EventsThe TV Watercooler

JFL42: Lena Dunham

lena dunham jfl42

lena dunham jfl42


When:
Saturday, September 20, 2014

Venue: Sony Centre

The vibe: Very mixed… cool people, parents and those annoying girls who think that the characters on Girls are actually “omg! I’m just like that!”

Previously on: HBO’s Girls, obviously. Her film Tiny Furniture is still on Netflix, btw.

O Canada: Lena ate three bags of ketchup chips and two timbits.

How was it? I knew going in that it would definitely not be like the rest of the JFL42 lineup as Lena Dunham isn’t a standup comic, but I was still interested to see what she was going to do. Lena read a chapter from her upcoming collection of essays, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” – which will be available September 30th.

Following Lena’s reading on her own and her mother’s experience with summer camp, there was a Q&A with CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi.

Reading for a group can be tough, especially when it’s in front of an audience of almost 3,200 – Lena was aware of this and kept things fresh by making fun of herself, managing eye contact with the crowd (something she was trained to do) and exchange jokes with Jian.

There is so much more to Lena Dunham than the series she created, writes for, produces and stars in. She’s an incredible young woman and it was truly a very interesting Just for Laughs experience. Some would say that some of the subjects she speaks about are dark (like death), or serious (self-esteem) but she makes you laugh and it doesn’t seem out of place at all.

In her 90-minute session, I feel like I’ve learned a great deal from Lena and have a newfound respect. Not that I didn’t respect her before, but I feel like she was able to connect with her audience on a whole new level.

Relatability score: Very high. She definitely deserved each one of those 3,000+ new best friends.

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