PicoBlog

A brunette pops onto the screen as I scroll through my “For You” page on TikTok. Her face is scrunched up as she looks judgingly down her nose through too-low set glasses. She is gesticulating wildly, yelling “are you kidding me, Rebecca?!”. I hit the heart button instantly. A few more screens and a tall, slender woman in a black turtleneck appears. She has one arm crossed over her midsection while the other balances a full glass of red wine. She speaks in halting German-accented English and I’m on that heart button again in seconds. Another quick flick of my thumb and I’m fully immersed in a live on-the-street interview being conducted by a woman in a shiny silver top. She’s asking men what hairstyles they like most on women and alternately roasting them and complimenting them based on the response.

I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok. It’s undoubtedly addictive; I’m slightly nauseated to say that more than once I’ve begun scrolling only to look up disoriented an hour later. And if I stay in TT land too long I inevitably get served a terrible or sad video that sends me spiraling, spiking my anxiety for days. (I have a whole theory on the dark side of the TikTok algorithm and how often it may be triggered to serve you content that forces you to doom scroll….but that’s a whole other issue.) The thing is, TikTok is, for all its faults, wildly entertaining—hence the hours I’ve probably whiled away on it since I downloaded the app (along with the rest of the world) back in the 2020 pandemic days. Luckily, I’ve got a little hack now to help me avoid seeing what I don’t want to see (more on that soon). What I absolutely do want to see are all those ladies I described above—wildly funny women of TikTok.

Quick PSA… Over the next couple weeks paid subscribers will receive an exclusive issue of this newsletter featuring my favorite things from 2023. This will include everything from beauty products to workouts to books and clothes and so on…..I spent the first 8 years of my career in beauty and fashion and I LOVE to make recommendations so this will be a fun one! If you want to receive this and other special issues think about becoming a paid subscriber!

There’s something happening with female comedians and TikTok. I swear nearly every month I stumble upon another absolutely gut-bustlingly funny woman doing her thing on the platform. Growing up I wasn’t aware of any female comedians outside the ultra mainstream ones—Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, Kristen Wigg—the SNL set. Not to say there weren’t others that were VERY popular but, in truth, I’ve never been one to sit down and seek out sketch comedy. For some reason stand-up gives me MEGA empathetic anxiety. I can barely watch lest the person I do not know personally in any way, shape, or form bombs on stage. So, I wasn’t coming across too many comedians organically and the ones I was aware of were already in the A-list levels when it comes to popularity.

TikTok has opened up the door for as yet undiscovered comedic talent to go viral overnight. It’s also brought in new audiences (me included!) with the ultra digestible short form video format. I’m not going to sit down and watch an hour-long comedy special but I’ll watch ten of your 2-minute sketches on TikTok! And the number of women bursting onto the scene?! We love to see it.

I grew up in the glorious ‘90s a time of few-to-no cell phones (dreamy) and endless teen movies. The women in teen movies then were not comedic leads. There was very little room for hilarious women. It was a time when the trope “women aren’t funny” ran rampant. Women were cute and ditzy (Clueless), women were vicious and sexy (Cruel Intentions), women were brilliant but mean (10 Things I Hate About You), women were pretty and spacey (Can’t Hardly Wait—my personal favorite), women were naive and doe eyed (10 Things I Hate About You), women were even evil! (The Craft)…but funny, nah. That was for the boys.

So I’m reveling in this new era of women who can make me chuckle no matter the day I’ve had. I want to name drop a few in case you need a good belly laugh this week. Because I’ve just been thinking that watching someone impersonate their mom just never gets old. :)

Speaking of which Becca Bestos’s impression of her mother gets me every damn time. Bestos is a fully body comedian, she’s got her mother’s mannerisms down (she shows up in a few videos) and the taglines she throws out (as her mother) are gold. Also, her impression of a drunk cab ride home after a girls’ night out on Halloween is the THE most spot on thing I have ever seen.

If you fall into the niche of 30-something who loves ‘90s and early 2000s hip-hop and R&B (ME ME ME) Chrissy Allen is the lady for you. She somehow seamlessly blends mom humor with hip-hop humor and a punch of nostalgia that is a magical combo.

I absolutely will NOT scroll past Corporate Natalie without watching. Her work-place-based humor is dead pan and completely brilliant. I love her “giving feedback to Gen Z” series.

I will never understand how Hannah Berner keeps a straight face as she interviews men on the street about everything from how girls pee with a tampon in (this one killed me) to their favorite nail colors on women. Watch her facial expressions—they say it all.

Shannon Fielder’s specialty is impersonating women from across the country and if you want to see something incredibly impressive, watch her Thanksgiving skit in which she brings ALL her characters together. It’s hilarious and I have zero idea how she filmed this. It must have taken hours.

Last but in no way least, Laura Ramoso may just be my favorite. She does quite a few impressions but her full embodiment of her parents made me a fan. She has a German mother and an Italian father and the affectations, mannerisms, and full-body comedy she brings to both (complete with speaking various languages) are incredible.

Shopping small by buying toys and stocking stuffers from this adorable toy store

Buying myself and a few others this delightful little notebook for the holidays

Manifesting this jacket into my closet

Wondering if this product is worth the hype; will buy and report back

Drinking this low lactose protein powder (that is my referral link so you get $30 off if you want to try!) every morning as I try to dramatically increase my protein intake. It’s not that bad with the flavor boosters mixed into some oat milk. That said, I HATE their forced subscription model. Target carries it as well!

Dreaming about a date night at this “Korean cuisine and nightclub kitchen” Mono + Mono in NYC

Throwing this looks-more-expensive-than-it-is scarf on with my plain sweaters to give them a little punch

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