Excellent comedian and Another Period star Natasha Leggero is hitting the road on her "Endless Honeymoon" tour, which includes a stop at Just For Laughs in Montreal. What makes this honeymoon so endless? Why, it's travelling with her husband and fellow comedian, Moshe Kasher.
"We just tour together because honestly, one of the biggest problems in standup is having to travel and go somewhere by yourself," she tells Exclaim! "It can be very depressing because you're in this cool city for three or four days, but you're by yourself, so it's really nice to get to do it together."
Superficially, Leggero and Kasher cut an interesting shape together, as a couple with distinctive public personas. Kasher is bookish, political and left-leaning, while Leggero plays up an aristocratic detachment, as a snooty, upper-class woman with a darker side.
"We're definitely both left-leaning," Leggero says of their real-life traits. "My persona is more about just trying to live in a better situation than you came from."
Indeed, a recent Forbes profile of Leggero suggested that she was raised in a "lower-middle class" household that "bore a likeness to the hit ABC television series Roseanne." It goes on to state that while in college, Leggero was so poor, she could only afford a meal card for weekdays. On the weekends, she subsisted on a loaf of bread.
"It's like re-inventing yourself," she says now of her standup "character." "I came to New York and California and was always very poor and would have a really crappy car, but I wanted to be in a much higher position all the time. It naturally came about that I would act like that. And then I realized I could act however I want, even when I'm surrounded by squalor."
In a year where political divisions in her country are perhaps most marked by class and a voting block that seems hell-bent on eradicating perceived elitism, Leggero is a fascinating figure. She comes from poverty but made a point of acting like a rich know-it-all about refined living.
If she was more politically engaged, she might be able to relate more to the kinds of people who support America's president and his family.
"I'm trying to not read the news right now because it's just very frustrating," Leggero admits. "The president is very good at deflecting things. His son just came out with all of this incriminating information and then Donald Trump tweeted, 'I'm so proud of my son for his transparency.' It just gets so frustrating because there's always an answer but it's deflecting everything. I just try to focus on other things because it's not going to end."
When asked if she's embarrassed by America or concerned that the rest of the world might view its citizens as, well, dumb for voting this current regime into power, she bristles.
"I don't think it's our country," Leggero argues. "It's the person that apparently half of America voted for. He's the person who was able to trick people into office. I think there are people who are very desperate who voted for him and are regretting it. Unfortunately, they make up a bigger part of our country than we knew."
Her own economic struggles as a student notwithstanding, Leggero is not sure what the next generation of men and women must be making of American politics right now. She's not even certain they're paying attention.
"I didn't really, as a child, understand what was going on with the president," she says. "I didn't know about Reagan's policies as a child. But y'know, Ronald Reagan didn't tell people you could just grab women by the pussy," Leggero says, half-laughing, "so it's very hard to process all of that."
See Natasha Leggero host All Access Live at JFL in Montreal on July 28.
"We just tour together because honestly, one of the biggest problems in standup is having to travel and go somewhere by yourself," she tells Exclaim! "It can be very depressing because you're in this cool city for three or four days, but you're by yourself, so it's really nice to get to do it together."
Superficially, Leggero and Kasher cut an interesting shape together, as a couple with distinctive public personas. Kasher is bookish, political and left-leaning, while Leggero plays up an aristocratic detachment, as a snooty, upper-class woman with a darker side.
"We're definitely both left-leaning," Leggero says of their real-life traits. "My persona is more about just trying to live in a better situation than you came from."
Indeed, a recent Forbes profile of Leggero suggested that she was raised in a "lower-middle class" household that "bore a likeness to the hit ABC television series Roseanne." It goes on to state that while in college, Leggero was so poor, she could only afford a meal card for weekdays. On the weekends, she subsisted on a loaf of bread.
"It's like re-inventing yourself," she says now of her standup "character." "I came to New York and California and was always very poor and would have a really crappy car, but I wanted to be in a much higher position all the time. It naturally came about that I would act like that. And then I realized I could act however I want, even when I'm surrounded by squalor."
In a year where political divisions in her country are perhaps most marked by class and a voting block that seems hell-bent on eradicating perceived elitism, Leggero is a fascinating figure. She comes from poverty but made a point of acting like a rich know-it-all about refined living.
If she was more politically engaged, she might be able to relate more to the kinds of people who support America's president and his family.
"I'm trying to not read the news right now because it's just very frustrating," Leggero admits. "The president is very good at deflecting things. His son just came out with all of this incriminating information and then Donald Trump tweeted, 'I'm so proud of my son for his transparency.' It just gets so frustrating because there's always an answer but it's deflecting everything. I just try to focus on other things because it's not going to end."
When asked if she's embarrassed by America or concerned that the rest of the world might view its citizens as, well, dumb for voting this current regime into power, she bristles.
"I don't think it's our country," Leggero argues. "It's the person that apparently half of America voted for. He's the person who was able to trick people into office. I think there are people who are very desperate who voted for him and are regretting it. Unfortunately, they make up a bigger part of our country than we knew."
Her own economic struggles as a student notwithstanding, Leggero is not sure what the next generation of men and women must be making of American politics right now. She's not even certain they're paying attention.
"I didn't really, as a child, understand what was going on with the president," she says. "I didn't know about Reagan's policies as a child. But y'know, Ronald Reagan didn't tell people you could just grab women by the pussy," Leggero says, half-laughing, "so it's very hard to process all of that."
See Natasha Leggero host All Access Live at JFL in Montreal on July 28.
