It is a match that could only be made in New York City. Elon James White is a Brooklyn-born sociopolitical humorist who is tailor made for this postracial Obama age. Emily Epstein is a Philadelphia-born comedian and writer who moonlights in children’s publishing. He’s black. She’s white. He’s a former Southern Baptist whose grandfather was a preacher. She’s a bat mitvah’d Jewish girl whose father was in finance. They live in Crown Heights, a region not exactly known for bringing blacks and Jews together in peaceful harmony.
Both love being onstage, where Elon proposed to Emily during the July 20 live podcast of “Blacking It Up,” one of the myriad projects Elon is involved in, many with Emily. White, who founded the Brooklyn Comedy Company and also hosts the hit web series This Week in Blackness, is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on MSNBC, VH-1, and CNN. Emily, who refers to herself as “an ethnically ambiguous little lady,” runs the Connotation Variety Comedy Show with Selena Coppock and Dan Cartwright every Wednesday at 7:00 at Luca Lounge in addition to making appearances in clubs all over the city. Just as their proposal video began to go viral, they discussed their suddenly very public relationship in our latest twi-ny talk.
twi-ny: Emily, how surprised were you when Elon began proposing? Did you feel compelled to say yes because you were onstage in front of an audience and being videotaped?
Emily Epstein: Yes, yes, I was surprised. (Not that you can necessarily tell from my face.) I did feel compelled to say yes—although it was tempting to flip over a table and run for my life.
twi-ny: If you had a dream proposal, how did this compare?
EE: I’ve actually never given it much thought. If I had my choice, I might have gone for something slightly more private, as being a comedian you put a lot of your life out there. That being said, when I watched the video it made me very happy. I think it really perfectly captures who we are both separately and together.
twi-ny: Elon, how long were you preparing for this? Did you have any fall-back plans if Emily said no or something like “I need to think about it”?
Elon James White: Well, the idea of proposing was in the ether for years now, but in the past few weeks I decided to lock it in. Admittedly, I didn’t have a real backup plan for a “No.” I’m sure crying and drinking Jameson onstage would have worked.
twi-ny: Which one of you is really blacker?
EE: Who’s blacker? People do like to weigh in. I think my musical taste errs on the darker side. Then again, every podcast, show, or project Elon starts has the word “black” in it. I’d call it a tie?
EJW: Depends. Do you mean skin color or soul?
Elon Loves Emily: White proposes to Epstein onstage during live podcast
twi-ny: Who ended up being right about the shirt you argue about in the video?
EE: It’s complicated. He bought me a shirt that I didn’t wear often enough for his liking, so he took it back. (So inappropriate!) I still think it was a women’s medium, though.
EJW: Oh, I’m right. Wait—I’m engaged now. She’s right.
twi-ny: Will the music at your wedding be more like John Mayer or Talib Kweli?
EJW: I prefer John Williams. Especially if our first dance can be to the Imperial March.
EE: I hope there’s more Talib Kweli. I’d be very happy to ban John Mayer for life. God help us if our iPod gets played—Elon has downloaded about 2,000 hours of John Williams on there. Not to mention the Spice Girls.
twi-ny: Once you are a married couple, might you plan on doing more shows together, even working up a new kind of act à la Burns & Allen, Lucy & Desi, or Stiller & Meara and taking it on the road?
EE: Once we’re a married couple? We just got engaged! We’ve talked about coordinating on stuff together before and we have in the past. I certainly wouldn’t be against it. We just have to make sure that working together doesn’t make us want to kill each other since we both have big personalities. (At least, that’s the polite way to put it.)
EJW: Once we are a couple, the act that will be my number one priority is the “Elon and Emily Love Each Other” act. You may insert your “awww”s here.
You can find Emily on Facebook and Twitter (@emeps) and Elon on Facebook and Twitter (@elonjames).