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- [00:00]
Mike Pesca
Foreign It's Friday, June 20, 2025, from Peach Fish Productions. It's the Gist. I'm Mike Pesca, and it is the gist. No lie. It's also funny you should mention every couple weeks we go to the Comedy Cellar, we interview a comedian. We try to ask that comedian, hey, why are you saying the things you're saying? No, not the traumatic childhood slash I opportunity to take it to the man. Like, what's the premise in your punchlines? And we do that, I think, quite excellently with Rose Bud Baker. Rose Bud Baker is one of the more interesting human beings doing comedy these days. She's also an exquisite joke writer. Her latest special is intercut between her being pregnant and then her not being pregnant. All right, the reveal she had the baby. Before that, she did a special which we talk about, which is Whiskey Fists. And I thought that was an excellent special. I thought the jokes there were super tight.
- [00:59]
Rosebud Baker
And then as you'll hear in my.
- [01:01]
Mike Pesca
Talk with Rosebud, she said something like, yeah, I did that for the approval of older male comics. I'm not a comic, but I am perhaps an older male.
- [01:10]
Rosebud Baker
How much of an older male?
- [01:11]
Mike Pesca
Well, Rosebud Baker's grandfather is James Baker, who was one of the most important diplomats of the, well, pretty much the last century. But I would have just geeked out with my love of James Baker, of my fascination with James Baker, and talked about the unification of Germany for a while. I'm sure Rosebud Baker loved her grandfather more than I did. But it seemed quite oddly that she didn't want to talk about geopolitics circa 1998. That's fine. That's fair. We got on to so much other fascinating stuff and we're going to put it all right here. But also I should mention, and it's funny that I should mention, we have a funny you should mention specific feed. And the benefit of subscribing to that, even though you get all these episodes when they air in the gist is but they're a little bit different. They have, I guess you could call it bonus content, just kind of different cuts most of the time. And we're going to start putting out specific clips and specific elements for the funny you should mention feed. We have a not even mad feed. And that always has extra bonus elements where I asked the guests a specific question for that feed or question or two or we get into it or some knockdown drag out that was cut out of that episode. But now for funny you should mention we're cultivating the uniqueness of that feed too. It helped us very much were you to subscribe to that one. And you'll hear it. You'll hear it right off the bat how it's ever so slightly different. Okay, here she is. Rose Bud Baker. Up next.
- [02:50]
Rosebud Baker
Gear that's built to work looks like it. Attractive clothing sometimes looks like it. I think definitionally, if it's attractive, it looks attractive. But clothing or gear that looks like it's rugged and can deal with hot rooftops or hard jobs? I guess most of this kind of clothing isn't made to look good on you. Except TrueWerk is. TrueWerk was built to meet the bar of gear that works harder, moves better, and proves itself every time. Today I was wearing a pair of my beloved True work pants. Many a zipper, certainly rugged, quite attractive. I feel very good in them. They have two buttons at the top. I don't know why, but it's all kind of cool. It's designed and engineered really truly engineered for maximum comfort, protection and efficiency with minimum bulk or extra weight. You know, cotton denim. It hasn't changed much in 200 years. Then true work comes along and blows the entire field of gear and clothing that also works hard out of the water while wicking away the water in many cases. I love wearing my true work stuff. I think you will too. Check out the full lineup and get 15% off your first order at truewerk.com training the gist that's 15% off at t r u e w e-r k.com the gist this message is sponsored by Greenlight as a kid. Summertime. Well, it could mean a lot of things. And these days many a kid are left to rot. It's called rotting when you don't program them incessantly. But you know, even if they're gonna rot, they might want to chase the ice cream man and buy an ice pop. I speakin like I'm Beaver Cleaver. Anyway, yeah, kids have expenses and you gotta give them money. But you should also teach them about money. I was taught pretty well by my father, who's financially responsible, but also was good at imparting a lesson. And money was easier then. It was green, sometimes silvery and could be exchanged for goods and services. Now you really need help. And Greenlight is that help. Greenlight is a debit card and a money app made for families that helps kids learn and how to save, invest and spend wisely. And you could know as a parent.
- [05:19]
Mike Pesca
That your kids are able to access.
- [05:21]
Rosebud Baker
Money but also able to learn about money. And to build lessons and confidence in how they interact with money. They also have a chores feature, sort of, hey, you want the money? Clean the room. I did the allowance thing for the kids for a little bit. It wasn't enough. Tied to in a direct way, here's what money is, here's what it does and here's why I'm giving it to you. This is why greenlight is just a much better choice. Easy, convenient, parents can raise financially smart kids. Millions of parents trust green light to orient their kids and help them learn about money. Don't wait to teach your kids real world money skills. Start your risk free greenlight trial today@greenlight.com the gist. That's greenlight.com the gist to get started greenlight.com/the gist.
- [06:22]
Mike Pesca
Hi, welcome to Funny. You should mention a co production between the Gist and the comedy seller. And as you know, on this show, what we like to do is talk to comedians about the ideas behind their punchlines. And I never quite find the way to phrase it that the comedians like. Sometimes I say thinking about jokes as arguments, but arguments seems like someone's gonna throw punches or thinking about the jokes as theses. But that rhymes with feces. Here's what we like to do. Talk about the point of view. When I think about point of view, one of the great comedians working today where point of view and exquisite joke writing and delivery is all intertwined is Rosebud Baker. Her pretty recent special is Motherload. It's on Netflix. We'll get into that. Rosebud, welcome.
- [07:04]
Rosebud Baker
Thanks for the intro.
- [07:05]
Mike Pesca
That was great. You got it. Point of view is very strong.
- [07:09]
Rosebud Baker
I have no criticisms for that.
- [07:11]
Mike Pesca
No notes.
- [07:11]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, it was very sweet. Yeah.
- [07:13]
Mike Pesca
So Motherlode is half of it. And it's, it's intertwined, it's interspiced, spliced. You're pregnant and then you're reflecting on your pregnancy.
- [07:21]
Rosebud Baker
A year later, I made a rookie mistake. The second I found out I was pregnant, I told everybody I knew. But then I had to give them the news that we'd had a miscarriage. And nobody talks about miscarriage. So it was tough to give them that news. And I guess, like, they don't make cards for it because Hallmark doesn't think there's a market for that. I think you could, honestly, I think you could make miscarriage cards. You put a baby on the front, you open it up, it just goes psych.
- [07:47]
Mike Pesca
So I have a couple of questions. When you were taping the pregnant part, was it with the overall effect in mind that you're going to one day tape a special a year later.
- [07:58]
Rosebud Baker
It was. It was with the overall. The concept in mind, but it wasn't like, you know, once I kind of had that concept in mind, I wasn't like, oh, I have to worry about whether or not I'm gonna. I didn't really worry about the concept until after the first one was filmed.
- [08:18]
Mike Pesca
Right.
- [08:18]
Rosebud Baker
Because I was like, I don't have anything to respond to in this first hour other than just the experience of being pregnant.
- [08:29]
Mike Pesca
It was all anticipatory.
- [08:30]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then after that, I. I didn't. I wrote basically based off of just, like, what came up. I wasn't. I was like, let's see if the concept even. I have to kind of, like, put the concept away to even write the second hour. Because if I'm writing based off of like, okay, well, this has to line up this way. And I have to think about editing. And I was just like, the. The material's not going to work if I'm thinking from a directorial perspective.
- [09:06]
Mike Pesca
Right. So you didn't want to give yourself an assignment.
- [09:08]
Rosebud Baker
Essentially, I already had an assignment, which.
- [09:11]
Mike Pesca
Is to be funny in an hour.
- [09:12]
Rosebud Baker
Which was just to be funny. And I was like. And to write, you know, more. So I kind of just wrote based off of, like, what came to me and what. What came to me in these writing sessions where it was like, okay, this joke doesn't feel as true anymore, or there's more to it. So I would kind of expand on it, or I'd write a brand new thought that actually ended up fitting with one of the older.
