Heidi, Emily, and Katy (we miss you Kristen!) talk about bra fittings, ins and outs of comedy writing in 2026, and of course oatmeal in this dazzling first episode of the new year. Watch if you're a fan of funny things.

Show notes:

• Co-hosts Katy Maiolatesi (⁠@kmaiolatesi⁠), Heidi Lux (⁠@fabulux⁠), Emily Kapp (⁠@emilykapp_⁠), & Kristen Mulrooney (⁠@kristenmmm⁠)

• The Belladonna
• Katy's teen piece
• Heidi's LinkedIn
• Emily's A Fitness Carol show tix
• Heidi's favorite recent piece
• Emily's favorite recent piece
• Katy's favorite bra
• Katy's favorite recent piece
• Kristen's favorite recent piece

In this quickie, we are feral raccoons with Jennie Egerdie. We talk about everything from catfishing the Kentucky Derby to the connection between Captain Phillips and The Gilded Age. It's our gift to you this holiday season!

Show notes:

• Co-hosts Katy Maiolatesi (⁠@kmaiolatesi⁠), Heidi Lux (⁠@fabulux⁠), Emily Kapp (⁠@emilykapp_⁠), & Kristen Mulrooney (⁠@kristenmmm⁠)
• Guest: Jennie Egerdie (@jennieegerdie on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky)
• The Belladonna: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/
• Katy's personal essay: https://jennymag.com/2025/12/04/putting-my-old-dog-down-emotions/

Come along with us as we go on a journey toward book publishing. Have you ever been curious about publishing your book/want to know what it's like to be a sexy Canadian in NYC? Listen to special guest Jennie Egerdie (@jennieegerdie on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky) talk about just that!

Show notes:

• Co-hosts Katy Maiolatesi (⁠@kmaiolatesi⁠), Heidi Lux (⁠@fabulux⁠), Emily Kapp (⁠@emilykapp_⁠), & Kristen Mulrooney (⁠@kristenmmm⁠)
• The Belladonna: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/
• Jennie's Ayn Rand piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ayn-rand-writes-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer
• New Erotica for Feminists book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599845/new-erotica-for-feminists-by-caitlin-kunkel-brooke-preston-fiona-taylor-and-carrie-wittmer/
• Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jennie-egerdie/frog-and-toad-are-doing-their-best-a-parody/9780762478460/?lens=running-press
• Oh, Bother book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jennie-egerdie/oh-bother/9780762486274/?lens=running-press
• Frog and Toad in McSweeney's: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/frog-and-toad-are-self-quarantined-friends & https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/frog-and-toad-tentatively-go-outside-after-months-in-self-quarantine
• Kristen's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/at-night-i-dream-of-toilets-a7a4f1fb315f
• Heidi's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/memo-from-the-cfo-of-squid-games-were-in-danger-of-going-into-debt-7b1c0f695a84
• Katy's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/how-to-pretend-to-be-normal-at-the-party-when-you-are-not-a7dd3f90afdb
• Emily's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/existential-crises-ranked-by-type-of-camera-footage-2b4d28768bb6

We snagged Lucy Huber (@clhubes on IG & Threads), one of the editors of McSweeney's, to talk about everything from beloved pets to how to get into McSweeney's. You def don't want to miss this episode!

Show notes:

Co-hosts Katy Maiolatesi (⁠@kmaiolatesi⁠), Heidi Lux (⁠@fabulux⁠), Emily Kapp (⁠@emilykapp_⁠), & Kristen Mulrooney (⁠@kristenmmm⁠)

• The Belladonna: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/
• Famous sweary McSweeney piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/its-decorative-gourd-season-motherfuckers
• Avril Lavigne McSweeney's piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-girl-from-avril-lavignes-sk8er-boi-responds-18-years-later
• Taylor Kay Phillips Belladonna piece: https://medium.com/thebelladonnacomedy/daily-itinerary-of-me-40-pounds-lighter-267e11a09476
• Kerry Elson McSweeney's piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/she-lives-in-new-york-and-los-angeles
• Sean McGowan McSweeney's piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/seen-on-a-telephone-pole-in-your-neighborhood
• Kristen's 9 months of pregnancy McSweeney's piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-nine-months-of-pregnancy-ranked-from-worst-to-best
• Lucy's Blue Apron McSweeney's piece: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/please-forgive-us-at-blue-apron-for-this-weeks-meals-weve-been-having-a-tough-time-lately
• New Erotica for Feminists book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599845/new-erotica-for-feminists-by-caitlin-kunkel-brooke-preston-fiona-taylor-and-carrie-wittmer/
• Katy's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/im-a-super-funny-guy-offering-my-services-to-punch-up-your-comedic-social-media-posts-31ea9d659f6f
• Heidi's favorite recent piece: https://medium.com/thebelladonnacomedy/you-are-a-toddler-asking-too-many-questions-please-refer-to-this-flowchart-c437072d8139
• Emily's favorite recent piece: https://medium.com/thebelladonnacomedy/we-need-a-big-strong-man-to-move-this-reasonably-sized-object-573fca0595bd
• Kristen's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/parenting-milestones-that-werent-in-my-baby-book-871ef88b7703

