Why 'Hacks' Star Hannah Einbinder Craves the 'Raw Sexual Energy' of Doing Standup Comedy (Exclusive)

If there's one thing that prepares you for the cutthroat business of Hollywood, it's competitive high school cheerleading. After being tossed in the air by the Britneys and Kayleighs of the world, navigating a few CAA agents and a snarky publicist is a piece of cake. No one knows that better than Hacks star and comedian Hannah Einbinder, who was co-captain of the Beverly Hills High School varsity cheerleading team (and has the photos and homecoming crown to prove it).

While Einbinder is most well known for her thrice Emmy-nominated performance as Ava Daniels on HBO's Hacks, in her debut standup special Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go, the comedian delves into her life off-camera. From her bisexuality and career in high school sports to her ADHD diagnosis and penchant for marijuana, Einbinder skips back and forth through the fascinating pockets of her life in an hour-long set built to mimic the frenetic way she thinks.

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In her special, which was filmed at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre just a few miles from where Einbinder tumbled during high school, the star also discusses her own comedy career coming up in the LA circuit. While Einbinder has comedy in her blood (her mother is, after all, original Saturday Night Live cast member Laraine Newman), pre-Hacks, Einbinder was in the trenches performing at open mics and dive bars with fellow members of her "class of comedy." Now she and longtime friends like late-night host Taylor Tomlinson, SNL's Sarah Sherman and The Bear's honorary "Irish" star Ayo Edebiri are all famous, but back in the 2010s they were just trying to break out. Everything Must Go allows Einbinder to introduce herself to audiences as something other than Deborah Vance's plucky assistant.

With Season 4 of Hacks on the way and her special streaming on HBO's Max, the comedian sat down with Parade to discuss the ins and outs of filming a standup special, her SNL roots and when we'll get the Ayo x Hannah collab we've been waiting for.

Read the full interview below:

You've been doing stand-up for quite some time. I imagine you had a lot of material to pick from. How did you decide what to include in this special and what to cut? 

I feel like the audience decides. I give them my best stuff, and then they tell me what's good enough. I do have a very high standard for what is good enough. I feel like every joke should be able to close a show. So really, it's just like the funniest shit wins.

How did you construct the show's lineup? Is this a show you have performed before or did you tweak things for the recording process?

As I looked at the material, the order became clear to me. I definitely wanted it to feel like there was some connective tissue, even though the special is inherently disjointed to reflect the way my mind works. Talking about having ADHD in the very beginning sets the stage, the format and the flow of the show, or lack of at times. I wanted to switch gears to maintain the attention of people in the audience whose heads work like mine and need a hard left to stay engaged.

What was the process of actually filming the special like?

It was heavenly. It was perfect. Nothing went wrong, and everything was incredible, and it was exactly what we wanted. I'm dead serious. Everything was so clear to us and so clear to me in my mind as to how the special should be shot and what we wanted to do with the lighting cues. The direction was really clear, and collaborating with my director Sandy Honig and my DP [director of photography] Adam Bricker was such a cohesive experience because Adam shoots Hacks, and Sandy is my best friend. It was really a family affair and such a fulfilling experience.

Related: Meet the Cast of 'SNL' Season 50

How long did it take to film from start to finish?

It was one night. Two shows, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

You're friends with a lot of comedians. Did any of them give you any advice before filming?

All my friends were like, "You're going to want to kill yourself after the first show," because the crowd is the people who bought tickets super early, and they've been there since 5 p.m. The late show is where all of the raw sexual energy comes from. Everybody's been drinking, and they're excited in a different way. The first show is typically bad for people. We definitely used the majority of the second show.

Most of the material in the special is about you personally, and there isn't much about Hacks or being a celebrity. Is that purposeful? Are you saving that material for another special?

I don't think I would ever talk about that, and I don't think it's super interesting to be so honest. I think there's so much more interesting stuff than that, and my life isn't super different. I feel pretty much the same as I always have, so it doesn't feel significant enough to talk about as well. I don't foresee that ever being the subject matter that I explore.

You talk a lot in the special about being a queer female comedian in a male-dominated space. What advice do you have for somebody who is not a straight white male trying to break into the comedy scene?

Start your own show and also go to all the open mics you can. Have your own show where you can curate a vibe that feels good, but also it's important to be able to go up in any environment. Don't turn your back on the comedy club all together. It's still worthwhile in terms of growing as a comedian and being able to reach a lot of people. And find buddies because comedy is great, but comedians are better.

Your mom was in the original cast of Saturday Night Live, and you popped in when Jean Smart hosted this season's premiere. Is hosting something you would like to do in the future? 

I don't know. I think it's so fun, and a lot of my friends work there right now — people in my class of comedy when I was coming up — so I think it would be so cool to work with them because truly over half the cast are friends from before any of us were doing anything other than stand-up.

Related: The 'Saturday Night Live' Season 1 Cast: Where Are They Now?

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Speaking of friends, before Hacks and The Bear, you and Ayo Edebiri were friends. Both of your shows have prominent guest stars. Is there any possibility of you appearing on each other's shows?

Who knows? Who knows? It would be fun. I think because Season 4 of Hacks centers around Deborah's late-night show, there's a lot of opportunities for cool people to come on and even play themselves. I think that would be cool for Ayo to come through. That would be so sick. She's so funny.

Who are some of your dream guest stars for Hacks? 

Jim Carrey. He's my favorite guy ever, pretty much. Basically favorite comedian ever. That would be cool if Jim Carrey was on Hacks. I just want to meet him. There are a ton of people I would love to work with. I'd love to work with Kerry Condon and Saoirse Ronan. I'm only naming Irish people, I guess.

Yeah, and Ayo!

*laughs* Yeah, and Ayo! The list is so long, but I would love to just continue to do good work. That is my true truest goal.

Do you think you and your mom will ever partner on anything?

Oh my God. That would be so funny. I don't know. Maybe. If it made sense and she wanted to do it. That would be interesting.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Stream Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go exclusively on Max. 

Related: 'Hacks' Co-Star Surprises Jean Smart for Sweet Reunion on 'SNL' 50 Premiere