In the past year, comedian Amy Schumer has been seemingly everywhere. With a hit show on Comedy Central, regular appearances on late night shows and now successful movie in Trainwreck, Schumer isn’t afraid to take comedy where many haven’t dared to go.
If you’re like me and didn’t know much about Amy until recently, she grew up in Manhattan with parents who owned a baby furniture store. Her sister is also in comedy as a writer and producer, and her brother is a musician in Chicago. Amy got her start in Broadway but eventually made her way to stand-up comedy in 2004.
Aside from her background, here are some of the reasons why she’s becoming the voice of an entire gender.
She ignored Lucasfilm and Disney
Under parody laws, Schumer was allowed to pose in GQ’s Comedy Issue alongside Star Wars characters. When some fans complained, Disney let it be known they did not approve. And Schumer couldn’t have cared less.
She accurately describes dating in 2015
“Do you dress him like that so no one else wants to have sex with him?”
She’s not afraid to tackle controversial topics
Comedy is here to bring laughter to sensitive subjects such as Bill Cosby. And like any comedian, she turned the headline story into a comedy sketch.
Her speeches can be incredibly inspiring
All jokes aside, Schumer gave a speech at the Gloria Awards and Gala event and it’s nothing short of brilliant. Here’s a snippet:
“I want to throw my hands in the air, after reading a mean Twitter comment, and say, “All right! You got it. You figured me out. I’m not pretty. I’m not thin. I do not deserve to use my voice. I’ll start wearing a burqa and start waiting tables at a pancake house. All my self-worth is based on what you can see.” But then I think, Fuck that. I am not laying in that freshman year bed anymore ever again. I am a woman with thoughts and questions and shit to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and fuck and love and I will never apologize to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it. I stand here and I am amazing, for you. Not because of you. I am not who I sleep with. I am not my weight. I am not my mother. I am myself. And I am all of you, and I thank you.”