- [09:40]
Mike Pesca
Can you give me an example of that?
- [09:42]
Rosebud Baker
No, I mean, I. I can't really. I would have to, like, look at the special because, Honestly, there's like 45 minutes that ended up on the cutting room.
- [09:49]
Mike Pesca
Oh, right, so you forgot.
- [09:50]
Rosebud Baker
You know what I mean?
- [09:51]
Mike Pesca
We saw. I don't know what you said.
- [09:52]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, I mean, I've watched it a million times, but I can't think of like.
- [09:56]
Mike Pesca
Well, that's fine, because I've seen you perform live and I've seen. We talk about things that aren't even.
- [10:00]
Rosebud Baker
I wish I had something.
- [10:01]
Mike Pesca
Well, let me ask you about a joke, and maybe this falls into that category. Doesn't. One of my favorites is. You didn't breastfeed because I'm raising her autistic.
- [10:10]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Yeah, she had my back when I chose not to breastfeed. Which is crazy because perfect strangers have very strong opinions about that. They're like, why wouldn't you breastfeed? I'm like, well, it's none of your business, but if you have to know, it's because we're raising her autistic. Yeah. She's formula fed. She's got all her vaccines. Yeah. She's going to know her way around a map. Don't come for me when my kid lays your kid out in the fucking spelling bee. Okay?
- [10:57]
Mike Pesca
So what I love about that joke, and if people are like, mike, what are you talking about? Point of view. That's your point of view. That joke to me says, oh, all this pressure about breastfeeding. You know what? Fuck you.
- [11:07]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [11:08]
Mike Pesca
And the only conclusion, I guess what you're saying is I don't breastfeed, is I must be raising the kid autistic. So therefore, that's what I'm doing.
- [11:15]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Yeah.
- [11:16]
Mike Pesca
So was that a response to anything or.
- [11:18]
Rosebud Baker
It was a response to the criticisms that you wouldn't. That you would choose not to breastfeed and that, you know, that. And also a criticism of, like, the anti vax shit. It was a criticism of just the entire planet, basically.
- [11:34]
Mike Pesca
But so much of your comedy is.
- [11:35]
Rosebud Baker
No, I feel like, honestly, being pregnant and having a kid was like, one of the most political experiences of my life, which I didn't really expect going into it, but it really feels. It feels very political once you're in that position.
- [11:53]
Mike Pesca
Because in that you're taking a stance. Everything you do is taking a stance. Not just raising your kid, but, like.
- [11:58]
Rosebud Baker
Well, everybody has to subscribing to a.
- [12:00]
Mike Pesca
Movement about how to raise kids.
- [12:02]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, I didn't feel like I was taking a stance at all. I just felt like I was just making choices based off of, like, you know, I have to go back to work and there's. If I'm breastfeeding, I can't go back to work because I gotta. I gotta, like, pump every three hours. And if you're on the floor trying to make changes, you can't just, like, disappear for the. It's not gonna happen.
- [12:22]
Mike Pesca
You're talking about your SNL writing job. If you're on the floor and there are hours at a time when you have to be doing your job and you can't be breastfeeding.
- [12:30]
Rosebud Baker
Right? Yeah.
- [12:31]
Mike Pesca
Take the breastfeeding course.
- [12:32]
Rosebud Baker
And I can't be pumping and I don't even know what that room looks like. You know, I should have said that I was gonna be pumping and just gone to vape every, like, three hours, but I really just well, you didn't.
- [12:42]
Mike Pesca
Say what you're pumping. You know, you're pumping that little device.
- [12:46]
Rosebud Baker
I feel like I essentially was just making these choices, and then everybody felt like there was a stance kind of put on it. It's a little bit like being a comic now, where you're, like. You're writing a joke and somebody thinks that you've got, like, a grand plan or some sort of, you know, statement you're trying to make. And a lot of times you're just responding to the world around you. And from the way you see it, you know.
- [13:13]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, that's what I meant when I said you're making a stance. You're not making a stance. You're being a mom. And it's ascribed as a certain camp of child rearing, which aligns with politics, usually. And that's kind of crazy. You know, for millennia, we raised children, and now all of a sudden, we raise them as not just liberals or not just progressive liberals, but this sl. Oh, you're raising them like more of a Marianne Williamson type liberal.
- [13:39]
Rosebud Baker
It's crazy. Yeah, yeah.
- [13:42]
Mike Pesca
And so another great portion of your breastfeeding stuff was the nurse comes and they try to instruct you, and it's the whole thing. Oh, she's not latching. But she was latching. She was doing great.
- [13:53]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. So that was literally a story that I was talking to Rachel Feinstein, and we were talking about how both of us chose not to breastfeed. And. And how by. And I was telling them how the third day, like, they kept coming in, they kept kind of pushing it. And Rachel was the one who was like, you know, I have this bit. She was like, it's not a bit, but it's a story. And she was, like, talking about how she faked it, and she was like, I'm never gonna use this. Do you wanna use it? And I was like, oh, yeah, I could use that. So, like, that was kind of a mixture of the two of our experiences where someone kind of gave me a bit that was like. That worked within this larger piece that I was working on. And I was like, that's actually a perfect ending to this because it's like a faking out of, like, you know, like, any sort of act out is like, a better ending for us.
- [14:49]
Mike Pesca
Is that the people from the Leche League? Do they still call themselves that?
- [14:53]
Rosebud Baker
I don't know.
- [14:55]
Mike Pesca
So my kids are 15, 16, and 17. This is a while ago, and I do want to ask you about this, but they were really aggressive about it, and they weren't just like, oh, breast milk good or breast milk helps. They were like, this is the magic elixir of life. If you choose not to give it to your kid. This enter your joke. Autistic or worse. Probably, you know, incel. Mass murderer.
- [15:13]
Rosebud Baker
Probably.
- [15:14]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [15:15]
Rosebud Baker
It didn't.
- [15:16]
Mike Pesca
Girl self cutter.
- [15:18]
Rosebud Baker
It didn't feel quite like that, but it did feel like it did back off.
- [15:22]
Mike Pesca
I think in the last like 12 years. They backed off a little, hopefully.
- [15:25]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, it felt like, you know, when I called my sister and she was like, there. They get like points if you leave having breastfed. I was like, oh, that makes more.
- [15:35]
Mike Pesca
Sense because your sister's a nurse.
- [15:36]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [15:36]
Mike Pesca
She knows how it works on the inside.
- [15:38]
Rosebud Baker
She's like, there's. There. They do get like accreditation for whoever has the most people leave having breastfed.
- [15:45]
Mike Pesca
And points equal money.
- [15:47]
Rosebud Baker
I get. Yeah, of course.
- [15:48]
Mike Pesca
Right. You know, not just like a toast bonus or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Creditation from like the medical societies. Not just like the personnel.
- [15:56]
Rosebud Baker
I didn't really look into it, you.
- [15:58]
Mike Pesca
Know, you just knew you weren't breathing.
- [15:59]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. I'm like. It almost made me nervous to mention it in the special because the truth is I'm like, yeah, I haven't done the research. I don't know what the fuck it really. What the. What the accreditation is or what it goes to. I don't know if it's money. I don't know. I don't know. All I know is it felt like whatever that is, I don't. I'm not a part of this program. So, like, I don't want to be, you know, I just didn't. I didn't like, appreciate the pressure because I was like, I'm not doing it.
- [16:28]
Mike Pesca
But that's a good point. It's a comedy special, right. It's not journalism. If someone tells you, you know, they get points and your wife, your sister's a nurs. That's good. That's good enough for a premise. You don't have to do the deep dive into the truth of it.
- [16:40]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [16:40]
Mike Pesca
You're not spreading misinfo.
- [16:42]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. I'm like, if this one small thing is true.