It's our usual yuck fest, plus, WE HAVE A LIVE SHOW COMING UP! Details:

Where: The Annoyance Theater in Chicago, IL

When: Sunday, October 12 @ 6pm CT

Price: $15 in-person and $8 livestream

Why: Doi.

Follow us on IG @thebelladonnacomedy to stay up to date (and purchase yourself a ticket when we get our grubby hands on that link).

Show notes:

Hosts Katy Maiolatesi (⁠@kmaiolatesi⁠), Heidi Lux (⁠@fabulux⁠), Emily Kapp (⁠@emilykapp_⁠), & Kristen Mulrooney (⁠@kristenmmm⁠)

• The Belladonna: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/
• The Annoyance Theatre: https://www.theannoyance.com/
• Kristen's incredible acting debut: https://verabradley.com/pages/most-perfect-couple
• Kristen's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/jane-eyre-discovers-ethical-non-monogamy-21c385c1f694
• Emily's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/a-list-of-2025-spinoffs-for-those-too-old-and-full-of-rage-to-watch-the-summer-i-turned-pretty-a1061fb3ba06
• Heidi's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/what-pitchfork-would-have-rated-the-beatles-albums-in-the-1960s-ab28eb026b0f
• Katy's favorite recent piece: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/the-court-overrules-its-previous-decision-on-oatmeal-3acb62ffbc43
  

Girls, we really get into it in this ep. We talk about what the bases are sexually (no one knows 2nd or 3rd), AI (and whether clank*r is an offensive word), and as always, our magical jeggings. AND WE HAVE A LIVE SHOW COMING UP! Follow us on IG @thebelladonnacomedy to stay up to date.

Show notes:

• Hosts Katy Maiolatesi (@kmaiolatesi), Heidi Lux (@fabulux), Emily Kapp (@emilykapp_), & Kristen Mulrooney (@kristenmmm)

• The Belladonna
• The Annoyance Theatre
• Heidi's first humor piece
• Katy's How to Humor piece
• Katy's favorite recent piece
• Heidi's favorite recent piece
• Emily's favorite recent pieces
• Emily's How to Humor piece

In this month's episode we welcome humor writer and frequent Belladonna contributor Viktoria Shulevich (@vikshulevich on IG)! She imparts her stunning humor writing wisdom on us, and talks about the 90 seconds of blindness she experienced upon learning she got into the New Yorker. Show notes:

• The Belladonna

• The Devil Is in the Retails show
• Viktoria's Tiny Delusional Love Stories in the New Yorker
• Katy's pick: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/a-hypochondriacs-search-history-f92601bbc709
• Heidi's pick: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/local-woman-seeks-justice-for-fathers-murder-but-interviewer-just-wants-to-talk-about-her-ex-fe2632a9f983
• Emily's pick: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/manly-cocktails-for-manly-men-c9731f08de4d
• Viktoria's Belladonna pieces: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/i-am-a-man-on-hinge-and-my-simple-pleasure-is-clean-sheets-e76372e299f6 & https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/faq-about-my-familys-eastern-european-immigrant-style-thanksgiving-17eda30abb94
• Viktoria's pick: https://thebelladonnacomedy.com/the-hippocratic-oath-rewritten-for-modern-american-healthcare-dbb1e18e96a0

• Hosts: Katy Maiolatesi (@kmaiolatesi) Heidi Lux (@fabulux), Emily Kapp (@emilykapp_), & Kristen Mulrooney (@kristenmmm)

Oh baby, we're back and do we ever know how to shoot the breeze about jeggings? We do. We find out that our traveling jeggings are in fact, magical, get into Great Lake talk (what's your favorite, and why is it not Erie after this ep?), and talk about our recent favorite Belladonna pieces and satire writing in general!

Show Notes:

• The Belladonna website

• Walgreen Jeggings
• Kristen's glamour shot with said jeggings
• Emily's show
• Katy's pick
• Heidi's pick
• Emily's pick
• Kristen's pick
• Kristen & Matt's McSweeney's piece
• Katy's McSweeney's pieces