Beth is the creator, host and executive producer of the legendary and revolutionary UnCabaret which she has shepherded through 25 + years of weekly live shows, TV, CD’s, streaming and touring. UnCabaret has been called a ‘comedy be in’ by Rolling Stone. Vanity Fair said there’s ‘Nothing cooler’. Variety called UnCab’s 25th anniversary show “a triumph!” and UnCabaret a ‘progressive comedy institution.’ The LA Times called Beth the ‘godmother of alternative comedy’. And Vulture says UnCabaret has ‘a magical life giving mystique and hilarious storytelling’.
Beth is also the author of the critically acclaimed original audio book, So You Need To Decide, published by Recorded Books. Available everywhere audiobooks are. Get it on Amazon here! So You Need to Decide was named one of Vulture’s best comedy books of 2022. Variety called it “a potentially life-changing treasure!” Beth was also profiled for her significance to stand-up comedy history on their podcast Good One.
Her other recent and upcoming media appearances include interviews with The Jewish Journal, Industry Standard with Barry Katz, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, The Stephanie Miller Show, Keith and The Girl, Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, Lady to Lady, The JV Club with Janet Varney, This Might Help with Matt Braunger, The Comic’s Comic Presents: Last Thing’s First, Abortion Access Front’s Feminist Buzzkills Live, and the SiriusXM shows Carlin’s Corner (hosted by Kelly Carlin), Sandra Bernhard’s Sandyland and Netflix is a Joke Radio.
In this interview with Stellar Woman Magazine, she shares a sneak peek into her extraordinary life.
What inspired you to decide to write your audiobook?
Following the green lights
What would you consider the most courageous decision you have ever made?
I made a decision to start my life over about a dozen years ago, and it was really brave. It involved a cluster of decisions including divorce and selling my house.
Do you regret any of that?
Not at all. I am so grateful to the brave girl who did that.
Would you regard yourself as a fast or slow decision-maker? Whatever it is, has it worked?
I would say both depending on the situation
Have you failed at anything before? If yes, how did you get back up?
I fail every single day. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. The fear of failing holds you back. I learn from my failures.
If we have to go back in time and meet your 15 year old self, what key message would you like to share with her?
That question always slum excuses me because if I told her something, she wouldn’t be the person she was and then I wouldn’t be me. And now we’re into, the time travel conundrums. My mind is so literal. I mean, literal and for such a creative person. I’m like, that could never happen, Stella. That just can’t be. I just don’t know everything. I know the things that she didn’t know that she’s learned. I mean, how would I be me if I told her anything? I guess I would just whisper love to her. I would just do that quietly. She might not even be knowing what she was hearing.
What is your life mantra?
I think my mantra now is everything is unfolding, in divine, in perfect order. And I will tell you that the first time I heard somebody say it, I wanted to hit them. I mean, I am not a violent person but it made me so mad. I was like, how can you say that? That is obviously not true. But the fact that I got so mad about it made me think like, you might want to believe that but not feel like you can. I started saying it as a joke when things were really bad. I said it once on stage when things were really like it was a night where there was just every logistical thing going wrong and it got a huge laugh and I just thought it’s hilarious. I mean, it’s hilarious, but the fact that I said it and it got a laugh sort of made it true. And the fact that it made it true by saying what it does, I started saying it more and I started believing it more and the more I said it, the more I believed it. And then what it does for me is sometimes it takes me out of the moment of like, this is bad and it puts me into that thing that I was talking about.
Leave one challenge for stellar woman magazine readers to help them become more courageous in their decision-making process.
What challenge would you like to leave them?
Release the idea of what you should be doing. Really listen to your heart. Release and listen to your heart and then download my book – ‘So You Need To Decide.’
Click below to watch the full interview.