My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - Celebrity Hometowns with Michelle Buteau

Episode Date: November 3, 2021

For a special treat, Karen and Georgia sit down with celebrity guests to hear their stories, from hometown murders to personal accounts of mayhem to legendary family lore. Today's guest is Michelle Buteau.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We at Wondery live, breathe and downright obsess over true crime and now we're launching the ultimate true crime fan experience, Exhibit C. Join now by following Wondery, Exhibit C on Facebook and listen to true crime on Wondery and Amazon Music, Exhibit C. It's truly criminal. And welcome to my favorite murder, Celebrity Hometowns Edition. That's right. You bag them, we tag them. Those celebrities. You know how you love celebrities. Well, we've rounded them up for you. That's right. And we're going to make them tell you stories. Right. To pass the time. Right. So these are their hometowns that you guys send in all the time for our minisodes that have just become so fun and flirty and wild and about pretty much anything from the murder or true crime story

from your hometown that started it all for you or your grandma was a badass who like shot her first husband or whatever. Like any stuff found in walls, you know. Something that happened to you walking home during fifth grade. Whatever it takes to get you to tell us a story. Yeah. That's we want to hear it. That's right. Just us to be true. So we brought our friends along on the ride. We have a very special guest for you today. So exciting. You know her because her most recent comedy special, Michelle Bouteau, Welcome to Boutopia, won the 2021 Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Special. Her book, Survival of the Thickest came out last year. She is on all kinds of stuff. The First Wives Club, Aquafina is Nora from Queens. You've seen her everywhere.

I think she's still the host of the circle, but we'll have to ask her about it. Ladies and gentlemen, you know her from clubs and colleges all over the country. It's Michelle Bouteau. Yay. Hi. Hi. Hi, you guys. How are you? Very good. Now that you're here. Oh, hey. Okay. Am I flirting? I don't know. Okay. I have to watch you leave, but I love to watch you walk away. Thank you. I'm so bad at flirting. But pull my finger, little lady. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Did it hurt when you fell out of heaven into what seems to be your wardrobe closet? Because you're surrounded by outfits right now. That's not the pickup line, but I mean, but I was trying to kind of segue it into what's going on. You're in your closet.

Yup. This is the, yup. Yup. I'm so sorry. It felt like that my internet was freezing because I am in my closet, but not spiritually and emotionally. I am out, out, out, out, out. I feel bad because our friend Guy Branham hit me up a couple months ago. He was like, Hey, someone's doing an article on bisexual women. And I'm like, I am honored that you thought I was a bisexual woman. That means my outlaw should mean something, honey, but no. That's right. That's right. I am at the boring cisgender big tidbit, the beach. You're disappointing sometimes. It is. Like I don't feel like a straight person. I feel like that's boring. And these days it's all about representing the fluidity and everybody gets to be exactly what they want. And if there's anyone who is exactly who they want

to be, I feel it is Michelle Bouteau. Absolutely. I take, yeah, I would, I always take that as a compliment. People are like, Oh, my friend is so in love with you. And it's a girl. And I'm like, great. Yes. Add them to the pile. It means they have good taste. That's right. Yes. I'm doing it right. The irony that I'm actually doing your show from my closet is probably my 12 year old, like my seventh grade dirt. What English is my first language? Here we go. But when I was in seventh grade, and I was like a size 12, when I was 12, I only had like three shirts that I would wear to whenever my Catholic school had like a street day, like you can wear your street clothes, civilian clothing. And I only had three shirts and my dad's like, you don't need another shirt.

There's no holes in these shirts. So I would end up wearing his clothes and like belt it with like one of his ties or, you know, so I love that I just have this closet now full of plus size clothing because the fashion industry has deemed me worthy of spending my money. Well, seriously, it's they finally woken up and been like, Oh, that's right. Women who don't wear single digit clothing would love a blouse that doesn't have huge daisies all over it. Like where it's they dress us like clowns constantly where it's like, yeah, but some style. We're the ones that need it. Yes, I don't want to look like the big five out of safari, honey. Please help us. So wait, am I wrong that you're still hosting the circle still hosting the circle still going

strong. Three seasons are up on Netflix right now that you could watch. And we just got signed on for two more seasons. So it'll be five seasons of the circle. I'm very excited. Yes. Yeah. Plus like voiceover work is the bomb diggity ill Nana. Oh my God. We easiest best. We have this these characters who's like rad gothic teens that we do the voices for on Craig of the Creek. We show up in fucking pajamas basically say our own voices with words that were written by someone else tell us say our own voices. It's probably I'm like, tell it sis. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently I get you don't know where my brain is. It's the best. It is. It is the best. And then you don't have to worry about can I find a shirt that that somehow tricks the eye or whatever. It's like

