SFA_Danielle Perez: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

SFA_Danielle Perez: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Missy Modell:
Welcome to Sorry for Apologizing. I'm your host, Missy Modell: activist, strategist, and recovering chronic apologizer. In this podcast, we'll explore all of the ways women have been conditioned by society to play small. Whether it's being expected to have children, tolerate chronic pain, or accept gender inequities from orgasms to paychecks. This season, we'll work to challenge the cultural beliefs that brought us here and discuss all of the reasons why we should be asking for forgiveness rather than permission. It is time to stop apologizing.

Missy Modell:
You may have come across this article a little while back. It was pretty controversial. It was produced by Vanity Fair, from the British journalist Christopher Hitchens. It was titled Why Women Can't Be Funny. In it, he claimed that women didn't have the motivation to be funny because they didn't need to employ humor in order to attract the opposite sex. I found this very odd and very sad, so I wanted to dig deeper. Welcome to today's episode! I am so excited! I have on an old friend who I haven't seen in many, many years. Danielle Perez is a comedian, a writer, and an actor. She's in the upcoming Dicks: The Musical, coming out on A24. You may have seen her on Comedy Central, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or even The Price Is Right. She's a disability rights advocate who has spoken out on the importance of diversity in comedy, and she is here to talk to all of us today. Hi, Danielle!

Danielle Perez:
Hey, it's so good to see you, Missy.

Missy Modell:
I feel like that should just be every time you walk in a door, that is your intro.

Danielle Perez:
Oh my God, can you imagine trumpets blaring? Oh my gosh.

Missy Modell:
I think you deserve it.

Danielle Perez:
You know, it's one of those things where it's like in my heart of hearts, I wish, but I'm like, no, absolutely not. That'd be, that'd be so bananas. I could not.

Missy Modell:
But also, but also important. So we'll discuss how to like start integrating that into the day-to-day.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah.

Missy Modell:
But today is a really interesting conversation. We're talking about women and comedy, and you are the perfect person to talk about this with because you're a woman, and you're in comedy, and you're freaking hilarious. And I just have so many questions about what it's like.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, no, I'm a woman in comedy. So that means I speak for all women in comedy. I'm the authority on women in comedy because I am one.

Missy Modell:
You are, and there's this like, I don't know, there's this obvious stereotype that women aren't funny and all this stuff, and that's, I want to get into like the crux of that today. And I just want to start, obviously, with the Sigmund Freud reference, because what else would I talk about?

Danielle Perez:
Comedy. Let's get into it. Let's see what Sigmund Freud has to say.

Missy Modell:
The comedian himself. He actually had a medical explanation of the idea that women aren't funny in his book, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. So he stated it was physiologically impossible for women to be funny because of the way their wires, or the way, because of the way their brains were structured. What's your like gut reaction to this?

Danielle Perez:
Oh my God, Husky brains making us, it's so funny to me that it's like you're going to, just so silly. It's like, what a silly man going to these great lengths to prove that women are, it's so bonkers. I just think it's adorable.

Missy Modell:
It's cute.

Danielle Perez:
It's adorable that he's using his, I don't know, like.

Missy Modell:
It's a lot to process, I know.

Danielle Perez:
I guess it's just like, hasn't most of Freud kind of been disproven? It's like, I don't know enough about like psychology, like I guess in terms of like the, I know a lot about it in practice, but going to one. But you know, in terms of like how that science was developed, right? So I'm just kind of like, I don't even, I just don't even know what kind of like empirical evidence, like be able to it just feels like someone using these calculations to prove something when it's like, but the calculations are wrong. Like, how do you prove the calculations are wrong?

Missy Modell:
I mean. Also, another, I did like a big deep dive on this, and it was like really interesting what I came across. But as early as, sorry, as recently as 2007, a British journalist, Christopher Hitchens, wrote an article in Vanity Fair called Why Women Can't Be Funny, and he claims that women don't have the motivation to be funny because they don't need to employ humor in order to attract the opposite sex.

