Jacqueline Novak reveals the word she didn’t ‘feel like saying’ for ‘Get on Your Knees’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“I started writing that narrative in college,” reveals Jacqueline Novak about her comedy routine in “Get on Your Knees.” She is a first-time Emmy nominee for variety special writing. For our recent webchat she continues, “It was an endless writing journey to get to that final piece. The fact that I completed it and said ‘it’s done’ is my biggest triumph; letting it go.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Novak’s Netflix comedy special “Get on Your Knees” is a recording of her acclaimed off-Broadway show from 2019. It was directed by Emmy-nominated actress Natasha Lyonne (“Russian Doll” and “Poker Face”). Novak explains, “My original goal was a comedy special on hopefully a big platform. What seemed like the quickest path was to make the show a success on its own. Off-broadway was the detour, but a very useful one.”

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In the one-woman show, Novak delves into a well-constructed narrative about giving a blowjob. This leads to her spending a large segment of the special joking about the penis. The comedian admits, “I had to say the word penis and that launches me into a whole thing about why I don’t feel like saying that word. I didn’t set out to talk about the penis. It’s a shock to me. The blowjob I can get behind. Saying penis is something I still struggle with. Then why do I talk about it for 30 minutes? Because anything I talk about, I end up talking about for 30 minutes. And anything I find difficult I end up spending more time on. Comedy allows you to hold the contradictions and play into them.”

Regarding her Emmy nomination, she says, “You spend a lot of time trying to tell yourself to not think about external validation. You do a lot of work to put that stuff out of your mind, so then it was like this surprise. Letting myself enjoy it was kind of the thing.”

On comedy, Novak reflects, “You’re sending out a message that you’re not sure if the audience are going to catch. If you are able to throw something out there that is a higher degree of difficulty of communicating, and they do catch it, it’s life affirming. That is on a soul level what we are here to do; to catch how we are connected to other people. I also experience that as an audience member. I experience a delight that something I didn’t have the words for, but had perceived, someone has given language to.”

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