Interview with Titi Lee about

Good Girl Gone Baddie

By Louise Cannon

Good Girl Gone Baddie can be found at Just The Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire on 24th and 25th Aug 12:30pm age: 18+

Thanks to Tom Brumpton PR for inviting me to interview and for Titi Lee for taking time to answer my questions.

Titi Lee has appeared on popular TV shows including HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and the latest season of Netflix’s Girls5Eva. They play Belle in the feature film The Civil Dead, a Slamdance darling from fellow comedians Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum. They/them now have a show at the Edinburgh Fringe called Good Girl Gone Baddie. In this insightful interview you’ll find out more about that title, growing up in Silicon Valley with the tech giants we now know so well, having a film selected for a film festival and more…
Please join me in welcoming Titi Lee to my blog – Bookmarks and Stages.

Here’s a bit to entice you to the show and then onto the question and answers:

1. Girl Gone Baddie is a punchy title, how did you arrive at this?

In Chinese there’s a word “gwai” which means “good”, as in talking about an obedient “good” child. To me, being “good” is complicated, because it’s not just about doing things right, but about following the rules. I cared a lot about following the rules growing up, until I realized that rules seem to constantly be changing, and even when you think you’re doing everything “right”, you will still upset people. The show is about my gender awakening, but it’s also about being comfortable just taking up space and existing in a way that never felt “good” to me. Becoming a “baddie”, that’s a hearkening to the non-binary baddie – the self that I’ve discovered that goes beyond gender norms or typical color-in-the-line rules. And yet, rather than shy away from femininity or masculinity, the “baddie” is all about being unapologetically sexy, in-your-face, and more importantly, confident. And of course,, there’s that Rihanna song – shoutout to the original bad girl Riri.

2. Your show seems very personal to you and self-exploratory, which seems brave. How does that feel when you don’t know how audiences will react?

Thank you, I love that you said that. It can feel scary of course to not know how someone is going to react to your very existence – but that’s what the show is about. For so long I grew up wanting to play by other people’s rules. And yet that doesn’t get you as far as you think it does. Being unapologetically yourself – I think that’s the best way to make space for everyone, including identities that are different from me. I think when people see the show – no matter how they identify – they will feel seen. I can’t control how audiences react, but I can make the show entertaining, and no matter what point of view or background the audiences come from, they will have a good time.

3. Your show explores you being a first-gen Taiwanese American in the heart of Silicon Valley. What was it like to live there during the tech boom?

I grew up right in the middle of it all. Microsoft, HP, Apple, Facebook – I remember seeing the rise of all these companies just down the street from me. We used to go trick or treating at Steve Jobs house (OG’s will know he gave Odwalla bars – not candy!), mostly for the parents to fangirl out. Though I don’t dive deep into the tech aspects of my upbringing there (that’s a different show for a different year), it’s seeped into the high-achieving expectations I grew up with. In the show I talk about my parents meeting at Stanford and their expectations for my twin sister and my little brother and I. It wasn’t until I left the Bay where I grew up that I realized not everyone lives like that – the unrealistically high expectations and overachieving mentality put upon the kids in the Bay is unrivaled to most places.

4. You invite the audience to watch how you’re breaking all the rules and becoming free in yourself and be non-binary, coming out to your immigrant parent, then also covering Covid. How did you find humour in such serious subjects?

Comedy has always been a way for me to cope with the darker matters in life. When I was a kid, when I got in deep trouble with my mom, I would use comedy to lighten the mood. I very much have had oldest sister syndrome in that way. Serious subjects are important to address, but there’s light in everything. Even the darkest of situations, like a loss in the family – which I talk about in my show – can be heavy and tragic, but in the moment of it all, there are comedic moments that you can’t help but laugh at (you’ll have to see the show to hear more about those specifics). 

5. What do you want people to take away from the show?

I want people to see the show and always want to invite me to their birthday party so I will never feel left out EVER! Just kidding, I know that’s impossible, and it’s not really about getting people to like me (although we can’t help but want that sometimes, right?). The message of the show is to “be yourself, all of them”. I hold space for myself and all the complexities within my identity – from the brat sorority girl to the high femme Kpop diva to the teenage boy to the man with BDE. I want people to come to the show and deepen their connection with their own selves, and feel free to exist outside the typical categories and lines we so often put ourselves in.

6. What are the fun aspects and the challenges bringing a show to the Edinburgh Fringe?

The Edinburgh Fringe is a beast unlike any other. It’s such a rollercoaster – one day you’re crying in the rain the next you’re crying in the sunshine… it’s not all tears, but there have been a lot! I’ve had so much fun meeting other artists, soaking in the plethora of beautiful work that’s out there. You meet people and then you see their show and everyone is just lighting their hearts and soul on fire every day over and over for you, it’s really beautiful to see so much pure artistic energy being exchanged.

7. You co-wrote and star in the film, I Think She Likes You, what are the benefits and challenging of doing two roles to create a film?

When we wrote the film, we based it off of semi-autobiographical situations in our separate lives. As comedians, we wanted to be able to play with the complexities of the characters in a bisexual relationship in ways we hadn’t seen before. As two artists of color, we felt it was important to create opportunities for ourselves and put ourselves on screen. It became a very symbiotic, collaborative set with the director, who knew that it was very much our baby and wanted to bring her vision to it while still serving ours. We were so lucky to be able to work with Bridey, who had been fresh off her Sundance feature premiere of Clara’s Ghost, and she understood what we were trying to do from the start.

8. What can people expect from I Think She Likes You?

A lot of laughing, a little bit of crying, and a bit of horniness.

9. What were your experiences taking your film to the Tribeca and Outfest and can you give an insight into how that came about, ie were you invited?

We premiered at Outfest Fusion in Los Angeles, where we shot the film. Tribeca has always been a goal of mine, and when we were selected for the festival it was no question for us. I had to take out a credit card and get into a bit of debt, but honestly it was so worth it. Tribeca opened up new opportunities, we were able to tour the film to over a dozen other festivals, including international festivals, LGBTQ+ and Asian American festivals, which helped us reach our audiences in ways that we wouldn’t have been able to just on our own.

10. You act on tv and on-stage, write and are a rising film-maker. What or who inspires you to choose to work in so many areas of the arts?

Aw man, that’s my overachieving self trying to do everything isn’t it? I have always loved performing, ever since my twin sister and I first danced with a street musician when we were 5 or so and got our first taste of an “audience”, I’ve loved making people laugh. I always knew I wanted to write as that was my passion from the minute I could answer the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Writers that inspired me growing up were almost always poets… my early childhood inspirations were Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, Jack Prelutsky. I grew into more adult authors, but the spirit of playfulness in poetry for children is something I bring into my comedy and writing even now as an adult making shows for adults (my show is not for children!).

11. How can people watch your film and what is next for you?

The short is out and available to watch on Vimeo and Youtube. I’m working on a feature documentary about how sex scenes are made in Hollywood, from a director/performer perspective where we pull the curtain back on writing, casting, and shooting the film. Other than that, I’d love to take Good Girl Gone Baddie on tour in the UK, and to audiences around the world that want to get in touch with their baddie selves.

Tickets can be obtained from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival website on this page link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/titi-lee-good-girl-gone-baddie