- [16:45]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [16:45]
Rosebud Baker
Then it's a premise.
- [16:46]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [16:47]
Rosebud Baker
The rest of what that implies is like the punchline. So the punch lines aren't true. They're like completely made up funny things that I, you know, for you, they're.
- [16:58]
Mike Pesca
Not for a lot of people, they say things like, I don't say anything that I don't believe I perhaps exaggerated. But you do. You say the exact inverse of what you believe. Often. Maybe more often than not.
- [17:09]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, probably.
- [17:10]
Mike Pesca
Okay. You don't love the fact that your husband's bald. That is true. So I come to you. I haven't gone bald in front of you. I'm not surprising you. I feel like I have to apologize.
- [17:20]
Rosebud Baker
It's okay. They gave me a warning. Yeah, they were like, just, when you come in sometimes, just be prepared.
- [17:25]
Mike Pesca
We have people to our house. We're like, if you're allergic to cats, when they come to the studio, it's like, if you're allergic to bald, you should know. So the joke there is you're not thrilled with your husband being bald.
- [17:35]
Rosebud Baker
Right.
- [17:36]
Mike Pesca
But. But you'll make fun of him for it. Yeah, but you're, like, trying to show how you've made your peace with that through relentless, cruel mockery. I say, this is a very sensitive bald man.
- [17:48]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, he did get hair transplant surgery. So I did. It did work, you know, because I saw him recently. It just worked.
- [17:55]
Mike Pesca
I didn't. I saw him. I'm like, okay, that's funny as a joke, but he's not that bald.
- [17:59]
Rosebud Baker
But you're saying, no, he's not bald at all now, right? Because he got the transplant surgery. So, yeah, I mean, that one I really meant.
- [18:08]
Mike Pesca
Do you think your cruel mockery on stage prompted him to get the surgery or your cruel mockery offstage?
- [18:14]
Rosebud Baker
I would say, hopefully, yeah.
- [18:15]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. That's why you do what you do.
- [18:18]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, I'm just kidding, but, like, yeah, I do think it helped. I think it. I do think it probably pressured him. You know, what really did it? I think if he was sitting here is he would say, we went to Mexico, and he. We did this, like, horrible. Was it Mexico? I forget where we were, but we went somewhere with his family and we rode dolphins, you know, and they took pictures of these poor, tortured dolphins. And Andy on top of this dolphin, there was, like, one picture of, like, his hair, like, his wet hair. And he saw it and he was like, oh, my God. And I. I feel like I looked at him, and in that moment, he made the decision to get hair transplants.
- [19:02]
Mike Pesca
How could the joke not have included the dolphin?
- [19:05]
Rosebud Baker
You know, I think it happened after.
- [19:06]
Mike Pesca
It's just inherently.
- [19:08]
Rosebud Baker
I think it happened after.
- [19:09]
Mike Pesca
That's what. When they sell the dolphin ride, they say, and by the way, this could be, you know, a good glimpse into yourself as from an outside perspective. You gotta really interact with a mammal with a blowhole hole to see what's going on on top of Your head.
- [19:22]
Rosebud Baker
It was like looking down the center of, like, that worm from Dune 2, you know, it was like, just like a whole. There was hair all around, but it was just like a hole.
- [19:30]
Right.
- [19:30]
Mike Pesca
When you stare at the abyss, it stares back. Exactly. I saw a clip where someone asked.
- [19:37]
Rosebud Baker
Are you mad about making fun of your husband ever? Do you feel like you're cutting off the ball? Who sent you? Do I feel bad about making fun of my husband? I mean, I love him to death. I really do, but I will make fun of him until the day I die. He's constantly telling me that I have the energy of a diner waitress. I'm like, every day he comes and I'm like, what do you have? He's like, you seem like a bartender at, like, a lakeside bar, which I think is just another way of calling me A. I don't know why, but it feels that way. So. Yeah. No, I've never felt bad about it. I mean, I'm carrying his child. Absolutely not.
- [20:28]
Mike Pesca
Do you feel like by making fun of your husband on stage and then I don't even know if the woman got the next part out. Like, she was making you feel guilty about it, and your point was essentially, what the fuck are you talking about?
- [20:39]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, I don't. I don't remember what the question was.
- [20:41]
Mike Pesca
Like, do you feel like you're cutting off his balls by mocking him on stage? And you rejected the premise as much as anyone I've ever seen reject the premise?
- [20:50]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Oh, I think I asked her, who sent you? Yeah, it was just, like, one of those questions where it was, like, I mean, probably on some level, but also my. My. My husband's a comic. I almost said my comics. A husband. My husband's a comic. Like, he knows better than anyone that jokes are jokes. And also that, like, men have been making fun of their wives on stage for millennia. And I just don't. I don't care. Like, I'm doing. I'm doing the same job.
- [21:23]
Mike Pesca
So him taking it is a professional. Professional, but B, a feminist stance. Him to take the humor.
- [21:32]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, I think so.
- [21:33]
Mike Pesca
Okay.
- [21:33]
Rosebud Baker
On some level, because it's like, he's doing the same thing. He's making fun of me on stage.
- [21:38]
Unknown
I'm broke. And it's really bad right now because there's all these kids, and they're not broke. They're rich, and they're rich for nothing. They have, like, an app or they're good at social media, and their lives are amazing. They're like, 10 years younger than me, and their Lives are just like yoga retreat, decompressed from yoga. Tesla, open relationship. I think what it is, is I think they got a head start because they didn't have to spend high school proving they weren't gay. That's what I think it was. I went to high school in the 90s. We had to be on guard the whole time. I would have loved to have learned things I couldn't. I was on guard. You'd have one emotion and everybody'd be like, you gay?
- [22:29]
Rosebud Baker
You'd be like, no, I'm not.
- [22:30]
Mike Pesca
And the teacher would be like, yeah, he's pretty gay.
- [22:34]
Unknown
I loved art. I loved drama. I loved poetry. I couldn't do that. I had to weightlift while smoking a cigarette.
- [22:41]
Mike Pesca
I was like, look how straight I am.
- [22:45]
Unknown
Kids don't have to do that anymore. They're woke. You call a kid gay, he's like, yeah, maybe I am. Maybe that's part of my journey. And then he just starts coding right away.
- [22:58]
Rosebud Baker
You know, as long as we're not like, like getting on each other about like, hey, don't do this or don't do that. If it comes to our daughter, that's one thing. But like I, we for the most part have just been like, look, do your thing. We don't really even like, unless we're on the road with each other. We don't really watch each other on stage. Like here, you know, when, when he's on stage at the Cellar or I'm on stage at the Cellar, we don't really like watch each other like that. If there's a joke we need help with, you know, one of us will throw a joke out to the other and like, we'll offer tags, but it's not. Yeah, it's, it's an equal thing.
- [23:34]
Mike Pesca
Have you ever gotten into a fight, a discussion, and then been like, oh, interesting. And you start taking a note, or he starts taking a note and you're wondering who's gonna use this one on stage.
- [23:45]
Rosebud Baker
That's happened. But it was. But it's not like taking a note. It's more like you can kind of feel whoever's joke it is based off of, like, who said the funnier thing?
- [23:56]
Mike Pesca
Oh, really?
- [23:56]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [23:57]
Mike Pesca
So does this settle fights in your relationship?
- [24:00]
Rosebud Baker
No.
- [24:00]
Mike Pesca
Cause it's the exact opposite. In non comedian relationships, like with my wife, when I say the funnier thing, I lose. I find by trying to say the funnier thing.
- [24:10]
Rosebud Baker
I guess I'm saying like, we don't really like say funny things while we're fighting. Or at least Both of us, we're not like on it like that. Yes, but, but when we are in the middle of like a discussion about something or like retelling a story, or like we're just talking about our perspective on something, whoever says the funnier thing, it's like, that's whose joke it's gonna be.