Danielle Perez:
He's dead, like Christopher Hitchens, is dead. Do you know what I'm saying? Literally, I, God, when I was like very early in comedy, this company that is like started by a woman, she has a production company, and she, or I didn't meet with her, but the people hired to kind of get the work done brought me in and were like, we want to have a show, and we want to call it Women Aren't Funny, and we want you to respond to this Christopher Hitchens article. And it's like, and I was like, the man is dead. And I'm like, you respond to that by being funny. It just kind of Lucille Bluth. I don't acknowledge the question, and I refuse to answer it. Yeah, it's not you by acknowledging that, like, this is something that should be treated with like seriousness is already like the problem.

Missy Modell:
It's so true. No, you're absolutely right. And I feel like.

Danielle Perez:
I was just so, I was just, I kind of just looked at them and was like, you can't be serious, right? And they had sent me the article or whatever beforehand, and I was, oh my God, you really want me to pitch on this? I was like, no, what? You just tell jokes like.

Missy Modell:
Right. It's also like a very, I mean.

Danielle Perez:
It just seems so like one-on-one, and it's like, oh my God, I don't know, maybe it just is like, I don't think it's a conversation anyone's having anymore. Like if someone's like actually, like, and this is 2007, that's 16 years ago-ish.

Missy Modell:
I'm not good at math, but yeah, that sounds right.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, you know what I mean? That's a long time ago. It's over a decade ago, right?

Missy Modell:
It's true.

Danielle Perez:
It's just like, I don't really think an idea or a concept people actively think, or it's not a conversation people are having anymore. You know, I think it's really more about representation and like, including more women in the conversation, right? It's like we have huge like Ali Wong, Miss Pat, Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and we have these huge female touring comedian acts. But I think, you know, most of them are white, so how do we include women of color in that?

Missy Modell:
It's so true.

Danielle Perez:
Women like disabled women. You know what I mean? Like the full spectrum of women. I think it's more about that, and like those barriers.

Missy Modell:
And I feel like even the recent narrative is, you know, it used to be maybe white, maybe men are assumed to be funny when, must prove they're funny. But maybe it's like the next layer is like white women are assumed to be funny and everyone else has to prove they're funny. Is that kind of how that feels?

Danielle Perez:
If people believe that women aren't funny, I don't think it's something like they're comfortable saying out loud anymore. Like, at least that's where we've progressed, where it's just kind of out of fashion thought or idea, or at least one that you should be embarrassed about because it's just not, it's not where we are culturally.

Missy Modell:
Completely. And I know.

Danielle Perez:
... Beyond that.

Missy Modell:
It is. And I know it's an annoying conversation to even have, but it's funny because in my personal experience, and I don't know if you've experienced this, but I have friends that are also in like the parody comedy musical political space, which is like super niche, and I've experienced a lot of backlash about my looks, how I'm not funny, and they're not getting that feedback. So I don't know if that's something you've experienced and it's not, yeah, it's like there's more of a lens and microscope on every word, every joke. It's not this, it's not that, and a lot of my male peers have not really experienced that depth of criticism.

Danielle Perez:
Sure. I think what a lot of that criticism is, and I mean, it's the same thing with like female comedians putting out like a clip online and like the comments. You know what I mean? Whether it's like on TikTok, on YouTube, on Instagram Reels, whatever, I think people will be not funny, not funny, like those are usually very common comments, but I think more than anything, it's just misogyny. Like that's what's happening. And then, like, saying not funny is the way that it's like being executed. Saying someone's not funny is a really easy way to take a shot at someone, because you don't really have to prove, like, how do you prove that, right? Like, what's, it's like saying, you know, not hot, not hot, not hot or whatever. It's just like a cheap shot, a cheap way to take out someone.

Missy Modell:
It's true.