all of that's off the table. It is a joy forever. It's true. And what's so great about the show too is that it's like 10 or 11 episodes that I get to just sort of peek in and watch people be in these apartments and try to like play this social media game of strategy to be the most popular person but without being like too loud and proud. It's so fun to watch and I feel like I know them. So by the time I meet them at the finale, they're like, I know you and I'm like, I know you like I know what you've had for breakfast for the last two weeks, which sounds really creepy now that I say it out loud. Absolutely. That's peeping Tom behavior. You're peeping Michelle is what they should rename that. I know peeping Tatiana. I make money for it. Oh, live your journey. Hey. Hey,

speaking of journeys, we bet you how's that segue? You like that? Are you a mall cop? Because you've got a segue. Yes. Yes, I am. That's my night job. We heard you probably have a hometown story, meaning you have a story that you have to tell us any kind of story. Yes. So it's so interesting because I sort of redefined what hometown means to me because I call myself the Khaleesi of Jersey because I was born in the north raised in central lived in the south and I was just like, we've got to get out of Jersey. And so this story happened when I was actually living in New York City. But this was also the year that I moved to New York City from Miami because I went to college there and my parents ended up following me because I'm good company and the only child.

Anyways, I'm so glad I canceled therapy today. You guys hit five out of five stars on Zock Doc. This is it. This is it. And I'm usually doing therapy in my closet or the car. Oddly enough. So yeah, I started working in the news and I moved to New York City. I was working at NBC editing for the local news. And I actually started comedy that year, September 14, three days after September 11. But there was a story in the news that just hit different. And it was about Sandra Levy, this intern in DC who was dating a married, was he? He was some sort of like Democrat. He was some dude, right? Yeah. And he was married. He should not be dating her because she was in her early 20s. And I remember her picture vividly because she was a white girl with curly hair.

And I was like, oh, she gets to struggle. And we would have been friends. And she went missing. And that's like my worst nightmare. Just people not knowing. And this is before like, find my iPhone before like tracing any sort of, we didn't have maps in our phone back then. I don't even think, I think I had a flip phone or a blackberry. I think, yeah, I think it was, it may have been pre cell phones, right? I think so. And so some people had them, but most people said that. Yeah. How did we even do blackberries? I mean, those things, those ones were so teeny tiny. And my fingers look like I had gout every time I try to use a blackberry. The King's disease. Remember T9 texting to where you would have to,

kids don't know these days, where you'd have to hit the fucking thing three times to get to the letter that you want to do. Oh yeah, to get to your letter. That's right. Yes. Everything took a half an hour. Yeah. That's why we're so patient, you know, because we really had, we actually had to wait for it. Yeah. So Sandra Levy, yeah, she dated this guy. She wasn't supposed to be dating. She went missing. Nobody knew. The police were just dropping balls left, right and center. Her parents couldn't get anybody on the phone. You know, this is before I started protesting. Cause I'm, I'm like, I cover the news. I don't like become part of it. Yeah. Cause she was like a career woman herself. We should clearly like out on her own, on the rise, and then just

disappearing. And then this boyfriend who had more power than her, who is basically kind of pulling the strings. I think I covered that one probably a couple of years ago. And the thing, really? Yeah. Yeah. Because I remember that too. There was really nothing like seeing someone relatively your age where it's like, no one knows where this person is. She has this huge full life. She has all these friends and she's disappeared and they can't get the boyfriend to say anything. And it's as if that's all there is to it where it's like, wait a fucking second, someone has to do something. And that was all the DC power shit. But then it turned out though, cause they said they focused on that scandal, right? And they got all into his life and what he was

doing. Meanwhile, totally ignoring that there was this missing woman and it turned out that boyfriend had nothing to do with it, right? I mean, supposedly, yeah, they took some dude from El Salvador who had also been arrested for two or three attacks in the same park where her remains were found, but so many balls dropped. Yes. Yes. And it's just like, I am not returning something to target bitch. Do you know, like I am trying to find my daughter tick, tick, tick. So I can only imagine how frustrating that that was. And not only did she have this powerful boyfriend, you know, that was calling the shots, 9 11 happened, right? That kind of swept everything else out of the new. It was almost like no one could figure out how to care about every other problem. Yes. When

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for ransom. Local police and the FBI marshal a search effort, but the trail quickly runs dry. As the air supply for the trapped children dwindles, a pair of unlikely heroes emerges. Follow against the odds wherever you get your podcasts, you can listen ad free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Michelle, I didn't know that you lived there in New York at the time. What was it? Just disturbing, quiet, sad. I mean, what was it like them for 9 11? Yeah, it was pretty wild. So I moved to New York City on St. Patrick's Day 2001. And I have a vivid memory of walking over Green Vomit to go to Rockefeller Center. And I was like, this doesn't no one's in church. We're just all drinking and no one's in church. It's a holy feast of St. Patrick.

