'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' host reveals that her then-girlfriend's tragic death inspired her to write her famous comedy routine 'Phone Call to God'.
- Mar 14, 2018
AceShowbiz - Ellen DeGeneres got her big break in comedy when she performed her famous comedy routine "Phone Call to God" on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" in 1986. It's revealed that her comedy routine was inspired by one of the most tragic losses in her life.
During her appearance on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, the talk show host opened up that the tragic death of her then-girlfriend forty years ago inspired her to create the routine. "My girlfriend was killed in a car accident when I was like 20 years old. And I wasn't doing comedy," she said. "I think I was probably waitressing someplace at the time. I was living with her when she was killed."
She then went on recalling that after her girlfriend's death, she "moved into this tiny little basement apartment" as she couldn't afford to live in the place where they used to live together. "I moved into this basement apartment and I was sleeping on a mattress on a floor and it was infested with fleas," she continued, adding that she used to write poetry and songs "all the time."
It was during this time that she thought, "Why is this beautiful 21-year-old girl just gone and fleas are here?" She told Dax, "And I just thought it would be amazing if we could pick up the phone and call up God and ask questions and actually get an answer."
Inspired, she began writing the idea down. "It just unfolded," she shared. "I just wrote the entire thing and when I finished, I read it and I thought, 'Oh my God, that's hilarious. I'm going to do this on Johnny Carson and I'm going to be the first woman in the history of the show be asked to sit down.' "
In the end, she did become the first woman whom Johnny invited to sit on the couch during his show.
