Jen Smedley and Kristin Hensley are a podcasting comedy duo called #IMOMSOHARD who grabbed attention from their first YouTube video when a sleep-deprived Smedley momentarily forgot her newborn’s name. That deeply relatable moment went viral, striking a chord with overwhelmed moms who feel pressure to be perfect, and guilt for falling short.
The Moms are bringing their brand of joyously unflinching “momedy” to The Plaza Live this weekend with the theme of "Flashback." (The wearing of 1980s fashion is encouraged.) But their shows aren’t just for moms, says Smedley - after all, the two were both single and working the L.A. comedy circuit when they first met.
“You know, it's great that we didn't meet when we were younger, because I feel like it kept us out of prison,” Smedley deadpanned. “We always have way too much fun together! We're not those friends that are like, ‘Let's go work out. Let's go on a hike.’ We're like, ‘No, [let’s] get together and cause trouble.”
It’s not easy and that’s okay
Eventually, they became wives and moms just a few years apart, and found their way through the accompanying life changes together.
“I think for women, you have to navigate these like, new relationships. You're this new person. Once you have a baby, you're reborn yourself,” said Smedley.
“And when I had my kids,” she added, “Kristen and I just got together one night, commiserating, kind of laughing and crying, and we're like, ‘Why does everybody on Instagram make it look like everybody wears white, and you jump around and you're so happy when you're a mom? Like, I'm crying a lot. I'm crabby, my marriage is a three-legged stool right now. It's not good, and why don't people show this?’ And so we decided to make videos and put them on the internet, and immediately it resonated with women and took off.”
It was then, Hensley said, that they decided to take their show on the road. This is their fifth comedy tour.
‘Mom’ the road again
And while the Moms podcast weekly and have a thriving YouTube channel, they found something special on the road, said Hensley. “It's not just about connecting through the internet. We want to connect up close and personal.” It’s been a thrilling journey, she said, “to go from a video where you see comments, to going onto a stage where you see these beautiful, happy, funny, rowdy, ornery women who just are enjoying each other.”
And the show itself? “It's not sanctimonious,” said Hensley. “It's not like, let's learn something. We're not trying to teach you anything. We're at a party, and it is explosive and fun and a little naughty, and we just have a ball.”
Smedley said the people she meets on comedy tours affirm her own experiences of how it feels to “mom.”
“We quickly learned through motherhood that women really need each other. They need to rely on each other, and they need each other to make one another laugh,” said Smedley. “And we have this incredible following of millions of women that are just there to laugh and laugh at themselves, instead of cry.”
