I’m so excited to host the brilliant and funny Erin Judge on the Debutante Ball this week!
Erin Judge is a comedian, writer, actor, and producer based in Los Angeles. Erin’s debut novel, Vow of Celibacy, won Best Fiction at the Bi Book Awards, and was named a Must-Read Indie Press Book by BookRiot. Erin started out doing stand-up at the best comedy club in the world: the Comedy Studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since then, she’s appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing (2014), on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham (2008), and at lots of festivals, including Women in Comedy, Bridgetown, Boston, and Laugh Your Asheville Off. She’s told jokes at clubs, on boats, at colleges, and abroad, and she’s performed in more than 70 North American cities with her all-female comedy tour. Her comedy album, So Many Choices, is available from Rooftop Comedy. Each month, Erin co-hosts Romantic Comedy, a popular monthly stand-up showcase at the world-famous Ripped Bodice bookstore in Culver City, CA.
Her book, VOW OF CELIBACY, is simply amazing. If you’ve ever struggled with body image, dated someone who was embarrassed to be seen with you, or felt like you were just too much of everything, this book is for you. If you are a bisexual woman or a mono-sexual woman who struggles to own her sexuality without shame, this book is for you.
About VOW OF CELIBACY:
Natalie has made a promise: a vow of celibacy, signed and witnessed by her best friend. After a string of sexual conquests, she is determined to figure out why the intense connections she’s spent her life chasing have left her emotionally high and dry. As Natalie sifts through her past and her present, she confronts her complicated feelings about her plus-sized figure, her bisexuality, and her thwarted career in fashion design.
Clever, sexy, and hilarious, Vow of Celibacy delves into the perilous terrain of love and relationships, the uncertainty of early adulthood, and the sustaining force of friendship. This is an irresistible novel about the stories we can’t help but tell ourselves about others, and it captures in perfect pitch what it’s like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.
The virtual interview:
Where do you love to be?
Right here, right now, baby! In this very friggin’ spot! At this very friggin’ moment! Insert barbaric yawp here!
(Is that correct? Did I get the right answer?)
In seriousness, my favorite place on Earth is Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur. In 2014, after living all my adult life in Boston and New York, I took a five week road trip across the country to relocate to Los Angeles. I’m a stand-up comedian, and I’ve been traveling out to California to perform for years. I love driving along the coast, and Molera has become my favorite stopping point for a quick loop hike between gigs in San Francisco and LA. On the big relocation trip, I walked down the Big Sur River trail to the spot where the ocean meets the water, and two humpback whales started feeding just beyond Molera Point. They stuck around for an hour, breeching and diving, in perfect view. I took it as a sign that I was making the right move.
What’s your secret or not-so-secret superpower?
I write a mean cover letter. My interview conversion rate is insane. So far only my nearest and dearest have been the beneficiaries of this particular skill. I should probably figure out how to charge money for it… but that would take away all the fun.
When you were a teenager, what did you think you’d be when you grew up?
Well I definitely did NOT expect to become a comedian, writer, host, producer, actor, performer, and traveling nightclub entertainer with a published debut novel! If you took a time machine and told little 14-year-old Erin that this is where it was all headed, she’d probably keel over. So please don’t, not just because you’ll render it untrue, but also because you’ll probably screw up the space-time continuum irrevocably and all that stuff.
As a teenager, I slogged down academic achiever path and towed the “good student” line. Folks at my Texas high school found me mouthy and combative, so everyone assumed I’d grow up to be a lawyer, including me. I loved performing and writing, but I never had much time or encouragement for creative stuff back then. A career in the arts didn’t even seem within the realm of possibility. Fortunately, college and friends and mentors I met along the way changed all that.
What’s your next big thing?
My favorite ongoing big thing is my monthly stand-up show at the Ripped Bodice bookstore in LA. It’s called Romantic Comedy, and I co-host it with the hilarious Jenny Chalikian.
I’m also working on a few original comedy pilots. I’m really excited about those right now. And my second novel is underway. It’s about the insidious nature of personal tech and the hazards of “safe” bubbles and personal optimization. (Also there’s sex. And food. Lots of hot sex and delicious food.)
And I’m currently about 7 1/2 months into this crazy human gestation project I’ve been working on. If all goes according to plan, that should culminate in a completed person around mid-March or so. Fingers crossed.
Have you ever met someone you idolized? What was it like?
I am THEEEE WOOOORST at this. If you stick with stand-up comedy long enough, you usually get to meet and even work with some of your heroes and idols. I’ve made a massive, bumbling idiot of myself backstage and at festival after-parties trying to talk to comics I adore, including Janeane Garofalo, Margaret Cho… the list goes on and on. I’ve gotten better in recent years, but honestly my new strategy is just to feign extreme aloofness rather than indulge my natural inclination towards babbling adulation. It’s a hard impulse to suppress, but until I figure out how to say “hey thanks for being awesome” without getting all weird, it’s the best I can do.
To enter our giveaway to win a copy of VOW OF CELIBACY share our post on Facebook or retweet the following:
Interview with @ErinJudge + Giveaway for VOW OF CELIBACY https://t.co/pAKXhqFOq7 pic.twitter.com/L7FYeNGu5C
— The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) January 27, 2018
Find Erin Judge Online at her Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. For more information about her shows at The Ripped Bodice, go to RomComShow.
