Phoebe Robinson is a quadruple threat. The stand-up comedian is a New York Times bestselling author, an actress (hey, Broad City) and the co-creator of hit podcasts 2 Dope Queens (now an HBO special series) and Sooo Many White Guys.
This month, Robinson makes a stop at Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse during her first solo tour. Below, she talks shop.
Tell us about your current tour, “Sorry, Harriet Tubman.”
For those familiar with my books or my podcasts, you know I’m going to dive into slightly more serious issues, like gender and race, but I’m always going to make sure to keep it personal, as well, and talk about things like moving in with my boyfriend, or how we don’t want to have kids. It’s going to be a good mix of highbrow, lowbrow, mediumbrow comedy. It feels like you’re just hanging out with a best friend.
How do you connect to the audience?
No matter what I’m talking about, I always try to come from a personal place. Specificity is always key. When you’re uber-specific, it translates and is universal. Even if you’re not a straight, black woman, if you’re queer, trans, Irish, Jewish, etc. there are still universal themes that we all go through in our lives—crappy apartments, breakups—unifying things that everyone relates to. So, even if I’m talking about something that’s not specific to someone, they can still relate to it on a human level.
What do you hope attendees carry with them after the show?
When people are coming to comedy shows, they’re rushing from work, or they got a babysitter—some people even fly in for the show—and I want to make sure people walk away feeling like they had a really great night and they were able to take their mind off of stuff. I just want people to feel good at the end of the night. // Sept. 5-7; 7:30 p.m.; Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse: 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington; $30-$40
This post originally appeared in our September 2019 issue. Want to know about all the best things to do in NoVA this fall? Subscribe to our semiweekly Things to Do newsletter to stay up to date.
