December 3, 2024 • 32 mins
The hilarious Fortune Feimster joins the show to share some laughs, inspiration, and Southern charm. With her new Netflix special “Crushing It” out now, Fortune takes us through the evolution of her stand-up — and how she’s found her true comedic voice over the years. She also dishes on the magic of live performances and the joy of connecting with audiences, especially after the isolation of the pandemic. Plus, we dive into her unforgettable Instagram character, Brenda; her mom; and the Southern roots that still shape her today.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're joined by
the hilarious fortune Fimestir. She's out with a brand new
Netflix special called Crushing It.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
It's Tuesday, December third. I'm Simone Boys and.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together and
share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Danielle, can you believe it's December third?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
What do the kids say on Instagram? Take me back?
I need a redo on some of these months. I
don't understand. I need more time, Simone, I need more time.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I know, Seriously, I don't know about you. I'm still
working through my Thanksgiving leftovers, Bait. I know we talked
about Thanksgiving, But weren't you in Miami too?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, you're really putting down blast here.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
My parents are snowbirds, so they live in Chicago in
the summer and then Florida in the winter, which is
interesting for me because I'm used to having cold holidays,
but now I fly to Florida to see them, and
I have warm holidays. And they live like forty five
minutes from Miami proper, and so they hate when I
leave because I don't see them very much. But I'm
(01:17):
always so tempted to just go into Miami. You know,
it's one of my favorite cities. So I did. I did.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I got in on Monday night, and.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Tuesday we recorded the show remotely, and then I left.
I headed out, went to Miami packed a small bag.
I saw one of my best friends from high school
and I met one of her daughters for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
She has two sweet, cute little girls.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Spent time with them, and then I went to dinner
with my friend Nancy, who is an entrepreneur and just
like really inspires me, and I just felt so lit up.
And then I got an Airbnb and stayed the night
because I didn't want to like uber or drive back.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And it was so gorgeous. It was on the water.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I felt so spoiled, like I shouldn't be there alone.
Was so relaxing, but it put me in a great
headspace because by the time I got back in the
morning to my parents' house, I was ready to like
give all of myself to my family, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yes, and we know that they want all of you,
they want one hundred percent. But wait, I actually have
a fun Miami fact that you're gonna love.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Tell me, miss Miami.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Did you know that Miami is one of the cities
in our country that has the highest ratio of single men?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Ooh, why did you not tell me this before I
went to Miami?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Simon, Well, next time you go to Miami, I'm coming
with you. I'm a really good wing woman.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
You know who else I.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Think would be a really good wing woman probably Fortune Femster.
She is hilarious and she's here today and we're celebrating
her new Netflix comedy special, Crushing It. You probably know
Fortune from her breakout role on Chelsea Lately, where she
became a writer and regular roundtable guest, and then, of course,
since then, she's gone on to write and perform threes
solo stand up specials. The third, Crushing It, showcases everything
(03:04):
we love about Fortune, her southern charm, her hilarious characters,
and of course her dynamic with her mom.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Oh my god, the jokes about her mom really get me.
They're hilarious and I loved seeing her perform at shine
Away last year. You know, she does all these funny
characters on social media, like she'll do an impression of
a Southern housewife named Brenda, which I could start crying.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Brenda's so good. I love so good because everybody knows
a Brenda. Everybody has met o Brenda.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We all know a Brenda.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
And in addition to her stand up, she also hosts
a weekly podcast. She's in the podcast Club. It's called
Handsome with Tig Nataro, who was on our show earlier,
and May Martin. And she stars in the show Fu
Bar with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Netflix. She's also in a
new movie with Reese Witherspoon premiering in the new year,
called You're Cordially Invited. She's got a lot going on
(03:56):
and a lot to share, so we're so excited to
have her here with us. Fortune Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Hi you guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Hi, We're so happy to have you. You're really a
part of the Hello Sunshine family. I remember seeing you
at Shinaway Yeah year and a half again.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It was so.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Fun, it felt special. Wasn't it the inaugural event? Yes,
or or least I told myself that it was. And
you were the first person on stage that wasn't irracking. Actually, well,
stand up at like you know, ten in the morning
is not always the easiest, but they were lovely.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's a good point. I didn't think about that fortune.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I'm curious about your holiday traditions because the holidays are
coming up. I feel like if looking at you and
knowing you a little bit, I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Like, Okay, it could go either way.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
You're either so into the holidays or you and your
wife just pretend like they're not even happening. And I
don't know which one it is.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I see where you could get that, because i'd do
you seem like a person that has like a like
a train going around my house, like in the movie
Big or something. But when it comes to planning, my
wife and I are terrible at it. We always say
we wish there was someone in our life that was
good at like planning parties or like giving gifts, because
we're terrible at both of those things. So I'm gonna
(05:20):
be lucky if I buy a tree. If that tells
you how good I am at planning Christmas?
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Do you buy each other gifts or is are you
past that? In the relationship.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
We're kind of past it.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
We always get each other a card, especially on like anniversaries.
Usually for the holiday, we try to do some kind
of trip. It might not be on the holiday, but
within the month there's something we'll have an experience that's
fun for both of us because at this point we're
kind of we're ten years in.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah, we're like, what do you want? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
I'm not really big into stuff, you know, so I
like doing things together.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
We know you're from Charlotte, we know you have the
Southern connection with our girl, Reese Witherspoon. What is the
most Southern thing about you? And I'm curious about this
answer both just like throughout the rest of the year
and then if there's something about you that's like really
southern during the holidays.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
I would say my accent's still pretty southern. Even though
I've lived in Los Angeles for twenty years. There's a
lot of y'all's, and you know, these sayings that I
don't even realize I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Like, well, y'all is like such a great universal catch all.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
I use it all the time because who wants to
say you all right? When you can just get to
the point and say.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Y'all, fortune, I'm from Chicago. Yeah, And if I say y'all.
It just doesn't sound right like I want to yo,
I want to use y'all. Yeah, But I don't know
if it's how I'm saying it. Do you get mad
as a Southerner when people try and bite your y'all's.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
No, no, Because my wife lived in Chicago for twelve years,
and now that you say that, I don't think she
ever says y'all either.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
She like you guys. Is that did you say? You guys?
