Originally posted Monday, November 12, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Amy Schumer is puking a lot nowadays. Maybe a decade ago, that might have been from drinking too much.
But the actress and stand-up comedienne is now 37, married and in her second trimester pregnant.
"I'm grateful to be pregnant," Schumer said in an interview today to promote her Atlanta show at the Fox Theatre Wednesday, November 14. (Buy tickets here.) "But I've been throwing up for three months straight. The first couple weeks, I felt really good. Not so much now."
In fact, she postponed her Fox show, which was originally scheduled for September 29, because she was feeling downright awful. “I’m sorry I couldn’t say anything at the time why,” she said.
Schumer made a public announcement about the baby on October 22. "I get photographed. I decided I just better come out with it," she said.
For many years, she was known for her rather explicit sex jokes but the rise of Donald Trump caused her to start becoming a little more political. During her 2016 tour, she raised the ire of Trump supporters at a Tampa date, many who walked out, creating headlines nationwide.
"It was a 10,000-seat arena," said Schumer. "The media made it sound like this huge walk out. It was more like 100, 150 people who left."
But it was an inflection point for her. "I think it did draw a line in the sand," she said. "This is how I feel."
She is now active in the #MeToo movement, was detained while protesting Brett Kavanagh's nomination to the Supreme Court and promoted Democrats - including Georgia's gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams - on her social media feeds.
“I love Stacey,” Schumer said. “She has great ideas about education and reforming penitentiaries. I had an opportunity to meet her and hear her speak. I don’t live there but I’ve been lucky to shoot some films there and I’ve been doing comedy there for 15 years.” (She recalls doing Roswell’s Funny Farm, which closed down about a decade ago. “I remember the go karts. That was brutal for comics!”)
Schumer in 2016 was the first female solo comic to ever headline a show at Philips Arena, now State Farm Arena.
She chose to go smaller this time on purpose.
“It’s a privilege to do an arena tour,” she said. “I don’t have that energy right now. I don’t have arena energy. It’s nice to have an honest show so I’m excited to perform for a more sane amount of people.”
Schumer is also relieved that people who don’t agree with her politics are no longer coming to her show.
“My demographics have changed because I’m so open about my views,” she said. “It’s something I knew would happen. It’s kind of neat. It’s a night for people who are like-minded to feel safe. They don’t have to worry about me saying something that will rock the boat.”
And don't worry, she is not suddenly a female version of Bill Maher. She still salts in plenty of R-rated stuff.
“I am who I am,” she said, chuckling. “It’s about observations now that I’m married. I’m evolving. I hope the people who have been with me over the years are evolving with me.”
Plus, if you want to see Schumer vomit on stage, that is unlikely to happen.
“With the adrenaline being on stage, it’s the only time I feel really good,” she said.
Another solution to settling her stomach is, oddly, food: “I may end up eating chicken fingers in the middle of my set.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
Amy Schumer, with Mia Jackson and Janelle James opening
8 p.m., Wednesday, November 14
$32.75-$128.75, plus applicable fees
Fox Theatre
600 Peachree St. NE
Atlanta
