.

[Samantha Irby]

When you get to my age, you're going to see things all kinds of different ways.

[Ananiah]

And the crazy thing about healing, the crazy thing about getting. Not getting rid of, but coping with trauma is like now I feel like I will be 31 day, you know, which is good. I love that feeling.

[Samantha Irby]

This was a big part of my problem as well. I never saw myself. I was. When I. All my whole life up to like 17, I was like, I don't see myself being 18. Yep, I think I'm going to die. And then when I turned 18, genuinely every year after that, I've been like, oh, this is a miracle.

[Ananiah]

Color me gag. When I found out that was just a trauma response.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I was like.

[Samantha Irby]

Not me being alive.

[Ananiah]

Serious like that.

[Producer/Moderator]

I was just having a little fun.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. No, Yeah. I should be therapist. But yes.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm so glad that you're here.

[Ananiah]

Thank you. I'm glad that you're here too.

[Samantha Irby]

Just so you know.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

Are you in therapy?

[Ananiah]

I kind. Not anymore.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I got to a point where I didn't. This sounds bad, but I didn't need it anymore.

[Samantha Irby]

It doesn't sound bad. You fix certain problems, Right.

[Ananiah]

I might go in soon for like maintenance just to get like better coping skills with like certain work things. But no, I was in therapy like five months. No. What is it, October? Yeah. Five months ago I stopped going.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. And how's it been?

[Ananiah]

Pretty good. I'm actually really proud of myself when it comes to that. I've like been able to I guess like self navigate or maybe self therapies, like problems that have been coming up. And I'm really proud of myself for that.

[Co-host/Guest]

What is that?

[Samantha Irby]

Do you think that's the biggest thing you've gotten out of therapy so far?

[Ananiah]

Yeah. When I first started doing therapy, I think maybe two or three years ago, every session I would be crying and I was like, okay, maybe it was good that I was here. Fuck yeah. I Was like, okay, my bad. I didn't even know that it was like that. Yeah. And this year it's been about like a lot of the problems I'm having now is just like work related and like self care. And she wasn't telling me. This sounds bad too, but she wasn't saying anything that I didn't know. It was just a matter of. I guess I needed someone else to, to tell me to do the things that I know how to do. I guess. Yeah, it was like, leave out time for yourself, cook your own meals, stop going to Wendy's. Right, right. Maybe figure out a way to go to sleep without jerking off.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Guest]

Why?

[Ananiah]

I know I haven't got past that one yet.

[Samantha Irby]

That one seems harmless.

[Ananiah]

I'll let you know when I do. I'll text you.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, you text me at like 6am One morning.

[Ananiah]

I did it.

[Samantha Irby]

Good news, King. I just slept without jerking off.

[Ananiah]

I fucking did it. I fucking did it.

[Samantha Irby]

That one seems harmless.

[Ananiah]

It is harmless. I think it is. Yeah. But who knows?

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, I've been thinking about getting back to therapy, but mostly because I, I, I, I really relate to the thing about like a therapist has never told me something. I don't know, frankly. Like, that's just reality there. Every time I've been in therapy, they've said things that I'm like, duh, like I'm sorry. Just duh. I know that.

[Ananiah]

I feel like a lot of it is just like you need someone to say you need to do it.

[Co-host/Guest]

You need the.

[Samantha Irby]

I think I want someone to be there, keeping, keeping track. Like I would like to, I'd like to be with someone who's like, remember three months ago when you were working on that thing? And now it's better because I will have that realization myself sometimes way too late that I'm like, you've gotten way better at this thing. Yeah, I would like to. Maybe I'm thinking about going back to therapy now because I'm like, that would be nice to just have someone who's like, hey, how's that thing going? Okay, how that, how's that thing you were working on?

[Ananiah]

Are you the same way with like creatively with when it comes to your comedy and like work and stuff like that?

[Samantha Irby]

What do you mean?

[Ananiah]

Like, do you need like partners and stuff to keep you motivated?

[Samantha Irby]

No, I'm very self motivated and I would actually like to incorporate more collaboration into my creative life.

