Alone Growing Up Jewish in Calgary With Comedian Ophira Eisenberg

This week we are joined by Ophira Eisenberg! Ophira Eisenberg is a Standup Comedian, Writer, and Podcast Host (NPR, CBS, CNN, The Moth, HBO, Comedy Central, iHeart) who headlines theaters and comedy venues across the world, tours regularly with the Moth Mainstage, and hosts the weekly parenting-comedy podcast Parenting is a Joke (Webby Finalist for Best Host). Her new comedy special, I Used to Be Nicer produced by Lewis Black/Stark Raving Black Productions is available now. She also hosted NPR’s trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for 9 years. Her breakout memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press) has been optioned for a television series, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars won Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts and just finished a successful European tour. She recently returned from the Just For Laughs festival where she performed her 3rd gala for CBC/Global Television. In this episode, we talk about stand-up, storytelling, and the experiences that shaped Ophira’s comedic voice, covering everything from performance anxiety to Jewish identity and parenthood. Ophira reflects on toggling between her stand-up persona and her public radio storytelling work, how growing up in Calgary shaped her outsider perspective, and why some audiences respond best to specificity and intelligence. The conversation also turns personal, digging into family silence and inherited trauma, and tracing her path from a single weekend comedy workshop to a full-fledged career. Recommendations From This Episode: Here All Along Empire Records Follow Ophira: @ophirae Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.