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, we're big with the you guys.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, things like that. It is funny when she says
y'all all, my cre you making fun of me. I
guess it depends on who's saying it. But I don't
know how my accent hasn't gotten much better in all
these years. But I think the Southern, even though I
haven't lived in North Carolina since I was in college,
I think I take a lot of the things I learned,
(07:27):
like from my grandmother with me, Like she was big
on manners and like looking people in the eye and
shaking hands and holding doors open, saying please and thank you, yes, ma'am, yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Like that stuff I find I use on a on a.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Pretty regular basis, and people in La used to think
I was like an alien because they just did not
They'd be like, why are you being nice to me?
And I was like, this is just how how I
was right, So that part of me feels very Southern.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Well, speaking of southern cadence and lingo, we cannot get
enough of your Instagram alter ego, Brenda bright Side. Besties,
if you do not have the pleasure of knowing Brenda,
please run to Fortunes Instagram so you can meet her,
and please go ahead and introduce her to us. Now, like,
who is Brenda? What is she all about? Where did
(08:23):
this idea come from?
Speaker 5 (08:25):
So Brenda, Yeah, is a fun character I'll put on
Instagram once every month or so. She's usually in a
hot tub in a turquoise colored bathing suit, wearing turquoise.
I came up with Brenda. Gosh, at this point, it's
probably been like eight or nine years ago. I was
filming something, and when you film things, there's a lot
(08:47):
of like getting ready and then sitting around and waiting
for hours and hours. And they put me in this
like gene vest and these tight jeans, and my hair
was straightened, and I had turquoise on and I'm like,
who is this woman that's got a lot of blush
and pink lipstick? And when I was bored waiting to film,
(09:08):
I just started taping myself just pretending to be this woman.
And she was like a combo of like five women
that I grew up with who are very exasperated with
their husband and then he does like one thing and
they're like, I love him.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
He's the greatest man I've ever met in my life.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
And I just posted it on Instagram and people were like,
who is this and we need to know more about her?
So I guess it's if my life had gone down
a whole other path and I was not getting to
live my true self and I had to try to
be a woman of the South, married with kids.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Everybody knows a Brenda. I think that's why she resonates
with people.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
One of the reasons we're getting to chat with you
today is because you have a new Netflix stand up
special that's out. It's called Crushing It. Congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
I'm so proud of this one. I'm excited for people
to watch it. And you know, in these days, we
need to laugh, we need some levity. So that's the
one thing I can provide hopefully.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
How hard is it to write an hour of jokes?
I'm curious, Like when you know you're really onto something special.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
The writing of an hour is the hardest part. Now
that this special is out, I have to I'm at
the drawing board writing my next hour.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
And this is my third Netflix special, my fifth special
in general, And every time you put out a special,
you have to start from scratch and you spend Both
of the tours that I was on the last two
years were one hundred cities, one hundred and fifty shows,
almost two years long. So you spend all this time
(10:55):
cultivating this material, trying to perfect it. You put it
on a special, send it out into the world, and
then that's that, and you're like, oh, I have to
now do this whole thing over again.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
It's very daunting.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
It forces you to dig deeper, and that's I guess
the Even though that's the hardest part, that's also a
cool part because it forces you to try to evolve
as a comedian.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Where am I at my life?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
A lot of my stuff is very autobiographical, whereas my
first special, Sweet and SALTYA was about growing up in
the South and figuring out who I was and coming out,
coming to terms with that, how my family felt about that.
Then the next one, good Fortune, was about finding love,
getting comfortable in a relationship, getting engaged, kind of like
(11:48):
dipping my tone in adulthood, and then this one crushing
It is very much I married, I'm an adult. My
parents are getting older, and so there's a lot of
material about my mom, there's a lot of material about
Jack's my wife, and all those stages I think are
very relatable to people who are going through different things
in their life, and this one, I feel like is
(12:09):
the most elevated version of what I put out.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
What happened that made you feel like you're an adult now,
you know.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
I think just kind of being more into my marriage stage.
Were four years married now ten years together. We bought
a house together. That's a part of the special. That's
a victory and a grown up thing to do. And
having to make decisions for my parents and taking care
of them in certain ways felt very grown up because
(12:39):
before this I always felt like, I think, being a
comedian and being in LA and not having kids, it's
easy to have that kind of Peter Pan thing where
you feel like you're never going to grow up, and
now in this point in my life where I'm like, oh,
I have responsibilities and I need to take care of people,
and I need to grow up a little bit, and yeah,
step up to the plate.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
We'll be right back with Fortune Fimster and the comment
from a fan that had the biggest impact on her comedy,
And we're back with Fortune Fimster.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know you mentioned the locations of your specials. The
first one was in your hometown in North Carolina. The
second one was Chicago, and I think that made a
lot of sense to me because you met your wife
there and so that was a special place. What about
Seattle is crushing it.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Seattle had nothing to do to do with any part
of my life. I guess it would have made more
sense if I did LA if I was following that
same timeline, because.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
That's where we live. But Seattle was more of an.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Energy vibe, a choice of just the audience being an
amazing comedy audience. When I did my last tour there,
I did two shows in this theater, and the vibe
of the theater was so big and positive and fun,
and it hit me in a way that not a
(14:04):
lot of theaters do because it's almost two thousand seats
in there, and when you're in a two thousand seat theater,
the laughter tends to disappear.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
The audience can feel it, but it doesn't get to
the stage. So sometimes it will be one of those
theaters going is this working?
Speaker 5 (14:19):
And that theater is built in a way where the
laughters hits you like a ton of bricks. I wanted
this special to feel like how I felt on tour
last year and a half. All of these audiences were electric.
The positivity in the room was something I couldn't described
to people. I'm like, it just feels so big and
(14:42):
positive and happy and kind and how do I put
that into a special and make people feel that?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And that room.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Felt like the best version of how I could maybe
try to bottle that up.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
This is weird times, tough times.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
There's a lot going on, a lot of uncertainty, and
there's not a lot I can do for people. The
one thing I know I can do and try to
do is to make them feel better that once they
finished watching my special they feel a lot better than
they did when they started it. I find myself being
so grateful for the time that I spend in larger
(15:18):
scale in person gatherings and just in person gatherings in general.