[Ananiah]

I see what you're saying.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, I do pretty much everything on my own creatively.

[Ananiah]

Okay, cool.

[Samantha Irby]

Like in terms of like ideating now, making things. Like there's a whole team to make everything. I obviously can't engineer the show. Nicole does that. I need chances help, Michelle's help. I have a lot of help in my life, but when it comes to like writing jokes, finishing the script, getting the thing done, like the creative stuff that needs to come from my brain.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

I would like to work in more ways to like extract that stuff.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

With other people. I think that'd be fun.

[Ananiah]

Do you have any advice for me to start stand up?

[Samantha Irby]

Are you think about starting stand up?

[Ananiah]

I want to.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, my God.

[Ananiah]

The next natural thing I need to.

[Samantha Irby]

Do, that makes me so happy. I love that. Well, my advice is just start doing it.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

And open mics were never any good for me personally. I didn't have fun at them. They were deeply misogynistic, which made me ill and homophobic, which made me mad. And even when they weren't, I just didn't feel like it was useful information. Six comics barely paying attention to you, laughing at your material tells you nothing about a joke. A lot of comics I deeply love and respect disagree with that. My personal opinion is that it's just not good feedback. Okay, so here's the advice I would give you or anyone who's thinking about starting stand up is there's always room for more of us. Please do it. I don't subscribe to the idea that we need fewer standups. We need more people who give a shit about it and actually want to be good at it.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

So if that's you, come on out. And then what I would say is like, get booked on some, some show, friends shows and things, like low stakes shows, to build some material. And then after you have a good little base of material, if you want to test new stuff, ask to jump on someone's show or do a booked show. Like in New York, it's like Union Hall, Littlefield, Bell House. These are those places. And the way I test new material without doing open mics is, well, now I could put up a new material show if I wanted to. Like, I'm lucky to have an audience like that. But when I didn't, I would do like a 7030 or a 6040 where I would do like, I would open with a, a really strong joke that I've done before that I know works. And then I would try some new stuff and then I would middle with a strong existing joke, try some new stuff, and then close with a strong existing joke.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

So it's like I'm not robbing the audience of a good set.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

I know that I'll open, open, middle and close on something that's tested and works, but I'm also not robbing myself of the chance to get a genuine audience reaction.

[Ananiah]

That's really smart. Okay. Wow.

[Samantha Irby]

That's one piece of advice I can give you.

[Ananiah]

Well, thank you. I appreciate it.

[Samantha Irby]

I would love to see you do stand up.

[Ananiah]

I would love to see it too. And the thing is, I kind of. All of my jokes are already posted online. You know what I mean? Like, I'm already a comedian. I just need to take literally what I post on TikTok and make a story out of it. So I'm excited.

[Samantha Irby]

Absolutely.

[Ananiah]

This is something I'm thinking about doing maybe next year. I'm pretty booked until the end of it, so of this year, I mean, I love it.

[Samantha Irby]

I think also something to consider is like, there are a lot of people who put, like, John Marco Seraci is somebody who's such a great stand up, such a great writer.

[Ananiah]

He's just on the show too.

[Samantha Irby]

I love him. And he tests a lot of stuff online and then takes it to the stage. So that's one way to do it. And then another way, a way that I like to do it is if I have something that's really juicy and really good that I think is going to be amazing. Like, if I think it's like, stand up that I'm going to love, I won't say it anywhere else and I'll save it for the stage. And that sometimes is really fun too, to be like, oh, if I have this story that I love that I think is so juicy and like, so it stays fresh and then I just don't know.

[Ananiah]

There's been many a comedian in New York that I've seen online and I'm like, I know every single one of your punchlines already. Yeah, I gotcha.

[Samantha Irby]

I think saving some stuff for the stage is so such a gift.

[Ananiah]

Having some. A little mystery, some mystique.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm excited for your stand up era.

[Ananiah]

Thank you.

[Samantha Irby]

Do you have, like, stand up inspirations?

