We're back with Lisa Kudrow.
That was from "Feel Good."
And now we're joined by the creator and star of the show.
This is Mae Martin, everybody.
Hi May.
This is crazy.
Yes it is.
I'm so excited to meet you, this is great.
Oh, well thanks.
I'm excited to meet you too.
You have been doing comedy since you were 13 years old?
Is that right?
Yes, yeah, I started when I was going through puberty,
but then I dropped out of school a couple of years
later to do it full time.
And I was just thinking that, that
was the year that your special "Here and Now" came out,
and I feel like the two things were related.
Like seeing that special made me think this is what I got to do.
Yeah, like-- well, if she can do it, anybody can do it.
Is that what you thought?
Yeah.
Thanks a lot.
That's really sweet.
So "Feel Good" is your first show.
It premiered at the beginning of COVID and is doing very well.
And tell everybody what the show is.
Yes, the show is a semiautobiographical comedy
drama, and it's about a Canadian stand-up comic
called also Mae, that's also my name, who's living in England
and is recovering addict.
And is just in a new relationship.
So it's a love story, really.
It's a love story.
And you wrote the part as your mother
for Lisa, with Lisa in mind, but I
heard that you were shocked that she actually said yes.
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
We didn't think that you would read the scripts,
and we'd written it, and we kept saying,
oh this would be amazing if "someone like Lisa Kudrow."
And we said to the casting director,
someone like with the gravitas of Lisa Kudrow.
And she was like, let's just send it to her.
We had a bet where we said if Lisa says yes then
we're going to go to this really expensive seafood
restaurant near my house.
It's called Prawn on the Lawn, and we're like,
we got to go to Prawn on the Lawn.
So, then I called my co-writer, and I
was like, I booked a table at Prawn on the Lawn.
It was a good moment.
I bet.
I mean, look, Lisa, you're great in the show.
And the show is great.
So congratulations.
What does your mom think of it, since you based it on her?
She's really into it.
Yeah.
Thank God.
She's really into it.
She really wants to play poker with Lisa now.
They're big poker players, my parents,
and they're like you know, if Lisa's ever in Toronto,
we'd love to take her on at poker.
I will.
I'll do it, and I'm not bad.
Yeah.
I also play poker, and I will join you.
Oh my God, please, let's play.
All right.
They're really highly competitive.
They're competitive?
Oh, it's insane.
They'll take all of my money.
Yeah, well then you need to get better, that's all.
Yeah.
So, this season your character realizes she's non-binary,
and that's something that you were working through as well.
Yeah, kind of in real time with the character, so yeah.
I'm still figuring it out.
I'll let you know.
Check in with me in like a year.
But, yeah it's an ongoing process,
and the character is kind of discovering that.
And I think writing it helped me figure out how
I feel about gender, you know?
Well I think it's great that you actually
have an outlet creatively and also can't
express that for other people who are maybe
going through the same thing.
I think that's fantastic.
Thanks.
Thanks, Ellen.
Also, keenly aware that we wouldn't
be able to have a mainstream show about a queer character
if your show hadn't been on as well.
So thank you.
No, well, my pleasure.
My pleasure.
Hey, besides the show, I heard you did something
very difficult during lockdown.
Oh, oh yeah, I memorized all the countries.
Why?
Well, I don't know.
It was something to do.
How many countries, Lisa, how many countries do you know?
Um, four.
I know ten, I think.
There's like 40 of them, I think.
I'm not sure how many there are.
There's 197.
I know.
I just don't know that many.
Hey, great talking to both of you.
"Feel Good" is available on Netflix.
And I hope to see both of you in person
next season to say goodbye.
So thank you for spending time with us today.
Thanks, Ellen.
Thank you.
All right.
Thanks.
We'll be back.