In an exclusive interview, rising comedian Lily Langen offers a glimpse into her raunchy yet nuanced comedy style. Known for her boundary-pushing jokes, Langen blends goofiness and surrealism into her performances, challenging the misconception that dirty humour is low-brow. “It takes a lot of brains to seem this dumb!” she quips, emphasizing the complexity behind her seemingly simple jokes. Influenced by the likes of Nikki Glaser and Sarah Silverman, as well as shows like “Summer Heights High” and “Arrested Development,” Langen’s comedy is a unique mix of relatable and unrelatable scenarios designed to shock and amuse.
How would you describe your comedy style?
In one word; raunchy. Luckily, I’m allowed to use more than one word. I think that from an outside perspective, I’m a dirty comedian. However, I like to bring an element of goofiness or surrealism to all of my bits. I think sometimes there’s a misconception that dirty jokes are low-brow or easy marks. In reality, it takes a lot of brains to seem this dumb! Maybe I’m stroking my ego, but I think my jokes and my persona are a lot more complex than people realize. Sometimes people can’t look past the sexual nature of the joke to see how nuanced it is. Not that it always has to be that deep, but I think a well-layered joke can go underappreciated. That being said, sometimes a good dirty joke really is just a good dirty joke.
Dirty is also one thing, sometimes I like to get GROSS! I try my best to make my jokes both relatable and unrelatable at the same time. One of my favourite setups’ to do is “Do you guys ever…” and then proceed to say something that people have either never thought of or that they had buried deep in their subconscious out of shame. I don’t necessarily consider myself a ‘shock comic’, BUT, I know I’ve got a great joke brewing when I’m writing it down and think “Oh no.. I can’t say that…”. That’s when I knew I HAVE to say ‘that’. I go out of my way to make my style as unique as possible to me. All of this is what I TRY to do, whether I pull it off is a different story.
Who are some of your influences?
I fell instantly in love with any nasty comic I saw growing up. Unfortunately, poo poo, pee pee, and sex jokes, never fail to win me over. I loved Nikki Glazer, Sarah Silverman, Jim Jeffries, Debra DiGiovanni, and Liza Treyger. Television was also a huge influence on my sense of humour and shaped the way I conceptualized a joke. Summer Heights High, Arrested Development, and Detroiters to name a few. My best friend Cianna is my biggest influence of all, I’m not sure I’d have been able to fully let my goofy freak flag fly without her growing up by my side. I don’t think women get enough recognition for being funny/goofy, but I especially don’t think girls get the credit they’re due. Adolescent girls are the funniest, most disgusting little idiots you’ll ever meet. And I’m so thankful to have been one of them and to have been surrounded by those hilarious, nasty, little monsters.
Who was your favourite comedian growing up?
John Mulaney for sure! I don’t think my style is similar to his at all, otherwise, I would have considered him more of an influence. But, the way he can weave a story and paint a picture is incredible! I aspire to be as clever as he is. A few of my other favourites have since been cancelled and don’t deserve their names written down.
Who is your favourite comedian now?
Since moving to Toronto I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of Canada’s (and the world’s) best comedians live. Chris Locke is the funniest comedian I’ve seen in real life, by far. I consider myself a hard laugh to get, but when Chris Locke is on stage I’m fighting for my life to catch a breath and wipe the tears from my eyes. To be in the same community as someone that talented is almost unbelievable. It motivates me to be better and to try things out of my comfort zone. I try to let the greatness I see around me motivate me instead of deter me.
What is your pre-show ritual?
For 5 of my 6 years in comedy, my pre-show ritual was feeling sick to my stomach before each show. I’d nervously write my setlist down a million times in big block letters and then recite it to myself at home and again in a bathroom at the venue, hand gestures and all, even pausing for laughs. I still get nervous before a show but not nearly as bad, so now my main pre-show ritual is running a brush through my teeth and power walking to the venue with music destroying my ears at full volume. I still make sure to write my setlist down in big block letters each time (in case I forget every word I’ve ever said and start throwing up onto the front row of the audience, for some reason I think big block letters will prevent that).
What is your favourite place you have performed? Why?
The Cure restaurant in Regina has a very special place in my heart. It was the first place I had ever performed and the more I went the more I felt I was ‘somebody’. I could walk in and the staff would know me as ‘Lily, one of the comedians’ which felt so incredibly cool. I’ve performed there many times in my life, good shows, bad shows, they’ve all helped me grow. I’ve performed in really large ‘official’ venues before and it’s awesome every time! But nothing beats the sense of community you feel in a smaller, more consistent venue. I’m not too sure where I would have ended up in my career had I not had such a supportive place to learn. They also have the best food in the world, so that helped.
What is your favourite bit you have written and why were you proud of it?
One of my favourite bits is my first ever ‘good’ bit. The joke itself is completely disgusting and ridiculous and has something to do with drinking gazpacho through my butt and out my mouth… Am I allowed to say that here? Gazpacho I mean. Anyway, the content of the joke is less important than what it meant to me. This joke solidified my voice and made me feel like a real comedian. It was my first joke to get consistent laughs. And it’s the joke that makes people come up to me after a show and say “What the f*** was that??”. It also gave me a sort of brand recognition within the comedy community. After that joke, comics expected me to say some wacky nasty stuff each time I went on stage. I think it made me strive to chase the feeling of originality in each one of my jokes. Whether the concept of the joke itself is basic or overdone, doesn’t matter, as long as I can put my outlandish spin on it, I feel like I’ve stayed true to my character.
What is your favourite medium for listening or finding new comics/comedians?
I’m a huge fan of podcasts and I’ve been able to find some of my favourite comedians through that medium. They aren’t even always stand-up comedians! That being said, for stand-up comedy specifically, TikTok has been a huge avenue. It introduced me to so many ‘smaller’ comics that I otherwise would have never known existed. Comics sometimes (validly) complain about social media and how hard it is to work on our acts in addition to our online presence, but it is undeniable how incredible the concept of internet virality is. My opinion on that matter is constantly changing though, so don’t hold me to that.
Tell us a joke about your city.
I think the city of Regina wrote the best joke of all time when they created the campaign “Show us your Regina”. The only thing funnier than that were peoples’ responses; tweeting images of the nastiest parts of the city and letting people ‘peek into their Regina’.
Do you have anything to promote right now?
Toronto comedian Spencer Glassman and I launched a podcast called Amateurs where we talk about being rookies in the love game and laugh at each other’s misfortune. Follow @amateursthepod to listen along!
Where can we follow you?
@lilylangen on all platforms, even letterboxd.
PAY IT FORWARD: Who is another local comic/comedian we should know about?
Angie St-Mars, Spencer Glassman, Harry Rollo, Kyle Bergstresser, Faiza Kulle, Noah Maloney, and Jordanne Brown.