It really is you use the word electric, and that
really can be what it feels like at its best.
And I think since the pandemic, I've just really appreciated
like the magic that can happen when you're in the
room with other bodies. Yeah, because I think that the
things that we can do as a community have gotten
(15:39):
less and less thanks to technology. Yeah, Whereas we all
used to go to a movie and be in one
big theater and laugh together, and there was that like
communal feeling of like you're laughing, so that's making me
laugh harder, which is making you laugh harder, and we're
all feeling something together that's happy and big and positive.
(16:00):
And a lot of comedies aren't in movie theaters anymore,
so you're experiencing entertainment a lot more alone, unless it's music,
you know, and going to concerts. So I think stand
up is very popular right now. Live stand up is
people are consuming it more than it's been consumed in decades,
(16:21):
and I think that's because they love that communal experience
that like we're all happy and enjoying something together in
a way that we don't get to do on a
regular basis. You alluded to this a little bit earlier fortune,
but I wanted to probe a bit more. You have
said that you feel like every special you film you
(16:43):
get more in tune with your voice as a comedian
and as an artist. Yeah, I'm curious, what's one thing
you felt like you've had to let go of over
the course of your career in order to really get
in touch with your true inner voice. You know, when
I watched more earlier specials can see that I I'm
trying to make people laugh.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
That's the goal.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
You're like coming up with these kind of I don't
want to say lazier punchlines, but it's like the easy
joke where you kind of gough. There's like a better
punchline than that. But when you're early on and stand up,
you're you really are just like, what's the easiest way
to get a chuckle because you're uncomfortable being up there
(17:27):
and having any kind of silence.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Now where I'm at in my career.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
I'm okay making people wait for the punchline and telling
them a story and bringing them along on a journey.
So I've stripped away the like impatience of I gotta
get I gotta make them laughing out, like that franticness.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
You can feel it in those early things.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I'm like yelling punchlines and I'm pushing, whereas now I'm
just sort of embracing the journey more and I'm to
trust that everybody's gonna come on that journey with me,
and they trust now having seen me for fifteen years
or ten years, they know I'm going to make it
(18:11):
pay off or I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try my
best to at least if it's not hilarious, to at
least be interesting and appreciate that the audience and I
have developed that rapport I think, which started even more
so since my first Netflix special, Sweet and SALTYM.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
What do you think happened there?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What do you think led to that rapport? Well, that
was my first Hour special, and up until that point,
I had been touring. I've been I've been touring since
twenty ten. Sweet and Salty came out in January of
twenty twenty, and for those ten years, it was just
me telling a bunch of jokes and they didn't really
(18:51):
have a premise or a narrative.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
There was no order. It was like, here's a funny thing,
and here's another funny thing. And Sweet and Salty forced
me to be like, what am I trying to say?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
And what is the narrative to this?
Speaker 5 (19:07):
And I kind of discovered that, like right as I
was about to film it, and so you see it
a narrative start to appear.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
And then by the time I got to my next special,
I want a beginning, middle, and end.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Now I know I want this to be about something bigger,
to be a theme, and I just keep leaning into
that more and more as I put these specials out
so crushing. It definitely has that beginning, middle, and end.
It's about something. There's a victory. The end is a payoff.
(19:43):
So you've watched an hour for a reason. It didn't
it wasn't just me throwing stuff against a chalkboard hoping
you laugh.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Fortune.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
One of my very favorite parts of most of your
specials have to do with your mother.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
For treat then your mom is so funny.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
You have this famous bit about your mom denying her
love of Hooters.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
This isn't a past bit. Yes, did your mom ever
write your jokes?
Speaker 5 (20:13):
She does not mean to. She writes them the old
saying it writes itself. It's kind of that with her.
I have one story in crushing It, that is, I
would say ninety percent the whole story is what she
told me, And I'm just telling the audience what she
(20:33):
told me. And it's about her falling in a cemetery.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And I add my little comedic.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Things here and there, like little I punch things up,
and I structure the story, and I do her voice
and the act outs and stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So I try to make it entertaining for them, but.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
It truly is almost verbatim, her just telling me what
happened to her in a cemetery one day, and it
seems made up because it's so the stuff she does
is so quirky and out there, but it is all real.
So there are some real gems in this special. I
(21:13):
think of stories from my mom.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So on this show, I talk about my mom all
the time.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Yeah, And she listens to every episode and she calls
me to give me her opinion on all the episodes
and all the guests.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Does your mom ever feel like you cross the line
or does she just like.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Being in the mix with you?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Oh, she just loves me and talked about truly.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I mean, it's her time to shine when like anytime
I do shows on the East Coast that she's like
within like a four hour drive too. She's there because
she knows she's gonna strut through the audience and oh
me hi.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know, like she is.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Her big moment because she knows everyone knows about her
because of my material.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Occasionally she'll see a.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Show and say like, oh, I did like that one
part because it you know, she thinks it's putting her
in a bad light. But I work really hard with
these stories to to never be disrespectful of anyone in
my life.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And it's all out of love.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
How about your wife, because I remember from Shinaway you
told this absolutely you had people in stitches at ten am.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Yeah, So the story I tell it's how I start
my special. Actually it sets the tone because whereas my
last special it ended with Jackson and I got married
and that's where we ended, this one picks up with
my honeymoon and we end up going on honeymoon to
(22:41):
the Maldives. And I didn't have any part of the planning.
