Private Parts Unknown: Sex & Love Around the World Sex Is Weird, Funny, Awkward & Awesome with Katy Fishell
Feb 17, 2021
Katy Fishell, stand-up comic and cartoonist behind Sex Is Weird, creates brave comics about sex, body image, and vulnerability. She talks about leaving and returning to art, how comedy and cartoons feed each other, battling Instagram censorship, surprising connections with followers, and using art for social justice and honest conversations.
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From Art School Rejection To Doodling In A Gym
- Katy Fishell stopped drawing after art school criticism but returned to doodling while working the kids’ area at a Silver Lake gym.
- She filled sketchbooks with sex-related jokes born from boredom and private observations, which later became Sex Is Weird.
How Sex Is Weird Began As Phone-Edited Sketches
- Katy began Sex Is Weird by photographing crude paper sketches and coloring them on her iPhone while working lonely shifts at a gym.
- Early cartoons were intimate, sex-focused jokes she couldn't place on stage, later posted with friends' encouragement.
Audience DMs Revealed A Hidden Need To Talk About Sex
- Instagram boosts and community responses accelerated growth more than Katy expected, revealing an untapped need to talk about sex.
- DMs from strangers sharing vulnerable sexual questions signaled the account's real impact beyond likes.