Andrew Schulz on Interviewing Trump, Embracing Netflix and Finding Comedy in His Fertility Struggles
On paper, everything was going swimmingly for comedian Andrew Schulz.
The New York-reared standup was selling out arenas, including Madison Square Garden (twice), and his “Flagrant” podcast, one of his two pods, was gaining considerable steam. In fact, by October, he’d booked then-presidential nominee Donald Trump as a guest in the all-important lead up to the election. But the hour comedy special that Schulz was readying for Netflix, which officially dropped earlier this week, told a different story.
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The hour, like his last tour, is titled LIFE, and it’s easily his most personal material to date. In it, Schulz shares the painful journey that he and his wife went on to conceive their first child. “It was kind of a crazy thing to do,” he admits now, “the biggest tour of my life, I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll tell a story. I’ve never done that. Yeah, I’ll walk up there in front of 15,000 people and be like, ‘Yo, my sperm doesn’t swim.’ Let’s see how that works out.”
Ultimately, Schulz’s story had a happy ending, as the couple celebrated their daughter’s first birthday last month. He took time away from her to talk about finding humor in their fertility struggles as well as the repercussions of his Trump interview, his frustrations with Hollywood and his adventures in the Joe Rogan “manosphere.”
At what point in your fertility journey did you recognize there was rich comedy material here?
Okay, it was funny at the beginning. I remember the first time we had sex to have a baby. I’d just come back from Burning Man, and I remember my wife being like, “Okay, let’s start.” And I remember there was a little part of me that was like, “That sperm is, like, half Molly, I’d be fine if it didn’t work this month.” That’s what I said to myself, and then you start spiraling. What if the kid ended up being a serial killer? Is it because I’m doing fucking crazy drugs at Burning Man? So, that was the first time, but then when it didn’t work for a few months, I started talking on stage about what a lie it all is. This idea or “Just practice safe sex” and all this other stuff that they tell you that I was terrified about my whole life. I just felt like I had wasted so much stress throughout my life.
This was presumably before you realized you had any issues with fertility?
Yeah, at this point, I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with my sperm. As a dude, you’re so fucking arrogant, you can’t imagine there could be anything wrong with it. This is how arrogant I was: the night before we both got checked, I prayed it was my fault because I didn’t want my wife to deal with the heartbreak. She was already telling me her theories. She’d be like, “I had my laptop on my stomach when I’d watch movies as a kid and that fucking zapped my ovaries.” And then I remember the doctor telling us that hers were perfect and that my sperm sucks. Even that was a funny moment because I was like, “Oh God, of all the things that I’ve prayed for in my life, the amount of snow days when I didn’t have my homework done, this is the one you answer?!
It seems almost cruel.
Yeah. So, there was that first stage where it was just kind of funny to talk about how hard it is to get pregnant and how we’ve all been lied to. It was funny to go on stage and just be like, “Yo, you’re not going to get pregnant. It’s bullshit. It’s propaganda from big condom or something.” And then when I found out it was me, and it was like, “Ohhh fuck.” But I just started talking about that on stage, too, and the weirdest thing would happen. There would be these guys who’d come up to me after a show and they’d be, like, firemen, like fucking guys’ guys, and they’d be like, “Hey man, that was really funny stuff.” I was like, “Oh, thanks man.” “Yeah, I really liked that, man. I’m glad you’re talking about that.”
And that surprised you?
Well, at first, they wouldn’t say that they went through it. But the amount of people that would message me, it was wild, and I started to go, wait a minute, are people having trouble getting pregnant? You got to understand, I didn’t know that this was an issue at all. Like, it wasn’t just an issue for me and my wife. But the number of DMs I’d get, I was like, wow, is this the last thing that people are uncomfortable talking about? The last taboo thing? And I get it, it’s so painful.
You ended up filming the special at The Beacon in New York, but you initially planned to do so at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). What happened there?
It was supposed to be at BAM. And then, I don’t know, everything seemed fine, and then we had Trump on the pod, and then they were like, “We talked to the board…” And … yeah.
Was that the only fallout from having Trump on?
Well, I think the negative of getting involved in anything like politics or religion is that you’re either a hero or a villain.
And sometimes both at the same time. Depending on one’s political leaning, your interview was either a version of, “Trump was charismatic and crushed it” or “He’s a buffoon and Schultz laughed in his face.”
Both were clipping the same thing! The Kamala team and the Trump team were clipping the exact same clips.
With completely different perspectives on what they were communicating with said clips.