A travel agent planned everything. We just like honestly just
showed up. And as I'm on the plane, I'm reading
a book about the Maldives and discover that it's illegal
to begin in the in the Maldies. So we're headed
(23:04):
on our gay honeymoon to a country where it's legal
to be gay. And it just felt like, of course,
of course this.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Is where we're going.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
But I'm taking something that's real and showing the like
here's the more ridiculous side of this, and kind of
turning it on his head of like, well, now I
can't swim in my lesbian swimsuit, which is a pair
of sweatpants and a triple excel T shirt with the
sleeves coff buts you do not swim in sweatpants. Fortune,
(23:37):
that is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
That one's a bit of a stretch.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
But I'm just taking people through the like more ridiculous
things of like we stayed six feet apart at all times.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I call her my cousin there you go and cousin friends.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yeah, so I take like something that that could be
difficult in a real life scenario and here's the ridiculous
version of it. And on the way, we had an
overnight layover the overnight layover was in Qatar, where it's
more illegal to be ay, so there's just you just
try to add on to the like stakes of it all.
(24:14):
So it's a really fun way to start the special
deeper but making people think and laugh so good. Yeah, yeah,
it's like kind of like there's a message to it.
I remember I was doing my radio show and a
straight man he heard his words, called into the radio
show and he said, I watched your story on Sweet
(24:36):
and Salty about you coming out to your parents and
how hard that is, and he goes, you didn't present
it that way, he goes, But it made me realize
that's a really difficult thing to tell people in your
life that you love this piece of information and you
not know if they're going to disown you, how it's
gonna figure relationship, He goes. It made me cry, he goes,
(24:58):
because I've never thought about it in that way before.
And that was the first time where I realized, holy cow,
like I didn't realize that these stories could have any
impact like that and make someone see someone else's journey
in a more real way through comedy. It had a
big effect on me where I was like, oh, there's
(25:19):
a there's I'm not just trying to make people laugh here.
There is a responsibility there too, to tell other stories
that open minds.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I think all comedy, maybe not all comedy, but so
much of it is rooted in pain, and we just
it's like one of our I think one of our
most effective coping mechanisms as humans is laughter.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
After the break, Fortune Fienster tells us how she's not
letting goals get in the way of her happiness. Stay
with us, and we're back with Fortune Fister.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Okay, you are returning for season two of Netflix show Fubar,
where you co star with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I mean you're not just in a show with him,
but in an action series. Oh that's crazy, Like, what
what did you learn from him just watching him on set?
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I mean, it truly is a thing, you know when
when someone asked like, could you have ever pictured, You're like,
I've never been a million years. I'm already pinching myself
that I'm a professional comedian. That doesn't seem like a
real job. I remember a town of eight thousand people
that like, what, I'm a stand up that's not real.
(26:36):
When they called me about it, I truly was like,
I assume you're asking me to play the part of
someone in a van at a computer giving coordinates, and
they're like, no, you are in the CIA, you are
in the field. You're running around dealing with weapons, you're
(26:57):
running from explosions.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
I'm like me.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
So I love getting to be in this genre that
many people who look like me don't get to be
a part of. And I get to do a lot
of physical stuff, which is nice because I grew up
as an athlete. I've played three to four sports a
year on teams, and it was a side of me
that people didn't really know about. So to get to
like be more physical in my work is really cool.
(27:24):
And tourism, like Arnold who's I mean, he's been famous
for like fifty years. I mean there aren't many people
in his category of fame, like worldwide. We filmed a
little bit in Prague and oh we also went to
Munich and he walks two feet and one hundred people
(27:45):
surrounded him. It's a level of fame not many people
have this day and time. He's just very conscious of
his position and his what he means to people. He
takes that very seriously. He's very kind to the people
that are fans of his and he's a very motivational guy.
(28:07):
He's very much on set telling us interesting stories and
motivating people. And he has lessons life lessons.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I have a question about that fortune.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Yeah, because the last time I spoke with you, you
told me this unbelievable story about how you basically manifested
your career with your friends and Auigi board.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And we'll save that whole story for another time.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
But not a Ouigi board, but a new Year's kind
of going around the table.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
What do you hope for the new year?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Yeah, and one of your friends held a vision for
you about Australia and no memory, Danielle, I'll never forget it.
It hit me because you had no money. You were broke,
and you were like, if I don't I can't pay
my rent next month. Yeah, your friend manifests this for you,
and that next week Chelsea Handler says, hey, Fortune, we're
going to go to Australia.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
It gives you a job.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah, And I remember asking you, what's the prayer?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
What did you guys say? I'm curious now that.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
You are so far down the line in your career,
you're not at the beginning anymore, do you stay up
at night thinking about what you want to have a
vision board that you create?
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Actually, Jackson Ivory, new Year's do vision boards and tell
each other what we hope for the new year. And
she's never she's not really like a hippie dippy person,
but even she's like, it's important to visualize specifics and
what do you want to accomplish so that this all
isn't just in.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Like a vacuum, just like a there's a goal in mind.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
And I would say it's been very helpful for me
because I feel very much like I'm on a path.
Nothing about what I'm doing feels accidental or like there
is luck involved, for sure, but I work my butt
off and it just always feels like I'm on the
(30:04):
path I'm meant to be, which makes it feel nothing
feels in vain, and I think that is very helpful.
I want these cool things to happen, but I'm like,
I want to work, I want people to watch my stuff,
I want to make a comfortable living, and I want
to be happy. The happy part is something that has
been more important to me as I get older. I
(30:26):
want peace and I want to be happy and I
don't let crazy goals get in the way of that,
and I think that's something that maybe is different than
me thinking of my goals twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Are you happy now? I am? I am.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
I think just being a person who's doing something they
love is rare.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I think there's so.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Many people that we all have to work, we all
have to pay bills, and not everyone is fortunate enough
to do something they love.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
They do it because they have to.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
And I watch my parents go through that, not having money,
not knowing how we're going to pay the rent. And
I'm so grateful I'm getting to do something I love,
and I'm so grateful to have had success at it.
I have a wife, I love a dog, I love,
so I really do have that piece I always hope for.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You're quite literally crushing it.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Yes, it's right.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The hope is that we're all going to be crushing
it at whatever our version of crushing it is, that
you're crushing it. Thank you so much, Fortune for bringing
the laughter and the good vibes today.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
On the bright side, Oh, thank you guys.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
I appreciate you allowing me to be on the bright
side and to look at things on the bright side.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
I love that we live that. Thank you, Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Seams is a comedian.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
You can watch her new stand up special Crushing It
on Netflix today.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Thanks to our partners at Airbnb. That's it for today's show. Tomorrow,
it's Wellness Wednesday. We're joined by kindness researcher Jeanette Murray
to learn what kindness really is.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
And why it matters.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok Oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're joined by
the hilarious fortune Fimestir. She's out with a brand new
Netflix special called Crushing It.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
It's Tuesday, December third. I'm Simone Boys and.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together and
share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Danielle, can you believe it's December third?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
What do the kids say on Instagram? Take me back?
