Jenny Slate’s career is impressive and inspiring, from stand-up comedy, music videos, and podcasts to award-winning film, television, and writing. Her national bestselling novel Little Weirds was named by Vanity Fair as one of its 31 Great Quarantine Reads.
On October 12, 2023, the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities is thrilled to welcome Slate to our campus and community for a dynamic and wide-ranging Humanities Without Boundaries conversation about culture, craft, and comedy—and so much more. The conversation will be moderated by Ramzi Fawaz, Professor of English at UW-Madison. Following the discussion, we’ll invite audience questions for Slate and Fawaz.
The event is free and open to all, but tickets are required for entry. Limit two per person. Please sign up for tickets here.
If possible, please print your ticket in advance to expedite the entry process. On the day of the event, you can also pick up a printed ticket from the Box Office beginning at 2:00 PM.
Download a poster in PDF or JPG. Download a press release.
Jenny Slate is an actress, author, and comedian who co-wrote, produced, and voiced the short film Marcel the Shell With Shoes On with Dean Fleisher Camp. After several years of viral success, this feature-length version premiered at Telluride Film Festival and was acquired by A24.
Slate’s breakout role came by way of her leading performance in Obvious Child, for which she won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy. She also stars opposite Charlie Day in Amazon’s I Want You Back, written and produced by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. She is also seen in Dan Kwan’s Everything Everywhere All at Once for A24, opposite Michelle Yeoh. Her additional feature credits include Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, Marc Webb’s Gifted, and Drew Pearce’s Hotel Artemis.
Slate’s comedy special Stage Fright was released on Netflix to rave reviews and exemplified her ability to reframe comedy’s relationship to mental health. In this feature, she uses humor to hold space for depression, anxiety, and fear. She has had several notable television performances in such series as Parks and Recreation, House of Lies, Bored to Death, and Girls. Additionally, Slate wrote the national bestselling novel Little Weirds.