[Ananiah]

Yes. Who are they? I'm so glad you asked. Obviously Bob. I love Bob the Drag Queen. She's like one of my biggest inspirations.

[Samantha Irby]

Bob is so fucking funny and smart, it's insane.

[Ananiah]

It's smart.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Like, so smart.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Do you know who Ali Sadiq is?

[Samantha Irby]

I don't.

[Ananiah]

He's really funny. He's. I remember watching one of his specials and I think I was just listening to it and the way he can navigate through a story and his timing is perfect. I love Ali Sadiq. It used to be. Used to be Kevin Hart, too. But I'm.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm like, what changed?

[Ananiah]

I don't know. It became too flouncy, I guess. Yeah, I'm not gonna go in that direction is what I'm essentially saying.

[Samantha Irby]

I will say on that front, and this is. No, personally, no knock on Kevin. I really respect his craft, genuinely.

[Producer/Moderator]

Me too.

[Samantha Irby]

But there is. I do think he. It seems that he suffered a little bit from what a lot of stand up suffer from, which is that stand up is the people's art form. Stand up is a relatability art form. Yes. Getting up in front of a room of people and talking about life in a way that might makes sense to you and to them.

[Ananiah]

I think after his. Whatever his third Netflix thing was, because guess what happened.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, he got rich.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

And so you get rich, and then if you're lucky, you don't lose touch. But very few people have been lucky. And I think he suffers a little bit now from being like. All of his stories are like, me and LeBron James were on the PJ, and it's like, I'm bored.

[Ananiah]

I do like him with Dwayne the Rock Johnson. I think they're hilarious together.

[Co-host/Guest]

Well, they're just so.

[Ananiah]

They're so. It's like right there. It's written there. Oh, and Monique as well. Monique is.

[Samantha Irby]

You know, she's one of mine.

[Ananiah]

I love Monique.

[Samantha Irby]

Monique, Queens of Comedy set. Monique, Queens of Comedy set.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

She is everything.

[Producer/Moderator]

You skinny bitches are evil, and you need to be destroyed.

[Samantha Irby]

You need to be destroyed.

[Co-host/Guest]

Her.

[Samantha Irby]

The Monique Queens of Comedy set. Her coming out and say she. I don't. I've talked about this a million times on this show. At this point, the two of the most iconic sets of all time to me are Monique, Queens of Comedy, and Bernie Mac when he's doing I Love Bernie. Matt, not scared of y'. All.

[Ananiah]

I had never got into an, like, deeply. I love this show, though.

[Samantha Irby]

Unbelievable. Especially that set. The I'm not scared of y'. All Kick it. That set. But Monique, when she. She starts that set by coming out and going, every fat bitch in this room should be standing up and applauding me right now.

[Ananiah]

That's Mother.

[Co-host/Guest]

And I was like, that's like. And I did. I got up and applauded, Mother.

[Samantha Irby]

I had just, like, the first time I saw that in high school, I had never seen a fat person take up a room like that.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

And I Was like, oh, she's not apologizing. She's so in charge.

[Ananiah]

I feel like if people, like, scroll down my channels, they will see, like, the inspirations of Monique and Ali and. And a little bit of. And Bob. Of like, just seeing, like, how I navigate and, like, every word is funny. I'm, like, picking each word specifically for the joke. That's what I really appreciate about their kind of comedy, too.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Smart.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

She.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, she's so smart and fearless and. Yeah, I love her. Queens of Comedy says the biggest thing for me. But then obviously, the Parkers. Meet the Parkers.

[Ananiah]

I don't know if I've seen it really.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, my God.

[Ananiah]

Is there. What joke was the most. I don't know if I've seen it.

[Samantha Irby]

It's not really. It's a sitcom, so it's. It's just like her.

[Ananiah]

Oh, I didn't. Yeah, I didn't. I don't know anything about. This is.

[Samantha Irby]

And also, was it Meet the Parkers or just the Parkers? That's what I thought. The Parkers is Monique sitcom from, like, late 90s, early 2000s.

[Ananiah]

Who else is in it?