Danielle Perez:
Also, literally and with different kinds of like online targeted harassment campaigns, it's just about the bombardment, negative comments, and negative actions taken towards the person. So I think it's really more about misogyny in general than actively really believing in your heart of hearts that women aren't funny.

Missy Modell:
I think that's 100% right.

Danielle Perez:
... It takes. Yeah.

Missy Modell:
How do you find that it might express itself in comedy spaces, misogyny, or just in general being a creative?

Danielle Perez:
Yeah. I mean.

Missy Modell:
Like question.

Danielle Perez:
Right, right? Easy, breezy, no big deal. I think a lot of it is just in the inequity, right? You look at lineups, and it's mostly men, maybe women, you look at major calendars, or you look at calendars for like major clubs right across the country, like clubs, and you look at their, who their headlining acts are coming, and it's mostly men. And I think also there's this thing I started in LA, I came up in LA and I really thought, things have changed so much because of the internet and the way that it works. But when I started, I started like nine years ago, so it was still like a late night set was really important. You kind of you got late-night set, and then you got maybe a Comedy Central half-hour, and it's like you're a touring working comedian, right? And so now you're going to be able to do weekends at all the major clubs. And now the internet has changed that, so you can create your own audience online, which I think is really helpful. But like, even with that old kind of model, you're subscribing to like gatekeepers, or your success is ascribed to gatekeepers. So if you do all these things, right, you have the credits to show for it. Women are still at the mercy of bookers who have run their club for how many years? You know what I mean? 30, 40, 50 years. These are old men, and there's a lot of time, there's like old women too, but older people with these older thoughts and ideas that they've been operating under and have had success with. If you've been in business 30 plus years and this is the way you've always done it, why are you going to change it? So I think that you kind of, the glass ceiling kind of vibe, that would definitely happen. But I think really granular level, like if you're starting comedy for me, like I started in LA and I'm Afro-Latina, I'm Dominican, I'm born and raised in LA, I'm disabled, I use a wheelchair, I started comedy, I was pretty confident. And, you know, I started when I was 30, so it wasn't like I was some young like, shy little girl, but it was just like, all right, I have a life, I have friends, I have people that I hang out with. I have a life outside of this, and I'm coming to this because I'm excited about it, but I had real culture shock. I was in rooms with straight white men, like, just oftentimes the only woman, more often than not the only Latina. So I was just like, where are the queer people? Where, you know, where are the people that I usually hang out with? Where are the people that I usually, you know, find comfort in and are the norm for me. And I was just that, I'm in Los Angeles, right? So it's like I've grown around diversity. So now I'm in these like super straight white male spaces, and it's like, I don't hang out with kind of people, and I have to make them laugh. Like they have to think I'm funny in order to get booked on the shows that they run. Because open mics in LA, only comedians go to them, you don't get real audience. It's only other comics. So you're starting out working your jokes in front of only other comics. So the other comics don't think you're funny. You're not going to be respected and like booked on any shows. So it just kind of this you have to figure out how to work in those in those situations, in those environments.

Missy Modell:
And do you feel like that's even more pressure to perform in front of that kind of audience versus just like a typical audience?

Danielle Perez:
I think it makes you better, honestly. I think that, and I mean, this is a little more, LA comics versus starting another scenes. I think there's pros and cons to it. I think that you have to get better faster in LA, if you start because, again, you're around only other comics at these open mics and also the shows that you're on, you're performing in front of touring acts like major names, because it's Los Angeles, and everyone lives in LA, and all roads lead to LA. So very early on, you could be performing in front of people that you're like, oh my God, I grew up watching you, and I idolize you and blah blah blah. And first impressions matter, right? They stay in your head. And so, you know, you don't want to suck in front of someone you've admired, but being able to work in front of real people that are giving genuine feedback, right, laughing, just want to enjoy a night out and getting to get really good at that in relative anonymity, right? Another in a smaller city or scene, you gain a lot of other really great skills. You get to develop a longer chunks because you don't have to worry about three-minute open mics. You can work on crowd work because not everyone in the audience is like, I am industry or like I work in the entertainment industry. They're real people, you know? So there's it's just a different, you get pros and cons.

