After her seven-year run on late-night show “Chelsea Lately,” audiences wouldn’t see Chelsea Handler return to stand-up comedy for another six years. While visiting “Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out,” Handler surprised the host by calling the absence an unforced error.
“Big mistake,” Handler said.
“Really?” Birbiglia exclaimed. “I thought you were going to say that it was a great idea!”
“No, now I think about that, and I’m like, wow, it would’ve been better to just keep the ball rolling and get my shit together,” Handler replied. “In those six years, I got my shit together in a huge way, but I didn’t need to take that long of a break, and it affected – I had to regrow my audience, and so I wish I hadn’t done that.”
You can watch the interview clip below.
After hosting “The Chelsea Handler Show” for two seasons starting in 2006, Handler continued her relationship with E! by launching “Chelsea Lately” in 2007. “Chelsea Lately” ran for seven seasons, a half-hour late-night comedy show. The show gave the stand-up comic the opportunity to perform in front of a crowd multiple times a week through her cold opens.
Shortly after “Chelsea Lately” ended its run in 2014, however, Handler took a break from stand-up. Despite working on numerous Netflix documentaries and other projects, Handler would not air a stand-up special until “Chelsea Handler: Evolution” premiered on HBO Max in Oct. 2020.
This year, Handler released her Netflix special “Chelsea Handler: The Feeling” and her book “I’ll Have What She’s Having.” She also hosted the Critics’ Choice Awards back in February.
Birbiglia commiserated by sharing that he’s been on a break for three months since his last stand-up special, to which Handler said, “Oh, that’s nothing.” In fact, Handler said taking a break can be important for stand-up comics to maintain their craft.
“It is interesting, because I think you do experience feelings,” Birbiglia said.
“Well, you have to have a life, also,” Handler responded. “You have to experience life, and I think the thing with comedians that I have definitely seen is that it can be all-consuming. That’s not how it is for me. It does not consume me. I do not need to be onstage. I’m perfectly happy off-stage, and I’m happy onstage. Now, I have such an equilibrium about it that I’m sharper, smarter and calmer than I’ve ever been in my life when I’m on stage.”
“But the time off is as important as the time on.”
