Amy Schumer has a new comedy special on Netflix, and we’re humbly suggesting you watch it. The comedienne’s new gig showcases a new Amy. She’s taking life a little more seriously and it shows. Gone are the days of her vaguely relatable if not slightly vulgar romantic blunders and misjudgements. She’s done with her UTI-inducing, one night conquests. She’s off of the Chardonnay. She seems a little calmer, a little more grounded and still funny as all hell.
You may not be aware but Amy is now married and expecting her first child with her husband, Chris Fischer. Her pregnancy has been utterly devoid of the usual celebrity glow that comes with impending motherhood. The star suffers from hyperemesis, a condition where Schumer experiences almost constant and debilitating nausea. Despite multiple hospitalizations and extensive medical complications Schumer’s showed up, she’s got onstage and she’s made people laugh. In an interview with the New York Times, she called the special “the most difficult challenge of her career.”
Amy is unapologetically authentic, acerbic and brash. She speaks about the hardship of her hellish pregnancy while lamenting the fact she had to fall pregnant at the same time as the world’s most impeccable royal, Meghan Markle. After mere minutes onstage, Amy lifts up her dress to reveal that her misshapen and protruding belly button has been taped down with numerous bandaids.
Amy also delves into the harsh realities of marriage. Her sex life, which at one point read as a 20-something’s guide to the local health clinic, is now non-existent. In the world of celebrity, this is a pretty refreshing take amongst the many famous marriages that so often look pristine until word of a ‘conscious uncoupling’ reaches the media. In spite of Schumer’s recent aversion to their marital bed, the comedienne is quite clearly besotted with her partner. She speaks about her husband’s diagnosis with Asperger’s Syndrome with frank candor. The form of autism often manifests in people struggling with social interactions and nonverbal communication as well as exhibiting repeated and restricted patterns of unusual behaviour. Schumer shared with Late Night host Seth Meyers, “We both wanted to talk about it because it’s been totally positive. I think some people resist getting diagnosed because of the stigma that comes along with it. But the tools we’ve been given have made his life so much better and our marriage and our life so much more manageable.”
Schumer also gives the audience a little insight into her deliberate arrest. The star was one of 300 people who were arrested in Washington while protesting the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “Some people criticized me. They were like, ‘That’s irresponsible. You’re pregnant. I was like, ‘Well, that’s why I went down there,'” she recalled about participating in the protest. “I want to be able to tell this kid I did everything I could.” While many would have been most concerned about the potential legal ramifications of the act, Amy was most apprehensive about getting hungry while in custody. Yes, she bought snacks. Schumer’s special is currently streaming on Netflix.