Missy Modell:
It's true. Like that, that's my takeaway. No, it's it's wild. Like, I can't even imagine. Also, I feel like comedy oddly is an under-spoken about space that is quite male-dominated. Like, I feel like people don't even realize. It's almost like assumed.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah. Oh, that's interesting.

Missy Modell:
Versus like a challenge to it. Like if you think comedy immediately like, by the way, Ali Wong is one of my favorite comedians of all, she's fucking amazing. But I feel like the average person you hear comedian, it's like Will Ferrell, white men.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, they think, yeah, they list a lot of Chappelle or like a bunch of other like white men. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree with that. That like, yeah, the default is like this guy in front of a brick wall, right? Yeah.

Missy Modell:
How do you challenge it?

Danielle Perez:
Do comedy. You know what I mean? I don't know. I guess the thing is, I just, I don't think about. I get well in comedy, right? I also act, I also write. So I'm pursuing all the, you know, multi-hyphenate, pursuing all these different creative endeavors. It doesn't make me funnier to think about all the people that got things that I think I deserved. Do you know what I mean? Like, that doesn't make me funnier. Writing jokes does. Getting up on stage does. Owning and working my craft does. Living a life so that I have, like, things to talk about and comment on does. So it's just like it's not, I understand that these like systems are at play, and I think that I have been able to kind of function without having to, you know, no one's ever been like, you can't do this show because you're a woman, you know, no one's ever, like, come up and told me to my face, yeah, but I'm not, like, naive to how, like, the world works and how, like, you know, just misogyny and the patriarchy is, like, permeated the entertainment industry and stand-up comedy, doesn't serve me to dwell on it like all I can do keep showing up, keep doing my best. And I think to a degree it's like, go where I'm celebrated, right? Where are they putting me up? Why do I want to keep banging on this door? That isn't going to open for me, hasn't really historically been open to me. Why don't I go create my own space? When I first started stand-up, I started with my bestie Madison Shepherd, and she comes from theater. She's black, she's a woman. So, you know, for her, there was already a model in it in theater where it's like already the stage, very white, right, right? White, male-dominated. So it's like, if we want our own opportunities, if we want to be able to like, perform the work we want to do, we do our own DIY theater troupe situation. And so she was like, we got to start a show. So immediately, I started stand-up. I started to show we were able to book some really great people, and right off the bat got Danielle Radford, who at the time had just moved from Seattle. So she was like a comic moving to LA with like a lot of buzz, and so we were able to create the lineups that we wanted to see. Back then, when we started gentrification, we were really focused on, you know, it was a diversity showcase, and now the idea of a diversity showcase just seems like you mean just a show. Even in like these, like nine years that I've been doing comedy, like the culture has shifted so much where you expect that. If I see a lineup that isn't inclusive, I'm kind of just like, that's weird.

Missy Modell:
It's not relatable. That's not like.

Danielle Perez:
It's like, who wants to see that? It feels really like, Stone Age. Who are these? Just seems a bunch of old, catered to old. It's not like where things have moved, and it's not where things are moving. So it just seems they're not really in touch.

Missy Modell:
They are not. So you have an incredible story that I know you've shared a bunch, but I would love for people that haven't heard.

Danielle Perez:
I think, I think I do. I think I have an inkling.

Missy Modell:
Do you want to? What do you think it is?

Danielle Perez:
Oh my God, that time I won a treadmill on The Price is Right?

Missy Modell:
Yeah, let's go. I want to get into it, and you're laughing. Why is that funny? Like what? Yeah. Like what was that? Tell us what happened.

