Amy Schumer doesn’t crave the idea of becoming ultra-famous, largely because she fears it will bring more scrutiny and a galling loss of privacy. “Fame doesn’t really seem to have any real upside to it,” she insists, “except that I did get offered a free appetizer at a restaurant recently.”
With her star on the rise, the comedian can expect to continue feasting on the cheap. Her edgy cable TV sketch show, “Inside Amy Schumer,” and her brashly feminist stand-up comedy have already generated a rabid cult following. Earlier this year, she hosted the MTV Movie Awards, and recently, she was recruited by Madonna to be the opening act for the pop star’s fall concerts in New York.
Now comes her highly anticipated big-screen debut July 17 as star and screenwriter of “Trainwreck,” a hysterical tale about a self-destructive, commitment-phobic woman who unexpectedly finds herself falling in love.
Directed by Judd Apatow, “Trainwreck” has been showered with pre-opening raves by critics who believe it will propel the blond-haired, blue-eyed Schumer into the same box-office stratosphere as comedic actresses Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig. Rolling Stone has proclaimed her to be this summer’s “it” girl, while Entertainment Weekly calls her “the comedian poised to take over the world.”
For Schumer, 33, all the lofty praise is rather mind-blowing.
“It feels so insane,” she said during a recent interview in which she was accompanied by Apatow. “You sort of feel like you have no control. It’s exciting but also very overwhelming.”
Those still unfamiliar with Schumer might regard her as an overnight success, but the Manhattan native began doing stand-up comedy 10 years ago, not long after graduating from Towson University near Baltimore with a degree in theater. An early indication of her star potential came in 2007, when she placed fourth on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” amid a field of hardened comedians with much more experience.
Then came her big breakout during the 2011 roast of Charlie Sheen, where Schumer turned heads and scorched ears with a torrent of raunchy one-liners. She followed that up with a well-received 2012 stand-up special called “Mostly Sex Stuff.”
When “Inside Amy Schumer” — a potent mix of satirical sketches, woman-on-the-street interviews and live stand-up — debuted in 2013, it became Comedy Central’s highest-rated premiere. Its second season was nominated for an Emmy. Comedy Central is so enamored with Schumer that the network considered her as a replacement for Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” — a position she turned down.
Schumer has made her mark by veering toward the racy side of comedy. Journalists use adjectives like “lewd,” “crude” “filthy” and “fearless” to describe her brand of humor. But they also call her “shrewd” and “brilliant.”
That’s because Schumer does so much more than talk dirty, deftly managing to punch up her comedy with frank and provocative insights about feminism, dating, societal standards of physical beauty and gender politics. A much-talked-about sketch on her show this season featured a “Friday Night Lights” spoof in which a football coach institutes a “no raping” rule that outrages his team and its fans.
Along the way, Schumer’s work has inspired many women who regard her as an important feminist voice. (She was invited to give a speech at Gloria Steinem’s birthday party.) It’s a responsibility she takes seriously.
“I didn’t set out to be some kind of beacon for feminism, but I totally embrace it,” she says. “It’s the stuff I write about and the stuff I care about the most, so it just makes sense to me. I’m an unflinching feminist. For as long as I can remember, I’ve just wanted people to be equal.”
Apatow points out that Schumer has the kind of approach and demeanor required to explore explosive issues without alienating an audience.
“When people talk about important topics in comedy, a lot of times you feel their hostility or their hurt, and it comes across as much darker and harder to take,” he says. “With Amy, it always seems that the comedy comes first, and you don’t get that cringey aspect to it.”
Apatow was sitting in his car a couple of years ago, listening to Howard Stern’s radio show when Schumer came on to be interviewed. He immediately was struck by how “funny and intimate and fresh” she was. Sensing that she had stories to tell, he arranged a meeting.
The result of that get-together is “Trainwreck,” a defiantly offbeat saga about a hard-drinking, sexually active magazine reporter who avoids serious romantic commitment at all costs. But when she’s assigned to interview a charming sports-medicine doctor (Bill Hader), she is shocked to realize that she may be falling for him.
“Trainwreck” is a highly personal project for Schumer, who went toe-to-toe with her own demons while writing the script.
“I really took a look at myself and made discoveries that I wasn’t aware of — things like my behavior and defense mechanisms,” she says. “I don’t drink as much as the character in the movie, and I’m nowhere near as sexually active as her, unfortunately. But I’ve had phases of my life where I was in some pain and kind of self-destructive, and drinking more and acting out sexually to try to get rid of the pain.”
Apatow came away thoroughly impressed by her process of self-examination.
“She was willing to go to a personal place and be confident and bold and not censor herself,” he says. “A lot of writers and performers have a problem facing who they actually are. They’re not honest. They don’t get to the core. So their work is shallower. Amy was able to be tough on herself, while finding a way to make it funny.”
If the critics are right about “Trainwreck,” it’s sure to open up more show-business doors for Schumer, who claims that she has no career game plan beyond wanting to do more stand-up and continue work on her TV show.
“I seriously have no idea what the future might hold,” she says. “I just want to continue doing stuff I’m proud of. You won’t see me playing the best friend in some stupid little thing.”
Sounds like a decent strategy. Just bring on the laughter — and the free appetizers.
Follow Chuck Barney at Twitter.com/chuckbarney and Facebook.com/bayareanewsgroup.chuckbarney.
