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Comedian and actress Liza Treyger has had a big couple of months. She recently wrapped production on season two of the Michelle Buteau show Survival of the Thickest, where she plays the scene-stealing weirdo roommate Jade. Her first hour-long comedy special Night Owl—where she delves into many of her favorite topics including weed, sex, true crime and Bravo— dropped on Netflix at the end of January. And now, for her first tour stop post-Netflix special, Treyger is coming to Portland for three nights at Helium Comedy Club.
So when she spoke to WW on the phone from New York earlier this week, was she perhaps in the back of a car getting whisked to a meeting with TV executives? Or in a salon chair getting glam for an event? Bouncing out of one of her SoulCycle classes? Not quite.
“No, I’m in my bed,” she says. “I just always hate showering. I prolong it. It’s a sick, bad habit. I have to be somewhere at 6 so I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll shower at 4.’” [Note: It was 1:30 pm EST.] “I always don’t want to wash my hair because I’m like, ‘Whatever. It’s just going to be dirty again tomorrow.’”
After years touring her stand-up and building her audience, Treyger’s relatable brand of comedy has attracted the attention of the masses. But one fan remains elusive: her father. (In Night Owl, she talks about her dad a lot, who escaped the Nazis and then Stalin only to “come to America, to my softball game, in a T-shirt that said ‘Buttweiser: King of Rears’ with butts on it. I was like, ‘I get that the Nazis were tough, but you’re ruining my life.”)
She knows that her parents stayed up until 2 am Central Time to watch Night Owl the moment it arrived, so she called them the next morning for some feedback.
“My dad legit was just, like, ‘Oh, I have to go feed the cat.’ And it’s a stray cat. And then he said, ‘It’s early,’ and truly hung up on me,” she says. “They don’t know how to compliment me to my face. I have a joke about it.”
At Helium last year, Portlanders heard some early versions of the jokes that eventually made it into Night Owl. This Valentine’s weekend, Treyger will be working on new material after taking a break from touring since early December. (Helium is offering optional “couples packages” for purchase at her shows, including prime booth seating for two, a bottle of Champagne or wine, and dessert.)
Her Portland plans include going for a walk to get coffee or breakfast in the morning and smoking weed and drinking with other Helium comedians and staff at night. Maybe a strip club or Powell’s outing? Or maybe…
“Sometimes I’ll just binge watch TV and not leave my bed. That is kind of usually a thing for comedians.”
Liza Treyger at Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave. 503-583-8464, portland.heliumcomedy.com. 7 pm and 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Feb. 14-15 and 7 pm Sunday Feb. 16. (Some shows are selling out, including 7 pm Friday Feb. 14). $24 and up. 21+