Hannah Einbinder is carving her own path amid the current comedy 'fraternity': 'This ain't my first f---ing rodeo'

The "Hacks" star chats with EW about her first standup special, "Everything Must Go" — and reveals what she thinks about the reaction to that season 3 finale.

Years before she made her acting debut playing a comedy writer on Max's Hacks, Hannah Einbinder  was working comedy clubs herself. Now, she's bringing her act to screens everywhere with her first special, Everything Must Go (streaming now).

In the opening minutes, after taking the stage at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre, the two-time Emmy nominee explains to audiences that she's often asked, "Is it difficult being a female comedian so outnumbered by men?" It sets the tone for what's to come: shrewdly intelligent observations (many self-reflective) and commentary about her upbringing, climate change, being queer, and even being a competitive cheerleader as a teenager. Her take on seasonal allergies — and their menacing roots in sexism — comes with a logical call to action for how to eliminate them.

Throughout the special, Einbinder often breaks the fourth wall, or breaks into random vignettes, or breaks into carefully orchestrated voices — from a witch so good that, at first, you may not realize it's coming from her to a British moon — all the while daring the audience to not come along for the ride.

Below, Entertainment Weekly chats with Einbinder about her unique standup comedy stylings, how Hacks has impacted her audiences, that time she opened for Nicole Byer while in college, and more.

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Here's my first question to you: Is it difficult being a female comedian so outnumbered by men?

HANNAH EINBINDER: Baby, this ain't my first f---ing rodeo! [Laughs]

That's the answer I was looking for! But in all seriousness, is it annoying how often you get asked that?

I do get asked that. And I think all female comedians are asked that. It's like, yes, we are outnumbered, but it's also an exciting time. A lot of comedians are coming out of this wave of a comedy boom. The internet has popularized standup in a new way, and people are seeing an accessible route as comedians. From that, you're getting a lot of different types of people who maybe would've not found standup doing it in alternative rooms and alternative spaces, the non-traditional non-com club environments. So I am hopeful that that will change, but yes, currently that's still very much the case. It is sort of a fraternity at the moment.

You're, of course, part of the HBO and Max family being on Hacks. Did they come to you about doing a special? Did you corner an exec at an HBO afterparty and say, 'Yo, let's do this!"? How did it happen?

Well, I did a showcase in Los Angeles for some buyers, and I did one in New York at the end of my tour, and [HBO Executive Vice President of Programming] Nina Rosenstein came, and then we just started to have a conversation with her. HBO and Max was always my number-one hope.

That history of HBO and comedy specials is kind of unmatched.

Certainly. And I think they are more quality-over-quantity-oriented over there. It just feels like, from what I know from other comedians, they're the only place really giving non-colossally huge superstar comedians the budget to produce something that looks and feels really premium. Whereas, from what I know from my friends who are also incredible comedians who should have specials, a lot of the other places give Dave Chappelle $60 million and maybe offer something in the very, very, very small, small range to emerging comedians — or comics who are established but not on that level. I feel like HBO is a place that values comedians.

Not to get into the nitty-gritty of the business, but when you're saying small numbers, are we talking low six figures? High five?

From what I know — and I don't want to misrepresent things — but from what I know from friends, I think it's like $200k all told, which is for the entire production and the payment for everyone involved, including the comedian.

So in the end, once you've paid everyone out, you...

...are kind of in the hole.

You have been a standup even before Hacks, but as someone who plays a standup comedy joke writer on that show, do you ever feel like people coming to your shows are, perhaps, expecting Ava?

They expect a certain level of quality because a lot of the people in the crowds are Hacks fans, and they are coming with the faith in me. I hope and believe that my comedic abilities onscreen will translate to a solo performance. I genuinely feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to be on Hacks for so many reasons. One of them is because it single-handedly made it possible for me to be a touring headlining comedian. Before Hacks, I was still a feature act opening for other comedians, and that was perfectly wonderful. But it's just a totally different game. Now, my crowds are very much Hacks fans — they like a show about women in comedy, so I feel like there's mutual trust. I trust them and they trust me.

Now being a headlining act versus featured, you're seeing that play out in terms of the number of people and buying tickets and interest in you?

Certainly. This season more so, actually, I've felt it a little more. But I don't know, I live a pretty small, insular life — I have a couple very close friends that I see all the time. Max is not available worldwide; It's not available in Germany, Spain, England, France — there are tons of places that they have to have a VPN to get it. So it isn't just globally available to everyone. Because of that, I've had a little bit of a more insular experience, which is in some ways good. I think I definitely am...yeah...I think I am cool with that. So I don't feel any different, but sometimes people treat me differently and I am kind of thrown by it, but I guess that's all right. Part of the job, I guess.

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Was your comedic commentary always part of your DNA as a standup, or was that something that you discovered along the way that makes the most sense for your brain and what you are thinking about?