Danielle Perez:
Kind of a little funny because I use a wheelchair and don't have feet, and so, the video went viral. Like the day the episode aired, I literally got a call from my friend who was living in Macedonia on study doing study abroad. Straight up, I got a phone call from her, and she was like, what is going on? I was like, girl, it's crazy because, like, I, you know, I'm in LA, and The Price is Right, it airs on TV, but it had already aired on East Coast Central. So by the time I was watching it, which was still like morning, you know, midday, all these people had already seen it. And like the, the internet had started to do its thing. But I was literally, I was like number one on Reddit, trending on Twitter. Yeah, number one on Twitter and Reddit in the same day. It was absolutely insane. Literally, I was interviewed by People magazine, by CNN. I was interviewed by the BBC. Like this was an international story. People were losing their minds. We were like, Drew Carey must answer for these mad people were like writing articles, being mad at Drew Carey, and then people were writing articles in defense of Drew Carey. It's like why she had to win the treadmill. It was bananas. What was it actually like for you? It was honestly, it was, I think it was all that wild. I was with like my friend, my friend Wendy Starling. She's a great comedian in New York, but she was moving, it was when she was moving to New York. So she wanted to do all these things. And she had a bunch of her family because she's from Long Beach. So they came up, and they were all wearing like matching shirts, but I didn't, she had ran out of shirts. And so like, I just like wore her like, merch shirt. So we're like an.

Missy Modell:
Amazing publicity.

Danielle Perez:
Very great. I know the guy who designed the shirt. He does the he does the illustrations. He's a dope tattoo artist and illustrator. And of course, I can't remember his name, but he does like all the flyers for Chatterbox in Covina, which is a great stand-up comedy show every Sunday. But so you're in line, everyone gets in line, and everyone who is in line for the show is interviewed by the casting people, and they come up to you, and they just ask you questions, but you don't really know what they're going to ask you. Like, you can kind of see like, oh, they're asking where they're from. They're asking what they do. They're asking, they're just asking everyone kind of a different question to get the feel for them. And so he's coming down the line to us, and he asks me where I'm from, and I was like, LA. He's like, oh, you're a valley girl. I was like, for sure. I was like, totally. I was just like having a blast. Like I was just there hanging out with my friend. Like, I truly, you know, I like The Price Is Right. But did I wake up every day just waiting to get my dose of Bob Barker? Some people do, but there was a woman I was in line with. This woman had like, I think she'd been to like six tapings and like, just wanted to get on stage, and it was like, oh, no, yeah, this is her life. Yeah, it's her life goal. And we finished the interview, he goes down the line to everyone, and then someone comes up to me and is like, if your name is called, just follow the person in the red jacket. I was like, okay. And everyone in my group was like, oh my God, oh my God, you're getting it. And I was like, I think, like they're just saying that to be nice because I'm like in a wheelchair. Like, I think they're just like, let's make sure not to exclude her.

Missy Modell:
Oh my god.

Danielle Perez:
But like, at every point in the moving us through the studio because they have like different holding areas, someone would always come up to me, like if someone comes up to you, just follow the person in the red jacket, and I was like, okay. So we sit down and everyone gets a nametag because every person could potentially be picked from the audience. And they gave me a new nametag because I guess mine was torn and I had put it in the middle of my chest. So they're like, you have to put it on your left shoulder. And I was like, okay. And then they're like, and move your hair out of the way. And I was like, okay. And then the show started, and they were like, yo, come on down.

Missy Modell:
Stop it.

Danielle Perez:
I was the first name called Down to Contestants Row.

Missy Modell:
No.

Danielle Perez:
It was the first name called down to Contestants Row. I played the entire game. I was there the whole episode, and I got on stage the final game on Contestants Row. But the thing that they didn't show on TV is we had to play that game twice because everyone overbid. And I guess that's a rule. If everyone overbids on contestants row, they got to do the game again, but they don't show it on TV. So we did it, the very last game, I got up there, and they announcer said, you're playing for a treadmill and a walk-in sauna, and people lost their goddamn minds because I won that treadmill.

Missy Modell:
Like, do you still have it?