- [24:34]
Mike Pesca
It's nice to have that arrangement, that agreement. Cause it would be hard to work things out otherwise.
- [24:40]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [24:40]
Mike Pesca
But it's also natural, you know, as a comedian that that's who wins.
- [24:44]
Rosebud Baker
Right. It's usually like the retelling of the fight afterwards is when we find out who gets got the bit.
- [24:50]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [24:50]
Rosebud Baker
You know.
- [24:50]
Mike Pesca
And do you both know which is the funnier thing? Because the deal with comedy, as opposed to all other artistry, is you need to tell it in front of an audience to see if it works. Like you're wearing the SNL shirt you worked for. You do write for snl. But I know that every time someone is hosting snl, they have to do their routines usually here because they don't know if it's going to get the laugh. And I know for the SNL50, you know, Martin Short and Steve Martin were here doing their bits because without the laugh, you don't know if it's funny.
- [25:19]
Rosebud Baker
Right? Yeah. Yeah.
- [25:20]
Mike Pesca
So. So this is my question then. In the fights, like when you say who said the funnier thing? You just know it or how do you know it without an outside arbiter, I. E. The audience, you can tell.
- [25:31]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, I think you can just tell. When it's two comics, you can tell who's got the better punchline.
- [25:36]
Mike Pesca
So. So I was watching, I was watching a few of your old specials, Whiskey Fist. But I think this was maybe even predated that. You talked about how liberals, which you are, are really losing the sense of humor.
- [25:48]
Rosebud Baker
I would say that was true when I did Whiskey Fist, you know. Now I think it's the opposite.
- [25:53]
Mike Pesca
I think you're probably right. Like, I see Elon Musk going, comedy is back. I'm like, oh, God, yeah. Not as you define it, sir.
- [26:01]
Rosebud Baker
Legalize comedy or whatever.
- [26:03]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [26:04]
Rosebud Baker
God, that was just the most cringe worthy thing I've ever seen. And it just made it like, it's like embarrassing to be a comic and to see that, you know. Cause you're like, oh shit. You know, it's just, you just hear it and you go like, that's so there's no awareness of the fact that like that was like written on like a comedy club's T shirt. During COVID you know, like, during like Covid era, which I would argue is when maybe it made more sense. But even then I remember seeing it and being like, you know, because I just don't, I don't think that comics, they have this idea that they're like the fucking cowboys of free speech or some bullshit like that. And I just, I think it's like kind of a self important. It's embarrassing. Yeah, it's really embarrassing. Like you act like you're like curing cancer or some shit.
- [27:06]
Mike Pesca
Oh, okay.
- [27:07]
Rosebud Baker
You know what I mean? And you're just telling fucking funniest.
- [27:10]
Mike Pesca
So the embarrassing things are, I think either I misinterpreted or you put your finger on two different things. One embarrassing thing is a comedian holding themselves out as doing something other than comedy, something socially important and being self conscious about that. And the other embarrassing thing is Elon Musk grabbing onto that idea that, you know, comedy is back or comedy is legal. Now.
- [27:34]
Rosebud Baker
I think that more embarrassing than anything is Elon Musk like wielding a chainsaw and saying like, you know, legalize comedy. Like he has any fucking clue what he's talking about.
- [27:44]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, it's like someone who never.
- [27:45]
Rosebud Baker
What he's saying is legalize the N word. That's what he's saying.
- [27:49]
Mike Pesca
Or whatever else you want to say.
- [27:50]
Rosebud Baker
Like legalize the. Legalize the words that I've been, that I've been told I can't say. Which by the way, no one has told him he can't say. Which I'm. I'm pretty sure most people are saying, you know, and the people that have a problem being like, I can't say this, it's like, why do you need to so bad? You know?
- [28:10]
Mike Pesca
Or another part of it I think is do bullshit and then excuse it as comedy or use a comedic sheen to excuse your bullshit.
- [28:19]
Rosebud Baker
Right, yeah, yeah.
- [28:20]
Mike Pesca
And then there's maybe even a third thing which is, you know, it's important for comedians to be funny. But if your job or your self appointed job is, you know, cutting half of the federal workforce, how about be serious about it? How about do that without a comedic valence?
- [28:35]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess it's tough to be serious about a job that you don't understand.
- [28:43]
Mike Pesca
Uh huh. Yeah, probably. Now your grandfather and you talk about this James Baker, who, he was Secretary of State and Secretary of the treasury and ran and was the chief of staff for two different presidents and ran presidential campaigns. You know, all this, I'm telling people, when George H.W. bush dies, there's your grandfather right there with. I'm rubbing his feet, essentially.
- [29:06]
Rosebud Baker
I wouldn't say that.
- [29:07]
Mike Pesca
Well, this is from the. Did you read the Peter Baker, what's her name, Susan Glasser book about it?
- [29:11]
Rosebud Baker
I read half of it.
- [29:12]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [29:13]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Is that in there?
- [29:14]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, that's in there.
- [29:15]
Rosebud Baker
He rubbed his feet.
- [29:16]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, yeah, he was right there.
- [29:17]
Rosebud Baker
He's a good friend.
- [29:18]
Mike Pesca
It is a good. He is a good friend.
- [29:20]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [29:20]
Mike Pesca
But. So a lot of your comedy is like, I come from Republicans. But I think that meant. But you tell me, did I think that meant something when you started talking about that, different from what it means now? Republicans.
- [29:32]
Rosebud Baker
Oh, yeah. I mean, the kind of Republican my granddad was is like, I mean, the people who are in the White House now, they would call him like a gay liberal, you know?
- [29:43]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [29:43]
Rosebud Baker
They, like, don't. It's a different thing now.
- [29:46]
Mike Pesca
Well, remember when, whenever we talk about, oh, man, the world is getting more chaotic and people will say, hey, remember when Republicans, no matter what you think of Republicans, remember when they liked order? Remember when they liked consistency? Remember when they understood who the bad guys in the world, they're literally talking. Your grandfather, he was that guy. He was the symbol of a Republican Party that was functional and that we can work with. So my question to you is, so when you talk about now Republicanism, do you want to clarify or make clear that this current brand of Trump and MAGA and all that's a lot different from the kind of Republicanism you're talking about?
- [30:23]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's almost like I remember when I was writing the special and when I was like editing, I remember going like, I don't think I have. I don't think I can say Republican itself. I think I have to say maga Republican. I have to be really, like, clear about who I'm talking about, otherwise it's not gonna. It literally won't work because you're talking about two different kinds of, you know, and the same goes for the Democrat, the Democrats. It's a different party.
- [30:56]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [30:57]
Rosebud Baker
You know, than it was in before Clinton, you know, where it's like the Clinton. Clintons brought in like a, you know, the Democrats were like a working class party and then they became the party of, like, educated liberal elites right through the Clinton era. And that's when things started just shifting around. Like, if you look back, you can kind of start to, like, you can trace how the differences in these parties and how they got on the path that they are currently at right now.
- [31:32]
Mike Pesca
Certainly when I see you doing you did a lot of jokes before about you come from Republicans and you would criticize Republicans. However, I wonder. It probably wouldn't work at all. I mean, it's. You're a liberal, I'm a liberal, we have criticisms of Republicans, but it probably wouldn't work at all if you were to make some points about the kind of Republican your grandfather was or just make some points about your grandfather that show that he was actually not just important, but like, he helped create the world we live in for good and ill. Like. But that's not comedic. Comedic is to, you know, make fun of Republicans. But you couldn't probably properly contextualize your grandfather's point place in the world, I don't think, and make it be good comedy.
- [32:23]
Rosebud Baker
No, no, not in a. Not in like a simple joke form.
- [32:27]
Mike Pesca
Would you. Would you even want to, like, at any point where you are you, like, I'm kind of selling out a little bit of, nah, I don't want it. That's. That's cruel. I'm not giving my grandfather, my family, the do he's deserved.
