‘My Relationship With The Art Form Changed Forever’: Esther Povitsky On Comedy Central Stand-Up Special ‘Hot For My Name’
(CBS Local)– Esther Povitsky is someone many across the country are familiar with, but the actor and comedian will become a household name after people check out her new Comedy Central stand-up special called “Esther Povitsky: Hot For My Name.” This is the comedian’s debut special and it was executive-produced by Adam Sandler’s production company Happy Madison.
The special is streaming for free right now and features Povitsky riffing about her parents, why she’s blocked on Facebook by her ex-boyfriend’s wife and why she likens herself to a piece of pizza during sexual encounters. There is a little something for everyone in this special and Povitsky is excited for people to check it out.
“I had so many names for my special, but that one felt self-deprecating with a little bit of confidence,” said Povitsky in an interview with CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “It kind of embodies who I am. It was a different experience to actually put in serious effort into my stand-up because previously, I had been pretty lackadaisical with it. My relationship was more stroll on stage, how do you feel that day. Maybe you run by a couple of new bits or maybe you do some old ones. Having to have this end goal in mind of this filmed, expensive comedy special where a network is spending a lot to make this happen, there was a certain amount of pressure.”
FULL INTERVIEW:
Povitsky says this comedy special changed her relationship with the art form forever. In addition to her stand-up work, the Illinois native has been on shows like Hulu’s “Dollface,” and “Alone Together,” which she starred in and executive produced. Prior to filming her special, Povitsky did a major tour in order to work out all the material she built out for her act.
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“The pressure is really what makes you work. The fear and the embarrassment,” said Povitsky. “By the time you’re taping it, it is what it is. In terms of going out there and having certain material not land, that doesn’t really scare me. I think what scares me is feeling unprepared. Jokes don’t work, that’s par for the course. You have to be prepared that not everything you say will be funny or you’ll get your heart broken too many times. When jokes bomb, that separates someone who is new from someone who is a pro. A pro can handle things not going well and keep going. That was definitely a skill that I learned early on.”
While Povitsky has crossed paths with a lot of big names in the industry, one of the coolest parts of this stand-up experience was seeing Adam Sandler tweet out a video of Povitsky’s special.
“Everyone accused me of it being photoshopped,” said Povitsky. “Adam Sandler tweeted my special and Instagrammed it. It’s so cool and he’s such a good person. There’s just those people in this business that we all love because we grew up watching them in film and TV and then we also hear over the years that they are such good people. It makes you feel so warm and fuzzy. He was working with a friend of mine, who was a director and who helped him produce his special. My friend really wanted to produce and direct my special and he showed Adam my set and Adam was like I want to produce this. I’d like to think we’re kindred spirits.”