It’s like American culture in a microcosm, when you think about it. There’s that saying, you have to see it to believe it, when in reality, you have to believe it to see it. That’s the Rorschach, right? Whatever you believe is what you see in those inkblots. That was eye-opening to me. And then it’s just understanding when you put your toe in that water, what comes with it. People are incredibly tribal and passionate about politics and religion. There’s a reason why a lot of people just avoid them. You make a lot more money avoiding them. People always say things like, “Oh, there’s people grifting on politics,” and there are people grifting on politics, but you grift to the middle. You want to grift to the top? Be nice to everybody. The people making the most money in comedy, I guarantee, are nice to everybody.
Nobody’s been making more money on the road than Nate Bargatze, and he certainly subscribes to that steer clear of anything that offends philosophy.
Exactly! But I don’t know, Trump is a specific thing. There are a lot of people who can be critical of platforming somebody like Trump, and they say that they’d never do it, but you also didn’t have the opportunity to, so you don’t really know what you would do until you were given that opportunity. And yeah, I don’t know, I had three things that I wanted to tell the person that might be the leader of the free world. They were three things that were important to me. One was I wanted him to say on camera that he would protect IVF, and he did. Another was stopping, not all the foreign wars, but if there’s ones that are senseless, that are just to line the pockets of the military industrial complex, that maybe we could curb that. And then the last one was some empathy for illegal immigrants that are not breaking the law, like maybe a pathway to citizenship — doesn’t look like he listened to me that much on that one. (Laughs)
Nope!
I’m not saying I have any impact on him, but if you have the opportunity to be impactful and you choose not to do it for whatever reason, because you’re concerned about, I don’t know, what your friends or supporters might think, you’re allowed to do that, but for me, I just thought it was something that I could sleep at night doing and I’m proud of myself for doing it.
Was there ever any point where the fertility struggle felt too real or too hard to talk about it on stage?
No. It was the best to talk about it on stage and a lot of times I felt more comfortable talking about it there than anywhere else. I didn’t talk about it on the podcast. It’s weird, I know that on stage, you’re talking in front of so many people, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t feel as vulnerable as sharing it on a podcast in conversation.
Why do you think that that format is not as conducive to being as personal and vulnerable?
I don’t know. There’s something about being on stage for me, and I don’t write jokes. There are certain people who go, “Okay, here’s the misdirect, let me reverse engineer this joke.” I don’t care to write jokes like that. They’re fun for rants or roasts but in terms of the way I do comedy, it’s always been, this is the thing I feel, and the way I communicate my feelings to the world just happens to be funny. And it was cathartic to just go on stage and talk about this shit that I was going through. I’ve always tried to do something different every time I put something out, whether it was the first YouTube special and then I did a crowd-work special, and it was before these things became popular. And then with this one, I was like, okay, I’ve never been personal and I’ve never told stories. I had to learn what a story was. I read all these books about storytelling — you name it, I read it — and I even bought these fucking cards from Instagram with, like, storytelling tactics. I wanted to figure out, like, what makes this shit work? Why are some stories good? Why are some boring? And as this thing unfolded, I was like, okay, what if I just told one story. But I never wanted to tell anybody that it was one story because I didn’t want the one-man show expectation.
What does that mean to you?
I have respect for the one-man show people, but sometimes I feel like you’re asking the audience to lower their comedic expectations, and that’s okay because there’s another component that might fill that void. But for me, I was like, what if I could do that and make you laugh as loud as you’ve always laughed when you come to my shows. And one of the most rewarding things is that I get these DMs still to this day. People who came to the show, they had no fucking clue because I didn’t promote it as this. They probably saw The Life Tour, and they thought I was bragging. Like, I’m living the life! So, they come to the show expecting one thing, and then they leave and they’ll DM me, like, “Oh my God, we just started our IVF journey,” and then they’ll message me months later, like, “Here’s our picture of our baby” or “We just got pregnant.” Or some people were struggling, and they say that this gave them a bit more hope. And again, that’s not what you go in expecting. I just wanted people to come laugh but to have that kind of connection with people on top of it? It’s been awesome.
The comedy gatekeeper used to be Carson and then it was Letterman. Who or what is it now? Joe Rogan?
I think it’s Rogan and “Kill Tony,” Tony Hinchcliffe’s show, especially for new comics.
What are you all called, the “manoverse” or the “manosphere”?