- [32:42]
Rosebud Baker
I would say that as a comic, I've just done my job, which is just to tell jokes.
- [32:50]
Mike Pesca
Right.
- [32:51]
Rosebud Baker
You know, but as a baker, in terms of, like, have I given them, you know, have I properly given context to. That's not my job.
- [33:02]
Mike Pesca
No.
- [33:02]
Rosebud Baker
You know, there's also several books written about him, if people want to know that. And I also don't think that. I think his legacy is so much bigger than mine that it doesn't really make a dent. You know, they're going to be telling.
- [33:15]
Mike Pesca
His story through you in the future.
- [33:17]
Rosebud Baker
I don't think so.
- [33:18]
Mike Pesca
Through his living legacy.
- [33:19]
Rosebud Baker
If he heard that he would die today. I mean, that's not. He would be so upset about that. So I don't think that's true. And I think it's also, like, you know, for me to sit there and go, like, am I properly contextualizing, like, what his legacy is? It's like, am I properly contextualizing what my legacy. It's like, no, that's not my job. My job isn't to tell, like, the full story unless I was to, you know, write a show. Like, it's not. You're never gonna tell the full story. As a creative, it's the. There's no room for that because you. Your job is to interpret.
- [34:01]
Mike Pesca
Right. So, you know, are you news and current events oriented? I mean, I know your, your specific job on Saturday Night Live is to write for Weekend Update. Right. So that's A lot of news jokes. And I've seen, I. I think all of your specials. The let. This last one was more personal, but there's always a lot of news in it. But this is my question. Are you reading the paper most days? The paper. Are you. Are you oriented in current events?
- [34:25]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. I mean, the only place to. To know anything about what's going on is to read the paper. Like, the. That's really the only way to know fully that what you're reading is real. I. I would say I'm into current events. Like, I would say that I'm into reading the news. I wish I wasn't. But there is something about, like, what's going on in the world right now and the place that we are in history that, like, if you're not paying attention to what's going on, I don't know. It's the most interesting time.
- [35:08]
Mike Pesca
It is interesting. Like that Chinese curse, right. Or that supposed Chinese curse. Well, may you live in interesting times. Just the idea that that is a curse.
- [35:17]
Rosebud Baker
Oh, yeah, yeah, I could hear that. Yeah. It feels a little bit like a curse. But it's. I'm into reading about the news and reading. Reading what's going on in the world just to have. Just to be informed on what's happening and why it's happening. And is this really a threat or is this something that, you know, it's tough, even with reading the paper sometimes where it's like the headline itself is so insane.
- [35:49]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [35:50]
Rosebud Baker
That you'll read it and go, ah. And then you read the story and you go, oh, okay. You know, so a lot of times.
- [35:57]
Mike Pesca
Sometimes in the story you go, ah, yeah.
- [36:00]
Rosebud Baker
You know, but I would say more often than not, these stories are written in a way that is a little fear baiting. And then you. It's a little bit of a test, you know, like, you can walk around the world for the rest of the day terrified, or you can read through the full story and go, okay, I see. So this could be bad.
- [36:23]
Mike Pesca
If Trump defies a court order, we're gonna be in a world of shit.
- [36:27]
Rosebud Baker
But the fact that it's like it's.
- [36:29]
Mike Pesca
Impending ain't good either.
- [36:30]
Rosebud Baker
No, it. It's not good, but it's.
- [36:33]
Mike Pesca
It's not here.
- [36:33]
Rosebud Baker
It's not time to panic.
- [36:35]
Mike Pesca
Right. You know, I think so does that. So where's the comedy? Is the comedy to exaggerate that it's all going to hell?
- [36:42]
Rosebud Baker
I have no idea. I have no idea.
- [36:44]
Mike Pesca
You write these jokes for snl. Like, half the jokes here's a headline. It seems awful. Is the joke to exaggerate how awful it is or to exaggerate the headline for being exaggerated?
- [36:54]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, a lot of the time I think it's to steer away from both of those. You know, like, you read a headline and your first instinct is, this is crazy. You know, but, like, that's everyone's first thing.
- [37:10]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. They don't need you for that. They don't need the professional.
- [37:12]
Rosebud Baker
You kind of have to go a couple times where you're like, you go, okay, well, if it's not that big of a deal, then maybe I just, like, maybe I downplay the importance of it. That's not it. Either you go a couple times at one joke and you find out that the headline is or that the joke is like, you know, if a bunch of birds washed up on, like, a beach in Long island, right? From bird flu.
- [37:40]
Unknown
Dozens of dead birds believed to have.
- [37:42]
Mike Pesca
Died from avian flu have washed up.
- [37:44]
Unknown
On a Long island beach.
- [37:46]
Mike Pesca
But don't worry, RFK is almost done eating them.
- [37:52]
Rosebud Baker
The joke is often just right there. You could just say, like, a beach in Long island is where dead birds belong or something. You know, whatever. I'm not, I'm just throwing.
- [38:02]
Mike Pesca
Right.
- [38:02]
Rosebud Baker
But, like, it's not about bird flu and it's not about, like, the, the crisis of bird flu or the price of eggs or anything. It's not even necessarily about rfk, like, eating dead birds off the beach.
- [38:19]
Mike Pesca
But now we're getting somewhere.
- [38:20]
Rosebud Baker
It could just be. You know what I mean?
- [38:21]
Mike Pesca
Yes, yes.
- [38:21]
Rosebud Baker
It could just be about a beach in Long Island. It could, but. So I'm just trying to say, like, it often is the last place that you look.
- [38:32]
Mike Pesca
And we'll be back in a minute with more of Rosebud Baker on Funny you should mention.
- [38:47]
Unknown
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- [39:21]
Mike Pesca
We're back with Rose Bud Baker talking to her at the studios of the comedy seller. When you write jokes for update is the collaboration with each other. Do you, the other writers, toss this around, or is it mostly you're coming up internally with the joke and this.
- [39:37]
Rosebud Baker
What, you come up with it? Yeah, we're all, like, alone with our computers. We type three to five pages of jokes a day, which is how many jokes? Damn. I don't know. I know. Three to five pages? Yeah.
- [39:51]
Mike Pesca
50.
- [39:52]
Rosebud Baker
I don't know because it's all headlines. So however many headlines you can fit.
- [39:55]
Mike Pesca
On a page, it's all font dependent. I understand.
- [39:59]
Rosebud Baker
And then we do. We just like, send those in and by the end of the week, we kind of go through, like, Che and Jost make their picks, and then we go through the jokes that were picked and we sort of tag each other's up. And then that's when it becomes more like collective, you know?
- [40:17]
Mike Pesca
Are they right? Are they always right about the ones they pick?
- [40:21]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, I would say, yeah, they're doing pretty good.
- [40:24]
Mike Pesca
No, I love the show, but sometimes they're not gonna pick a joke that you think was great, right?
- [40:29]
Rosebud Baker
No, I would say they do.
- [40:30]
Mike Pesca
They do.
- [40:31]
Rosebud Baker
Every time I see the jokes that they've picked, I'm like, that's great. That's good. If it's a week where I haven't gotten a lot on and I look at my jokes and I look at the ones that were picked, I was like, like, yeah. I'm always like, that's right.
- [40:44]
Mike Pesca
Are you writing. You definitely are writing jokes for their voice and their sensibility. And I don't just mean the jokes about the Michael Che jokes about how, whatever, he has women to his apartment and then kicks him out or the Colin Jost is a neo Nazi jokes, but you write for their voice generally?
- [40:58]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [40:59]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. So does that mean you might be coming up with excellent current events jokes that aren't good for snl, but because they're current events, you're not going to really put them in your set. They just kind of. They're excellent jokes, but they kind of go nowhere.
- [41:12]
Rosebud Baker
Yes.