[Samantha Irby]

Who else was in it?

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Yeah, so it was called Just the Parkers and it was on. Yeah. 1999 to 2004 on UPN. It was a spin off to Moesha. It stars Monique Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow.

[Ananiah]

I have heard of this.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

Dorian Wilson, Jenna Von Oy, KL And Yvette Wilson. Wilson.

[Samantha Irby]

You have to watch it for a million reasons, but not the least of which is Monique plays.

[Ananiah]

Because I'm black.

[Samantha Irby]

A horny. Yes. Monique plays.

[Co-host/Guest]

Imagine.

[Samantha Irby]

Monique plays a horny legend.

[Ananiah]

Oh, I live.

[Samantha Irby]

She's so horny in that show.

[Ananiah]

She not just a horny legend.

[Samantha Irby]

Well, she is, but I'm saying, like, in the show, she in such a specific. She's, like, going after this professor the whole time.

[Ananiah]

I love that.

[Samantha Irby]

She. It's unbelievable.

[Ananiah]

I. And I think maybe because I do gaydar, like, a lot of people think I'm just like, a lexicon of references.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

If it is before 2010, I promise you I don't know it. Yeah, I promise you.

[Samantha Irby]

Well, do you know? I knew. I randomly will know a bunch of stuff about the. I don't know if you guys ever got into this, but the. I love the 90s. I love the OHS. I love the. Do you know. Do you know that show? See, there's something missing in our culture. Now, was it VH1 or MTV?

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

It was VH1.

[Samantha Irby]

VH1 had this series called, like, I Love the series. And it was a panel show for comedians and writers and musicians to come on and do, like, talking head interviews about, like, I love the 2000s. Would be, like, everything important that happened culturally in the 2000s. And it was like, how I learned pop culture history.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

And I don't know if it's streaming somewhere, but honestly, like, worth a watch.

[Ananiah]

That actually sounds like something I need.

[Samantha Irby]

And it's funny.

[Ananiah]

My sisters are constantly trying to catch me up on. On, like, pop culture references from the 90s and the 2000s, but I just. There's so much where I can't. Like, there's no way I can be, like, at the front of now and trying to learn at the same time. I don't know.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm not really at the front of now. I'm behind on so many things now. I don't know what the hell's going on. Movies I'm pretty up on, but TV shows, I haven't seen, like, any TV show.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

So I'm always behind on that. The Parker's iconic, though. They go to college together. They have a little apartment. It's Mother Daughter. It's cute.

[Producer/Moderator]

Love.

[Ananiah]

An adult sitcom.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Really fun. What is your favorite? Like, what's your favorite TV show of all time?

[Ananiah]

My instinct is to say Naruto, but just because it's what I grew up on. Yeah. I think if I had to pick, like, a western. Live action. Live action. I don't know. Yeah, that's a good one. I will say what I liked recently. In the past year or so, I loved the Last of Us. I thought they did that really, really well. Yeah, I loved. I recently watched what's it called? Scavengers Reign. I liked it. I couldn't finish it, though, because it was too heebie jeebie.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Like scary. Or like, it was just, like, not scary. There's like, creatures and morphine and body horror and gore and that kind of stuff. And I'm not a huge fan of that stuff, but it was a great story. What else have I liked? Oh, Interview with the Vampire. Okay, got it. Interview with the Vampire is probably one of my favorite TV shows ever.

[Samantha Irby]

Hell, yeah.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. I love that. Have you seen it?

[Samantha Irby]

No.

[Ananiah]

Gay vampires start in Louisiana.

[Samantha Irby]

I need to walk in. Hello?

[Ananiah]

That's all you need?

[Co-host/Guest]

Hello?

[Ananiah]

That's all you need?

[Samantha Irby]

That is all I need.

[Ananiah]

I really need you to see that. That TV show. Actually, I will.

[Samantha Irby]

What is so true to you?

[Ananiah]

So true to me? Is this the thing? You guys have told me to come. Okay. I'VE been thinking about this.

[Samantha Irby]

Thank you.

