Rosebud Baker: We're Raising Her Autistic

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Gist — “Rosebud Baker: We're Raising Her Autistic”

Host: Mike Pesca
Guest: Rosebud Baker, comedian and SNL writer
Date: January 2, 2026
Duration: ~1 hour

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Overview

In this episode of "The Gist," Mike Pesca sits down with Rosebud Baker, a stand-up comedian, SNL writer, and granddaughter of James Baker, to explore the ideas, worldviews, and personal experiences that inform her comedy. The conversation ranges from the craft of stand-up to the pressures of motherhood, shifting political identities, the role of darkness in comedy, and the delicate line between personal truth and comedic license. The tone is sharp, self-aware, and full of banter — offering a mix of vulnerability, sarcasm, and insight into the comic mind.

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Main Themes & Discussion Points

1. The Craft of Comedy & Point of View

Key timestamp: [06:43]–[10:11]

• Pesca introduces Rosebud as a comic whose “point of view and exquisite joke writing and delivery is all intertwined.”
• Rosebud describes how her recent Netflix special, Motherlode, was conceived to reflect both the anticipation of pregnancy and the reality a year later. She used an organic, responsive writing process:

  “I have to kind of put the concept away... The material's not gonna work if I'm thinking from a directorial perspective.” ([08:51])

• She candidly admits that a lot of material ends up on the cutting room floor and isn’t precious about individual lines or bits.

2. Motherhood, Miscarriage, and Social Expectations

Timestamps: [07:34]–[16:49]

• Rosebud freely incorporates experiences like pregnancy loss and the stigma around breastfeeding into her set, finding humor even in dark or taboo topics:

  “Honestly, I think you could make miscarriage cards. You put a baby on the front, you open it up, it just goes, ‘psych.’” ([07:42])

• She defends her line:

  “Why wouldn’t you breastfeed? ...It’s because we’re raising her autistic. She’s formula-fed. She’s got all her vaccines. ...Don’t come for me when my kid lays your kid out in the fucking spelling bee.” ([10:31–11:12])

• Rosebud and Mike discuss how nearly every choice in parenting, especially for mothers, is politicized (“one of the most political experiences of my life” — [11:56]) and how pressure from medical staff and social norms can feel intrusive and competitive.
• Rosebud reveals that jokes are often a response to public scrutiny — not a social statement, but a kind of comic self-defense.

3. Vulnerability, Authenticity, and Lying in Comedy

Timestamps: [17:18]–[18:35]

• Rosebud is open about the divide between truth and comedic exaggeration:

  “The punch lines aren't true... They're like completely made up, funny things.” ([17:08])

• She notes she’s more likely than some comics to say the “exact inverse” of what she believes, for comedic effect, and isn’t beholden to total accuracy.

4. Comedy Partnerships & Marital Material

Timestamps: [18:36]–[25:11]

• Discusses mining her marriage to comedian Andy Haynes for jokes, especially his baldness (and hair transplant), affirming that mockery is mutual and professional:

  “He knows better than anyone that jokes are jokes. ...Men have been making fun of their wives on stage for millennia... I’m doing the same job.” ([21:11])

• Rosebud and Andy share jokes, tags, and ideas for stage, settling by default that the funnier line "belongs" to whoever lands it in conversation.
• On handling real arguments and material:

  “It’s usually like the retelling of the fight afterwards is when we find out who get[s] the bit.” ([25:05])

5. The Evolving Political Landscape (Baker Family & Beyond)

Timestamps: [29:04]–[33:40]

• Pesca acknowledges Rosebud’s legacy as James Baker’s granddaughter, detailing his Republican credentials.
• Rosebud notes the vast shift in what “Republican” means today:

  “The kind of Republican my granddad was... the people who are in the White House now... would call him like a gay liberal.” ([29:53])

• She’s careful to distinguish between past and present party identities in her material:

  “I think I have to say MAGA Republican... Otherwise... you're talking about two different kinds.” ([30:44])

• Rosebud declines to use her platform to meaningfully “contextualize” her grandfather’s legacy:

  “As a comic, I’ve just done my job, which is just to tell jokes. ...That’s not my job.” ([33:03])

6. Current Events, News, and Joke Writing for SNL

Timestamps: [34:21]–[44:17]

• Rosebud is a lead writer for SNL’s Weekend Update, where daily joke generation is solitary and headline-driven.

