"Stuff I Carry in the Gaps Between My Boobs and My Ill-Fitting Bras"
An interview with Claire Tadokoro
Hello and welcome to Humor Science, the newsletter I started so I could have an excuse to talk to and learn from some of my favorite humor writers. Thank you for being here!
This week I interviewed Claire Tadokoro about her piece for Weekly Humorist, “Stuff I Carry in the Gaps Between My Boobs and My Ill-Fitting Bras.” Claire is an incredibly talented writer and performer. Not only is she a humor writer but she also has a hilarious TikTok, which I was excited to talk to her about.
In this interview, Claire emphasizes the importance of finding a group of people at a similar place in their journey for support and feedback, and I can’t agree more! I’m always terrified of putting myself out there and asking for feedback swaps or organizing a meetup, but so far whenever I’ve done it, no one has laughed and thrown tomatoes at me in the town square, which is a pretty solid track record.
Alright, let’s dive in!
Tell me about the inspiration for this piece. When did you start writing it?
I started writing this in the summer of 2019 according to my trail of Google Doc versions... To be honest, I don't remember the specific inspiration for this idea other than wanting to talk about my lil boobs. I do remember that I was hitting a wall with short-form humor writing, and I wanted to play with the list format which has always intimidated me. I also wanted to challenge myself to make it very silly and absurd because I struggled with heightening jokes and plot.
I think the list format for a humor piece can be deceptively simple. They always seem straightforward, but to me it's always tricky to narrow down the final selections, and figure out what the recurring thread is going to be. I love all the call-backs in this, and the recurring thread with Corona. What was your process like for editing this one and making those selections? How did you land on the specific of the leopard gecko?
I agree! There is so much humor in the simplicity of lists, but it's pretty difficult to nail. In terms of editing, I really need to give credit to an old Facebook writing group, The Cluster, that you were also a member of. I received amazing feedback from Sarah Garfinkel as well as Sameul Allemang, Kiki O'Keefe, yourself(!), and Laura LeeLun. I'm again following my Google Doc trail so there may be even more names I'm missing... but my point is that group feedback was imperative for this piece and really helped to articulate it as a whole.
I first just tried to think of silly reps even if they didn't connect to one another. Once you're in the process of just trying to list out different possibilities, I think you naturally begin to think of ones that may connect. With peer feedback, I cut a few reps and added a few reps that made those connections more clear and took out jokes that didn't really fall into the overall tone I was going for. For example, I originally had a rep about storing a portable charger in a bra gap because I hate carrying a purse. It was fine, but it was too realistic and plausible in comparison to the others.
RE: Corona. Even though this piece is pretty absurd, I wanted to identify with the reps. I actually DO think it would be funny to walk around with whoopie cushions in my bra, and I would LOVE to have snacks so conveniently packed. I had a pet leopard gecko named Corona from the time I was 11 until about 20 (RIP), and I thought she would be a funny addition to the piece. I would have really enjoyed having a pocket gecko back in the day but obviously discourage placing one in your bra.
This piece is not only illustrated, it's animated, which is incredible. What was the process of working with Sarah like?
It was a dream. Sarah Kempa is insanely talented, and I was thrilled when she agreed to work together. I sent her a cold email and told her I loved her work in "New Erotica for Feminists" as well as "What's Hidden at the Bottom of Your CVS Receipt." I kept my message brief, attached a draft of Bra Gaps and told her to let me know if she was interested.
Besides a couple of details I wanted to convey to Sarah, such as the bra cups being slightly mismatched since one boob is bigger than the other, I really left her alone in terms of her artistic process. The biggest example of that being that she had told me she would send me a few illustrations one week, and by the time she sent them over, she had gone 10 steps further and created animated GIFs!
Is there anything else you want to share about this piece that I didn’t ask about?
It's been so long since I worked on this piece and reflecting on the entire process has made me really grateful that I was a part of such a supportive writing group. Most of us went in different directions shortly after -- especially with COVID, but this has inspired me to seek out that kind of support again even if it's for a different medium.
In addition to humor writing, you're also on TikTok and you've found a lot of success on the platform. Whether it's in humor writing or on TikTok, where do you find inspiration for your comedy? How do you come up with ideas?
Thank you so much! I've been in quite a creative rut over the last year so I'm currently trying to re-think inspiration and my approach to it. I'd love any tips.
In the past, I've checked out online news outlets like WSJ as well as newsletters like Morning Brew and HR Brew. Fluff outlets like Pop Sugar can also be helpful. These are all great to get inspo for what is relevant right now or trendy. I also like to just pull from everyday experience, observations, emotions, and then add a "what if" component. For instance, in my previous job we had to do a lot of research on how names were properly pronounced for audiobooks we were producing. On rare occasions, this would involve trying to get in touch with the person, and sometimes their clarification would be entirely different than what was expected which led to this early TikTok I made.
