The last time Taylor Tomlinson was in town, the stakes were pretty high. From recording her latest special to covering a deeply personal and emotionally taxing hour, there was a lot going on. Now, without the pressure that comes with recording a special and an hour that is still deep but a bit lighter than before, Tomlinson is excited to make her way back to the city for a record-setting run. More importantly, she’s most excited to just be present for it.
With a near-completely sold out four-show run starting tonight (February 1) at The Wang Theatre as part of her Have It All Tour, Tomlinson is still somewhat riding on the high provided by the success of her second special, Look At You, which she recorded at The Wilbur in December 2021. Now, as she moves next door to a larger room, she’s putting another stamp down in the city with a record-setting run that not only has her selling the third-most tickets at the venue, behind only Louis CK and Jerry Seinfeld, but the totals also accumulate to a personal record, as this string of dates has resulted in her selling the most tickets in any city since she started her comedy career.
It’s certainly a surreal set of circumstances for Tomlinson to be on the same marquee as some of the best to ever hit the stage, but she knows, that at the end of the day, nothing is guaranteed and she still has to go out there and execute.
“I’m excited to be back in Boston. I haven’t been back in over a year since we recorded Look At You, and everyone was still needing to wear masks at that point, so I’m excited that it’s different this time around,” Tomlinson tells Vanyaland. “I just can’t believe we’ve sold this many tickets. It was crazy to me to go in and do, I think five shows at The Wilbur, so to be doing four shows at The Wang a year later is just insane. I’m very grateful, and while that isn’t a very funny answer, it is sincere.”
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Admittedly, as someone who also enjoys the atmosphere of live theater, Tomlinson’s drive to be one of the best in the game isn’t exclusively rooted in boosting her own recognition. She also knows how much it takes for people to make it out to her shows, both financially and physically, and she wants to deliver a performance that is well worth their money, night in and night out.
With the new hour, it seems to be going according to plan, even though the subject matter is still coming from a deeply personal perspective on loneliness and the sacrifices that go along with the attempt at “having it all.” Touching mostly on figuring out who she is and how her relationships have changed since her career has really taken off, specifically dissecting how her friends became less sympathetic of her dating woes after she got a Netflix special, and figuring out for herself why she can’t have both a great career and smoother seas in terms of friendships and dating relationships.
Life certainly hasn’t gone as expected for the 29-year old Tomlinson, who thought she’d be married by 30 with maybe one hour special in the can. But as she embarks in the hour that will eventually become her third hour while she has yet to tie the knot, the questions and frustrations continue to stay in her mind, but that’s not to say she isn’t grateful and excited for how her life on stage is going.
“Depending on where you are in your life, a lot of people think that if they have the career they want that it will fix everything, and a lot of people think having the relationship they want will fix all their problems, and the reality is that nothing fixes all of your problems,” says Tomlinson. “So, when you do get what you’ve been working for, and it doesn’t fix everything, there is that little bit of sadness that comes along after thinking it would solve everything, and then it doesn’t.”
For a new batch of material that she was hoping wouldn’t be as heavy as the previous hour, Tomlinson is aware that it still does hit on some nerves. But she’s finding that even if the perspective is from a deeper place in her own life, her stories and her approach to such topics have proven to be just as cathartic for her audience as they’ve been for her, and she’s hoping the upcoming Boston crowds will go along for the ride with her in continuing to figure out some important things and staying present in the moment, while also delivering the top-tier comedic performances she’s become synonymous with.
“I’m planning on it being entirely too cold to want to go out and do anything while I’m in town, so I’m just really excited to do these shows and perform in front of people who don’t have to wear masks,” says Tomlinson. “This will be the most tickets I’ve ever sold in any city, and I really want to feel that, soak that in, and give everyone their money’s worth.”
TAYLOR TOMLINSON :: Wednesday, February 1 to Friday, February 3 at The Boch Center Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 and 10 p.m., $29.75 to $59.75 :: Event page :: Advance tickets