  “We type three to five pages of jokes a day... Then they get picked and we tag each other’s up. That’s when it becomes more collective.” ([40:24–41:02])

• Not all great jokes fit, and many excellent current events jokes go unused — some migrate to her standup only in a pinch.
• She insists reading the news (in print) is crucial both for work and general awareness, but also discusses headline sensationalism:

  “The headline itself is so insane... then you read the story and go, oh, okay.” ([36:11])

• Psychological toll of political/news satire is acknowledged, but she sees it as her duty to find the “angle that’s not obvious.”

7. Comic Darkness & Adaptation

Timestamps: [46:24]–[52:20]

• Rosebud’s “dark” persona is explored — she’s often called a dark comic, but says:

  “I think I’m naturally as dark as you [Pesca], maybe worse. ...I have to make it palatable.” ([47:52])

• The origins of comic darkness:

  “I would say anything that is maladaptive begins as an adaptive thing.” ([50:31])

• She views therapy as the true antidote to depression; comedy is just the means to afford it.

8. Language, Analogy, & Comic Superpowers

Timestamps: [54:08]–[57:59]

• Commended by Pesca for her sharp use of analogy and phrasing, e.g.:

  “Having a child in New York City is like being gay in the 50s... You gotta hang out with people like you and you gotta meet them in the park.” ([54:33])

• On craft:

  “In Whiskey Fist, ...I was writing the joke and rewording it and being really careful... I did my homework. ...But now... I want it to feel like you’re having a conversation with me... I don’t see the muscle behind it as much.” ([57:35])

9. Evolution as a Comic: Growth from "Whiskey Fist" to "Motherlode"

Timestamps: [59:54]–[67:06]

• Rosebud contrasts her early and recent specials — initially writing to impress peers ("middle-aged men") and now writing for herself:

  “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.” ([63:15]) “I was writing for myself, and I was writing for my...self before I had kids. ...I wanted to write something that... would help clarify or at least make me feel less insane.” ([62:22])

• She hopes her specials serve as a kind of personal memoir — capturing a moment in life, not just a batch of jokes.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I have to kind of put the concept away... The material's not gonna work if I'm thinking from a directorial perspective.” — Rosebud Baker ([08:51])
• “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.” — Rosebud Baker ([11:56])
• “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.” — Rosebud Baker ([21:11])
• “The kind of Republican my granddad was is like... the people who are in the White House now, they would call him like a gay liberal...” — Rosebud Baker ([29:53])
• “Comedy pays for therapy.” — Rosebud Baker ([49:46])
• “I would say anything that is maladaptive begins as an adaptive thing.” — Rosebud Baker, on comic darkness ([50:31])
• “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.” — Rosebud Baker ([63:15])

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Key Timestamps Guide

• [06:43] Start of Rosebud interview (point of view in comedy)
• [07:34] On “Motherlode”, miscarriage taboo, and breastfeeding pressure
• [11:56] Politics of motherhood
• [17:18] On truth, lying, and hyperbole in comedy
• [18:36] Joking about her husband and relationship dynamics
• [29:04] On her grandfather James Baker + the shifting Republican identity
• [34:21] News, SNL writing process, and headline humor
• [46:24] Rosebud’s “dark” sensibility and its roots
• [54:08] Analogies, unique phrasing, and comic voice
• [59:54] Evolution from “Whiskey Fist” to “Motherlode”

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Conclusion

This episode offers a nuanced, funny, and revealing look into both the public and private life of Rosebud Baker — illustrating how her comedy is shaped less by ideology than by experience, craft, and (often hard-won) humor about life’s most challenging circumstances. The discussion is rich with insight about the pressures on comics, mothers, and women in public life, always filtered through a sharp, self-deprecating, and unflinchingly honest lens.

