Iliza Shlesinger is still having her moment - she’s just at home

If everything hadn’t gone wrong in the world, comedian Iliza Shlesinger would have been on her worldwide Forever Tour, which perfectly coincided with the release of her new Netflix sketch show.

Plus, let’s not forget that she was still basking in the glory of her Netflix movie Spenser Confidential, which was viewed by 85 million households (that’s actually more than Tiger King) when it was released in March.

In other words, spring 2020 was going to be big for this Netflix darling - and her fans (she has 635,000 followers on Instagram) were ready for it.

Shlesinger, 37, has come to represent the voice of a generation of women through her years on the comedy circuit, starting with her 2013 special War Paint.

She has pontificated on mating rituals, food and drinking habits (because sometimes you do just need a trough of wine), social mannerisms, friendship and most importantly, athleisure, in the most hilarious ways. At times her comedy will remind you of an anthropologist dissecting a tribe, at others she'll just accuse your dog of being a prostitute.

When coronavirus hit and Shlesinger's tour was postponed, she didn't slow down.

She and her husband, chef Noah Galuten, started a daily cooking show that streams live on Instagram and Facebook.

Shlesinger told Insider, “Humans have this indomitable spirit and are very good at adapting. Now that we have this weird new normal, creators create and entertainers entertain, so like water, it finds a way. And we will always find a way. You can label it under the guise of, ‘Oh I just want to bring joy to people,' but really we do it because it brings joy to us as well. I need to make people laugh for me just as much as them. It's just part of my soul."

Doing sketch comedy had always been a goal, although she admits it's a different beast than standup. “I grew up watching sketch comedy and writing sketch in high school and college, so when Netflix presented me with this opportunity after a couple of specials I jumped at the chance. I think standup is all about telling and that's a certain muscle and sketch is all about showing. I always have these weird characters and motions and voices in the back of my mind but getting to put on makeup and really just create something weird and fun was awesome."

The show does feature some outrageous and preposterous characters, including Cashew Albacore, who is as an old, deranged sea captain who also flies planes, and required the comedian to sit in the makeup chair for three hours - but it was worth it to Shlesinger. “I was a big fan of Saturday Night Live when they had tons of original characters. These irrelevant, weird characters were often just based on an emotion.”

She primarily likes to feature characters like this because they are a great human connector. “I’m not a big political sketch person, and even in my standup it’s more of a social message. No matter what your political beliefs are or your social standing, we all get creeped, out, we all got annoyed and we all get uncomfortable. And we all know that looking at someone weird is a very satisfying thing. I like to create characters that are uncomfortable because it brings people together.”

Other notable sketches include The Female Jack*ss, which is her take on what would happen if women took on the iconic daredevil MTV show and one featuring a Martha Stewart-wannabe who ties ribbons around potatoes to “make it nice” (which has sparked an Instagram trend). The series offers plenty of mindless entertainment and laughs but will also make you think.

Shlesinger is currently quarantining at home in Los Angeles and was looking for an outlet to connect with fans while staying safe, which is why a cooking show with her husband seemed like the perfect activity. While her fans love the videos of her adorable dog Tian Fu, helping people learn to cook felt a bit more purposeful, which is how their daily show Don’t Panic Pantry came about.

“On occasion, I go live on Instagram because people want to interact with me. They want to get to know him and he knows so much about so many different types of cooking and our food and where it comes from so I was like ‘Let's do a show!’ I had a web show before YouTube was doing shows back in 2006. This is very much in my ‘elder millennial’ blood.”

Coming up with the right name was its own minor feat as Quarantine Cooking wasn’t exactly appetizing. “That's basically like calling it Medical Meal. Nobody is hungry after that. We called it that to basically inspire people to keep calm and carry on. All the British people reading this will be very familiar. And to also encourage people to not go out and go shopping but to stay home and use what you have. Here's an expert to show you how to do that. It's our way to help flatten the curve while also entertaining people and keeping ourselves from going insane,” she said.

The fan response has been overwhelming, with her followers cooking along with them and then showing off their results. “It's really cool to see how you've affected that person's life and that they've physically made something because of what that I created. My fans are so loving, smart and creative after gigs and we don't get to have that interaction, so now, me seeing the food that they're making and the art is an exchange of energy and love that I can subsist on.”

While she struggles like the rest of us - she cried “openly and deeply” earlier that day because she misses standup so much and is drinking seven cups of coffee per day - Shlesinger's unflappable work ethic is still in full swing.

“This is a new frontier and you're gonna be dead in the water anyway as an artist if you can't pivot and readjust in these really fast changing times," she explained. "Standup had to stop for a minute, but lucky for me, I'm also an author so I'm going to try to write another book [her first book Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity came out in 2017] and a TV show.

There are all these memes going around and it’s like you don't have to pen the next great novel, you don't have to be productive and all I thought was ‘Nice try! I know you guys are all gonna be secretly productive and you're going try to tell me not to be productive but guess what I'm not buying it.’ My idea is to will emerge with a script and a TV show while everybody else was sleeping."

Spring 2020 was going to be big for Shlesinger but as you can see, it still is. “I believe I'm one of those performers that will never have an it moment. I'm just one of those performers that will have a slow and steady rise and we are just experiencing another step in that rise.

"The coronavirus and the fallout is not gonna knock me down. We’re gonna march forward and move forward and that's the plan.” Now isn’t that nice?