This Award Winning Comedian Is Helping Coasties Decipher Midwest Speak
Comedian, writer for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and proud Midwesterner, Taylor Kay Phillips, roadtripped around the region to gain insight for her book A Guide to Midwest Conversation. The book chronicles, celebrates and decodes all the idiosyncrasies and cultural characteristics of “midwest speak.” The Kansas City born-and-bred author is returning to the Brew City this Wednesday, August 9 to discuss her book and chat about all things midwest at Boswell Books.
When Phillips moved to the east coast after graduating high school in Missouri, she experienced a sort of reverse culture shock. Instead of having to adapt to the pacing, culture and customs of the east coast, it was really the east coast that had to adapt to her being from the Midwest.
“I remember the first time in New York I went up to the Starbucks barista and said good morning, how are you? And he looked like I genuinely scared him,” says Phillips. “I’m very jokey, bubbly and high energy, and in the midwest that is just normal, but on the coasts people say things like ‘your midwest is showing,’”
After a return to Kansas City after some time on the east coast, she was at a coffee shop and heard someone say the phrase: ‘Well you know, she’s a character.’
“Basically, it meant this woman is bonkers,” says Phillips. “You have to mentally prepare to interact with her. That’s one of the first times I really noticed how different our phrasing is in the Midwest.”
Her book, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, is a celebration of the uniqueness of the midwest, a book where each state gets their own section, and our cultural idiosyncrasies, peculiar vernacular and our habit of “saying something without saying anything at all” can be festively documented.
The concept of her book started as an article with the same name for the humorist publication, McSweeney’s. The article, which featured deciphered midwest phrases including, “I would love a glass of Pinot Grigio = A glass of Pinot Grigio please, But if you bring me a Riesling by mistake, I will still tip you 25%,” took off in a major way.
It was one of the best performing articles on the site in 2018, and led to some spin offs including A Guide to Midwestern Conversation: Super Bowl LIV Fan Edition and A Guide to Midwestern Conversation: Election Edition, and eventually culminated to her book, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation.
“People are having a really good time seeing themselves represented in the book,” says Phillips. “I love to see what people pick up on and celebrate. Things like ‘tornado watching isn’t a beloved pastime for everyone?’ or saying to a friend ‘You totally say this.’”
And while the book tenderly pokes fun at our eccentric expressions, it’s also a real love letter to the region, a concept that Phillips wants to highlight for the midwest diaspora who have moved to other more “popular” regions of the country.
“Midwesterns don’t get a lot of things said about us in a loving way,” says Phillips. “‘It’s flyover country, it’s all red states, there’s no culture,’ all that stuff. I was getting ticked off at the people who say things like ‘you must be so relieved to have gotten out of there.’ It shouldn’t be a rare thing for someone from the midwest to say ‘this is my home and I love it and I miss it.’ Because of the life that I’ve chosen and the career that I have, I probably won’t be able to live in the midwest again for many years. But that’s not a form of relief, it’s one of the many sacrifices that we all have to make in our lives.”
Milwaukee has been showing up in a big way for Phillips. Boswell Books, who will be hosting her reading and Q&A on Wednesday, Aug. 9, has sold the second most copies of the book outside of her hometown’s bookstore. And if you want to revel in all the midwest hospitality, register for the discussion and Q&A at Boswell where you can also snag a copy of the book and even get it signed by the comedian herself.
“Wisconsin has been showing up for this book which has been wonderful. This is our biggest event outside of my home town, and I’m excited to joke and celebrate the midwest with all of you.”
Keep an eye out for Phillips around the city too – she’s excited to come back to her favorite Milwaukee stops including Blue Bat, Kopp’s, Lakefront Brewery and Sweet Diner.