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For listeners seeking:

• Insight into the comic craft and mindset
• Honest talk about motherhood, loss, and societal expectations
• The intersection of family, politics, and comedy
• What it means to "find your voice" as a comedian

This episode will resonate powerfully — equal parts laughter, candor, and food for thought.

Transcript

[Mike Pesca]

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[Mike Pesca]

It's Friday, January 2, 2026. From Peach Fish Product Friends, it's the Gist. I'm Mike Pesca. Wow, it's hard to say January 26th, isn't it? Not just because you think it's the 25th, but there's something about the second 26th. It's a little sibilant. I'll have to get on that. So I bring you another in the funny, interesting, fascinating guests I've had on Funny you should mention over the years. And she is Rosebud Baker. She is an SNL writer. She has done a couple specials. She's a mom. She talks about that. Her husband's also a comedian. He talks about being a dad. I feel if you triangulate their sets, you could learn a lot about Little Boy Baker, little Girl Baker. She's actually not a little girl. Part of her, part of Rosebud's routine is how gigantic her daughter is. She is also the granddaughter of James Baker, who is Secretary of State and treasury and one of the most important people in ending the Cold War, let's say. And I was very excited to talk to Rosebud Baker about James Baker and she was less excited for me to talk to her about her grandfather, who I'm sure she loved. He's since passed away. He did. She did love. She says that, but, you know, doesn't share his politics. And that's not what she's accomplished. So more than fair, what I will say is that I did share with the biographer, one of the two biographers, co husband and wife team, a writer named Susan Glasser, who now is the New Yorker's, I think, Washington bureau chief and wrote the book on James Baker. Some of Rosebud Baker saying, oh, I didn't even know that my grandfather rubbed George Bush's feet as he was dying. That's a good friend. And Susan Glasser said that. Well, she appreciated me mentioning some Baker family lore, let us just say. And then we disagreed on whether Donald Trump deserves any credit for getting NATO countries to pay three and a half percent of of their budget to defense. It's weird. It's weird how conversations can go from feet rubbing to Saturday Night Live to does Trump get credit? And that you don't have to know any of that geopolitical stuff. You just have to know that Rose Bud Baker is extremely funny. And if you didn't know it now, you'll know it after you hear this interview. Funny, you should mention. Age catches up to you and that's okay. I'm getting definitely wiser. But you know, when I do a deep knee bend or even a mid knee bend, there are certain noises. The joints are stiff. Recovery takes longer. I'm always looking for products, ideas or products that are ideas to help me out. I didn't really think of collagen or collagen peptides until Bubs came along. Bubs Naturals Collagen peptides makes you look and feel a couple decades younger. So this could mean things like stronger joints, healthier nails. I will not mention healthier hair, but apparently for people other than people like me, you know, those who have hair, they could do the job, too. Smoother skin, definitely faster recovery. Put it into my coffee every morning. Swirl, swirl, swirl. Tasteless, odorless, instantly dissolving, does not clump. BUBS does not clump. And BUBS is built to the highest standards. No sugar or sweetener or filler. Third party tested, NSF certified for sport. It was named the best collagen of 2024 by health.com it won a collagen award. It took home the collie. So I would say it's something like the cleanest, most effective collagen peptide in the world according to the awards they won anyway. And they also sell electrolyte supplements and creamer and more. And all their products are as clean and third party tested as you could possibly want. Live better, longer. For a limited time only, our listeners are getting 20% off of Bubs naturals by using code just at checkout. Just to Bubsnaturals.com and use code gist and you're all set. After your purchase they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support the show and tell them that they just sent you.

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[Mike Pesca]

Hi, welcome to Funny youy 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 going to 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 Rose Bud Baker. Her pretty recent special is Motherlode. It's on Netflix. We'll get into that. Rosebud, welcome.

[Rosebud Baker]

Thanks for the intro.

[Mike Pesca]

You got it. Point of view is very strong.

[Rosebud Baker]

I have no, I have no criticisms for that.