I need a redo on some of these months. I
don't understand. I need more time, Simone, I need more time.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I know, Seriously, I don't know about you. I'm still
working through my Thanksgiving leftovers, Bait. I know we talked
about Thanksgiving, But weren't you in Miami too?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, you're really putting down blast here.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
My parents are snowbirds, so they live in Chicago in
the summer and then Florida in the winter, which is
interesting for me because I'm used to having cold holidays,
but now I fly to Florida to see them, and
I have warm holidays. And they live like forty five
minutes from Miami proper, and so they hate when I
leave because I don't see them very much. But I'm
(01:17):
always so tempted to just go into Miami. You know,
it's one of my favorite cities. So I did. I did.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I got in on Monday night, and.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Tuesday we recorded the show remotely, and then I left.
I headed out, went to Miami packed a small bag.
I saw one of my best friends from high school
and I met one of her daughters for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
She has two sweet, cute little girls.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Spent time with them, and then I went to dinner
with my friend Nancy, who is an entrepreneur and just
like really inspires me, and I just felt so lit up.
And then I got an Airbnb and stayed the night
because I didn't want to like uber or drive back.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And it was so gorgeous. It was on the water.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I felt so spoiled, like I shouldn't be there alone.
Was so relaxing, but it put me in a great
headspace because by the time I got back in the
morning to my parents' house, I was ready to like
give all of myself to my family, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yes, and we know that they want all of you,
they want one hundred percent. But wait, I actually have
a fun Miami fact that you're gonna love.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Tell me, miss Miami.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Did you know that Miami is one of the cities
in our country that has the highest ratio of single men?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Ooh, why did you not tell me this before I
went to Miami?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Simon, Well, next time you go to Miami, I'm coming
with you. I'm a really good wing woman.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
You know who else I.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Think would be a really good wing woman probably Fortune Femster.
She is hilarious and she's here today and we're celebrating
her new Netflix comedy special, Crushing It. You probably know
Fortune from her breakout role on Chelsea Lately, where she
became a writer and regular roundtable guest, and then, of course,
since then, she's gone on to write and perform threes
solo stand up specials. The third, Crushing It, showcases everything
(03:04):
we love about Fortune, her southern charm, her hilarious characters,
and of course her dynamic with her mom.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Oh my god, the jokes about her mom really get me.
They're hilarious and I loved seeing her perform at shine
Away last year. You know, she does all these funny
characters on social media, like she'll do an impression of
a Southern housewife named Brenda, which I could start crying.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Brenda's so good. I love so good because everybody knows
a Brenda. Everybody has met o Brenda.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We all know a Brenda.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
And in addition to her stand up, she also hosts
a weekly podcast. She's in the podcast Club. It's called
Handsome with Tig Nataro, who was on our show earlier,
and May Martin. And she stars in the show Fu
Bar with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Netflix. She's also in a
new movie with Reese Witherspoon premiering in the new year,
called You're Cordially Invited. She's got a lot going on
(03:56):
and a lot to share, so we're so excited to
have her here with us. Fortune Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Hi you guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Hi, We're so happy to have you. You're really a
part of the Hello Sunshine family. I remember seeing you
at Shinaway Yeah year and a half again.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It was so.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Fun, it felt special. Wasn't it the inaugural event? Yes,
or or least I told myself that it was. And
you were the first person on stage that wasn't irracking. Actually, well,
stand up at like you know, ten in the morning
is not always the easiest, but they were lovely.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's a good point. I didn't think about that fortune.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I'm curious about your holiday traditions because the holidays are
coming up. I feel like if looking at you and
knowing you a little bit, I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Like, Okay, it could go either way.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
You're either so into the holidays or you and your
wife just pretend like they're not even happening. And I
don't know which one it is.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I see where you could get that, because i'd do
you seem like a person that has like a like
a train going around my house, like in the movie
Big or something. But when it comes to planning, my
wife and I are terrible at it. We always say
we wish there was someone in our life that was
good at like planning parties or like giving gifts, because
we're terrible at both of those things. So I'm gonna
(05:20):
be lucky if I buy a tree. If that tells
you how good I am at planning Christmas?
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Do you buy each other gifts or is are you
past that? In the relationship.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
We're kind of past it.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
We always get each other a card, especially on like anniversaries.
Usually for the holiday, we try to do some kind
of trip. It might not be on the holiday, but
within the month there's something we'll have an experience that's
fun for both of us because at this point we're
kind of we're ten years in.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah, we're like, what do you want? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
I'm not really big into stuff, you know, so I
like doing things together.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
We know you're from Charlotte, we know you have the
Southern connection with our girl, Reese Witherspoon. What is the
most Southern thing about you? And I'm curious about this
answer both just like throughout the rest of the year
and then if there's something about you that's like really
southern during the holidays.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
I would say my accent's still pretty southern. Even though
I've lived in Los Angeles for twenty years. There's a
lot of y'all's, and you know, these sayings that I
don't even realize I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Like, well, y'all is like such a great universal catch all.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
I use it all the time because who wants to
say you all right? When you can just get to
the point and say.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Y'all, fortune, I'm from Chicago. Yeah, And if I say y'all.
It just doesn't sound right like I want to yo,
I want to use y'all. Yeah, But I don't know
if it's how I'm saying it. Do you get mad
as a Southerner when people try and bite your y'all's.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
No, no, Because my wife lived in Chicago for twelve years,
and now that you say that, I don't think she
ever says y'all either.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
She like you guys. Is that did you say? You guys?