- [41:12]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [41:12]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [41:13]
Mike Pesca
Is that frustrating?
- [41:14]
Rosebud Baker
No, it's only frustrating because I myself haven't done anything with them. Like, I'm like, oh, I could just, like, at the end of the week just record a bunch of jokes, like, straight to camera and like, you know, put subtitles under them and just put them out. But like, it. I just haven't done that and I. That's my fault.
- [41:36]
Mike Pesca
Do those jokes or versions thereof ever make it into your comedy? Your stand up?
- [41:41]
Rosebud Baker
Only if I'm, like, at a loss for material, which I have been. So. Yeah. Lately I've done like a few jokes, like standalone jokes here and there, but it's not how I. It's not what I do on stage. So when I do it, it feels like this isn't it. You know, I'm just kind of filling the time.
- [41:59]
Mike Pesca
In fact, I saw on Instagram or one of these social medias, you did a joke about Hitler that's recently up and you even apologize. It's a good joke. You're like, yeah, these are just stupid jokes. But are you apologizing it for that reason? Just explained to me.
- [42:12]
Rosebud Baker
Elon Musk.
- [42:13]
Mike Pesca
Yes.
- [42:13]
Rosebud Baker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did I apologize?
- [42:17]
Mike Pesca
Well, you're like, these are just stupid jokes. I don't even know what the hell's going on here.
- [42:20]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was definitely a set where I was like, I don't have anything.
- [42:24]
Mike Pesca
But that joke, was that like an update joke that kind of went nowhere or didn't go on Update?
- [42:28]
Rosebud Baker
It wasn't. It was a joke that I wrote at Update that I decided not to submit because I was like, this doesn't have the. It doesn't have the punch that it needs to land for like a live studio audience. Like, there are certain jokes that you can feel the club on.
- [42:46]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [42:47]
Rosebud Baker
Like, that's great.
- [42:49]
Mike Pesca
And like low simmer jokes.
- [42:51]
Rosebud Baker
Just more like there's jokes that are more like conversational than presentational. And that was one of those jokes.
- [43:03]
Mike Pesca
That land with a boom. Are update jokes.
- [43:06]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [43:07]
Mike Pesca
Jokes that establish you as a Persona or you're talking some ideas and they could fit in there that maybe is more.
- [43:14]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Where it's like, it doesn't even feel like a finished joke. And it felt like this is something that I could work out on stage that could. That could go somewhere interesting, you know? But most joke jokes, those are update jokes.
- [43:31]
Mike Pesca
Like if, if your job wasn't on update, let's say you were writing on not even a late night show that forced you or required you to be up on the news and riffing on headlines. Would you be as engaged as you are, do you think, with the news, with current events?
- [43:45]
Rosebud Baker
I think so, yeah. Okay. I've always kind of been a politics junkie. I've kind of like, I'm just into the power play of it the way that they are. It's very, you know, the longer I'm in the industry, the more I'm like, oh, this is the same shit just for better looking people.
- [44:03]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [44:04]
Rosebud Baker
Like we're doing the same thing where it's like we talk shit about each other publicly and then we're like friends behind closed doors. And it's like, this is politics. We're doing the same thing that politicians do, you know?
- [44:18]
Mike Pesca
Well, not to bring it back to James Baker, but he would have a brutal campaign against Michael Dukakis, and then the next day, he'd have dinner with the. With Tip o' Neill or everyone who was a Democrat say, okay, how to get things done.
- [44:29]
Rosebud Baker
Right.
- [44:30]
Mike Pesca
So what, you're just saying talking shit publicly, but getting things done behind closed doors. I think that was more of your grandfather's era than today. Would that there were more of that today.
- [44:38]
Rosebud Baker
It would be a lot better, I think. I don't know. I think about it and I'm like, you know, I watched that whole thing with Zelinsky and last week, and then I watched Zelinsky go on Fox News and be like, I think this relationship can be repaired. And I was like, what? Well, what happened? You know what I mean? What calls were made in between that and this?
- [45:00]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [45:00]
Rosebud Baker
What's going on?
- [45:01]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [45:03]
Rosebud Baker
So I'm like, is it that different than it was? Well.
- [45:07]
Mike Pesca
Cause we're all human beings. Right. And we're just interacting as we do as a species.
- [45:12]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. And we've got, like, a wrestling era president. We got a WWE president. So it might even be worse now than it was, you know, not. I would just say, like, I don't doubt that that is still happening.
- [45:28]
Mike Pesca
Yes. The headline on the article I wrote about that was diplomacy as WrestleMania. That's exactly what was going on.
- [45:33]
Rosebud Baker
Ye.
- [45:34]
Mike Pesca
Kind of crazy. Yeah. If you will allow me to opine. It was kind of crazy.
- [45:38]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [45:38]
Mike Pesca
Yes. So I want to ask you about. You're described as a dark comic. You have a dark sensibility. This is true. We've played some of your jokes. We get that you're not sentimental. Another good example is you talked. You mentioned your sister, who's a nurse, and you do the thing where you get a little. You mentioned the nurses as heroes, and then you say.
- [46:04]
Rosebud Baker
I don't remember.
- [46:05]
Mike Pesca
You say, just ask them. They'll tell you.
- [46:06]
Rosebud Baker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [46:08]
Mike Pesca
So, like, you undercut that. And you're probably the only one giving shit to nurses currently right now.
- [46:13]
Rosebud Baker
I don't think so. I mean, no anti nursing. I don't think so. I feel like this was. I think. Well, this was during COVID era. Yes. I think there was a lot of that. I think in the comedy world, you know, where it's like. Like you saw everybody getting. It's just. It's a comic instinct to see everybody Getting on their roof and sort of like banging toys around and whatever and being like, this isn't doing anything. You know, there's like. There's just this part of you that's not really a joiner. And, yeah, you just gotta come at it from. Whatever your reaction to it is.
- [46:56]
Mike Pesca
And so are you naturally dark, or do you have to lean into that for comedy, for presentation?
- [47:04]
Rosebud Baker
I think I'm naturally as dark as you.
- [47:06]
Mike Pesca
Maybe show up on stage.
- [47:08]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [47:09]
Mike Pesca
Okay, good.
- [47:09]
Rosebud Baker
Maybe worse.
- [47:11]
Mike Pesca
So you have to pull it back.
- [47:13]
Rosebud Baker
Well, I have to make it palatable, you know, I mean, the things that I find funny, I would never like the way that things get, you know, when I first start out with a joke and I get on stage with it, generally speaking, I feel like I've just taken comedy out of the room. Like, I feel like I've taken comedy from them. And then. And then, yeah, I'm like, I think I just bummed everyone out.
- [47:40]
Mike Pesca
And then you're holding it and everyone's tense.
- [47:43]
Rosebud Baker
And then I, over time, start to get laughs with it because I go, what would make this funny to a regular person who has, like, a pretty nice disposition and is walking through the world feeling pretty good about things, you know? Right. So I kind of have to go at it from that angle. It's. I don't. Somebody said to me that this version, that this last special was not as dark as.
- [48:15]
Mike Pesca
Well, I think, because there's so much motherhood and love. I mean, there's riffs on love. But you probably mentioned how much you love your daughter, like, six times.
- [48:22]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah.
- [48:22]
Mike Pesca
And your husband once or twice.
- [48:24]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was, like, a real effort for me to try to go, okay, what's good? You know, like, what are the good things? And what's funny about that? How do you find the funny in something good? That was, like, a real challenge for me. And comedically speaking, and on a writing level, it was just really tough.
- [48:46]
Mike Pesca
Do you think your darkness helps stave off depression or is conducive to depression?
- [48:53]
Rosebud Baker
No, I think that therapy staves off depression, and comedy pays for therapy.
- [49:00]
Mike Pesca
Okay, so it's this nice cycle. It's a flywheel.
- [49:03]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Yeah.