[Mike Pesca]

No notes.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, it was very sweet. Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

So mother load 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.

[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. Whatever. 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.

[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?

[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.

[Ad Voice / Commercial Narrator]

Right.

[Rosebud Baker]

Because I was like, I don't. I don't have anything to respond to in this first. In this first hour other than just the experience of being pregnant.

[Mike Pesca]

It was all anticipatory.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then after that, 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 gonna work if I'm thinking from a directorial perspective.

[Mike Pesca]

Right. So you didn't want to give yourself an assignment, essentially, I already had an.

[Rosebud Baker]

Assignment, which is to be funny, 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Can you give me an example of that?

[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 floor.

[Mike Pesca]

Oh, so you forgot.

[Rosebud Baker]

You don't know what I mean.

[Mike Pesca]

We saw. I Don't know what you said.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've watched a million times, but I can't think of like, well.

[Mike Pesca]

That'S fine because I've seen you perform live and I've seen we talk about things that aren't even.

[Rosebud Baker]

I wish I had something.

[Mike Pesca]

Well, let me ask you about a joke, and maybe this falls into that category. One of my favorites is you didn't breastfeed because I'm raising her autistic. Yeah, yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

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? 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?

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And the only conclusion, I guess what you're saying if I don't breastfeed is I must be raising the kid autistic. So therefore, that's what I'm doing.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

So without a response to anything or.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

But so much of your comedy is.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

That position because that you're taking a stance. Everything you do is taking a stance. Not just raising your kid, but like, well, everybody to a movement about how to raise kids.

[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 got to. I got to 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 going to happen.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right.

[Mike Pesca]

Take the breastfeeding.

[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 going to be pumping and just gone to vape every, like, three hours, but I really just.

[Mike Pesca]

Well, you didn't say what you're pumping. You know, you're pumping that little device.

[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.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

It's crazy. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And so another great portion of your breastfeeding stuff was the nurse comes and they try to instruct you, and there's the whole thing. Oh, she's not latching. But she was latching. She was doing great.

[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 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 want to 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Is that the people from the leche league, do they still call themselves that?

[Rosebud Baker]

I don't know.

[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. And if you choose not to give it to your kid, just enter your joke. Autistic or worse. Probably, you know, incel. Mass murderer.

[Rosebud Baker]

Probably. Yeah, it didn't.

[Mike Pesca]

Girl. Self cutter.

[Rosebud Baker]

It certainly. It didn't feel quite like that, but it did feel like it did back off.

[Mike Pesca]

I think in the last, like 12 years, they backed off a little, hopefully.

[Rosebud Baker]

I mean, it felt like, you know, when I called my sister and she was like, they're. They get, like, points if you leave having breastfed. I was like, oh, that makes more sense.

[Mike Pesca]

Because your sister's a nurse.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

She knows how it works on the inside.

[Rosebud Baker]

She's like, there's. There. They do get, like, accreditation for whoever has the most people leave having breastfed.

[Mike Pesca]

And points equal money.

[Rosebud Baker]

I get.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, of course. 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 person.

[Rosebud Baker]

I didn't really look into it, you know?

[Mike Pesca]

You just knew you weren't breathing.

[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.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

You're not spreading misinfo.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. I'm like, if this one small thing is true.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

Then it's a premise.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

They're 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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, probably.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

It's okay. They gave me a warning.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

They were like, just, when you come in sometimes, just be prepared.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right.

[Mike Pesca]

But you'll make fun of him for it.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

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.

[Rosebud Baker]

I mean, he did get hair transplant surgery. So I did. It did work, you know, because I saw him work.

[Mike Pesca]

I didn't. I saw him. I'm like, okay, that's funny as a joke, but it's not that bald.

[Rosebud Baker]

But you're saying, no, he's not bald at all now. Right. Because he had the transplant surgery. So, Yeah, I mean, that one I really meant.

[Mike Pesca]

Do you think your cruel mockery on stage prompted him to get the surgery or your cruel mockery off stage?

