Hannah Einbinder: comedian, writer, actor, and most notably; former cheerleader. The hilarious and multi-talented Hacks star has just premiered her first ever comedy special! Everything Must Go is available for streaming now on Max!
Einbinder joined GLAAD’s Allison Bloom for a conversation about the special, working on Hacks, and advice for other comedians.
After years of hard work, putting together this special that is finally available to the world, Einbinder says, “I feel every emotion under the sun about it. It feels like my birth, it also feels like my death.” She explains that, “It feels like these two sort of diametrically opposed experiences happening at once. I feel really proud and really relieved to have it out and to be able to creatively pivot and start making new something new.”
Einbinder didn’t only write and perform for the special, “I colored it, I did the sound mix. I was in the post production process six days a week to turn around the special in about a month,” she explains. While she had already seen the project countless times throughout this process, she shares that having the opportunity to premiere it at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York was an extra special experience. “Seeing it with a crowd on a big screen was so, so cool.”
In the hilarious, hour long special, Einbinder jokes about her experience as a woman in the male dominated industry of stand-up comedy. She elaborates more on this by saying, “Comedy clubs can be really great places for comedians, but they also come with a lot of baggage that is really connected to patriarchy and fraternity.” She feels hopeful that the culture is shifting as more alternative subcultures emerge in the comedy space.
As a queer woman, Einbinder offers some advice to any non-cis-straight-white men, trying to break into the stand-up world. “Work relentlessly hard and try to be very unique.” She continues, “Stay true to your perspective and be so allergic to being like anyone else.”
Her advice for other comedians who base their comedy around degrading marginalized communities is simple; “Quit.”
Also in the special, Einbinder talks about coming from a family with a lot of queer people in it. “I have been so fortunate to have had permission to be myself and to have support from my family and to have siblings I can talk about my queer experience with,” she tells GLAAD. “It’s a real gift and I don’t take that for granted.”
Einbinder then chats a bit about her GLAAD Media Award winning series, Hacks. She talks about her love for her iconic co-star Jean Smart. “I think it’s very similar to our characters on the love level, not so much the fighting level,” she compares their real life relationship to their characters. “We don’t bicker like them, but we do laugh like them.”
Despite having an incredibly busy month, Einbinder always has time to celebrate Pride. And who better to celebrate with, than everyone’s favorite podcast hosts Las Culturistas! “I think Pride is year round, but I think the most fun event I’m going to go to is the Las Culturistas Culture Awards.”
Watch GLAAD’s 2021 interview with Einbinder here:
Be sure to check out Everything Must Go and Hacks, both streaming now on Max!