Comedy Central Presents: Jessi Klein

Jessi Klein’s half-hour TV set treats romance as an administrative burden. Her best material revolves around the mechanics of intimacy, questioning when society decided that treating a partner poorly in bed was erotic. Instead, she wonders why kink can’t involve aggressively doing something nice, like planting a tree in Israel. She also outlines the daunting task of disclosing STDs to a new partner and pitches a ban on gold foil Hanukkah coins, arguing that marginalized groups shouldn’t eat their stereotypes (“you don’t see Asian people eating chocolate math”).

Aired in March 2011 as part of Comedy Central Presents’ fifteenth season, the 21-minute performance catches the comic at a clear transition point. She had recently finished a stint writing for Saturday Night Live and acting on Michael and Michael Have Issues. It would be another two years before she started her Emmy-winning tenure as head writer on Inside Amy Schumer.