The manosphere. It’s so funny. But I guess we are that? We’re a bunch of guys and we’re just having locker room talk or whatever the fuck that term is. I think the tricky thing is when we get labeled in certain ways. Like, “Oh, they’re all sexist, racist, bigots.” And it’s just like, I’m not going to have some writer from Maine tell me I’m racist. Just, stop it. I know you didn’t grow up with anybody but white people, I know you got this NPR job or whatever, but I don’t need you to tell me how to be an ally. … This happened with Bernie [Sanders]. When Bernie caught steam, the Democratic Party tried to suppress him a bit and they started labeling his followers, “The Bernie bros.” And they’re like, he has a sexism problem and a bigotry problem, all these same things. Then the second it started seemingly being helpful for Trump, it was the same playbook. And people are getting privy to that, and I don’t think it’s advantageous for that to be used.
There are those who say comedy podcasts like yours helped get Trump elected…
Listen, for every election, we want two candidates that we love. I mean, that would be awesome. Me and Charlamagne tha God, we’ve been doing “Brilliant Idiots” [their podcast] together for 10 years, and Charlamagne’s close with Kamala. He had Kamala in the pod, I had Trump on the pod. We’re boys for 10 years, we’re talking shit about politics every single week, but it doesn’t matter. To me, that’s the version of America that you want to see. You want to see two guys who might have somewhat differing ideas, but who can cross the aisle tons. I grew up as a Democrat my whole fucking life. I grew up in the arts in New York, my family had a dance studio, I was going to the ballet! So, to me, that’s the best version of what we can be. We’re all talking shit to each other, making fun of each other, and then we’re disagreeing on how unconstitutional DOGE might be.
You did a TED talk in 2019, where you talked about how sensitive and politically correct the culture was and its damaging impact on comedy. How have things changed in the years since? Certainly feels like the pendulum has swung all the way in the other direction…
Yeah, it’s like cancel culture and all these things, it’s over. I mean, people can still get canceled. They still say horrible things about people, that still happens. So, people try. They tried to get Jay-Z hemmed up and then that was just dismissed. But I think people have become desensitized to it. You can make whatever joke you want. In that promo I did with Matt Damon, one of the lines that we had but cut was him going, “What do you do for your special? Are you going to go complain about cancel culture in a sold-out arena?” It’s like, we can’t cry about it when we’re selling out arenas.
Earlier in your career, you had success on TV with shows like Guy Code, but you struggled to cut through with your standup. Comedy Central, for instance, wasn’t interested. What was the feedback?
Just no interest. I think the easiest thing, and every white comic will do it, is to chalk it up to, “Oh, there was a push for diversity or whatever.” But it’s just like, okay, well, be funnier. Be so funny that it’s undeniable or get so much success that it’s undeniable. Now, I will say that that did happen to me. I remember I did some show, and the executive producer made my character gay two weeks before we started filming. He’s like, “Listen, there’s too many white guys. We got to switch this up, and so you got to be gay.” They literally made me gay for diversity, which is the worst version of it, because you’re not trying to tell a gay story. You don’t care. This is what happens with people who don’t grow up around anybody but their group, they think that you could just change the color of something and then that group of people will like it. I always say I got the most diverse audience in comedy, [and I think it’s because] I have a lot of curiosity about cultures around the world, and I talk about them and I make fun of them but I think people see that I care enough to do the research and so they don’t feel like it’s some hacky joke. And they show up because they appreciate that representation. Here I am, some fucking white guy, I’m doing arenas in the Middle East, making fun of them and they’re like, “Yeah, he sees us.” People really just want to feel seen.
I’ve heard you say that acting was something you felt you had to do early on, but you never liked it.
I think I killed that, by the way. I’m going to give myself a little credit.
Killed what? Acting being something that comics feel they need to do?
Yeah. I mean, Joe Rogan changed everything. It was like, “Okay, I got to get on Rogan,” but then when I started doing the YouTube specials and posting clips and having all this success, comics started to go, “Oh shit, I can get successful just sharing the thing I care most about? I don’t have to be some brother who’s half retarded on a sitcom? I could just do the thing that I care about?” And that seems to be the way things are going now.
What exactly did you not like about acting?
It’s unbelievably boring. You sit around all day, you do nothing, and then you come in and you say one line that some guy wrote for you. Now, writing something and doing it, that’s fun. It’s problem solving all day and that seems really exciting and I’m interested in doing that.
But just being an actor-for-hire isn’t appealing?
I did that You People movie, and I’m grateful that they let me be in something like that but I’m just sitting in a fucking trailer for 12 hours a day. I could be on tour providing for my family. I’m bleeding money, sitting in a trailer, having the worst conversations with actors. Like, shoot me in the head. If comics hang out, we just disagree nonstop, and it’s fun. When actors hang out, they just, “Yes, queen.” They all agree nonstop, and it’s just brutal.
This is your second Netflix special. With all of that success, why not just continue uploading on YouTube?