I forgot about that. They should have potatoes. Look, I'm bad at storytelling, but you guys are good at it. But 9 11 was crazy. I remember being out September 10th, having a few drinks at a pub surprise, meeting a really cute English guy, making out with him, going to work. And then 9 11 also happened at 9 11 a.m. And I was supposed to be off 9 30 a.m. And then I ended up staying till I think 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. And it was one of those wild things where I really felt like I was in a horror movie because when you edit the news you never expect you see like a house fire, but you never see the people in there. Yes. And this was like you saw people jumping and you were like, is this an accident? We were all figuring it out in real

time between the Pentagon and then another plane. And I remember my news director was like, you guys can stay at your own risk or leave at your own will. I'm not forcing you to do anything. And I had my mom on speakerphone keeping me company while trying to edit. And I'm like, mom, I'm going to stay like that was my instinct. I have to stay. Wow. And she was like, I'm going to stay on the phone with you. And so it was a really a blackout moment. And then my friend that I was out drinking with, she came for her next shift, her shift the next day. And I just remember her patting me on my shoulder. And she was like, go home now. And it felt like I just melted. And I walked down the street to go home from 56th and ninth. And it was just empty, but still

chaotic. And the next day, I remember my news director was like, we're going to get everybody therapy because this is going to be a really crazy time. Wow. And I, I don't even fucking know why I was just like, I don't need therapy. I'm going to start stand up. And then I just stand up because like, I know, and therapy is so expensive, I should have gotten it. But um, yeah, I mean, and then I did my first stand up class September 14th, what did my first stand up show September 14th, 2001. And then I was like, I need classes. What is this? But I still loved it and got classes at American Comedy Institute. Steve Rosenfeld, he's great. If you guys ever want to do that. Yeah, I mean, for three months, I did not go food shopping at all. I just worked 12 to 16 hour shifts, ate food at work,

doing stand up was really therapeutic. Yeah, just basically editing a horror movie. It's like, can I have 30 seconds of b-roll with no body parts? And this is like, I had no, I didn't know you did that. Yeah. And I can only talk about it now because it's like, yeah. But before I didn't talk about this for like at least 15 years. Wow. Wait, did you ever end up going to therapy? Like, did you finally pick up that offer? Or you were just like, it's all going to go on stage? Oh, it's gone. I should call them up right now, even though I haven't worked there forever. I'm like, hey, you up? That offer? Because I think I need it now. Yeah. Actually, my bad. And it's so true. I think for a lot of comedians, I'm not one, but it would seem like comedy, stand up comedy is therapeutic,

right? Like you go up there to work through some shit in a humorous way, like Karen and I do on this podcast too. It's like, here's the way I get through stuff. Yeah. Therapy right now, it's too like, it's too front and center for me to unwrap this. I'm living in it right now. So why am I going to go through it? I just need to ignore it. Yeah. It feels like that it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to start processing something that you have to still be in the middle of as your job. Yeah. And I was lucky enough to not even lose someone, but it's also every year editing the memorial and it's being so close to it. And it's, you know, now performing for people who are 22 years old and don't even know anything about it, or performing in the middle of the country where

it just feels like something somebody's seen on TV. You know, I liken it to racism because I'm like, no, no, this is real. I know that you've never seen it in your five mile radius, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And so when I try to explain these things to people, like at a dinner party without them rolling their fucking eyes, I'm just like, just take two whole minutes to even think what it would be like to look like someone else in another neighborhood because that's like the problem I'm always facing. It's exhausting already going through it, but it's even more exhausting trying to tell someone that it's real. And so I couldn't find it on stage and I kind of like didn't want to. And so that's why I was really thankful for the book

because I was able to put it in the book. Survival of the thickest. Survival of the thickest plus size essays in a small minded world. I love it. Wow. Incredible. I have chills, Michelle. I love it. Like what a story. That's quite something. You were on the front lines of culturally one of the hardest things that everyone has gone through. Yeah. I mean, you know, people sort of getting back to like the flip phones don't even know why we do what we do now. Why do you think you have to go through security at the airport? We didn't have to before. We have to take like electronics out of our bag and our shoes off. Shoes. Like we're different. Bring water. Yes, you could bring liquids. You could bring your breast milk and not be accosted. Like we're different, you know,