[Co-host/Guest]

You're.

[Samantha Irby]

You're one of the only.

[Ananiah]

I knew. This is the thing. I go on podcasts and I'm like, oh, they're going to ask me something for their show, and I'm always under research. Yeah. So I was thinking about it.

[Co-host/Guest]

And.

[Ananiah]

Not to be on some Alpha Beta Omega Dynamics shit, but to also be on some Alpha Beta Omega Omega shit.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I think men should get pregnant.

[Samantha Irby]

Thank you. This has come up.

[Ananiah]

I really do.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

And I. I can't speak to the logistics.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I can't speak to the anatomy or the physiology of such.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I just think we would be in a completely different position globally if men got pregnant and it's not even like they need to be inseminated. Maybe it's every time they inseminate, they get pregnant. Like, if there's some kind of.

[Samantha Irby]

The egg travels into them. Let's wake that up.

[Ananiah]

Boom.

[Samantha Irby]

Where is science?

[Ananiah]

Boom.

[Samantha Irby]

Because what are we doing with science if the egg can't go up the dick?

[Ananiah]

I'm thinking. I'm thinking, like, okay, first of all, crazy, wild. That's insane. Whoa. I'm thinking, like, anything from financially to racially to sexually, romantically, things would change.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Like.

[Ananiah]

And I don't know if it's better. What's so true to me? What's so true to me? I don't know if it's better if both sexes can get pregnant. Oh, so it's all skate.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Or if it's like, in 20 years or. No, in two years. Everybody on the other side of the spectrum can get pregnant. I don't know what's better.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

But that's what's true to me. I think men should get pregnant.

[Samantha Irby]

I like that. I really like that. And I would support it and love it. And I wish I could get a man pregnant. I've said. I've said this on the show. I think it would be really cool. What?

[Ananiah]

It's just. It's a lot.

[Samantha Irby]

Caleb, you think that's crazy of me?

[Ananiah]

I don't think it's crazy. I just. Maybe what's happening is I'm reconciling my head cannon of you from a bottom to a top.

[Samantha Irby]

Whoa. You thought I was a bottom this whole time?

[Ananiah]

No, I didn't think you were just the bottom.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I thought you might have had a preference.

[Co-host/Guest]

I never thought you were just the bottom.

[Samantha Irby]

I always thought you were so much more than that.

[Ananiah]

Right. We teach Bottoms and James Factora. They're a writer at them. Came on My show and was like, we teach bottoms to be small to shrink themselves. I was like, that is the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm not a top or a bottom or verse. I'm a dedicated team player who thrives in a fast paced environment.

[Ananiah]

And you'd be great at Starbucks.

[Producer/Moderator]

You'd be great at Starbucks.

[Samantha Irby]

I just love to see the team win, you know?

[Ananiah]

Are you a cuck?

[Samantha Irby]

I want to see everyone. I want to see everyone getting what they need. I want everyone to come.

[Ananiah]

I live for that.

[Samantha Irby]

I want everyone to have a good time.

[Ananiah]

Everybody should come.

[Samantha Irby]

Everybody should come. You included me.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, definitely. If I don't come, it didn't happen.

[Ananiah]

It sounded just so altruistic. I wasn't expecting that to come.

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, no, I'm coming.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

No, I need to come.

[Ananiah]

I'm gonna get mine, sweetie.

[Samantha Irby]

But everyone gets to come.

[Ananiah]

Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

I'm not the only one.

[Ananiah]

You're. You're a. A. A social comer.

[Samantha Irby]

You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

[Ananiah]

I want you to stop acting like you can't.

[Samantha Irby]

And I'm coming.

[Ananiah]

Do not come.

[Samantha Irby]

Do not come.

[Ananiah]

Do not come.

[Samantha Irby]

Do not come. I love that, that video. Thank you.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. I'm proud of you.

[Samantha Irby]

Thank you.

[Ananiah]

What's. What's your usual so true take?

