Book Look: 10 New Things We Learned About Amy Schumer from Her New Book
Collage created using TurboCollage software from www.TurboCollage.com
Amy Schumer is used to being praised for staying true to herself while also being incredibly famous. The praise is deserved because she seems to have a certain amount of self awareness and authenticity that is rare in a person, and it makes her relatable. Reading The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo reads like your best girlfriend wrote it specifically for you. It’s hilarious yet her more serious chapters are well written and informative. We’ve come up with a list of 10 things we learned about Amy Schumer from reading The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo!
#1 Amy’s an Introvert.
Her outgoing personality and media portrayal would lead you to believe that she is an extrovert. She’s fun, outspoken, and loves a drink or two. Shockingly enough, in The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, you learn that Amy is actually an introvert. In this part of the book, she goes over how being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re shy and that she loves socializing-just not all the time.
“I know some people who’ve written books have struggled through it, and you can feel them ripping themselves apart on every page. But for me, writing this book has been one of the great pleasures of my life. Sitting and writing and talking to no one is how I wish I could spend the better part of every day. In fact, it might be surprising for you to learn that most of my days are spent alone, unless I am on set, which is crazy draining for an introvert. As soon as lunchtime arrives, I skip the food service tables and rush to my trailer or a quiet corner and I meditate.”
#2 She Got Shafted by Men’s Health Magazine.
Amy was asked to write for Men’s Health and discussed with an editor what photo should be used to pair with the article. It seemed like they enjoyed her ideas on what images to use when she got an unexpected surprise. Instead of featuring a photo of her to accompany her own article, they used images of unrelated models.
“Over the next month and a half we settled on the finished piece. A few weeks later, I was backstage getting ready to film the stand-up portion of my pilot for Comedy Central when I got an email…And that’s when I saw the layout of the article. It was accompanied by three huge pictures…not one of them was me. Each one featured a very slender, heavy-titted model, whose ages ranged from old enough for military service to too young to rent a car.”
#3 She Was Arrested for Shoplifting.
Like many people, she went through a shoplifting phase. Only for Amy, it ultimately resulted in grand larceny! In her book, she talks about her run in with the law and a little store she called “Schloomingdales.” The story is like so many others. She started off slow and gradually started jacking more and more stuff. It’s nerve racking reading how she got caught, but it’s also unbelievably funny.
#4 She’s Sick of Questions About Being a Woman in Hollywood.
After she made Trainwreck, Amy had to do press to promote the film. She describes the grueling process with an “added burden of being a woman.” Questions like “What does this mean for women in Hollywood?” and “Isn’t this an exciting time?” are questions she does not want to hear. The constant use of “female” as an adjective for her work pressured her to “speak for all females,” a responsibility she did not ask for.
#5 She Has an Obsession with Stuffed Animals.
She even dedicated a whole chapter to it.
#6 After Winning a Challenge on Last Comic Standing, a Fellow Contestant Told Her, “You Don’t Deserve It.”
Amy was thrilled after she won a challenge on Last Comic Standing, but her excitement was soon crushed when a bully decided to step in and squash her spirit. In a moment that would almost seem too cheesy if it were to be written into a movie scene, Amy was actually told, “You don’t deserve it” by a jealous unnamed contestant on the show.
#7 She’s Only Had One One-Night-Stand.
She knows this would surprise people, given how open and comfortable she is talking her sexual experiences:
“Yes, one. I know, I’m so sorry to disappoint anyone who thinks I walk around at all times with a margarita in one hand and a dildo in the other.”
#8 She Grew Up Wealthy AND Poor.
Amy experiences both sides of the spectrum when it comes to her childhood. She describes her family as upper class until she was a preteen when her family lost all of their money.
#9 She Speaks Sign Language.
She says she isn’t totally fluent, but can have a conversation through sign language, highlighting a time when she lost her voice on stage and had to sign to her mother in the audience so that she could relay her jokes to the crowd for her.
#10 A Professional Matchmaker Set Her Up on Date from Hell.
In an unaired segment of her television show, she interviewed a professional matchmaker. During this regular segment called “Amy Goes Deep,” where Amy interviews people who have interesting jobs or interesting lifestyles, she invited a matchmaker on the show. The matchmaker gave her “controlling” and “prescribed” advice and then set Amy up with what would be the date of nightmares. One of the first things the much older and unattractive date said to Amy was, “You are really cute. The matchmaker told me you were, quote, ‘no model,’ but I think she’s wrong.” Amy goes on to describe how the situation made her feel:
“This made my heart, which had already fallen out of my pussy, proceed to dig a hole through the Earth’s crust, mantle, and core…I thanked him for his time, hugged him good-bye, and left decimated. Not for myself, but for all the single women out there trying to date. I wanted to run to the top of the Empire State Building and make an announcement to all of them to let them know they are worth so much more than this.”
Pick up a copy of The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo now!
“The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” is available now at bookstores everywhere.
Read more comedy news, stories, interviews with comedians, videos and comedy clips on our home page. Get more comedy news. Watch more viral videos. Read more interviews with the best comics in the business.
.
Sarah Jacobs
Latest posts by Sarah Jacobs (see all)