Danielle Perez:
I do, it's in a box in my living room.

Missy Modell:
In a box?

Danielle Perez:
It's still in the box.

Missy Modell:
What?

Danielle Perez:
Because I was like, oh my God, I have this. Okay, well, so what happened was, because you don't get the prizes right away, they have like 90 days to give it to you. But like from when the episode airs, right? So I shot this like in March and I was like, oh my God, this is so silly. And I, you know, did a few shows around town and sets around town like open mics and stuff, just kind of like joking about this treadmill and kind of just thought, I just really thought I was like, oh, this is going to be something like me and my comedian friends laugh about because it's silly. But then the episode aired on Cinco de Mayo and went viral. And then all of a sudden, all these people are calling me Jimmy Kimmel's production team got in contact with me, brought me on, had me on as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! And so I was like, now, you know.

Missy Modell:
It was like life-changing.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, it was. And this was like six months into me doing stand-up. So it was pretty wild. It was great. I was like me talking to like, Kimmel's producers. I'm a standup, and they're like, sure you are, honey. Like they're like, that's adorable. You're a real person, and you won this.

Missy Modell:
Oh my God. That's insane.

Danielle Perez:
Totally wild. But so now I have the treadmill, and it's still in a box because I'm going to get back on Jimmy Kimmel, promote something, so knock on wood, we're going to auction off that treadmill. We're going to have Drew Carey there. That's on the vision board.

Missy Modell:
That's absolutely brilliant. What would you auction it for?

Danielle Perez:
Have a show. And Jimmy Kimmel like, comes and we and Drew Carey comes and we auction off the charity for auction off the treadmill for charity. One of the two, but I'd love to be back on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Missy Modell:
Jimmy, if you're listening, you know what to do.

Danielle Perez:
You know how to reach me.

Missy Modell:
I mean, that's just like a perfect, like absolute, it's a perfect story. It just is amazing. And I feel like the fact that it's like part of your initial foray into comedy is so unreal.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, no, I mean. You're just one of those things. It's like, who would have, I need to write something like that is just like, you know.

Missy Modell:
They'd be like, that's not even. It's too far off. Like, you can't even write that. How important is comedy for you in terms of just processing life? Because, you know, so many comedians pull from their own experiences. Do you feel like you've used it and use it to process to, or like, what is it to you? I guess, is the question.

Danielle Perez:
I think, I mean, I think for me, like comedy has been life-saving, honestly, because it's just given me a purpose. It's given me a career, a life like it gives me goals. I have real drive and purpose because of comedy, but in terms of using it to process life, I early on in stand-up, I took a class with Margot Lightman. She's an amazing storyteller, and she was like, don't tell stories on stage that you haven't processed. This isn't your therapy time. Go to therapy and figure out your shit. But your job on stage is to entertain, right? And so I kind of really use that as a marker. Yes, I've lived through some things, and sometimes right away I want to I'm like, oh my God, I have to like get this out. I have to write about this. I have to get on stage and talk about this because I've just experienced this thing. But sometimes I think with a lot of the maybe older traumas or older things that I've lived through takes more time to really talk about them or talk about them in a way that, like, is valuable and funny and not just, well, you're just sharing deep wounds, you know, it's.

Missy Modell:
But that's.

Danielle Perez:
You know what I mean? Because, like, I want to be funny. Like, that's the thing, I do want to be funny, and I don't just dramatize an audience. And so, but also, I don't want to retraumatize myself by like, digging into excavating something that I haven't worked through.

Missy Modell:
And I think that's just so important because with anything, if you haven't fully processed it, it's you're kind of like figuring it out with the audience and like, I don't know, it doesn't feel like a very productive journey.

Danielle Perez:
And some people can do that. I think some people really, I love Tig Notaro's set, like, "I have cancer," like I think that is incredible, but I think that's also such a testament to like her skill as a comedian, like her ability to just to be in touch and to walk that line, right? I think that, yeah, that comes with being seasoned and knowing yourself.

