by This bit by Esther Povitsky about men lusting after “barely legal” teens is out of control, and you shouldn’t have needed recent allegations this summer against multiple Los Angeles comedians to make you rethink that. And yet.
Povitsky at least was trying to bring it to our attention when she performed several shows last year at Dynasty Typewriter, filming them all for her Comedy Central debut special, Hot For My Name. OK, let’s roll the clip of Povitsky talking about how “sexy” she was at 18.
There have been plenty of comedy specials just in the past year that have blended documentary footage to give us more insight into the comedian’s personal and family life (see: Gary Gulman, Jenny Slate, Whitmer Thomas, Yvonne Orji). But none of them went quite as far as Povitsky in terms of making her parents out to be characters in her show within the show.
That clip above showcases that, too.
As I wrote in Decider:
By the time her parents have traveled to New York City to watch Povitsky perform at Gotham Comedy Club, then attend a bizarre meeting with Comedy Central executives, both mom and dad have come to terms with the idea that they’re essentially co-stars in their daughter’s special. The meeting at Comedy Central headquarters also sets off unintentional irony alarms, as neither Anne Harris nor Jordy Ellner are with the cable network following mass layoffs over the past several months.
Povitsky, though, remains positioned for future stardom. Her co-writer for the sketch musical finale, Dan Bulla, is a former Saturday Night Live writer who wrote the screenplay for Adam Sandler’s Sandy Wexler movie on Netflix. And Happy Madison’s imprint is all over this hour. Allen Covert is an EP, as is Nicholas Goosen, who also directed Povitsky here.
Read my full review on Decider.
And watch Esther Povitsky: Hot For My Name online via Comedy Central.