Yeah, I feel like my main objective in standup has always been, first and foremost, to be funny, but while doing that, it has been to create variety within the form itself to experience and express multiple performance styles under the umbrella of the medium of standup comedy. When it comes to the material and the subject matter that I choose to explore, it's usually just the things that I'm thinking about. In a world where there are so many comedians, you are running the least risk of having the same material as someone else if you are incredibly personal or if you're doing characters or if you're doing something that can only be done by you. So that has also been an approach that I've taken just to try to hold onto originality and my voice and my perspective. I hope I've done it.

It's absolutely right up there with some of the more original standup comedy specials that I have seen, and I felt myself more engaged with your show than many. When you're watching at home, it's easy to be distracted by your phone or other things. But yours, I felt like I had to experience the stories that you were telling and take in what you were doing. So yes, I think you've done it. And to clarify, are you saying those vignettes have always been part of the fabric of your show?

Yeah, I would say so. The looks to camera, that type of thing, is my method of trying to translate what I do to a crowd, live to a crowd at home. I appreciate that you said that you felt like you had to be there, and I tried. For me, looking directly into the camera was a method of trying to be like, I'm looking at you. That's what I do in my shows. I play 200-seaters, 250-seaters — I want to see the whites of people's eyes. I want to be intimate and I want to connect. So yeah, those vignettes have always been a part of my style because I have always been theatrical — although I will say that acting has enhanced my confidence in really committing and taking a physicality or a voice or a character to the top.

On that note, I know you've done a bit of animation voiceover work on Strange Planet, but have you thought about doing a full animated series? You're really good at voices! That witch was so good.

Thank you. I would love to be in that world. I think it's so cool. I have a lot of reverence for the great voice actors: Cheri Oteri, Charlie Adler, [my mom] Laraine Newman. I have such reverence for voice actors and that wonderful world, and I would be honored to be a part of it in more of a tangible way.

True or false: When you attended Chapman University, you once opened for Nicole Byer?

True.

She was touring, came through campus, you opened for her! What do you remember most about that?

I remember how cool Nicole was. She — this is pretty unheard of — she offered for students to open for her. Mostly, comedians have their opening act or they find someone local wherever they are. It changed my life. It literally, single-handedly was like, there was a moment before this and a moment after this. I did that set, and I was like, this is what I'm going to do. So I remember it being earth-shattering, and I remember her being so funny, and I remember watching her and riding high off of the feeling in my body of this very new chemical in my body — adrenaline and cortisol and dopamine and all of these things swirling around — and just being proud of myself for the first time in a long time or maybe ever. It was really wonderful. It was, like, 10 minutes, eight or 10 minutes.

Which is more than most people get. Usually, it's five and the red light goes on.

Or three.

Do you still remember the material?

I do. Actually, one of my jokes that I wrote in that set is in my special. It's the two 1920s dames. That was one of the first jokes I ever wrote.

I have to commend you on the success of season 3 of Hacks. I loved watching my social media feed blow up week after week with people saying "This is the best episode ever," and then saying the same thing the next week. When you and I sat down prior to the season premiere, I shared with you that I thought your work was next level this season, and a lot of people were saying the same as the episodes aired. What has taking in the reaction of this season, and especially the finale, been like for you?

It has warmed my heart so deeply, genuinely. I love the people who watch and love this show. It does feel like a community. I know that's strange, and I also understand that that could sound like, oh, you like the people who like you? Nice, actress. But people have such a heart connection to the material, and that's not just a credit to me — that's a credit to our writers and all of our cast, and it's such a collaborative effort. So it does feel so deeply gratifying to make those people proud and to give them relief from whatever lies beyond the doors of their home and to be that escape for people.

Yeah, I'm happy that people really like the finale. I'm proud of myself. I am, and that is something that has been very hard for me to say in this lifetime, but I am really proud of myself, and I feel that my performance is a product of the guidance from [episode director and series co-creator] Lucia Aniello and Jean Smart and the beautiful words on the page. I feel really pleased no matter what.

Related: Hacks star Hannah Einbinder recalls the moment 'sparks flew' with costar Jean Smart

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I couldn't help but notice in your special that you say, "What a c--t." By chance was that a nod to the writers? To Kaitlin Olson, who says it on Hacks? Or it was just the best and right thing for that joke?

[Laughs] Y'know, that line was in before season 3, but I was doing it for a while and I didn't even put it together until recently. I was like, "Oh my God. I literally say, 'What a c--t' in my special. So I'm going to go ahead and claim that as a little Hacks shoutout. Period. [Laughs]

On the topic of jokes, was there a joke or a bit of commentary that you absolutely refused to cut? And on the flip side, is there a moment that you're really sad that you had to lose?

I cut nothing. You know what? [We cut] a camera shot. It's not a joke. There was a version of the bit with the moon where we, in the middle of the moon bit, on a laugh, we cut to the reverse shot from behind the curtain, and you just see my body from behind crouching. It's so funny! And it's such a wink to the audience at home, but we cut it. We were like, it's all in [the face,] it is nice to stay on that. But we were going back and forth in the edit of being like, we think it's hilarious, and all the comics that we showed it to thought it was funny, but we were just like, maybe we should just stay in the performance.

Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go is streaming now on Max.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.