[Samantha Irby]

Oh, I haven't done one in a while. What's so true to me right now? I. I mean, I. I say some. Some version of this all the time, but we really. We have to throw the smartphones in. The oceans sure has to end.

[Ananiah]

I think about often about, like, working. How I miss letters. I miss letters. I miss writing letters.

[Samantha Irby]

Really cool.

[Ananiah]

One of my friends and I used to be pen pals. Like, we would send each other letters instead of, like texting all the time.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

But then they moved here. Like, what the.

[Samantha Irby]

I have a friend in New York who sends me letters.

[Ananiah]

That's awesome. Yeah, I guess I could. It's just like now there's not really an excuse.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. I just. Yeah. I need us to figure something else out. I'm not having fun. Yeah. I don't want people to continue hitting me up. What's so true to me is don't hit me up. Like, unless you have something really fun to bring to me. Stop asking me for stuff. Everybody wants something.

[Ananiah]

That's true. I wonder. Maybe we'll talk about this off the camera too. But it feels like I'm in this exact same experience where it feels like a lot of People need a lot of things for me all of a sudden.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

I hate it. And I think they have. It's the constant access to me that is allowing them to do such. Which I hate.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. There's something. Yeah. I'm trying really hard to give off a don't contact me vibe. That's not. There's something about my jolly, fat Midwestern presence that's negating the vibe I'm giving.

[Ananiah]

Sure.

[Samantha Irby]

And so I'm actually. I think I'm giving off.

[Co-host/Guest]

Hit me up.

[Ananiah]

Right. Because it's. I mean, like, do you ever feel like you can't be fat and mean?

[Samantha Irby]

For sure.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Constantly.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Samantha Irby]

But I'm doing it anyway.

[Ananiah]

I was literally getting ready to say, so you're being both.

[Co-host/Guest]

So you're being both.

[Ananiah]

And we're right back to bisexual.

[Co-host/Guest]

And we're right back to bi.

[Samantha Irby]

All roads lead to bi.

[Ananiah]

And I've always said that roads lead to bi.

[Samantha Irby]

What's your sexuality these days?

[Ananiah]

I'm a non binary bisexual trans woman.

[Samantha Irby]

That's what I thought.

[Ananiah]

Yeah. That's a lot.

[Samantha Irby]

Insert applause.

[Ananiah]

A lot of people, you know, a lot of people just had an aneurysm watching.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They were like all my Republican fans.

[Ananiah]

Their, like, brain took a screenshot.

[Samantha Irby]

The number's not zero Chance.

[Co-host/Guest]

I would like to do a segment, please.

[Samantha Irby]

Let's go. Thank you, babe.

[Producer/Moderator]

I'm so excited for this.

[Samantha Irby]

And I am.

[Co-host/Guest]

I have a segment for you.

[Samantha Irby]

True or false? I'm going to read you 15 statements. You're going to tell me as quickly as you can if you think that what I just said is true or false. If you get 10 or more correct, you know, okay, we're going to give you 50 US dollars.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

The segment has kind of randomly become like, everyone's favorite part of the show.

[Ananiah]

It is kind of iconic.

[Samantha Irby]

It's an. It's the iconic.

[Ananiah]

Such a good. We'll talk marketing later. But it's just such a good. It's such a good way to post, like, to promote your show.

[Co-host/Guest]

We'll talk marketing later.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

You ready?

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

But if I do get less than 10, I'm calling you transphobic.

[Samantha Irby]

Of course. All right. And you would be right. Cheese existed before written language. True. True. Smoking one cigarette can reduce your life expectancy by about 20 days.

[Ananiah]

False.

[Samantha Irby]

False. It's 20 minutes. Snakes sleep with their eyes open.

[Ananiah]

False.

[Samantha Irby]

True. A group of Wildcats is called a destruction. True. True. Iowa State University's mascot is the Hawkeyes.

[Ananiah]

False.

[Samantha Irby]

False. It's Cyclones. And yeah, that was A chance. You tried to do a trick. But a real Iowa person knows there's no word in the English language that rhymes with month.

[Ananiah]

False.