and so I think 20 years from now, I don't know what life is going to look like with COVID, but we're different. Yes. Forever now. And so yeah, I mean, it's, it's a mind fuck. Yeah. But I mean, I mean, good friends, good food, good wine, and healthy kids help. Yeah. And laughing. Laughing. One of my favorite memories of comedy was when we were at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival together. I've got my check still never went through. This is where we discovered Canadian kick hats. It was a whole experience that me and Michelle and Butcher had together this weekend. And she was usually headlining, you know, it would be, it was basically like these eight, 10, 12 person shows. You'd just be sitting backstage for hours. And every time everyone would go

watch Michelle. And she, I don't think you did the same joke twice the entire time we were there. It was so much crowd work. So I just was so blown away by you. And it's like, you are the kind of person that can make everybody laugh all the time. Like everybody anywhere we're in the middle of fucking Winnipeg, it's freezing cold. Everyone's got band-aids on their face. I'm like, what in the duck dynasty? Did you just come from flipping a cow? This is confusing. I had to do crowd work because it was the same people at each show and they were all related somehow. I was like, this is crazy. This is just so insane. And they go by RB now. Oh, was that right? Yeah. Oh, I did know that. Yeah, they go by RB now and RB killed it. I had never met them before until that festival

if we want to call it a festival. No shade. Winnipeg, don't call for me Winnipeg. But I just remember really adorable Zaddies and Bush lesbians coming up to RB at the time and being like, I feel so seen. I was like, what in the Ellen DeGeneres is going on? Like all of it was so good. Winnipeg, I love that. It was really a cool, there was something going on that weekend where it was like everyone was kind of on their game. But then we found this little our own subclick. Yes. I was just like, these are the people I need to spend this weekend with. These are the people that are making me happy as opposed to sometimes that comedy feeling where you're like, everyone's your rival or you don't compliments hit wrong or vibe vibe vibe or whatever. And instead it was just like,

where are my people? There they are. Okay, great. I can now I can land over here on this horrible leather couch. Sure. I was like, we'll always have Winnipeg. If I go through our group text, it's just pictures of like, Canadian Kit Kats and like potato chips. Like, I don't know. It was really fun. I mean, only because you guys were there. It's beautiful. Why do people have band-aids on their face? It was confusing. Is it windshield? It was so cold that they had to bandage their faces. It could have been that. And also I really loved the vibe. It was so deeply Canadian there, which was kind of like, whatever you're about to bring us, that's good. Like we're happy just to have some kind of entertainment. It's like people with their grandparents. I felt

like there was a lot of like, three generations of a family were there to watch you. Oh, there was. There was a lot of like, I could have been a contender Joan Rivers type bitches. Am I doing amazing crowd work? Or is this like a setup for Canada's Got Talent? Because then they would come up and be like, I got a song in my heart. And I'm like, what the fuck is going on? You'd be walking down the street, somebody with a band-aid on their face would be like, I heard you met my grandma. I'm like, who the fuck are you? Yes, you go to like, to the one restaurant that everyone would go to. And then people would be like, I want to buy you pizza, where it sounds good. I don't, whatever you want. Confusing. I think it was the same mic for all

three different venues. It was, it was, it was a DIY. It was a DIY. It was a DIY where true and real friendships were built. DIY. Are we here to have a party? To really do it. I love it. So good. Oh my God, Michelle. We've been all over the place and it's been magical. Michelle, you can. It's the best. I could, you could just talk at me. Actually, everyone download Michelle's audio book. That's a great way to have her talk at you, survive love the thickest. Yes. I mean, and then just, yes, please. Oh wait, if you are in New York city on November 13th, you can go see Michelle at the town hall theater, which is part of the New York comedy festival. She will be headlining because since she worked

really hard at the Winnipeg comedy festival, she is now headlining at the New York comedy festival. That's how it works. Mama, I made it. I made it at the big time. Band-aids ripping off, everybody cheering. Time out for everybody. And y'all can also find her at Michelle Buteau on Twitter and Instagram, where she's just darling and wonderful. Just try my best. Fuck, thank you so much for being on here. Yes, we love you very much. Oh my goodness. I love getting into bed with you, bitches. It was so fun. Hey, my body's like a tempopedic mattress. Put a glass of wine on it. It will not, too. Go, job, job. I want you guys at home to know that Michelle is cracking her chest. She's popping her titties for us. I'm Cat Cowan. I'm Cat Cowan.

We love you. Thank you so much. Bye, bitches. Bye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly right production. Our producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton. Our associate producer is Alejandra Keck, engineered and mixed by Andrew Epin. Send us your hometowns at myfavoritmurder at gmail.com. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my favorite murder and Twitter at myfavemurder. For more information about the podcast, live shows, merch, or to join the fan cult, go to myfavoritmurder.com. And please rate, review, and subscribe. Goodbye.