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, we're big with the you guys.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, things like that. It is funny when she says
y'all all, my cre you making fun of me. I
guess it depends on who's saying it. But I don't
know how my accent hasn't gotten much better in all
these years. But I think the Southern, even though I
haven't lived in North Carolina since I was in college,
I think I take a lot of the things I learned,
(07:27):
like from my grandmother with me, Like she was big
on manners and like looking people in the eye and
shaking hands and holding doors open, saying please and thank you, yes, ma'am, yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Like that stuff I find I use on a on a.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Pretty regular basis, and people in La used to think
I was like an alien because they just did not
They'd be like, why are you being nice to me?
And I was like, this is just how how I
was right, So that part of me feels very Southern.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Well, speaking of southern cadence and lingo, we cannot get
enough of your Instagram alter ego, Brenda bright Side. Besties,
if you do not have the pleasure of knowing Brenda,
please run to Fortunes Instagram so you can meet her,
and please go ahead and introduce her to us. Now, like,
who is Brenda? What is she all about? Where did
(08:23):
this idea come from?
Speaker 5 (08:25):
So Brenda, Yeah, is a fun character I'll put on
Instagram once every month or so. She's usually in a
hot tub in a turquoise colored bathing suit, wearing turquoise.
I came up with Brenda. Gosh, at this point, it's
probably been like eight or nine years ago. I was
filming something, and when you film things, there's a lot
(08:47):
of like getting ready and then sitting around and waiting
for hours and hours. And they put me in this
like gene vest and these tight jeans, and my hair
was straightened, and I had turquoise on and I'm like,
who is this woman that's got a lot of blush
and pink lipstick? And when I was bored waiting to film,
(09:08):
I just started taping myself just pretending to be this woman.
And she was like a combo of like five women
that I grew up with who are very exasperated with
their husband and then he does like one thing and
they're like, I love him.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
He's the greatest man I've ever met in my life.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
And I just posted it on Instagram and people were like,
who is this and we need to know more about her?
So I guess it's if my life had gone down
a whole other path and I was not getting to
live my true self and I had to try to
be a woman of the South, married with kids.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Everybody knows a Brenda. I think that's why she resonates
with people.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
One of the reasons we're getting to chat with you
today is because you have a new Netflix stand up
special that's out. It's called Crushing It. Congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
I'm so proud of this one. I'm excited for people
to watch it. And you know, in these days, we
need to laugh, we need some levity. So that's the
one thing I can provide hopefully.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
How hard is it to write an hour of jokes?
I'm curious, Like when you know you're really onto something special.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
The writing of an hour is the hardest part. Now
that this special is out, I have to I'm at
the drawing board writing my next hour.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
And this is my third Netflix special, my fifth special
in general, And every time you put out a special,
you have to start from scratch and you spend Both
of the tours that I was on the last two
years were one hundred cities, one hundred and fifty shows,
almost two years long. So you spend all this time
(10:55):
cultivating this material, trying to perfect it. You put it
on a special, send it out into the world, and
then that's that, and you're like, oh, I have to
now do this whole thing over again.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
It's very daunting.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
It forces you to dig deeper, and that's I guess
the Even though that's the hardest part, that's also a
cool part because it forces you to try to evolve
as a comedian.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Where am I at my life?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
A lot of my stuff is very autobiographical, whereas my
first special, Sweet and SALTYA was about growing up in
the South and figuring out who I was and coming out,
coming to terms with that, how my family felt about that.
Then the next one, good Fortune, was about finding love,
getting comfortable in a relationship, getting engaged, kind of like
(11:48):
dipping my tone in adulthood, and then this one crushing
It is very much I married, I'm an adult. My
parents are getting older, and so there's a lot of
material about my mom, there's a lot of material about
Jack's my wife, and all those stages I think are
very relatable to people who are going through different things
in their life, and this one, I feel like is
(12:09):
the most elevated version of what I put out.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
What happened that made you feel like you're an adult now,
you know.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
I think just kind of being more into my marriage stage.
Were four years married now ten years together. We bought
a house together. That's a part of the special. That's
a victory and a grown up thing to do. And
having to make decisions for my parents and taking care
of them in certain ways felt very grown up because
(12:39):
before this I always felt like, I think, being a
comedian and being in LA and not having kids, it's
easy to have that kind of Peter Pan thing where
you feel like you're never going to grow up, and
now in this point in my life where I'm like, oh,
I have responsibilities and I need to take care of people,
and I need to grow up a little bit, and yeah,
step up to the plate.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
We'll be right back with Fortune Fimster and the comment
from a fan that had the biggest impact on her comedy,
And we're back with Fortune Fimster.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know you mentioned the locations of your specials. The
first one was in your hometown in North Carolina. The
second one was Chicago, and I think that made a
lot of sense to me because you met your wife
there and so that was a special place. What about
Seattle is crushing it.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Seattle had nothing to do to do with any part
of my life. I guess it would have made more
sense if I did LA if I was following that
same timeline, because.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
That's where we live. But Seattle was more of an.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Energy vibe, a choice of just the audience being an
amazing comedy audience. When I did my last tour there,
I did two shows in this theater, and the vibe
of the theater was so big and positive and fun,
and it hit me in a way that not a
(14:04):
lot of theaters do because it's almost two thousand seats
in there, and when you're in a two thousand seat theater,
the laughter tends to disappear.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
The audience can feel it, but it doesn't get to
the stage. So sometimes it will be one of those
theaters going is this working?
Speaker 5 (14:19):
And that theater is built in a way where the
laughters hits you like a ton of bricks. I wanted
this special to feel like how I felt on tour
last year and a half. All of these audiences were electric.
The positivity in the room was something I couldn't described
to people. I'm like, it just feels so big and
(14:42):
positive and happy and kind and how do I put
that into a special and make people feel that?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And that room.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Felt like the best version of how I could maybe
try to bottle that up.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
This is weird times, tough times.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
There's a lot going on, a lot of uncertainty, and
there's not a lot I can do for people. The
one thing I know I can do and try to
do is to make them feel better that once they
finished watching my special they feel a lot better than
they did when they started it. I find myself being
so grateful for the time that I spend in larger
(15:18):
scale in person gatherings and just in person gatherings in general.
It really is you use the word electric, and that
really can be what it feels like at its best.
