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Parenting is a Joke

Parenting is a Joke

By: Ophira Eisenberg
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Summary

 You know when you talk to your friends about your childhood and end it by saying, "But look at us, we're fine!" Here's my question: Are we fine? Because we're sitting here doused in CBD oil under a weighted blanket recording a podcast called Parenting is a Joke. Each week, host and standup Ophira Eisenberg talks to a different comedian about their career and their kids. Conversations tackle the tooth fairy, eating sticks, summer camp anxiety, the hidden horrors of childbirth, and the obvious horrors of our own childhoods. We celebrate the absurdity of shuffling a career with raising a kid, and highlight less traditional parenthood journeys, all while relishing in the fact that no one knows what they're doing, but we're all trying! Sometimes even our best. New episodes every Tuesday. New Season October 1st.2024 © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent Parenting & Families Relationships
Episodes
  • Christine Walters is an Everyday Champion Mom

    Christine Walters is an Everyday Champion Mom
    May 12 2026
    In this episode of Parenting Is a Joke, Ophira Eisenberg opens with a very real parenting milestone—her 10-year-old son requesting “the talk”, leading to a blunt, anatomy-first explanation that immediately kills the mystique of sex. That mix of parenting improvisation and comic timing carries into her conversation with Christine Walters, a comedian, writer, and former development executive whose career spans shows like Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and The Chris Gethard Show, and who now runs the live storytelling competition podcast Three Day Champion. Walters talks about building a creative life from both sides of the industry—pitching shows, shaping other people’s stories, and then stepping back onstage herself—while balancing the logistical and emotional demands of parenting. The two get specific about what it means to produce creative work under time constraints, how live storytelling changes when your brain is split between childcare and deadlines, and why Walters structured Three Day Champion as a recurring, competitive format that forces comedians to sharpen personal stories into tight, high-stakes sets. 📍May Shows are in The Netherlands: The Hague, Nijmegen, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Scarsdale, NY Follow Christine Walters / Thee Day Champion: https://www.instagram.com/threedaychampion See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/ And stay tuned to see her NEW Comedy Special “I Used to Be Nicer” coming out exclusively on Veeps on May 15th! SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up Follow PIAJ: https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/ https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/ Follow Ophira: https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/ https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranycLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    46 mins
  • Taking Care of Mama with Corey Ryan Forrester

    Taking Care of Mama with Corey Ryan Forrester
    May 5 2026
    On this episode of Parenting Is a Joke, Corey Ryan Forrester talks about recalibrating a 22-year stand-up career around raising his almost three-year-old son, after years of touring 45 weeks a year led to panic attacks, canceled shows, and a long-overdue start in therapy before becoming a parent. He explains how COVID-era podcasting, Substack writing, and an unexpected book deal from HarperCollins created a financial cushion that let him stay home for his son’s first year, and why he still resists returning to full-time road work despite loving stand-up, calling live shows “the result of the work” and travel the real cost. The conversation moves through the physical and emotional crash that follows weekends on stage, the strange relief of having a kid who will lie beside him for hours watching all four Toy Story films in a row when he’s depleted, and the way parenting heightens everything from crying at commercials to worrying about how your choices look to other parents. Forrester also reflects on being raised by a deeply private father who never showed emotion—yet shaped his values around loyalty and caring for family—and shares how that legacy now shows up in small, repeated rituals with his own child, like reminding him to thank his mom and modeling daily check-ins with his own mother. The episode weaves together comedy, storytelling, and the logistics of creative work with a young kid, landing on a vivid origin story of how hearing a Tim Wilson CD make his grieving father laugh nonstop on a long drive to Florida clarified, once and for all, what comedy could do. 📍May Shows are in The Netherlands: The Hague, Nijmegen, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Scarsdale, NY Follow Corey Ryan Forrester: https://www.instagram.com/coreyrforrester See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/ And stay tuned to see her NEW Comedy Special “I Used to Be Nicer” coming out exclusively on Veeps on May 15th! SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up Follow PIAJ: https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/ https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/ Follow Ophira: https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/ https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    29 mins
  • Corey Ryan Forrester Solves It All With Build-A-Bear

    Corey Ryan Forrester Solves It All With Build-A-Bear
    Apr 28 2026
    On this episode of Parenting Is a Joke, Ophira Eisenberg talks with comedian and podcaster Corey Ryan Forrester about raising a three-year-old in Chickamauga, Georgia while maintaining a demanding creative life built on touring, writing, and multiple podcasts. Corey explains how compressing four podcast recordings into a single day is the only way he can fully celebrate his son's birthday—complete with a carefully planned Build-A-Bear outing inspired by a deeply personal story about recording a message for his special-needs niece, who replayed it so often she wore the button out. The conversation moves between parenting logistics and bigger questions about values, as Corey reflects on choosing to raise his child in the same conservative Southern town where he grew up, resisting pressure to leave and arguing that becoming a parent actually intensified his progressive views rather than softening them. He shares the five-year fertility struggle he and his wife went through, his firm decision to be “one and done” at 38 after years on the road doing stand-up, and the physical reality of trying to keep up with a toddler while maintaining a comedy career. Throughout, the two compare notes on only-child dynamics, chosen family, and the subtle calculations creative parents make about what parts of their public voice might eventually affect their kids socially. The episode balances storytelling about career, community, and parenting identity, landing on the small, vivid details that define daily life—like a three-year-old’s birthday plan built around Build-A-Bear, cousins two doors down, and a dad trying to schedule his entire workweek around one cold March day. 📍April Shows are in The Netherlands: Amsterdam, Amstelveen, The Hague, Gronigen, and Nijmegen Follow Corey Ryan Forrester: https://www.instagram.com/coreyrforrester See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/ And stay tuned to see her NEW Comedy Special “I Used to Be Nicer” coming out exclusively on Veeps on May 15th! SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up Follow PIAJ: https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/ https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/ Follow Ophira: https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/ https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/ https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    41 mins
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