There will be lasers!
But just a few. Other than a few minor arena-style flourishes, Iliza Shlesinger will thrill the TD Garden all on her own on Friday.
“The question is always how do you make a bigger, better show without sacrificing the comedy,” Shlesinger told the Herald. “How do I make bigger, better stand up without an act break for fly girls or a juggler?”
The answer of course is great jokes. And Shlesinger has a lot of those.
The comedian’s first-ever headlining gig at the Garden comes after a slow and steady rise. In 2008, she became the youngest ever winner on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” From there it was Netflix special after Netflix special — 2022’s “Hot Forever” was her sixth special for the streaming channel. Add in two books, a podcast, a sketch show, a couple of feature films including one she wrote, and you total a massive career ready for sold-out arenas.
Shlesinger’s rise has its roots in a mostly-remembered undergraduate degree at Emerson.
“Now you can major in things like comedy,” she said of her time at the school. “But at the time, coming from Texas, I was just the kid who made funny videos in my class. I was the girl who wrote sketches and did improv. I was just looking for an outlet for that and a film degree seemed logical.”
“I thought, ‘What’s the closest thing I can do to being funny?’ The answer was film,” she added. “Kind of like when you are super smart and kind of aimless, you get a law degree.”
Shlesinger starred with Mark Wahlberg in the Boston-set feature “Spenser Confidential.” She starred in and penned the script for the dark, funny, and totally unpredictable “Good on Paper” — an anti-rom-com that masquerades as an actual rom-com for half the film. The degree hasn’t been much help when actually making these movies.
“You know what no one has ever yelled on set, ‘Does anyone have a film degree? We need an opinion!,” she said with a laugh.
Between tour dates, specials, books and films, Shlesinger had her first baby and will have her second shortly. But she doesn’t have much downtime scheduled. After a European tour and winter break, she’ll get back up on stage with those lasers and tackle more arenas in the spring and fall.
“We already have all the fall 2024 tour dates locked in and a date set for the (next) special,” she said. “I’m just going to take a knee for a moment to give birth and then get back to the job I love doing so much.”
For tickets and details, visit iliza.com
