Comedy

Throughout her memoir, comedy acts as both an object and a place; it is an object in the sense that it is something that she uses strategically to ward off negativity, and a place as in her safe space and the only place she felt like she belonged. Comedy gave Haddish "a place to talk about [her] painful stuff, to share it, and to do it in a way that worked, and helped out other people, too" (275). Not only was stand-up a way to relate to an audience, it was cathartic for Haddish, as she shared her stories and emotions, and got to feel that she was not alone. Since her earliest days performing stand-up comedy, she knew, at the "core of [her] being," that she was meant to be onstage making people laugh (144). She merged a lifelong dream with a necessary coping mechanism, and worldwide fame...