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Brooklyn-based comedy duo Amelia Ritthaler and Evan Lazarus tackle comedy on screen, Spotify and the stage
Amelia Ritthaler and Evan Lazarus tackle the alternative comedy scene. Photo courtesy of Ritthaler and Lazarus
For the past few years, Amelia Ritthaler and Evan Lazarus pursued comedy through stand-up performances, social media content and a podcast. It’s no surprise that the pair have found a niche in Brooklyn, where an emerging local, alternative comedy scene has bolstered the industry with comedians like Sam Morrison breaking into the mainstream and Second City establishing its first NYC space in Williamsburg.
Ritthaler and Lazarus have already made names for themselves in the city’s comedy scene. Ritthaler hosts a monthly all-women and nonbinary show at Cafe Balearica in Williamsburg called “Girl Church,” and she joked that the tagline is “We don’t book even one straight man.” Lazarus co-hosts a monthly show at Club Cumming called “Is This Gay?” But the pair have gained most of their notoriety from their “Girls Rewatch” podcast, where they comically and intellectually dissect the cultural significance of girl-themed shows.
Because Ritthaler and Lazarus are Gen Z but were “raised by older comedians,” they bridge generational gaps in comedy, utilizing mediums like social media and podcasts, as well as traditional formats like stand-up. Their proficiency across the comedy scene helps them find the throughline in the different formats, but their temerity has made them targets for hate comments online and resentment from older and more traditional comedians.
Ritthaler and Lazarus say consistency is key: “With the internet, it’s about showing up so many times until they’re like, ‘All right. Fine,’” Ritthaler said.
“We started with so many haters and when we first started posting clips on TikTok, almost every single comment was a hate comment, and they were like, ‘Why are you two talking about this? What do you guys know?’” Ritthaler said, adding that negativity even comes from other comedians, which she attributed to the cliche “romanticization of the 10 years of work it takes and being broke in the city.” The “Girls Rewatch” TikTok account has nearly 57,000 followers, and Ritthaler and Lazarus receive millions of views on their personal TikToks.
Lazarus added, “Before there was online, comedians had their best moments from their hours, and they put them on the radio. That’s almost the same as posting a TikTok. You take your best jokes, you put them online and get people through the door, and that’s what all the biggest comedians used to do through radio shows.”
Lazarus said the two are successful across different comedy formats because they understand how to change their approach with joke-writing, topic and delivery. When Ritthaler and Lazarus record a podcast episode, the focus is on entertaining through a conversation, whereas with stand-up, the focus is finding a punchline and responding to the audience. With TikTok, they have to tell a story with a funny point that sparks conversation in the comments and relates to viewers.
The two are starting to see their audiences cross over, with podcast listeners attending stand-up shows or social media followers tuning into the podcast. Ritthaler sees audience members at shows who come up to her saying, “This is my first comedy show. I’m coming because I know about the podcast,” or, “This is so cool. I had no idea what stand-up is.” But sometimes newcomers don’t respond so positively when they try another format, Ritthaler added; in fact, “some people actually really hate it.”
Luckily, Ritthaler and Lazarus are mostly attracting excited audiences and positive response to their work. In Brooklyn, the pair are gaining traction in the alternative comedy scene — comedy centered less on the joke-to-laugh format and instead focused on anecdotal storytelling revolving around a primary themes — where they perform at classic venues like the Bell House and Union Hall, along with DIY shows in apartments or rooftops, or at stand-up shows and open mics hosted by indie venues.
“We’re living in a resurgence where people are wanting to see stand-up more than ever,” said Lazarus “In the last year, three comedy clubs in Brooklyn opened up. That’s an absurd amount.”
The growing alternative comedy scene in Brooklyn attracted Ritthaler and Lazarus a few years ago. Ritthaler originally hails from Austin, Texas, and did a post-college stint in Los Angeles where she pursued improvisational comedy. Ritthaler realized the comedy community she was looking for wasn’t in Los Angeles, and when she noticed that “all the comedy podcast hosts were doing alternative comedy in Brooklyn,” she said, “I want to be a neutral young person. I’ll go there: Flatbush, America.”
Then, Ritthaler swapped improv for stand-up. “Every time I did improv, I was like, ‘This would be so much more fun if it was just me and I didn’t play any character but me.’” she said.
Ritthaler met Lazarus at an open mic in Downtown Brooklyn, and the two moved in together after just a few months of knowing each other. Lazarus was raised in Westchester and decided to take an alternative route from their hometown friends who moved to Manhattan. “The thing that was radical about me is that I moved to Brooklyn,” said Lazarus.
Lazarus’s favorite comedians were based in Brooklyn, and similar to Ritthaler’s realization, Brooklyn seemed like the best place to go for a comedian breaking onto the scene with quirkier sensibilities. After moving in together, Ritthaler took inspiration from her full-time job in podcasting and the two decided to start the “Girls Rewatch” podcast.
“Something happens when you’re pursuing comedy, and you’re roommates with somebody for four months. Suddenly, you get an itch — like, we should have a podcast,” said Ritthaler.
In March 2023, Ritthaler and Lazarus published the first “Girls Rewatch” episode. The show follows four friends as they pursue creative careers in New York City after graduating from a liberal arts college. The plot typically revolved around the characters’ selfishness and lack of self-awareness, but gained a devoted viewership as audiences sympathized or resented the characters’ youth, humanness and desire for success. Ritthaler and Lazarus suspect that the themes of the show are why some millennials have responded negatively to the podcast.
“The majority of the hate we get online is from older millennials who didn’t pursue the creative thing and are mad that we’re doing it and that it was the story being told on the show,” said Ritthaler.
Gen Z listeners who encountered “Girls” for the first time through the podcast have responded positively to the show, which Ritthaler credits to the generational acceptance of “selfishly” pursuing one’s dreams, thanks to millennial media like “Girls.” Nearly two years after starting the podcast, Ritthaler and Lazarus have won over some of the millennial audience that originally resented them for bringing “Girls” back to the fore of the culture.
The podcast is now beloved, with Vogue naming it one of the best podcasts of 2023. In September 2024, the pair released an episode with comedian, director and writer Judd Apatow, the producer of “Girls.” Several cast members, celebrities, comedians and internet personalities, like Zosia Mamet, Rayne Fisher-Quann and Andrew Rannells have been guests on the podcast, which is now dissecting “Broad City.”
The “Girls Rewatch” podcast is available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube. Ritthaler’s final “Girl Church” of the year is on Thursday, Dec. 19, and Lazarus shares upcoming shows on Instagram.
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