- [49:04]
Mike Pesca
But is the darkness adaptive or does it suck you down?
- [49:08]
Rosebud Baker
What do you mean?
- [49:09]
Mike Pesca
Well, sometimes you could have darkness as armor, and you have this dark way of viewing the world, and something maybe terrible happens. You're like, well, I expect that I'm a dark person. Maybe I could make a joke about that. Another way to look at it is if you have an outlook. I keep saying the word dark, but that's looking at things pessimistically. It's not gonna good for one's natural psyche.
- [49:31]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. So what's the question?
- [49:34]
Mike Pesca
There are good questions about what the question is. So, no, my original question was, when you think about your outlook, is it adaptive or maladaptive?
- [49:45]
Rosebud Baker
I would say anything that is maladaptive begins as an adaptive thing.
- [49:52]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, probably.
- [49:53]
Rosebud Baker
So something, you know, like, when I first started drinking, it was something like the greatest thing ever, because it was like, oh, this is the thing that I've been looking for my whole life. That makes me feel normal and that makes me feel good. And then eventually, at some point, alcohol turned on me and I was like, oh, this isn't working the way it once did, and eventually had to quit drinking. So, you know, does my perspective. Is my perspective like my darker perspective? Maladaptive? I would say it was adaptive to begin with. It's worked out for me in a nice way. Like, I found a way to make money from it. But, you know, that is. It's an interesting question because I've been asking myself that going into, like, a new hour. What is it that, you know, does this still feel true? Does this still ring true for me? And if it doesn't, what then? You know, and that's like, you know, a scary place to be, but also a really creative place to be in because I. I don't know what my next hour is going to be. And do. Do I still feel as like, you know, it's okay if something bad happens? Because that's what I expected. No, I do. I have a daughter now. So, like, you know what I mean? Like, it's. I'm not as comfortable in that place as I once was, but I'm still kind of figuring out what that means.
- [51:33]
Mike Pesca
So do you think most comedians. I don't know. You don't have to answer. You didn't. You haven't done a study. But I've talked to comedians who have definitely have this, what's considered dark or twisted Persona. And they're actually the loveliest people. They just know how to kind of put their brain there for a second. I think maybe Jimmy Carr is like that. Right. I don't know if you know him that much. I don't know him that much, but he really actually seems like quite a lovely person doing a lot for the world. If you knew his real life, you'd be like, well, that undercuts the Persona.
- [51:59]
Rosebud Baker
Right.
- [52:00]
Mike Pesca
But then I know a lot of other people who Are more what you see is what you get. And in fact, they're trying to lighten things up because they are quite dark.
- [52:08]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [52:09]
Mike Pesca
And I wonder if, you know, comedians such as yourself have thought about that or think about. About what the best way to deal with the real life feelings are when you bring it on stage.
- [52:22]
Rosebud Baker
What the best way to deal with the real life feelings are when I bring it on stage. I don't really bring real life. At least I try not to bring real life feelings to the stage. Sometimes, though, it can be really funny when you do. I remember one of the best sets I've ever had was when I came from a dinner with my family. I'd gotten to a huge fight with them and I had, like, gotten up, stormed off and, like, went to a set, like, around the corner and had one of the best sets ever. I don't remember what I talked about. I just remember bitching about my family and it working out in a really great way and getting, like, a joke out of it. And so sometimes it can work out. It depends on how comfortable you are just being up there, like, from a really raw place, you know.
- [53:13]
Mike Pesca
Another amazing strength of yours. And I talked to Rachel Feinstein about this. She does this. Too obvious. Your language, the analogies, the.
- [53:21]
Rosebud Baker
Oh, Rachel's the best at that.
- [53:23]
Mike Pesca
She really is good. You're also very good. The frog in the shower. But there are just a great joke you had is. I don't know if this is exactly an analogy, but the precision of the words of having a child in New York City is like being gay in the 50s in New York City. Because. And you have to really nail the because. And do you want to say it?
- [53:46]
Rosebud Baker
I mean, because you gotta. You gotta hang out with people like you, and you gotta meet them in the park.
- [53:51]
Mike Pesca
Yeah, you gotta meet them in the park.
- [53:53]
Rosebud Baker
Right.
- [53:54]
Mike Pesca
So did that come to you all at once or what was the iteration.
- [53:58]
Rosebud Baker
Of that idea that came from being in a playground, being at a playground with a bunch of moms that I felt like I don't belong here? And then I went to go to the club that night and I was like. And I feel like I don't belong here either. But, like, the people that I do belong with are, like, comedy parents. Like, I'm like, okay, I can talk to other comics who are parents, but that's such a specific niche thing. And anytime we hang out, it has to be like, in a park outside. And then I just. It just came to me like that, you know?
- [54:37]
Mike Pesca
So I wrote this down. Do you think your superpower, let's call it that, is that you have this worldview that we've been calling dark, and so you're going to think of things that other people won't think about. Or is it that when you do think of these things, they are very well formed comedically? Is it the phrasing that is special about you, or does that take the work or is it just the weird thoughts that others won't have that separates you from the average person or the.
- [55:09]
Rosebud Baker
Average person Answering that question for you just makes me look like an asshole. Like, if I said superpower, if I'm like, yeah, I just. I can't. But also I. I genuinely don't have the answer to that. And I don't think that it's a superpower. I think. I think it's that I'm unemployable in every other sense of the word and that this was just something that I was able to figure out, thank God. And I saw he was trans and I turned him down. But. And I know it sounds like I turned him down because he was trans. That's not it. I turned him down because I'm looking for a man I can change. There's just not a lot left to do there, folks. I'm looking for, like a fucked up fixer upper. This is. This is like buying a house that's already been flipped. I can't. Can't take credit for that work to do with myself.
- [56:12]
Mike Pesca
Look, that's self effacing. It's probably all true, but it's also true. I believe that it's true. But there's a reason why you're an excellent comic, and there's a bunch of reasons, and you accrue this skill over a lifetime. But one thing you do is you think of things that other people haven't thought of. And that's a little surprising, right? Comedy is a surprise, but the way you present them is also, as I talked about in the phrasing of that joke, kind of expertly presented. And so does that. Does the joke itself, the final joke, come to you fully formed a lot of the time?
- [56:49]
Rosebud Baker
No. Like, I would say that when I in Whiskey Fist, it was more like that because I was like sitting down with a piece of paper and writing the joke and rewording it and being really careful about how I did it. And I really did my homework on that special. And I feel like when I watch it, I can see the homework in a good way.
- [57:12]
Mike Pesca
In a way, you're Proud of in.
- [57:14]
Rosebud Baker
A way that I was proud of. I. I won't say that I'm like, it bugs me now when I watch it just because I'm like. It feels like someone trying to gain the respect of, like, comics that have nothing in common with me. Like, I was trying to gain the respect of like, middle aged men, you know, and because that's like, who I watched, you know, and trying to gain the respect of comics that were also trying to gain the respect of middle aged men. Even the ones that were like me were. It was just like the time that we were coming up in was following a time of like, mostly men in comedy. And so that was who we looked up to. Now when I. I watch like, you know, the mother load, I go, okay, this felt like it was me. And I remember watching Whiskey Fist and going, the next time I do a special, I wanna. I wanna talk, like, how I talk. I want it to be joke heavy. Cause I've always been, I've always valued jokes, but I want it to feel like you're having a conversation with me and I wanna feel like I don't see the muscle behind it as much. And I think I achieved that.
- [58:39]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [58:41]
Rosebud Baker
But it really came about in a different way. It came about over, like, really giving myself a lot of time between specials. It was five years. And giving myself a lot of experience to talk about and really narrowing in on that one experience that was so personal that I had to. There was no other choice but to talk about it from, like, where I stood.
