Ophira Eisenberg

Ophira Eisenberg is a standup and writer, and was the host of NPR’s Ask Me Another. She now hosts Parenting Is a Joke. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Parenting Is a Joke on Twitter here.

You’re a Moth host, stand-up comedian, and have been the host of two different podcasts—one live, one an interview series. Which is your favorite kind of hosting to do?
Each one appeals to a different part of my personality. Standup has that immediacy that is so addictive and the job is pretty singular - you’re there solely to make people laugh. Plus you can really mess and banter with people in the audience. When I host storytelling shows, like the Moth, you get this incredible audience that hangs on every word, you can be more descriptive with your piece, alternate between funny and serious, and provide that satisfying narrative arc. Inbetween storytellers, as a host, you need to figure out how to shift the mood from wherever the last storyteller left the audience back to neutral, which I find to be a very fun challenge. With hosting a podcast - I have the opportunity to get really intimate. Since it’s a 1 to 1 listening arrangement, it feels more like I’m admitting things to a close friend than a performance, which is also very satisfying.

Describe Parenting Is a Joke in 10 words or less.
True crime meets parenting.

OKAY kidding!!! That’s terrible, sorry.

How about : Comedians in cars getting coffee with kids in the backseat. 

What made you decide you wanted to do it?
I became a parent when my biological clock struck 10pm… and by that I mean I was older! At the time it felt like no one in my standup circle had kids, especially not small kids. However, within a couple of years, that changed. Suddenly every other comic around me was at some stage of making a family. I thought - I have to take advantage of this moment and bring these people together to talk about what this is like! Standup is such a hard career to fit a kid into because of the late night hours, travel, and the whole vibe is single, independent, even rebellious. I want to talk to people with non-traditional lives, careers, hours and choices and find out how they are doing it, and still fostering their creative side.

How is Parenting Is a Joke different from other parenting podcasts?
It’s all for entertainment -  as in I’m offering zero advice, tips, tricks or hack. I am no expert! Just flailing and failing and trying all the time. That’s the perspective I bring to the microphone. Plus the people I’m bringing on the show to talk to are professional comics - so you’re getting both their hilarious take on being a parent, and also their vulnerability side.

How is Parenting Is a Joke different from other things you’ve hosted?
This is the first project I’ve done that is in studio - so I have the luxury of a very controlled environment (as opposed to LIVE where anything can happen - which don’t me get wrong, I do love!) and a very intimate connection to both the comedian I’m talking to and my listeners. It’s really the most casual feeling, like the best (edited) version of talking to someone you are super interested in over a cocktail or caffeine.

Fill in the blank: You will like Parenting Is a Joke if you like ________.
Drinking bourbon under a weighted blanket. Or smart comedy and hearing standup comics talk about their careers and their real lives.

Why are you the perfect host for Parenting Is a Joke?
The simple answer here is that I’m curious and I love connecting with these comedians. I know that I was looking for a funny parenting podcast when I first became a mother, to offset all the advice, and general doom and gloom, just lift me up and make fun of it all. Ao I decided, why don’t I just make that?!

Why were you the perfect host for Ask Me Another?
I think I was born to be a circus ringmaster, and that’s exactly what that job required of me. Also I was never the smartest person on that stage, and I was fine with that!

Why do you think there aren’t so many truly funny parenting podcasts? (Or do you think there are?)
This is a great question! There are a few but not a ton, and honestly I don’t know why. Every parent I’ve every spoken to has said some version of - you can’t make this stuff up, or the material just writes itself. Or they say us parents really need a laugh - so clearly the desire for it is there.

But also the way we talk about being a parent is changing. I think talking about parenting can be so polarizing and people are afraid of being judged, or being seen as a bad or irresponsible parent if they admitted to how they were feeling, or how they were handling things. There is still judgement but it’s so much better as we realized that so many people are going through the same struggle. It’s okay to admit that things are hard, impossible, or that you don’t fit into the perceived notions of “motherhood” or “fatherhood” molds. Few people do and that’s okay. This is the kind of stuff I see comics joking about on stage now and it feels fresh and very funny.

What’s the secret to being a good host?
I truly believe it’s stepping out of the way, as in figuring out how to get the best out of your guests. It’s up to you to create a space that makes it easy for their guests or interviewees to feel comfortable, and enjoy themselves.

When you’re a parent and a comedian, is it hard to NOT make your jokes all about parenting? Is there pressure to try to scale back from the parenting stuff?
At times in standup I’ll see a really young audience in front of me and think, oh god, they’re just going to look at me like I’m their mom and hate me. But then I also think - who cares? This is a universal experience. Someone recently told me they would never put two women back to back on a standup show who talk about being a parent. I challenged them on this - I said well you’ll easily put six 30-yearold white guys all talking about their dicks on a show one after the next and not blink an eye, so why would two women with totally different lives, experiences, and kids be a problem? This is what you have to fight against every single day.

If you were going to start another podcast, your budget is $1M and don’t worry about any of the logistics or whether or not anyone would like it, what would it be?
I want to do a true crime podcast that appeals to those of us who like watching TV shows like The Great British Bakeoff. Basically a FEEL GOOD true crime podcast - so we’d focus on burgularies and heists that end with justice being served, even in an altruistic way. Does this does exist? If so, please point me to it, If not, does someone what to make it with me? Or fund this? PS  I’m considering this digital document a copyright of my idea!

What’s something nobody ever asks you that you wish they would? 
Would you like me to pay for you to have an assistant for a year?

Hahaha. But seriously - make a good podcast is a lot of work. And it should be.

Thanks, Ophira!