[Rosebud Baker]

I would say hopefully, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah. That's why you do what you do.

[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, like, 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 feel like I looked at him, and in that moment, he made the decision to get hair transplants.

[Mike Pesca]

How could the joke not have included the dolphin ride?

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, I think it happened after.

[Mike Pesca]

It's just inherently.

[Rosebud Baker]

I think it happened after.

[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 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.

[Rosebud Baker]

It was like looking down the center of, like, that worm from Dune, you know, it was like. Just like a whole. There was hair all around, but it was just like.

[Mike Pesca]

Right when you stare at the abyss, it stares back. Exactly. I saw a clip where someone asked.

[Rosebud Baker]

About making fun of your husband.

[Ad Voice / Commercial Narrator]

Ever.

[Rosebud Baker]

Do you feel like you're cutting off? Who sent you? Do I feel bad about making 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 home, 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 face child. Absolutely not.

[Mike Pesca]

You. 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?

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, I don't. I don't remember what the question was.

[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.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

So him Taking it is a professional. Professional, but B, a feminist stance. Him to take the humor?

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, I think so.

[Mike Pesca]

Okay.

[Rosebud Baker]

On some level, because it's like he's doing the same thing. He's making fun of me on stage.

[Rachel Feinstein]

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.

[Mike Pesca]

I think. I think what it is, is I.

[Rachel Feinstein]

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? You'd be like, no, I'm not.

[Mike Pesca]

And the teacher would be like, yeah, he's pretty gay.

[Rachel Feinstein]

I loved art. I loved drama. I loved poetry. I couldn't do that. I had to weightlift while smoking a cigaret.

[Mike Pesca]

I was like, look how straight I am.

[Rachel Feinstein]

Kids don't have to do that anymore. They're woke. You call kid gay? He's like, yeah, maybe I am. Maybe that's part of my journey. And then he just starts coding right away.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, as long as we're not, 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.

[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?

[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?

[Mike Pesca]

Oh really?

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

So did this settle fights in your relationship? No, because 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.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yes.

[Rosebud Baker]

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.

[Mike Pesca]

It's nice to have that arrangement, that agreement, because it would be hard to work things out otherwise.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

But it's also natural, you know, as a comedian that that's who wins.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right. It's usually like the retelling of the fight afterwards is when we find out who get the bit.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know.

[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 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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, I think you can just tell. When it's two comics, you can tell who's got the better punchline.

[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 game.

[Rosebud Baker]

I would say that was true when I did Whiskey Fist.

[Mike Pesca]

Uh huh.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, now I think it's the opposite.

[Mike Pesca]

I think you're probably right. Like I see Elon Musk going, comedy is back. And like, oh, God, yeah. Not as you define it, sir.

[Rosebud Baker]

Legalize comedy or whatever.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

God, that was just the most cringe worthy thing I've ever seen. And it just made it like, it, it, it's like embarrassing to be a comic and to see that, you know, because 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

And which I would argue is when maybe it made more sense. But even then I remember seeing it and being like, ugh. You know? Cause 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Oh, okay.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know what I mean? And you're just telling fucking funnies.

[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 on to that idea that, you know, comedy is back or comedy is legal now.

[Rosebud Baker]

I think that more embarrassing than anything is Elon Musk like wielding a chainsaw and saying like, you know, legalized comedy. Like he has any fucking clue what he's talking about.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, it's like someone who never.

[Rosebud Baker]

What he's saying is legalize the N word. That's what he's saying.

[Mike Pesca]

Or whatever else you want to say.

[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?

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right?

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[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?

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess it's tough to be serious about a job that you don't understand.

[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 him rubbing his feet, essentially.

[Rosebud Baker]

I wouldn't say that.

[Mike Pesca]

Well, this is from the. Did you read the Peter Baker, what's her name, Susan Glasser book?

[Rosebud Baker]

I read half of it, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. Is that in there?

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, that's in there.

[Rosebud Baker]

He rubbed his feet.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, yeah, he was right there.

[Rosebud Baker]

He's a good friend.

