Oh, well. Yet another feel good about yourself piece in Art and Leisure section. In addition to one about a 58-year old actress preaching her self-worth, and another one about a 49-year old sex offender's wife obliged to survive, and a long detailed rumination on ways to deal with "midlife crisis can hit at 30". And yet, festively mixed within are the Times' constant and recurring adds featuring thin as a stick 18-year olds wearing likes of Chanel.
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Aidy Bryant is a brilliant comedienne who shines brightly on SNL. One of my recent favorite characters of hers was the owner of the Hair Shop for Dogs. She was flamboyant and stupendous. And I could barely breathe from laughing in my living room. I’m watching “Shrill tonight. Aidy is a star! Take that all you Twitter malcontents.
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Another comment for Aidy-Love here. I’m a straight suburban mom and I have a major crush on her.
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My husband and I have been watching SNL since its inception; yes, we’re that old! Our favorite star is, hands down, Aidy Bryant. Every time she’s on, she astounds us with her spot-on impersonations and her very real gift of genuine talent, which appears to be effortless. She comes across as someone who’s approachable and likeable, and she’s so pretty. Wishing you all the best, Aidy!
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Aidy Bryant stands out as a genuis on SNL. So does Cecily Strong and....all of the women. I love how the show has evolved to this place with such strong women who seem to genuinely appreciate each other.
Oh, the men are okay, too....
You go Aidy!
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Aidy, you're my favorite actor on SNL.
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Hey, Aidy: Spoiler alert ... You are a clue in the Sunday NYT mini-crossword puzzle! Congratulations!
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I love this woman! Her Irish dating show sketch was hilarious! She's so funny and talented. I, too, struggle with my weight. I have to be photographed for my job with dogs all the time (I do animal rescue). Twenty years ago, I held Chihuahuas. As I gained weight over the years, I moved to Springer Spaniels and Golden Retrievers. At my heaviest, I'd hold Danes and Saint Bernards when I was photographed to hide my belly. As long as a person is healthy it should matter what size they are. I think it's unhealthy for women to have bones in their necks showing on a red carpet. The look sick/malnourished. I'm also amazed at what the public perceives as heavy. I met Oprah years ago and she was a normal sized woman (I didn't really think about it before I met her). And she was beautiful. And so is Aidy. Pretty green eyes!
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As women, we are finally finding that whatever our journey is, it is ours to embrace. This illustrates that beautifully.
You rock, Aidy.
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Let’s focus on the important issue: she is a great comedy talent. Probably will do well in dramatic roles too. In our national viewpoint, if a celebrity is obese, we focus on their body rather than their talent or accomplishments. Who cares about her BMI???
America needs to grow up!! Look at a person’s inner self. It’s like our country is stuck at age 14. GROW. UP.
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@CWJ " It’s like our country is stuck at age 14. "
Well put.
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Us boys were fat-shamed too & it truly hurts. For a lifetime. When I see people like Aidy, who are a lot like me, succeed it gives me great joy. The trolls can be hurtful, but they can never take away talent, and Aidy has talent to burn!
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I am so happy: Aidy & Lindy West. Happy International Women’s Day. Beautiful, funny & smart come in all sizes.
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She is the best.
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I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised at the civil and even laudatory comments here on this article about, at its most fundamental level, overweight (by whatever definition) women. Brava!
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Great piece. I love her.
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What a joy to find this article to read on a Saturday morning! I love AidyBryant and her energy and presence and talent in all the roles she portrays on Saturday Night Live. I'm also doubly happy as a fan of Lindy West who I first experienced as she emceed Seattle's Moth Story Slam in 2013 for several years--with a wit that made me laugh so hard my belly would hurt. Lindy like Aidy is funny, warm, talented and fabulous. Respectively, their perseverance and passion in what they do makes their writing and acting and stand up WONDERFUL! Looking forward to this series, having read the memoir first, wondering what goodies will come of the creative license they take with the material. Cheers hip hip hooray!