For social media specifically, there are also trends that are fun to play with! Some are dumb and extremely simple, but others almost feel like a little writing prompt. This TikTok is about the "beige flag" trend. There isn't even a punchline here, but the idea is that you think of something your partner does that is neither good nor bad but may give you pause. And this trend was about situations where people realized they could capitalize from someone's misfortune.
Do you have any advice for others who might be considering moving from short-form humor into TikTok?
My advice would be to give it a shot. Similar to satirical writing, sketch, improv, and stand-up, you won't know if you enjoy the medium until you try it out. Video editing sounds daunting, but so does showing up to an open mic and trying to make strangers laugh. If it makes you feel better, use a fake name when you start like I did!
Especially if you're coming from a background in short-form humor writing, I really think you'd be surprised as to how easily the humor can translate. McSweeney's type monologues can easily become a 30-60 second character skit, a list you're working on can be a really simple video of you reading that piece straight to the camera or could simply be text over some b-roll. Short sketches can become even SHORTER sketches where you write, act, and edit it all yourself.
Are there specific humor writers or TikTok comedians that you’re inspired by?
Humor writers: Caitlin Kunkel, Brooke Preston, Kate Herzlin, Connor Relyea, Lillian Stone, Sarah Garfinkel, Ysabel Yates (hehe), Kerry Elson, and Vannessa Jackson.
Interweb Comedians: Sabrina Brier, Caroline Bourke, Claire Manning, Nate Meeker, Dan Toomey, KP Parker, EJ Marcus, Jack Martin, Trevor Wallace, and Yasmine Sahid.
Eli Rallo is also a big inspiration of mine. She isn't a comedian, but she unapologetically leans into both her social media presence/brand and love of writing and really demonstrates that one facet of that identity doesn't cancel the other one out and can actually serve both ends. She also just wrote a book!
Now you're putting your social media and comedy skills to work at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which is awesome. Can you share a bit about your day-to-day, and what it's like pitching and creating comedy for a show versus your personal work?
Sure!* I'm presently on break due to the ongoing WGA negotiations. More info here. I started in January so I'm still very new to the production as a whole, but I have loved it. As a Social Media AP, my day begins at around 2 or 3 PM depending on meetings. I attend rehearsal to get an idea of the show content for that night, and then I watch the taping in real time and discuss with the social team on what we want to isolate for our different platforms. In my particular role, I'm focusing on editing down interview and monologue moments and crafting copy. Sometimes during the taping I'll help out with BTS content backstage, but I'm primarily up in the office. After the taping, we work out a posting schedule for that night along with a summary of what all we want to put out. I'm cutting clips and submitting copy typically until about 10:30 - 11 pm and then am scheduling content and monitoring audience engagement during broadcast. On a weekly basis we are also working on social pitches for the upcoming talent and sometimes original content.
While an interest in comedy is important for this job, I don't really create comedy in my role. It's more so about amplifying the existing show content and Stephen and the writer's comedy. There's room to add humorous elements when pitching to talent though, and I have found that my experience in pitching to brands with my own personal social media has helped me when I write up concepts for my team's and talent teams' consideration.
*a friendly and likely unnecessary disclaimer that everything here is just my own personal opinion/perspective :)
What advice do you have for someone who might just be getting started with their comedy writing journey?
Connect with people who are at similar places in their journey for mutual support and growth. If you're completely new to it, I recommend investing in a class if you have the means. Not only will you receive instruction and feedback, but you will automatically be put in touch with others at that same level. I started with Writing Satire for the Internet Level 1. You could also start with a sketch class, improv class, stand-up class (or just attend open mics), and seek out IRL writing meet-ups. Meetup.com likely has some options for wherever you're located if you just want some accountability.
Where can people find more of your work, and are there any particular projects or news you want to plug?
You can find me @ClaireTadokoro on both IG and TikTok.
That’s it! Don’t forget to follow Claire and Sarah on social media, and also check out Sarah’s hilarious book, “Where Did My Roommate Put My Charger?”
What’s new:
There are still spots available in my workshop, Crafting Character Voice in Humor Pieces on Tuesday, August 22nd from 7PM to 8:30PM EST. Come meet fellow humor writers and learn some tricks you can use for creating a unique and specific character voice. We’re going to get real nerdy about writing, it’s going to be a great time.
About me
I’m a comedy writer and freelance copywriter living in Brooklyn. My humor writing has been published by The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, Reductress, and more. I’m the co-author of Jokes to Offend Men, which was named the #2 Comedy Book of 2022 by Vulture. I’m available for new writing projects, writing coaching, and nerding out about comedy, so please reach out and say hi!