[Mike Pesca]

It is a good. He is a good friend.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[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.

[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? Yeah, they like, don't. It's a different thing now.

[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 about 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?

[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, and the Same goes for the Democrat, the Democrats. It's a different party.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, than it was in before Clinton. You know, where it's like the Clinton. Clinton's 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Right.

[Rosebud Baker]

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.

[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, 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.

[Rosebud Baker]

No, no, not in a, not in like a simple joke form.

[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, that's cruel. I'm not giving my grandfather, my family, the do he's deserved.

[Rosebud Baker]

I would say that as a comic, I've just done my job, which is just to tell jokes.

[Mike Pesca]

Right.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

No.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

His story through you in the future.

[Rosebud Baker]

I don't, I don't think so.

[Mike Pesca]

Living legacy.

[Rosebud Baker]

If he heard that he would die today. I mean, that's not. He would be so upset. 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 going to tell the full story as a creative. It's the. There's no room for that because you, your job is to interpret.

[Mike Pesca]

Right. So, you know, are you news and current events oriented? I mean, I know you're. 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 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?

[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, 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, if you're not paying attention to what's going on, I, I don't know. I. It's the most interesting time.

[Mike Pesca]

It is interesting. So, like, like that Chinese curse, right? Or that supposed Chinese curse.

[Rosebud Baker]

What. What church?

[Mike Pesca]

Well, may you live in interesting times. Just the idea that that is a curse.

[Rosebud Baker]

Oh, yeah, yeah, 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Sometimes in the story you go, ah, yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, but I would say more often than not, these stories are written in a way that is a little, 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. So this could be bad.

[Mike Pesca]

If Trump defies a court order, we're gonna be in a world of shit.

[Rosebud Baker]

But the fact that it's like, it's.

[Mike Pesca]

Impending ain't good either.

[Rosebud Baker]

No, it's not good, but it's.

[Mike Pesca]

It's not.

[Rosebud Baker]

It's not time to panic.

[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?

[Rosebud Baker]

I have no idea. I have no idea.

[Mike Pesca]

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?

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah. They don't need you for that. They don't need the professional for that.

[Rosebud Baker]

You kind of have to go a couple times where 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, if a bunch of birds washed up on a beach in Long island. Right? From bird flu.

[Mike Pesca]

Dozens of dead birds believed to have died from avian flu have washed up on a Long island beach. But don't worry, RFK is almost done eating them.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Right.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

But now we're getting somewhere.

[Rosebud Baker]

It could just be. You know what I mean?

[Mike Pesca]

Yes, yes.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

And we'll be back in a minute with more of Rosebud Baker on Funny you should mention, No le desmas vueltas pune Rocio sera un superexito con shopify and Shopify punto es Barra.

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[Rosebud Baker]

Home.

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[Mike Pesca]

We're back with more funny you should mention, 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, up internally with the joke and this what, you.

[Rosebud Baker]

You come up with it?

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

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 have no three to five pages. Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

Fifty.

[Rosebud Baker]

I don't know. Because it's all headlines.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

So however many headlines you can fit.

[Mike Pesca]

On a page, it's all font dependent.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. And then we, 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Mm. You know, are they right? Are they always right about the ones they pick?

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, I would say, yeah. Yeah, they're doing pretty good.

[Mike Pesca]

No, I love the show, but sometimes they're not gonna pick a joke that you think was great. Great, right?

[Rosebud Baker]

No, I would say they do. 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, yeah, are you writing? I'm always like, that's right.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

Is that frustrating?

[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. 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Do those jokes or versions thereof ever make it into your comedy, your standup?

[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, well, this isn't it. You know, I'm just kind of filling the time.

[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, ah, these are just stupid jokes. But are you apologizing it for that reason you just explained to me?

[Rosebud Baker]

Elon Musk.

[Mike Pesca]

Yes.

[Rosebud Baker]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did I apologize?

[Mike Pesca]

Well, you're like, oh, these are just stupid jokes. I don't even know what the hell's going on here.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was definitely a set where I was like, I don't have any. Anything.