I have the deepest respect for people who are courageously vulnerable and able to be funny at the same time, because in sharing their stories with a touch of humor, everybody benefits and can learn how to be a better human.
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Lorne, Aidy can play as many characters as Kenyan Thompson gets to play. His weight has not limited him from portraying characters that he doesn’t look like.
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@HappyHudson I was thinking about how I had just watched Leslie Jones play Gail King. Nobody cares that they have different body shapes. And I bet Gail was thrilled to be played by Leslie Jones, because she's funny and talented, like Aidy.
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Aidy embodies a warmth, hilarity and talent that is so inspiring and pure, I can’t look away anytime she is performing. The connection with a truly skilled, beautiful and hilarious woman on screen runs deeper than the laughs. The energy and empowerment one feels when being TRULY represented on screen is something I wish for ALL humans.
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I applaud SNL for opening up its boundaries. Kate McKinnon is playing young women and old men, because she is an actor. Aidy can portray people who are not only curvy women in their early 30s. Girl’s got range, too.
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Not one for watching HBO's Girls, but her small role in the latter seasons was a great addition.
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Three facts won me over: 1. The glorious Aidy Bryant; 2. Ms. Bryant quit Twitter; and, 3. Elizabeth Banks is involved. I cannot wait!
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Aidy Bryant really isn't fat. She's full figured. What's the big deal?
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@Joyce I used to say things like this, then I learned that fat isn't a bad word- it's a descriptor just like tall, short, red, blue, etc. When we use language like "full-figured" or "curvy" instead of "fat" it reinforces the stigma that fat is bad or undesirable, which actually contributes to fat-shaming culture. (Check out body positivity if you want to learn more)
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@Joyce Just curious. What's the difference between fat and full-figured? If these are two separate categories, where is the dividing line? Technically she meet the definition of obese. So do I for that matter. But really it's just semantics. What's meant here, whatever term you use, is that she's larger than the prevailing standard of beauty in our culture.
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@Joyce
And “fat” by your definition is...?
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I know that lots and lots of curvy girls (like me) are saying, "Go Aidy!" We all know her pain and frustration. We also know what a tremendously talented artist she is. I can't wait to watch Shrill and see the "us" in her.
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She is ridiculously talented, a total hoot and a great actor. Long may she shine.
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I've avoided Hulu so far but now will have to join. For Aidy!
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i loved her in The Big Sick. Warm, funny, real.
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Andy Bryant is a comic genius. In some sketches she can just take it to a completely nother level. She can be the most extreme while at the same time staying connected to her character—it’s hilarious but even more so, it’s elating.
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I love this woman.
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Well, for what it's worth, that dress is fabulous on you.
.......not that you need a dress to be fabulous.
You are a complete and utter highlight for me on SNL and I will watch this because I adore your energy, your wit and what you bring to this world.
See you over at Hulu.
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I also thought she looked beautiful in that dress. She is such an asset to SNL; I look forward to seeing her in other work. Go Aidy!
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I think I have tried not to be sizeist throughout my life but the depiction of what women "should" look like is really insidious. But even so, after a lifetime -I'm a senior citizen - of soaking them in, I find that I still make ungenerous and more importantly just plain wrong generalizations too often about women who are bigger than me - or of me, myself, as I gain weight which is a pretty normal part of aging.. I have to make a point of correcting these false assumptions that I make without thinking. Shows like "Shrill" and writers and performers like Aidy Bryant and Lindy West are vital in that they show the value, the vibrancy and the attractiveness of those that the entirety of the media conspires to tell us are not to be aspired to. They help reset our false assumptions. Way to go Aidy and Lindy!
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@Greenfordanger ~ I agree enthusiastically with your comments. Also vaguely related, recently I've watched some re-runs of seasons 1-3 of HBO's classic, beloved, & unprecedented "Sex In the City" & marveled at the mostly curve-less body types & colors. Reminds me of evolution, after all.
