In The Best Job in the World, Michelle Wolf's touring show, the title leaves ambiguity: does it refer to motherhood, her current primary occupation, or standup comedy, her profession? Wolf, a Pennsylvanian with a sardonic edge, questions society's dubious regard for mothering, breastfeeding, and other underappreciated female experiences. She aims to redress the balance, proudly championing women in a world not built for them.
Trenchant takes on the menstrual cycle and pregnancy
Wolf, 41, highlights the menstrual cycle as Exhibit A—not just the period but the entire month-long, poorly understood process. Exhibit B is pregnancy, which she argues should be framed less as 'your baby is now the size of a grapefruit' and more as 'today, you're manufacturing a spine!' She extends this to breastfeeding and, drawing from her experience as a mother of toddlers, reinterprets The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a menopausal allegory.
Devilment and catty gags
The show is animated by Wolf's familiar devilment, evident in her routine about her infant son's testicles and her mixed feelings. She includes catty jokes from her time as Kim Kardashian's joke writer. However, some arguments falter, like her riff on female facial grooming extremes. A closing point about gender-essentialist propaganda is tenuously supported by skits on Stockholm syndrome and 'The Wheels on the Bus,' but both routines remain funny.
Whether mothering or standup is the world's best job remains unclear, but Wolf has clearly mastered at least one. The show tours until 5 December.