Missy Modell:
And even in terms of just testing out material in general, I think you referenced it earlier, but just the idea that you have the ability to be DIY and can create your own things, you don't need to have the gatekeepers at your beck and call anymore, like, or you don't need them. Do you feel like social media has become a good place, or is it toxic? What is your? I know it's yeah, what is your relationship with social media when it comes to testing out material at all? Do you like it? Do you hate it?

Danielle Perez:
Social media. Social media is like very interesting. And I have a very, I don't even know if it's love-hate. I think it's more just hate-hate.

Missy Modell:
I understand.

Danielle Perez:
Social media, I think, and I was talking to a friend, and I think like we kind of like stumbled upon, like figuring it out. I was like, oh, the reason I don't, some people really like social media, and some people like performing for social media. I like performing on stage. I like where my act is on stage. There's like that division between audience and performer, right? I'm in charge of the room, in charge of the energy. I'm holding the microphone. I'm in control. I really, really like that. On social media, I think what's frustrating for me is that you're performing a character of yourself where it's like, hey guys, what's up? Come with me. I don't want to perform my authentic self. Do you know what I'm saying?

Missy Modell:
100%.

Danielle Perez:
I want to just, like, be my authentic self, and I want to be that around my friends. And so it's like, okay, well, if I'm just like sharing stuff as if it's my friends, but it's still under this magnascope where like, all these other people now have like a peek in, and I know that fills me with dread and anxiety. So much anxiety, right? Because now you have like hard data and hard numbers of how many people liked it and how many people commented. That is a trap to feel bad.

Missy Modell:
So what do you do? What's your approach currently?

Danielle Perez:
I've been awful. My, things have like very much changed because of the strike. Because I'm not, I haven't been able to promote things that I've been in. So no, I can't, I can promote Dicks, because it's produced by A24, amazing studio that has signed the interim agreement so I can promote Dicks, which is out September 29th and stars Megan Thee Stallion. I bet you know, because of the strike, like I just haven't, things have been very, you know, WGA and SAG, it's just been ... So I don't know I think like for me okay. Yeah, I'm like sorry, I like had a brain fart. I was like, oh, this is why I mentioned because of the strike. So my kind of general rule is if I have something that I need to promote, I'll use it, so keeping it mostly like work-based. So it's like I was in this show or I was in this movie, and so it's, I'm sharing those things, and I'm posting those pictures, but I don't, footage and footage, the like material that I have like stand-up material, those are from sets that I've like, done for like Comedy Central. So it's all like work that I've done that's been produced, television and film format, right? So which is like the medium I want to work in, I really enjoy that. Not to say that I don't like doing other forms of media, but I don't want to be the one to produce it, if that makes sense.

Missy Modell:
Totally.

Danielle Perez:
Because you're doing front-facing camera videos or doing like your own sketches on for TikTok, and you're producing that, and I don't know if I want to do all that. It's a lot of work, and I don't know if I want to do that for film and television. And granted, I know the argument that it's a second screen. I mean, I guess the thing is, it's like it's very complicated, but some people really enjoy it and love it and have found great success in it. I know, like Robin Tran has really been able to make a name for herself through TikTok, where she's able to tour and people come out. I mean, like, that's the thing, if you like using social media and you're able to, like, be successful with it. I mean, Matt Rife, like he's touring the world for the next two years, selling out everywhere as his social media numbers are off the charts. But, and also it's, he has those numbers, he has that mailing list, right? He's able to get people to sign up so that when he shares something, it's going directly to his fan. You're not beholden to a club that's like, oh, we're selling tickets. So we're collecting the emails. Can I have access to that? Because you're using my name to promote it.

Missy Modell:
You know? Yeah. It was just wonder because, like with creatives, you initially like with actors and musicians like you before social media, like you didn't have to worry about that. You cultivated your audience in real life. And now there's like, literally another full-time job put on your shoulders. So I just.