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I picked up "Shrill" in Portland's famous bookstore in July 2017, and I read it in almost one sitting. I sent it to all my close friends, and I recommended it to everyone I knew. Lindy West is a force to be reckoned with, and so is Aidy Bryant. I absolutely adore them both, and I am so thrilled they are being seen and heard.
I am a size 12/14 (5'3) but even at that size, I have been called a "pig" and made to feel I am unworthy of love because of my weight. Thank goodness in 2019 young girls have these role models that were not around when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's.
Thank you NY Times for showcasing one of the most talented people around. I wish her every success!
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Aidy is smart, funny, beautiful and shows us her humanity. A super talent!
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I love Aidy Bryant. I think she's talented and hilarious and beautiful. And I've been a huge admirer of Lindy West's writing for a long time. So excited that the work of two of my favorite people is coming together this way.
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Aidy Bryant is lovely! It's so great to see her be so successful. You go, Aidy Bryant!
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Kudos to Aidy for the series. I'll make sure to check it out since she is one of my absolute favorite SNL performers. Aidy conveys on SNL everything Lorne M described - an innate sense of goodness and sensibility which give even her sleaziest characters some depth.
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Congrats on Shrill, Aidy! I always enjoy seeing you on SNL, and wish you much success. You go, Lil' Baby Aidy!
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"Who do I have? Adele?" - Aidy Bryant
"Do you have to make the noises?" Her mother
Apple seems to have fallen pretty close to the tree.
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She was really special in Horace & Pete as well. I think that show is worth a shot, for anyone who has not seen it.
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@Fast Marty - Oh absolutely.
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Aidy Bryant is just the best. Just. The. Best.
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I love Aidan Bryant. She’s supremely talented. And her SNL characters are always so quirky and amusing. My all-time favorite is when she impersonated Rachel Mitchell, the sex crimes prosecutor who was selected by the rotten Republicans to question Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford during Kavanaugh’s surreal Senate confirmation hearing. Bryant’s impression of Mitchell was absolutely brilliant. Can’t wait to watch “Shrill.”
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Sorry for the typo! Of course I meant to say Aidy not Aidan ;-)
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I am so excited to see this! I love Aidy's performances on SNL and absolutely loved reading "Shrill". I search out Lindy West's writing on hard days because that woman is tough and kind and good and it makes me happy to read her thoughts. When "Dietland" came out I was intrigued, but that show is so much anger and sadness, I'm looking forward to this view of life instead.
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So glad to see Aidy Bryant as the star of her own show, well deserved and long overdue. Her talent is better than the 'fat sidekick' in an Amy Schumer movie, and I hope she chooses to focus her feedback-loop on the people that are blind to her physical traits and enjoy her unique acting and humour.
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@BDubs
I'm sure your comment "I hope she chooses to focus her feedback-loop on the people that are blind to her physical traits" was kindly meant. But it is quite disparaging.
Essentially: "Looks don't matter anyway, dear. You're smart and funny."
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@BDubs - Who would want to be blind to Aidy Bryant's physical traits? She's gorgeous!
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Aidy Bryant is my favorite SNL star, and I mean star. I look for her especially. She’s savvy, she’s funny, she’s beautiful.
I remember being called “Fats” when I was in 6th grade by a bunch of hoodlum girls. At 70, I still recall the pain. I wasn’t even overweight.
I could go on and on about how skinny must be nice, people should not judge about weight, and all that. Never mind. This article is about clear success because this woman is who she is and how lucky we are!
For all us sixth graders and beyond, and for everyone, Aidy, you are our girl. We know who we are and we stand proud. Best wishes to all endeavors.
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@MIMA Well said. Aidy always make me smile. Also, why shouldn't Aidy play a character of any size or gender? She’s an actress and a darned good one. I challenge SNL to cast her as any famous person whose persona she can capture. Yay Aidy!!!
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