I did the first [Netflix] one during Covid, and that was just based on these turn your phone videos I’d do. And the last one I did where we sold it ourselves was really supposed to be on Amazon, but they gave me pushback about a couple jokes. And I don’t even blame them. I’m like, you are a billion-dollar company that sells toilet paper, why would you risk tarnishing your brand over my fucking Michael Jackson take or whatever the fuck the joke was. So, my initial idea was to do that one with the streamer and see how that worked and see if that brought a different audience, et cetera. But then people were able to rally behind me and that was pretty fucking sick.
So, why go the Netflix route with this one?
There was this time during Covid where people were so engaged online with creators, where we were buying these live moments and live events, and it became part of what we did because there was so little content out there. Then the second that Covid ended, the studios started pumping shit back out, and people were like, “All right, I don’t need to buy that little moment, I’ll just watch Severance on TV.” Culture changed in the way that we consumed, in my estimation, and so I was like, yeah, I think it makes sense to go over here [to Netflix]. But one of the cool things is that I had a number that I could do on my own.
What do you mean by that?
Meaning I knew how much I could generate. No comic really knows what they’re worth. You just think of a number. You go, okay, well Dave Chappelle got that, what percentage am I? But I had a number [having had that experience on my own], but even then, in order to get an offer, you need another offer. That’s the other thing I realized about this business.
The good news is there are a lot of platforms in this moment eager for specials.
That is the best thing that can happen for comedians. I’m putting this special on Netflix, but every comedian should be rooting for Hulu right now. They should be rooting for Amazon. Because the more people out there, the more competitive they have to be. We created a competitor in YouTube, and what I think that partly did is it loosened the constraints. Netflix has always been pretty good with putting out content and not censoring, but it made comics go, “Oh shit, I could potentially get more for myself.” Not even money wise, just get more reach on YouTube. I often tell comics that are younger in the game, like, putting your stuff out on YouTube and clipping the whole thing and putting it out everywhere before anybody knows about you is more beneficial for you.
And that stamp of approval that a Netflix seemingly provides doesn’t outweigh that?
I think it depends where you are in your career. I think early on people want to find you. If somebody sees you at Madison Square Garden, they’re going to be like, “Oh, he’s popping, I don’t got to carry this one.” We all want to feel part of that [discovery.] Because you represent their dreams.
What did you famously say about Netflix on Rogan’s show a few years back? “Netflix is done”?
Oh, I’ll say anything! It’s why you can’t take me too seriously. (Laughs)
Nevertheless, how did that public declaration of yours impact your negotiation there?
Oh, that didn’t matter. They don’t care. They’re in the business of putting out the best comedy and they want to make sure it’s on their platform. So, they’re not going to let me saying, “Netflix is dead” before the last special I put out get in the way of me going to Hulu or Amazon. And they were right, by the way. I thought I was right though. I was like, how can they win this race? Everything’s going to be on YouTube. But they figured it out, man.
They sure did. What’s left on your professional bucket list?
Obviously, I want to make sure my wife and kid are provided for, and our lifestyle’s maintained, but it’s cool to be in a place where I’m not going [back out on tour] right after this. It’s not, okay, where’s my next hour and how do I get back on the road. My agents want that immediately, but what I’ve never done is just worked on a three- or five-minute piece and shot it in a cool, unique way and put it out. I’m interested in how can I do things that aren’t attached to any kind of monetary gain — things that are just the purest version of the art. Like, I’ve never done one-liners. What if I worked on three minutes of one-liners? Those are the things that I’m excited about creatively. There’s no pressure, no money attached. It’s just how do I create? I’m also interested in creating something in New York.
What would that look like?
I love what they’ve done in Austin, where Joe is such a force, and Tony with the “Kill Tony” show is unbelievable. I can feel comics in New York going, “Okay, that’s the way to make it. We got to go there, get on [Rogan’s] show,” and then hopefully you can continue to be part of it and he just builds these guys up and they’re stars in their own right now. I’d really love to make something in New York that gave comics there an opportunity to push through. They still got to make their own stuff, but I’d love to create something with the sole intention of just building up the great comedians that we have in New York and giving them those types of opportunities. Those are my next two goals.
My final question for you: how old will your daughter need to be to watch this special?
I think about that! I think about that all the time. I’m like, will she be proud of me? Will she like it? Will she think it’s stupid? Will it be dated? Comedy doesn’t age well. You look back at some stuff, and you’re just like, what the fuck? I’m sure that TED Talk I did, if you don’t see the date [2019] plastered on that, you’re like, “What the fuck is this guy talking about?”
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