Danielle Perez:
Yeah.

Missy Modell:
Yeah, so I just wonder, like, what is the relationship and does it affect you and?

Danielle Perez:
Yeah, I think I mean, yeah, again, I think like everyone's relationship to it is so different and I'm bringing like my own experiences to it and my own kind of thoughts and feelings about it to it, but it is just a lot. And I think that comedians who can be really served by it or not at this point, it's like we know enough about like the algorithm that like if you feed it videos every day, like it will boost your stuff up, whatever. Like things like that. Granted, they're always kind of changing it, but the more you interact with it, the more that it will favor you. So if you're an older comedian who has albums out of comedy, has taped footage of you performing these albums, just like, cut that up and then like, put it in the algorithm and now an act who maybe, you know, was doing fine on the road can now get a real fan base, like riled up and excited to the point where they're like requesting them at different venues, you know, or maybe they're able to play theaters instead of just stand up clubs. Like, I think there's like huge benefits to people that maybe have been disenfranchised, for sure, like queer acts, women, people of color, like they're able to reach their communities, and the people that are excited for them are going to show up for them. And I think that's great, but I think, like, you genuinely have to, like, be excited about it, right? Like if someone put a gun to my head and said I had to perform on stage and I hated performing on stage, that's going to be really shitty. You don't need to put a gun to my head to get me to perform on stage, because I love it. But getting me to like film ten TikToks for the algorithm.

Missy Modell:
Nah.

Danielle Perez:
Just shoot me like I'm right. Like it's just not what I'm excited about.

Missy Modell:
What would be your best piece of advice for somebody who wants to get into comedy and feels scared, or doesn't know how to trust their voice? What's something that's helped you?

Danielle Perez:
Just like, go to an open mic, any open mic, and watch, and you will see most of the people aren't funny. Some people will be funny, and you're probably funnier than those people who aren't funny.

Missy Modell:
The title of this podcast is Sorry for Apologizing. So we always wrap up with what are you sorry for apologizing for?

Danielle Perez:
Oh my God, I'm sorry for apologizing for, I was going to say being disabled, but it's a real sorry not sorry.

Missy Modell:
Yes.

Danielle Perez:
Sorry not sorry. No, I mean, it's just it's, I'm not going to apologize for, and then it stopped. Yeah, so now we're good. Yeah.

Missy Modell:
Okay.

Danielle Perez:
I think we'll be fine.

Missy Modell:
Okay. Oh, no. Okay. Where were we?

Danielle Perez:
Oh, yeah. What are you sorry for? And I'm like.

Missy Modell:
Yeah, what are you sorry for apologizing for?

Danielle Perez:
Sorry for apologizing for being disabled. But it's real sorry not sorry. Sorry you have to think about disabled people now that you know me and that I have accessibility needs. And having good intentions isn't enough as like actually making spaces accessible and thinking about disabled people and how they're going to be able to access your space or just get around.

Missy Modell:
Thank you so much. You're amazing.

Danielle Perez:
Thank you.

Missy Modell:
Where can we find you?

Danielle Perez:
Oh my gosh, you can find me online where I'm like actively struggling with social media, Divadelux? No E at the end, but on Instagram and Twitter. Still calling it Twitter despite whatever that.

Missy Modell:
Yeah, I refuse.

Danielle Perez:
Emerald, Emerald mind air-like things. Whatever he does. Yeah, yeah.

Missy Modell:
Well, thank you so much for coming on, and thank you to everyone who has listened, please share this podcast episode with people that you think will find it funny, and interesting, and compelling, and please follow Danielle and don't forget to rate and subscribe. So thank you so much.

Danielle Perez:
Bye!

Missy Modell:
Bye!

Missy Modell:
Thank you for listening to Sorry for Apologizing, brought to you by Rescripted. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about our amazing guests. To stay in the know, follow me at @MissyModell on Instagram and TikTok, or head to Rescripted.com, and don't forget to like and subscribe!

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