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Shes smiling, wincing, and out of breath as she welcomes the audience.
The effect is at once disarming and cozy.
She asks questions about home, belonging, and trauma without ever veering into darkness.
The comedian recently spoke about not always feeling hot, her love of dancehall, and discovering her superpowers.
There are some great jokes in your special about the perils of hotness.
Whats your relationship to hotness?
Do you identify as hot?I do!
I didnt always and thats whats even hotter about it!
Getting to feel hot isso nice.
Dancing makes me feel hot.
Dancehall is just so sexy and so, like, from your inner gut.
Its so powerful, and theres no words its just your body and you.
Is that accurate?The people-finding-me component comes in different waves.
It was a 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
I was performing at the Ice House comedy club in Pasadena in 2019.
In the video, you could see what was happening.
So I just decided to post it, and I got a bunch of followers from that.
So that was another wave.
And then there was the #DropChallenge.
People find me in different ways.
And then they go and do a deep dive, and they go, Oh my God.
Shes been doing stand-up for 13 years.
I like that the beats of you gaining a following are emergency, dancing, dancing.
When there was trauma, she would venture to shield it from me.
I think about the audience first when Im writing.
I see stand-up comedy as such a service industry.
I dont think comedians should ever use it as therapy.
So why am I not talking about that?
So it was about finding that happy medium.
Can we circle back to hotness?
Why didnt you always feel like you were hot?
And then what changed your mind?Why didnt I feel like I was hot?
I was so unsure about myself for a lot of my life.
I was trying to be like someone else, sound like someone else even in comedy.
I dont think its just an immigrant thing I think some people are so sure of themselves.
Some people know at 5 years old they want to be a stand-up comedian.
I think that made me feel not hot.
Also, seeing other people talk about their insecurities and the times they were unsure helped.
And because of that, I feel hot.
And I use lotion now, you know?
Lotion is the answer.
Definitely.Yeah, I could have said lotion.
Yeah, lets go there.
Does your grandma feel hot?I think she could feel hotter.
But then there are times when shes just so self-deprecating.
I have to be like, Get that out of your head!
Shes like, Oh, Im just an old woman.
They just see an older woman.
Im like, No, I swear.
Just you being out and about touches people!
So Im trying to be that cheerleader for her.
