The way Michelle Buteau sees it, sadness will age a bitch. So, she’s making it a point to not dwell on the hellscape of the last two years, but instead, dish it out with a light heart and an arsenal of new material.
Plus, she got a babysitter for this, so you know she’s making it count.
Bringing her latest hour to The Wilbur on Friday (December 10), Buteau is feeling like Christmas came early in a number of ways. Not only will this stop add to a growing list of highly-anticipated visits to the city from the host of The Circle, but it’s also her first time taking the stage at The Wilbur as a headliner. Beyond that, it’s been too long and so much has happened since she was in Boston last that she’s just excited to get out of the house, perform her new material, and see everyone’s faces — or at least their eyes.
“I am so ready for this. Thank god I age well, you know? Tick tick tock. I’m excited to finally get my flowers [at The Wilbur], and I’m glad we can do it safely now,” Buteau tells Vanyaland. “Ain’t nobody got time to be sick. We are too cute for this virus.”
With her new show, which she has dubbed Bitch Gotta Babysitter, Buteau is looking forward to putting on the boozy brunch of sorts that she’s wanted to host for a long time. After arguably the worst year we’ve seen, which oddly yielded the best creative year for Buteau in the form of a hosting gig and her debut Netflix special Welcome To Buteaupia, the now 20-year comedy vet is enjoying the ability to bring joy to people again. But while she’s looking to help us out of the muck, that doesn’t mean she won’t be talking about it.
“We’re just coming out of a crazy dark time, and we’re crawling out of it. So the fact that everyone in those seats will have done everything they needed to do in order to get back to those seats, from self-isolation and missing their families to homeschooling and everything else, it’s going to be a celebration for more than one reason,” says Buteau. “Even as a comedian, it took me a good-ass minute to find something funny to talk about, because it wasn’t funny for so long, and you can’t talk about something sad unless you’re over the hill, so I’m very thankful that I’m on the other side of that mountain and can be like ‘wasn’t that shit crazy, honey? Can we talk about it?’
While motherhood has added a major contribution to her material over the last few years, it’s her love of a feel-good party vibe that truly cements her legacy as not only the undisputed queen of positive comedy, but also one of the most sought-after voices in the game in general.
“I saw this quote one time while I was trying to Pinterest toddler meals or something, and I won’t do it any justice, but it was something along the lines of ‘The tools you need to survive won’t be the tools you need to thrive,” says Buteau. “We have definitely survived some real shit, so now let’s thrive. I love that, because that’s what life is. You just gotta keep it fuckin’ moving.”
Whenever Buteau comes to Boston, she’s floored by the amount of people who travel from every corner of New England to join in on the fun, and it won’t be any different this time around when she hits the stage with some of Boston’s own, like Bethany Van Delft, to end the week. But above all else, she’s just looking forward to keeping it real, keeping it light, and hopefully helping us learn something about each other while she’s here.
“I love Boston so hard, because it really feels like the sixth borough,” says Buteau. “People love to party, and they’ll do it to it for a responsible three to four hours, pound those drinks, maybe give a fun heckle, and then be home by midnight. I love Boston because it keeps things short and sweet and cute, so I’m really just so excited to make it back.”
MICHELLE BUTEAU :: Friday, December 10 at The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: $39 :: Wilbur event page and ticket link