Cat Cohen's Debut Pop-Comedy Album Will Take Your Mind Off, Well, Everything!

The comedian's compilation of jazzy holiday songs perfectly complements her unique brand of humor.

In Camera Roll, musicians offer InStyle an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse at a weekend in the life of an artist, from rehearsing for a major gig to choosing their favorite onstage look. Here, Cat Cohen dishes on her debut pop-comedy holiday album and making people laugh when times are dark.

It’s hard not to laugh out loud while listening to comedian Cat Cohen’s debut holiday album, Overdressed. Take, for instance, a lyric from the record’s opening track, “EVENTS!”: “Friends say I look like fat Alison Brie, but they mean it in a nice way.” That is funny! Or, in “BLAME IT ON THE MOON,” the moment she sings about being home for the holidays:“I don’t know what it is, but when I’m near my family, I’m such a bitch.” Cohen’s brand of self-deprecating humor fused with timely pop culture references and uncomfortably relatable descriptions of the mundane is what keeps her fans giggling and coming back for more.

I first discovered Cohen's work on Instagram, when all my gay friends raved about her 2022 Netflix standup special The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous. “That makes me so happy,” she tells me days before the release of Overdressed (out now), a hoot of a holiday album that pokes fun at this time of year. “I owe my life to the gays on Instagram. I would be absolutely dead in a ditch without the gays on Instagram, so shoutout and thank you.”

Since her Netflix debut, Cohen scored a starring role in Only Murders in the Building, and most recently followed that up with Come for Me, a brand-new comedy special on Veeps, the live-event streaming service. Ahead, she unpacks her first-ever album and goes in on Starbucks food.

You recorded Overdressed over the course of nine days in London. What musicians did you channel in the recording booth?

I remember the night before I went in to meet [Couros, my producer], I was listening to Spice Girls. I was like, This is the vibe, especially since I was in London, too. I was like, Let’s go! We did most of the album in his home studio, but on the last day we wanted to record live with a piano. [Couros] had a friend who snuck us into the studio where Adele records. I was like, This is crazy. I was there for like 45 minutes on a Sunday morning, but I could feel her presence.

Is there a lyric you’re especially proud of having written?

There’s a new song called “I Just Bought a Journal” about thinking that a journal will fix your whole life. It’s kind of like a New Year’s Day anthem. I have found that many of my therapists want to be actors, or were actors, especially in New York. And I’m just like, Why am I taking advice from this random actor? I need actual medical help! So I have a line that says, “Therapy is only as good as your therapist. Mine keeps saying she wants to be an actress.” That sums up my mental health journey over the past few years.

Aside from therapy, how do you take care of your mental health?

Amazing question. I’d love to know your answer too, if you have any tips. I feel like the three tenets of my life are: sleeping as much as humanly possible—I will get 12 to 14 hours on a perfect day. Two, is a frequent massage. I’m always getting massages; it’s crucial to me. And three is drinking at least three liters of water a day.

Oh, how healthy! I was going to suggest alcohol.

And booze! The water thing is aspirational. I don’t reach it most days, but I do find that it fixes a lot.

What were some of your favorite holiday albums growing up?

Obviously, Mariah [Carey] is the queen of the holiday track, and then beyond that, I always loved the Sufjan Stevens Christmas music. He does some really fun, beautiful, kind of hauntingly sad holiday tracks that I also like.

What was the most and least glamorous part of recording an album?

The most glamorous part was being like, I can’t, I have to go to the studio, and just texting people, I'm in the studio all week, so I'm busy. And just saying again and again, I'm in the studio. I'm in the studio.

The least glamorous part? This is featured in the photos for Camera Roll. That coffee that says Eggslut? [Long pause] I ate something from that store that sent my body into absolute disarray. I’m in this guy’s apartment and I spent a whole day being in physical pain, trying not to destroy his bathroom. And then I ended up having to leave early, run to a hotel down the street and spend the rest of the day in bed, just emptied out from Eggslut. Eggslut ruined my body and it was so not glamorous.

Am I allowed to publish that or will you Chappell Roan me if I include that?

You can say in bold print that Eggslut ruined my body.

In “Good Not Bad” you sing, “I only eat the food from Starbucks / egg bites, egg bites, that’s all I need / protein, caffeine, a lobotomy.” What’s your dream Starbucks order?

Oh, what a beautiful question. I actually also really like their sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich. Have you had that? On the ciabatta? That's really special to me. It's great for a hangover.

Honestly? My drink... I'm someone who doesn't understand if coffee is good or bad. I usually just get a hot black coffee. Growing up, I remember every day I begged my mom to go to Starbucks before school. I was like, 11, and I was getting a white chocolate mocha, white mochachino. And I didn't know that it was basically a milkshake in a cup. And every morning I was just having my morning milkshake, no caffeine. It's so funny. So shoutout to my white chocolate mochachino—whatever it's called. But yeah, my order is just the food, which is amazing. And then, what do they call it? Like a Pike’s Peak roast or whatever their classic roast is.

Another great “Good Not Bad” lyric is “Life’s a bitch, and then you die / for now, it seems like we’re alive / we’ve been stripped of our rights, but we might as well enjoy tonight.” It made me laugh out loud because it’s so dark and true.

I'm so glad it resonated. Unfortunately, it does resonate. When did I write that? There was some earth shattering news—probably Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, it's starting to feel evergreen that we are now living in a time when a lot of people are feeling really scared that their rights are going to be taken away, and I guess my job as a comedian is to make people laugh and be like, Well, let’s have fun for a bit! Come to the show, let’s laugh! I feel like that’s all I can do.

What’s your favorite fragrance? 

Oh my God. Well, I'm trying to find my signature scent. I actually want to shout out a scent my friend made. Tragedy by Ruby McCollister. She made it with perfumer Marissa Zappas. Ruby’s a performer and a comedian as well and she was doing this show called Tragedy and she made this perfume. [The bottle says] “tragedy is about [Ruby’s] lifelong relationship with tragic actresses and ghosts growing up in a theater in Los Angeles.”

Your holy grail product?

For years I’ve been using this Maybelline liquid eyeliner that I think is really good. But then someone gave me a Kat Von D one recently and I was like, That’s really good. But I think what’s changed my life is the Revlon blowout brush—cheap, life-changing. It’s changed my entire world to give myself a blowout, so I think that’s a holy grail.

Something you would never travel without.

Xanax.

What’s a fashion trend you simply cannot get behind?

I mean, it's cliche, but, it's not that I don't think it looks cool, it just doesn't look cool on me, which is low-rise [jeans]. It looks sick on other people. You have to have the right—I know everyone’s like, It looks good on everyone. And I’m like, You haven’t seen me in it!

Something you're actually gatekeeping.

I should gatekeep more. I really tell people everything. I’m going to work on that. That’s my New Year’s resolution, to gatekeep.

Because everything goes back to Taylor Swift. You shared a photo in the recording booth wearing an Eras T-shirt. Do you have a favorite era?

Yes, I am a big Swiftie. I went to the Eras tour in Denver. It was electric. My favorite era is Reputation.

Oh, so we’re waiting for the—

The big moment. That album, when I look at the songs that I always play, I’m like, Oh my God, they’re all 'Rep'. I love Folklore as well, but that’s a different vibe.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.