Vinny Thomas Lies to His Uber Drivers

Thanks to the coronavirus, comedians are now trapped at home like the rest of us, so we decided that while we’re all self-isolating, we’d do something a little different from our usual “Follow Friday” column. Instead of interviewing up-and-coming comedians we love on Twitter, we’re going live on Instagram every week to check in on some of our favorite people in comedy and get a firsthand look at how they’re handling the pandemic. So welcome to our new version of the column, now titled “Follow (From a Safe Distance) Friday.”

This week, I was honored to be invited to the regal, opulent estate of Vinny Thomas (Second City, Twitter, fastidiously interviewing potential members of the Galactic Federation) and join him for a chat about how he’s doing as we rapidly approach the panniversary. He explained the difference between being cold and being Chicago cold, talked us through how he comes up with ideas for his hilarious front-facing camera videos, and shared his perspective on the Mr. Potato Head gender wars and Dr. Seuss manufactured conservative drama. He also got nostalgic for lying in Ubers: “You can be whoever you want in an Uber. You know? You can make up an entire life and no one will know. I’ve been a doctor, I’ve been a father — can you imagine? […] If someone asks, ‘What are you?’ in an Uber, you say, “‘Oh, I’m from Bellindiri’ or something. ‘Yeah, the Bellindiris, a small island chain off the coast of Madagascar.’”

You can find Vinny on Twitter and Instagram at @vinn_ayy.