And I think since the pandemic, I've just really appreciated
like the magic that can happen when you're in the
room with other bodies. Yeah, because I think that the
things that we can do as a community have gotten
(15:39):
less and less thanks to technology. Yeah, Whereas we all
used to go to a movie and be in one
big theater and laugh together, and there was that like
communal feeling of like you're laughing, so that's making me
laugh harder, which is making you laugh harder, and we're
all feeling something together that's happy and big and positive.
(16:00):
And a lot of comedies aren't in movie theaters anymore,
so you're experiencing entertainment a lot more alone, unless it's music,
you know, and going to concerts. So I think stand
up is very popular right now. Live stand up is
people are consuming it more than it's been consumed in decades,
(16:21):
and I think that's because they love that communal experience
that like we're all happy and enjoying something together in
a way that we don't get to do on a
regular basis. You alluded to this a little bit earlier fortune,
but I wanted to probe a bit more. You have
said that you feel like every special you film you
(16:43):
get more in tune with your voice as a comedian
and as an artist. Yeah, I'm curious, what's one thing
you felt like you've had to let go of over
the course of your career in order to really get
in touch with your true inner voice. You know, when
I watched more earlier specials can see that I I'm
trying to make people laugh.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
That's the goal.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
You're like coming up with these kind of I don't
want to say lazier punchlines, but it's like the easy
joke where you kind of gough. There's like a better
punchline than that. But when you're early on and stand up,
you're you really are just like, what's the easiest way
to get a chuckle because you're uncomfortable being up there
(17:27):
and having any kind of silence.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Now where I'm at in my career.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
I'm okay making people wait for the punchline and telling
them a story and bringing them along on a journey.
So I've stripped away the like impatience of I gotta
get I gotta make them laughing out, like that franticness.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
You can feel it in those early things.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I'm like yelling punchlines and I'm pushing, whereas now I'm
just sort of embracing the journey more and I'm to
trust that everybody's gonna come on that journey with me,
and they trust now having seen me for fifteen years
or ten years, they know I'm going to make it
(18:11):
pay off or I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try my
best to at least if it's not hilarious, to at
least be interesting and appreciate that the audience and I
have developed that rapport I think, which started even more
so since my first Netflix special, Sweet and SALTYM.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
What do you think happened there?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Like?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What do you think led to that rapport? Well, that
was my first Hour special, and up until that point,
I had been touring. I've been I've been touring since
twenty ten. Sweet and Salty came out in January of
twenty twenty, and for those ten years, it was just
me telling a bunch of jokes and they didn't really
(18:51):
have a premise or a narrative.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
There was no order. It was like, here's a funny thing,
and here's another funny thing. And Sweet and Salty forced
me to be like, what am I trying to say?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
And what is the narrative to this?
Speaker 5 (19:07):
And I kind of discovered that, like right as I
was about to film it, and so you see it
a narrative start to appear.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
And then by the time I got to my next special,
I want a beginning, middle, and end.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Now I know I want this to be about something bigger,
to be a theme, and I just keep leaning into
that more and more as I put these specials out
so crushing. It definitely has that beginning, middle, and end.
It's about something. There's a victory. The end is a payoff.
(19:43):
So you've watched an hour for a reason. It didn't
it wasn't just me throwing stuff against a chalkboard hoping
you laugh.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Fortune.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
One of my very favorite parts of most of your
specials have to do with your mother.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
For treat then your mom is so funny.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
You have this famous bit about your mom denying her
love of Hooters.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
This isn't a past bit. Yes, did your mom ever
write your jokes?
Speaker 5 (20:13):
She does not mean to. She writes them the old
saying it writes itself. It's kind of that with her.
I have one story in crushing It, that is, I
would say ninety percent the whole story is what she
told me, And I'm just telling the audience what she
(20:33):
told me. And it's about her falling in a cemetery.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And I add my little comedic.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Things here and there, like little I punch things up,
and I structure the story, and I do her voice
and the act outs and stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So I try to make it entertaining for them, but.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
It truly is almost verbatim, her just telling me what
happened to her in a cemetery one day, and it
seems made up because it's so the stuff she does
is so quirky and out there, but it is all real.
So there are some real gems in this special. I
(21:13):
think of stories from my mom.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So on this show, I talk about my mom all
the time.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Yeah, And she listens to every episode and she calls
me to give me her opinion on all the episodes
and all the guests.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Does your mom ever feel like you cross the line
or does she just like.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Being in the mix with you?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Oh, she just loves me and talked about truly.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I mean, it's her time to shine when like anytime
I do shows on the East Coast that she's like
within like a four hour drive too. She's there because
she knows she's gonna strut through the audience and oh
me hi.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know, like she is.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Her big moment because she knows everyone knows about her
because of my material.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Occasionally she'll see a.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Show and say like, oh, I did like that one
part because it you know, she thinks it's putting her
in a bad light. But I work really hard with
these stories to to never be disrespectful of anyone in
my life.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And it's all out of love.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
How about your wife, because I remember from Shinaway you
told this absolutely you had people in stitches at ten am.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Yeah, So the story I tell it's how I start
my special. Actually it sets the tone because whereas my
last special it ended with Jackson and I got married
and that's where we ended, this one picks up with
my honeymoon and we end up going on honeymoon to
(22:41):
the Maldives. And I didn't have any part of the planning.
A travel agent planned everything. We just like honestly just
showed up. And as I'm on the plane, I'm reading
a book about the Maldives and discover that it's illegal
to begin in the in the Maldies. So we're headed
(23:04):
on our gay honeymoon to a country where it's legal
to be gay. And it just felt like, of course,
of course this.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Is where we're going.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
But I'm taking something that's real and showing the like
here's the more ridiculous side of this, and kind of
turning it on his head of like, well, now I
can't swim in my lesbian swimsuit, which is a pair
of sweatpants and a triple excel T shirt with the
sleeves coff buts you do not swim in sweatpants. Fortune,
(23:37):
that is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
That one's a bit of a stretch.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
But I'm just taking people through the like more ridiculous
things of like we stayed six feet apart at all times.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I call her my cousin there you go and cousin friends.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yeah, so I take like something that that could be
difficult in a real life scenario and here's the ridiculous
version of it. And on the way, we had an
overnight layover the overnight layover was in Qatar, where it's
more illegal to be ay, so there's just you just
try to add on to the like stakes of it all.