[Mike Pesca]

But that joke. Was that, like, an update joke that kind of went nowhere or didn't go on update.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, like, that's great.

[Rosebud Baker]

And.

[Mike Pesca]

And, like, low simmer jokes.

[Rosebud Baker]

Just more like. There's jokes that are more, like, conversational than presentational, and that was one of.

[Mike Pesca]

Those jokes that land with a boom. Are update jokes. Yeah, jokes that establish you as a Persona or you're talking some ideas and they could fit in there that maybe is more.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. Where it's like, it doesn't even feel like a finish. 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Like, 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?

[Rosebud Baker]

I think so. 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

Like, we're doing the same thing where it's like we talk shit about each other publicly and then. And 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?

[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 Tip o' Neill or everyone who was a Democrat, say, okay, how to get things done.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right.

[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.

[Ad Voice / Commercial Narrator]

Today.

[Mike Pesca]

Would that there were more of that today. It would be a lot better, I think.

[Rosebud Baker]

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?

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

What's going on?

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

So I'm like, is it that different than it was? Well.

[Mike Pesca]

Cause we're all human beings, right. And we're just interacting as we do as a species, Right?

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

Yes. The headline on the article I wrote about that was diplomacy as WrestleMania. That's exactly what was going on.

[Rosebud Baker]

Ye.

[Mike Pesca]

Kind of crazy. Yeah. If. If you will allow me to opine. It was kind of crazy.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

I don't remember.

[Mike Pesca]

You say, just ask them. They'll tell you.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

So you undercut that. And you're probably the only one giving shit to nurses currently right now.

[Rosebud Baker]

I don't think so. I know.

[Mike Pesca]

Anti nursing.

[Rosebud Baker]

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, 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 gotta. You just gotta come at it from. Whatever your reaction to it is.

[Mike Pesca]

And so are you naturally dark or do you have to lean into that for comedy, for presentation?

[Rosebud Baker]

I think I'm naturally as dark as you.

[Mike Pesca]

Maybe show up on stage.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

Okay, good.

[Rosebud Baker]

Maybe worse.

[Mike Pesca]

So you have to pull it back.

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

And then you're holding it and everyone's tense.

[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? So I kind of have to go at it from that angle. I don't. Somebody said to me that this version, that this last special was not as dark as.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And your husband once or twice.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was like a. 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Do you think your darkness helps stave off depression or is conducive to depression?

[Rosebud Baker]

No, I think that therapy staves off depression, and comedy pays for therapy.

[Mike Pesca]

Okay, so it's this nice cycle. It's a flywheel.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

But is the darkness adaptive, or does it suck you down?

[Rosebud Baker]

What do you mean?

[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 be good for one's natural psyche.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. So what's the question?

[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?

[Rosebud Baker]

I would say anything that is maladaptive begins as an adaptive thing.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, probably.

[Rosebud Baker]

So something, you know, like, when I first started drinking, it was like. 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 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 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.

[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, right? 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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And I wonder if, you know, comedians such as yourself have thought about that or think about why. What the best way to deal with the real life feelings are when you bring it on stage.

[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. But sometimes, though, it can be really funny when you do. You know, if 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, 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. It can work out. It depends on how comfortable you are just being up there, like from a really raw place, you know?

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Oh, Rachel's the best at that.

[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?

[Rosebud Baker]

I mean, because you gotta. You gotta hang out with people like you and you gotta meet them in the park.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, you gotta meet them in the park.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right.

[Mike Pesca]

So did that come to you all at once, or what was the iteration.

[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. And. 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.

[Mike Pesca]

You know, 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 average person?

[Rosebud Baker]

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.

[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?

[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.

[Mike Pesca]

In a way you're proud of.

[Rosebud Baker]

In 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 watch, like, you know, the Motherlode, 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 want to talk, like, how I talk. I want it to be joke heavy because 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 want to feel like I don't see the muscle behind it as much. And I think I achieved that.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[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. 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.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, like. Like the way that all My started talking to me after I had a baby. Like, the way that fucking 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. Cause 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.

