Amy Schumer is promoting her new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo,
Amy Schumer wasn’t joking on Monday’s “Late Show” when she opened up about being an introvert. In her new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, the comedian shares a variety of personal stories, but the reveal that she prefers to be somewhat withdrawn was the biggest surprise for Stephen Colbert.
Schumer is one of the most popular comics around, so you can understand Colbert’s bewilderment. However, she explains that performing is actually ideal for her situation.
“I’m onstage and I’m yapping, and then I’m in my hotel room by myself,” said Schumer. “It seems strange, but yeah, I am a classic introvert.”
Actually, having some time alone is the best thing for introverts. Schumer says she just runs out of energy and needs some time to reboot.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone. If I see someone even I like at the gym, I’m like, ‘Oh God.’ It’s like, you wanna recharge and be alone,” said Schumer.
I had so much fun researching this post. And by research, I mean using Google so I hope our psychologists/psychiatrists/therapists will jump in. I had heard a few years back that “introverted” and “introvert” are not interchangeable. The distinction between introverts and extroverts, probably over-simplifying it, is that introverts need to be alone to recharge and extroverts need people to recharge. CB, however, turned me on to this great new term I had never heard, “ambivert” which is a person that is both charged and drained by both situations, being alone or in a group. Then I found this article discussing new theories about there being four different types of introverts. I am someone that others just don’t believe is an introvert. Turns out, I am a Thinking-Social Introvert, I need time alone with my thoughts but I have no anxiety about social situations and am often the life of the party – provided I don’t attend too many parties.
When I read the excerpt above, it sounded to me like Amy is, as she said, a classic introvert. However, after I listened to the full clip of her on Colbert, she ends by talking about loving being on the road and says that she brings her family and friends on her tour bus and loves talking to the crowds, so I think CB is right about her being an ambivert.
In an ironic shift of spotlight, there is a lot of attention on introverts currently. I don’t want to be seen as an extrovertist, some of my best friends are extroverts. So for all you extroverts, enjoy this and this.
Photo credit: WENN Photos
I wish she’d stop talking all together. She sure does a lot of press for an “introvert”.
As much as I don’t like her either, doing all that press is part of her job (in this case, to promote her book).
You and me both, tegteg.
What she is really saying is “I don’t want to talk to anyone…unless they are famous.”
That’s so silly, she’s just doing her job.
Loads of performers are introverts.
I am an introvert, which many people who don’t understand introverts think is incompatible with being a teacher . . . it’s not. I like to talk to people and I don’t mind being the centre of attention, speaking to crowds, etc, but I loathe small talk and socialising with strangers and answering personal questions. I love small gatherings with close friends and family but hate huge parties. So I get you, Amy Schumer. For once.
Me too, exactly this. My job is very extroverted, I deal with a steady rotation of people and situations and all of that; very personable social job. No problem. People actually gravitate towards me because I have a friendly face. I can handle it all, but it’s not how I choose to do in my free time, and not how I am. People are always a bit surprised to know that I’m also very quiet and awkward in social environments with strangers. It’s funny. (:
I’m the same. I adore alone time. I do not enjoy large groups. Feels impersonal to me. One of my favorite things to do is go to a bar in the afternoon. I have a beer or wine or two, read my book, have lunch, chat with the few people around. I’m out by five so I miss the happy hour people. However, I do enjoy watching sports at the bar with a crowd. Then I can yell & no one minds. Lol.
I’m also quiet and awkward but there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t let anyone tell you different. I find it very difficult to connect when in large groups. It is exhausting.
You could be my mental twin! I couldn’t have described myself more accurately.
It depends on the social focus, for me. I’m highly introverted, every test I take lands me square in the introvert category. I require alone time to function, I hate calling people, I don’t like awkward social interactions, and meeting new people is not my idea of fun. Social situations take energy, and there’s a finite amount of energy to go round.
But I love teaching, don’t mind public speaking, and will happily stand up in front of a crowd if I’m supposed to be the center of attention. Like giving a lecture, for example. The difference is I’m supposed to be there, I’m prepared for it, and I know there’s an ending. Social events with lots of people that don’t have a set end time? No thank you to that. That’s the mental equivalent of waiting for an important phone call when your phone is at 15% and no outlet in sight.
Me too. Interestingly, I’ve noticed a reframing around the idea of introverts/extroverts that centers around energy. The psychological/emotional energy of those leaning to introvert comes from being alone or with smaller, more intimate social groups, while extroverts get their energy from outside themselves with larger social groups and environments. I like this perspective because it doesn’t condemn either type to a specific list of personality labels. I too work in a social setting and am not unfriendly or awkward, but yea, at the end of even an uneventful day, people exhaust me. I have to have my quiet alone time to process and re-energize.
I’m an ambivert with introvert leanings (lol) and I think it’s totally possible to be introverted but still be able to have a good social life and etc. Honestly, I can talk to anyone if the mood strikes me – I once had an hour long conversation with a stranger in a bookstore because we happened to both be Game of Throne fans – but in general I prefer to stay home and take it easy rather than go out all the time.
Sometimes people confuse it with being antisocial, IMHO, but they’re very different. I’m not a huge fan of big parties, but if a friend invites me out to a small supper, or my family invites me over for someone’s birthday party, I’ll be there with bells on.
100% the same! I need my alone time to unwind every day for at least a couple hours.