[Samantha Irby]

True. Emerson College's school paper is the Berkeley Beacon.

[Ananiah]

Oh. True.

[Samantha Irby]

True.

[Co-host/Guest]

Cynthia.

[Samantha Irby]

Cynthia Erivo was born in Scotland.

[Ananiah]

True.

[Samantha Irby]

False. England Razor scooters came out in 1989.

[Ananiah]

True.

[Samantha Irby]

False. 2000, William Henry Harrison was only president for a month. True. True. Only 2% of Earth's population naturally has green eyes.

[Ananiah]

False. True.

[Samantha Irby]

Davenport, Iowa, is the largest of the quad Cities. True.

[Co-host/Guest]

True.

[Samantha Irby]

Facebook is older than. Facebook is older than LinkedIn.

[Ananiah]

I actually don't know.

[Samantha Irby]

True. False.

[Ananiah]

Okay.

[Samantha Irby]

Heinz ketchup.

[Co-host/Guest]

Okay, Immediately.

[Samantha Irby]

Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

Heinz ketchup was originally a glue company.

[Ananiah]

False.

[Samantha Irby]

False. The Pope can't be an organ donor.

[Ananiah]

False. True.

[Samantha Irby]

It's true.

[Ananiah]

What the fuck?

[Samantha Irby]

How'd they do Nine?

[Ananiah]

Oh, you transphobic piece of shit.

[Samantha Irby]

I know.

[Ananiah]

That's okay. I did get all the Iowa ones.

[Samantha Irby]

Right.

[Ananiah]

Thank you for that.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, that one was. Oh, maybe it'll go. Slow that down. Make me look cool.

[Samantha Irby]

Nine was a beautiful run.

[Producer/Moderator]

It's okay.

[Samantha Irby]

And the Pope thing, What is that like? It's true.

[Ananiah]

Is it because his organs are so much better than mine?

[Samantha Irby]

They're wholly from God.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

It's because the Church owns his body.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Co-host/Guest]

Wake up.

[Samantha Irby]

Wake up, people.

[Ananiah]

Literally, wake up. Hello.

[Samantha Irby]

That doesn't sound crazy.

[Ananiah]

Say that one more time.

[Fact Checker/Researcher]

The Catholic Church owns the Pope's body.

[Ananiah]

Hello. Is that not fucking crazy? These people are psychotic.

[Samantha Irby]

If you take any piece of religion and just, like, sit with it for a moment. Yeah, they're all bananas.

[Ananiah]

I knew I wasn't gonna be Christian. Like, at least religious in that sense. Very long. As soon as I started asking questions. Yeah, because the reaction from adults when you start asking questions. Nah. I was like, something's up.

[Samantha Irby]

The whole thing's crumbling.

[Ananiah]

Something's up.

[Samantha Irby]

They're like, don't poke holes. I've decided on this.

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah. It's nuts.

[Ananiah]

Why?

[Co-host/Guest]

Because it is.

[Samantha Irby]

Yeah.

[Ananiah]

Why? Because it is. Uh, no, Ma'.

[Producer/Moderator]

Am.

[Samantha Irby]

Ananiah.

[Ananiah]

Yes.

[Samantha Irby]

Such a treat to have you.

[Ananiah]

I am so honored to be here. Thank you.

[Samantha Irby]

We love you so deeply. Tell the people where they can find you.

[Co-host/Guest]

What?

[Samantha Irby]

They should be watching.

[Ananiah]

You can find me at ananiah00 a n a n I a00 and watch my show gaydar. And come see you and come see Saturday Church. By the time this comes out, we might be closed. When you close October 24th.

[Samantha Irby]

Nope. There's some time. Oh, work.

[Ananiah]

Come see Saturday Church at the New York Theater Workshop.

[Samantha Irby]

Come see Saturday church and watch gaydar and follow Ananiah. Thank you so much for doing it, babe.

[Producer/Moderator]

Thank you.

[Samantha Irby]

Yay.

[Ananiah]

Bye, queers.

[Samantha Irby]

That was a headgum podcast.