(24:14):
So it's a really fun way to start the special
deeper but making people think and laugh so good. Yeah, yeah,
it's like kind of like there's a message to it.
I remember I was doing my radio show and a
straight man he heard his words, called into the radio
show and he said, I watched your story on Sweet
(24:36):
and Salty about you coming out to your parents and
how hard that is, and he goes, you didn't present
it that way, he goes, But it made me realize
that's a really difficult thing to tell people in your
life that you love this piece of information and you
not know if they're going to disown you, how it's
gonna figure relationship, He goes. It made me cry, he goes,
(24:58):
because I've never thought about it in that way before.
And that was the first time where I realized, holy cow,
like I didn't realize that these stories could have any
impact like that and make someone see someone else's journey
in a more real way through comedy. It had a
big effect on me where I was like, oh, there's
(25:19):
a there's I'm not just trying to make people laugh here.
There is a responsibility there too, to tell other stories
that open minds.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I think all comedy, maybe not all comedy, but so
much of it is rooted in pain, and we just
it's like one of our I think one of our
most effective coping mechanisms as humans is laughter.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
After the break, Fortune Fienster tells us how she's not
letting goals get in the way of her happiness. Stay
with us, and we're back with Fortune Fister.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Okay, you are returning for season two of Netflix show Fubar,
where you co star with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I mean you're not just in a show with him,
but in an action series. Oh that's crazy, Like, what
what did you learn from him just watching him on set?
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I mean, it truly is a thing, you know when
when someone asked like, could you have ever pictured, You're like,
I've never been a million years. I'm already pinching myself
that I'm a professional comedian. That doesn't seem like a
real job. I remember a town of eight thousand people
that like, what, I'm a stand up that's not real.
(26:36):
When they called me about it, I truly was like,
I assume you're asking me to play the part of
someone in a van at a computer giving coordinates, and
they're like, no, you are in the CIA, you are
in the field. You're running around dealing with weapons, you're
(26:57):
running from explosions.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
I'm like me.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
So I love getting to be in this genre that
many people who look like me don't get to be
a part of. And I get to do a lot
of physical stuff, which is nice because I grew up
as an athlete. I've played three to four sports a
year on teams, and it was a side of me
that people didn't really know about. So to get to
like be more physical in my work is really cool.
(27:24):
And tourism, like Arnold who's I mean, he's been famous
for like fifty years. I mean there aren't many people
in his category of fame, like worldwide. We filmed a
little bit in Prague and oh we also went to
Munich and he walks two feet and one hundred people
(27:45):
surrounded him. It's a level of fame not many people
have this day and time. He's just very conscious of
his position and his what he means to people. He
takes that very seriously. He's very kind to the people
that are fans of his and he's a very motivational guy.
(28:07):
He's very much on set telling us interesting stories and
motivating people. And he has lessons life lessons.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I have a question about that fortune.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Yeah, because the last time I spoke with you, you
told me this unbelievable story about how you basically manifested
your career with your friends and Auigi board.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And we'll save that whole story for another time.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
But not a Ouigi board, but a new Year's kind
of going around the table.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
What do you hope for the new year?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Yeah, and one of your friends held a vision for
you about Australia and no memory, Danielle, I'll never forget it.
It hit me because you had no money. You were broke,
and you were like, if I don't I can't pay
my rent next month. Yeah, your friend manifests this for you,
and that next week Chelsea Handler says, hey, Fortune, we're
going to go to Australia.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
It gives you a job.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah, And I remember asking you, what's the prayer?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
What did you guys say? I'm curious now that.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
You are so far down the line in your career,
you're not at the beginning anymore, do you stay up
at night thinking about what you want to have a
vision board that you create?
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Actually, Jackson Ivory, new Year's do vision boards and tell
each other what we hope for the new year. And
she's never she's not really like a hippie dippy person,
but even she's like, it's important to visualize specifics and
what do you want to accomplish so that this all
isn't just in.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Like a vacuum, just like a there's a goal in mind.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
And I would say it's been very helpful for me
because I feel very much like I'm on a path.
Nothing about what I'm doing feels accidental or like there
is luck involved, for sure, but I work my butt
off and it just always feels like I'm on the
(30:04):
path I'm meant to be, which makes it feel nothing
feels in vain, and I think that is very helpful.
I want these cool things to happen, but I'm like,
I want to work, I want people to watch my stuff,
I want to make a comfortable living, and I want
to be happy. The happy part is something that has
been more important to me as I get older. I
(30:26):
want peace and I want to be happy and I
don't let crazy goals get in the way of that,
and I think that's something that maybe is different than
me thinking of my goals twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Are you happy now? I am? I am.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
I think just being a person who's doing something they
love is rare.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I think there's so.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Many people that we all have to work, we all
have to pay bills, and not everyone is fortunate enough
to do something they love.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
They do it because they have to.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
And I watch my parents go through that, not having money,
not knowing how we're going to pay the rent. And
I'm so grateful I'm getting to do something I love,
and I'm so grateful to have had success at it.
I have a wife, I love a dog, I love,
so I really do have that piece I always hope for.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You're quite literally crushing it.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Yes, it's right.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The hope is that we're all going to be crushing
it at whatever our version of crushing it is, that
you're crushing it. Thank you so much, Fortune for bringing
the laughter and the good vibes today.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
On the bright side, Oh, thank you guys.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
I appreciate you allowing me to be on the bright
side and to look at things on the bright side.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
I love that we live that. Thank you, Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Seams is a comedian.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
You can watch her new stand up special Crushing It
on Netflix today.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Thanks to our partners at Airbnb. That's it for today's show. Tomorrow,
it's Wellness Wednesday. We're joined by kindness researcher Jeanette Murray
to learn what kindness really is.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
And why it matters.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok Oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side.
Hosts And Creators
Simone Boyce
Danielle Robay
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