Well that explains why she is always such a grumpy tw*t – if you don’t like talking to people…reconsider your career. Or…just do your gigs and show and stop famewhoring. Ugh
That article about the four types of introversion was really interesting! Turns out I’m a Thinking Social Anxious introvert lol, which makes more sense than the ambivert label I was using before. I wonder if there are different types of extroversion too
Have you taken the Meyers Briggs personality test?
I did and I got Debator (ENTP) which is honestly me too lol. The extroversion vs. introversion breakdown was interesting though (51% vs. 49% respectively).
Saying that you’re an introvert is trendy apparently in celeb world when they want to look like they aren’t attention seeking. They’re only doing all this publicity stuff for the job!!1! And there have been reports of her being really rude to fans.This sounds like an excuse for bad behavior.
So over this woman. She is Lenawhatshernme type of insufferable.
ditto
Agreed, ironically enough, she said Lena Dunham is her writing hero. Excuse me, while I control the chunks coming up in my throat.
I will like to see how magnanimous either of them are, once their fifteen minutes are up.
The thing is, introvert does NOT mean shy. It means, generally speaking, your focus is internal instead of external. You recharge by being alone. If you do not get to be alone, your mood and mental health deteriorate. Silence is a good thing. When you have a problem, or a decision to make, your instinct is to think about it first (internal) and then ask advice from others (external), not the other way round. Maybe you don’t even involve others at all, because there is no need. Your own thoughts are often enough.
That doesn’t mean you can’t be social, enjoy talking to people or whatever else in your “not alone time”. You can be loud, brash, talkative, “out there” or whatever. You just need to be alone. Not want, but need. People simply will not understand that.
this. it drives me mental as an introvert, that people assume you need to be socially awkward. i used to be also very shy on top of being an introvert, and being shy did make me behave awkwardly. now that i’ve outgrown being shy for the most part i’m absolutely fine with social situations. however being an introvert they don’t interest me all the time, i like spending time alone a lot.
Yes, exactly. Very well put. The tough thing is that some people don’t always understand that need for alone time, and how depleted an introvert can be if they don’t get it.
Yup! This right here. Thank you Wren.
This 100%
I’m an introvert and while I have a rich social life, I absolutely have to budget alone time to keep my sanity. But the misconception around that is that if you need to be alone you are anti-social and shy and awkward. That’s not the case, though many shy and awkward are ALSO introverts,
Conversely I’ve come across people who self-identify as introverted because “I like to be alone sometimes” which isn’t really the same thing. It’s about how your mind and body recharges.
If I have to spend long periods of time in big groups, I get anxious and feel like I’m running on fumes. For a long time I thought I was anti-social until I started reading up on introversion and it was like reading a manual about my life!
I don’t really understand what an ambivert is, though. To me, it sounds like the “normal people” 🙂
Perfectly stated.
Thank all of you. What a relief.
There is so much more to this than merely intro and extro as alluded to.
For most it is whether they are comfortable with what they truly are or if they want to be something else or pretend to be something else. That is where the difficulties lie.
There are millions of perfect happy introverts. If you think about it all of us has an ‘odd’ relative. If the relative is happy in their own little way all is good. If they aren’t then it is fine to encourage them to start to develop some skills to move further into the world within their comfort range.
For many of us however we pretend to be something we aren’t and this is where a huge amount of anxiety, stress, imposter and just feelings of unhappiness live.
When we discuss comedians very often they feel that they have to be a certain way – even when that is a mile from the natural state. This is where a lot of dysfunction occurs.
I’m an introvert too, and I do a lot of outreach work for my job. Part of what makes me good at it is my ability to listen. Introverts are often drained by social interactions, and for me a lot of that is I do so much listening and empathizing. Some days people just talk at me all day. I also do a lot of public speaking, and I don’t mind doing that at all for work. But I have to get home at the end of the day and just be alone with my dog, or I’d go completely nuts. It kind of takes a toll on my social life sometimes–I just can’t do more socializing after work if I’ve had to do too much during the day.
I wonder how she manages to hang out with J-Law if she’s a classic introvert. J-Law’s high impact energy would make me feel awkward and tire me out.
Although maybe J-Law does all the talking and she just listens?
I can see it. I am an introvert and one of my best friends is a fast-talking, high-energy extrovert. In group settings, she becomes the center of the universe and it’s harder for me to absorb her energy, which seems almost manic to me at times, so I usually just meet her one-on-one, where she’s more subdued and she makes me laugh endlessly.
oh wow! same here! 🙂 I sometimes have to remind my best friend to calm down a bit if she doesn’t wanna wear me out completely. She used to interrupt me a lot as soon as my focus was on someone else. I managed to make it clear to her that, just as much as I pay attention to her, I’m now doing the same with somebody else, and that she probably wouldn’t like it either if someone else just hijacked our conversation. I love her tons, and while it used to be really exhausting for me to spend time with her in groups, after many years we’re now meeting somewhere in the middle and rather spend time just one-on-one, and then we talk forever.
I’m not a psychologist or any other type of doctor, but I don’t beleive she is an introvert. She seeks attention at all levels on a regular basis. She gets off on her twitter and instagram posts and the responses they garner. Doing a press tour for the launch of a book is understandable – it’s work, but she does a lot that puts her in the spotlight that isn’t required of her. She just likes being in the spotlight. I watched that segment on Colbert and she contradicts herself. I think it’s more that she likes the idea of being an introvert – just more of the “I’m a special snowflake” persona. It makes her seem mysterious and inaccessible. She is neither. But then again, I changed the channel after a bit because I cannot deal with her. So, I’m obviously biased.
Haha that buzzfedd article:
“You do not justify your social impediments as charming quirks indicative of a secretly brilliant personality.”