[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 want to do what we want to do. We want to. 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 think of this.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

And the other thing I was thinking of, Alec, Alex Edelman was here, and he says, 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 it something like. Like, the critics and your peers. And now this one, you're writing for yourself.

[Rosebud Baker]

More my peers than anything.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

That was what Wiskefist felt like. It was. It was like, myself.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

And my peers.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

You know, or.

[Mike Pesca]

And this one is yourself. And of course, the audience. Always the audience.

[Rosebud Baker]

I was writing for myself, and I was writing for my. Like, I would say more so than anything myself. Before I had kids. I was trying to write for myself. Before I had kids. A child, free person who is torturing themselves with the question of whether or not they want kids. And I wanted to write something that, like, if she had something to watch, it would help clarify or at least make. Make me feel less insane.

[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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

So it has. It would have value in that regard.

[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 the Persona a little, but it does have an arc and it tells one story. Right. And 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Interesting. I just want to go back and ask you one question about Whiskey Fist, which I really loved. I'm not gonna feel guilty about loving it.

[Rosebud Baker]

Don't feel guilty about loving it. Listen, I don't hate it.

[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.

[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. 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 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. 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 Fists 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Anyway, so you're 12 or 13 years in.

[Rosebud Baker]

In.

[Mike Pesca]

And you're 12 or 13 years sober, is that right?

[Rosebud Baker]

No, I'm. So. I've been sober for, like, 16 years.

[Mike Pesca]

Oh, okay.

[Rosebud Baker]

Okay. So.

[Mike Pesca]

So the first three must have been wild.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah. God, I don't even know. When did I get sober? I got sober in 2007, so that's about 18 years. Yeah. Damn.

[Mike Pesca]

Hey, congratulations.

[Rosebud Baker]

Thanks. Yeah. Damn, that makes me feel fucking old. But anyway, so I basically. I look at it now and I go, like, oh, 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 that I've gotten better. Of course.

[Mike Pesca]

Yeah.

[Rosebud Baker]

And.

[Mike Pesca]

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.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, right. Yeah. I would want to see, like, some kind of growth. And ultimately, I. 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, oh, wipe it off the Internet. I. That's not how I feel at 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.

[Mike Pesca]

Well, that special is great. The new special is great. Congratulations on that. Congratulations on your apparently giant daughter.

[Rosebud Baker]

Yeah, she's huge.

[Mike Pesca]

Giantess.

[Rosebud Baker]

She's about as big as you. She's really. She's taller than me.

[Mike Pesca]

Balding.

[Rosebud Baker]

She's still kind of bald. Oh, man, she's getting some hair now.

[Mike Pesca]

She's not balding. She's unbought. It's the ing that's the difference.

[Rosebud Baker]

Right? Yeah.

[Mike Pesca]

Rose, but Baker, thanks so much.

[Rosebud Baker]

Thank you.

[Mike Pesca]

Thank you. The Gist is produced by Corey Wara. We had help today from Leah Yan. Kathleen Sykes helps me with the Gist list. Jeff Craig does so much with the video and the social media and the visual. He's a master of the visual in this, a primarily audio form. Michelle Pesca also works with the visuals, but is mostly the visionary improve. Do Peru. And thanks for listening.

[Chris Gethard]

Hi, I'm Chris Gethard and I'm very excited to tell you about Beautiful Anonymous, a podcast where I talk to random people on the phone. I tweet out a phone number number thousands of people try to call. You talk to one of them. They stay anonymous. I can't hang up. That's all the rules. I never know what's gonna happen. We get serious ones. I've talked with meth dealers on their way to prison. I've talked to people who survived mass shootings. Crazy funny ones. I talked to a guy with a goose laugh. Somebody who dresses up as a pirate on the weekends. I never know what's gonna happen. It's a great show. Subscribe today. Beautiful Anonymous.

[Rosebud Baker]

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[Rosebud Baker]

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[Mike Pesca]

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[Rosebud Baker]

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