- [59:08]
Mike Pesca
When you say the way you wanted Motherlode to sound like you sound. The way you talk. Can you think of a thing you said in Motherlode? Not just the theme of it, but the way you said it that you wouldn't have said in Whiskey Fist. Not just about it being a mother.
- [59:24]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. Like the way that all my friends started talking to me after I had a baby, like, the way that bugged me, the way that people were like, hey, mama. Like, that made me go insane. And I remember being like, why does that make me so mad? And just being like. Because it. It feels like they're talking to me like I just got in a car crash or something, you know? And like, that's not the way you talk to people after something good happens, you know? So. So that. That felt like it wasn't necessarily like a joke joke where you have like a perfect setup and a punchline and it's clever. But it felt like this was a real experience where I had the baby. Everybody came in they were like, hey, mama. And then it was just my genuine reaction to it, which was like, it made me want to fucking grab a pillow and end it. You know, just. And that was. That's how I talk.
- [60:24]
Mike Pesca
Oh, See, I totally. I totally get this. I was thinking of. At first, I was thinking of. It's like the band and their first album comes out, and they grew up listening to some other influences. And you could hear the influences, and they're super proud of it. Like, we took whatever. Springsteen and Dylan, and we did it one step better. And then after a couple albums, like, we wanna do what we wanna do. We wanna. Like, we still have that. It's still in the DNA. But we want to present something where you don't think of, you know, our forebearers when you.
- [60:54]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [60:54]
Mike Pesca
And the other thing I was thinking of, Alec, Alex Edelman was here, and he said, you know, there are a bunch of different people you could write for. You could write for yourself. You could write for the audience, you could write for critics, you could write for posterity. And he's like, I'm trying to write for all four. And I think if there's that pie graph, and maybe with Alex's, it's equally divided. Whiskey Fists, the pie graph would reflect more. You're writing for something like the critics and your peers. And now this one, you're writing for yourself.
- [61:21]
Rosebud Baker
My peers than anything.
- [61:23]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [61:23]
Rosebud Baker
That was what Wiskefist felt like. It was. It was like, myself.
- [61:28]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [61:29]
Rosebud Baker
And my peers.
- [61:31]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. Yeah.
- [61:31]
Rosebud Baker
You know, or.
- [61:32]
Mike Pesca
And this one is yourself. And of course, the audience. Always the audience.
- [61:35]
Rosebud Baker
I was writing for myself, and I was writing for my. Like I would say, more so than anything, my. Myself before I had kids. I was trying to write for myself before I had kids. A child, free person.
- [61:52]
Mike Pesca
Yeah.
- [61:52]
Rosebud Baker
Who is torturing themselves with the question of whether or not they want kids. And I wanted to write something that, like, if. If she had something to watch, it would help clarify or at least make me feel less insane.
- [62:12]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. You know, so this will be something that. Who knows? I don't know. If you watch your stuff in retrospect, I'm sure in the editing room you're making choices, but you could, in 10 years, look back at it and say, that's not just a collection of jokes or My worldview. It's kind of a memoir of your life at that moment.
- [62:27]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah.
- [62:27]
Mike Pesca
So it has. It would have value in that regard.
- [62:29]
Rosebud Baker
Yes. I wanted to make sure that. Yeah. It's a special. It's just jokes. Right. It doesn't end with me crying. It doesn't end with some sort of emotional big thing that would cut against.
- [62:43]
Mike Pesca
The Persona a little.
- [62:43]
Rosebud Baker
But it does have an arc and it tells one story.
- [62:48]
Mike Pesca
Right.
- [62:48]
Rosebud Baker
And that's. That was really important to me. I was like, I want this to feel as close to a one woman show as it can without sacrificing it being categorized as an hour comedy special.
- [63:04]
Mike Pesca
Interesting. I just want to go back and ask you one question about Whiskey Fist, which I really loved. I'm not going to feel guilty about loving it.
- [63:10]
Rosebud Baker
Don't feel guilty about loving it. Listen, I don't hate it.
- [63:13]
Mike Pesca
Well, do you resent it? Do you? Did you do it? I would think maybe for the career arc. It's like I have to do this to establish myself as the kind of person who could do it. And then once I have the credibility of having nailed that, I could do other things.
- [63:29]
Rosebud Baker
I wasn't thinking that far ahead, but I did. I just wanted to make sure that, like, when people saw it, they go, oh, she's a writer. Like, she's a joke writer. And. And I did that, you know, like, when I watch it, I go, yeah, I was writing jokes. They were. And I think to feel like I belonged as, like a comic, that was important. I wanted to make sure that I had some credibility as a joke writer. And so, yeah, I think I did that, you know, and when I watch it, I go, I did the job I set out to do on an. I think from a creative level, I watch it and I go, like, that's somebody that, like, she knows how to write a joke. She just doesn't quite know who she is on stage yet. And I've been told for years that, like, you don't really find your voice for, like 10 years, you know, and I was just under 10 years when I did Wiskey Fist in comedy. And, you know, I think I'm at like, I don't know, like, 12 years or something now. Damn, I don't even know. When did I start? 2013. 2012 or 2013. Anyway.
- [64:47]
Mike Pesca
So you're 12 or 13 years in and you're 12 or 13 years sober, is that right?
- [64:52]
Rosebud Baker
No, I'm so I've been sober for like 16 years now.
- [64:56]
Mike Pesca
Oh, okay.
- [64:57]
Rosebud Baker
Okay. So.
- [64:58]
Mike Pesca
So the first three must have been wild.
- [65:00]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah. God, I don't even know. When did I get sober? I got sober in 2007, so that's.
- [65:11]
Mike Pesca
About 18 years, right?
- [65:11]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, yeah. Damn.
- [65:12]
Mike Pesca
Hey, congratulations.
- [65:13]
Rosebud Baker
Thanks. Damn, that makes me feel old. But anyway, so I basically I look at it now and I go like, oh, I, I. It's funny to look at yourself and go, you can see the progression. Ultimately, that's what I would want. I would want something where you can see I've gotten better. Of course.
- [65:36]
Mike Pesca
Yeah. And, and better and truer to yourself. Yeah, yeah. Like, better. Could have been the Whiskey Fists era, Rose Bud, just writing sharper jokes. Right. That could be better, but it's better and different.
- [65:48]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, right? Yeah. I would want to see, like, some kind of growth. And ultimately I look at the two and I go, I could see it. So it's not like I look at Whiskey Fist and I'm like, I'll wipe it off the Internet. I, that's not how I feel it all. I just, I just, I look at it the same way that, you know, you look at a picture of yourself as a kid when you're a teenager, and you, you see those pictures of yourself and you go like, oh, God. You know, and that's how I feel when I see Whiskey Fist.
- [66:20]
Mike Pesca
Well, that special is great. The new special is great. Congratulations on that. Congratulations on your apparently giant dog daughter.
- [66:26]
Rosebud Baker
Yeah, she's huge.
- [66:27]
Mike Pesca
Giantess.
- [66:28]
Rosebud Baker
She's about as big as you. She's really. She's taller than me.
- [66:31]
Mike Pesca
Balding.
- [66:32]
Rosebud Baker
She's still kind of bald. She's getting some hair now.
- [66:34]
Mike Pesca
She's not balding. She's unbought. It's the ing that's the difference.
- [66:37]
Rosebud Baker
Right? Yeah.
- [66:38]
Mike Pesca
Rosebud Baker, thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you.
- [66:47]
Rosebud Baker
And that's it for today's show.
- [66:48]
Mike Pesca
Cory Wara produces the Gist.
- [66:50]
Rosebud Baker
Astrid Green does our socials cast. Kathleen Sykes, she's the editor of the Gist list. Ashley Khan is the production coordinator for the Gist. Michelle Pesca does all that she sees. She sits over that and calls the shots and moves the chess pieces. Leo Baums, our intern, he's very good with coming up with databases, data's base improve. Thanks for listening.
- [67:21]
Mike Pesca
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