Amy Schumer On The Painful Reality Of Being Away From Family While Touring

In a candid conversation, Amy Schumer opened up about life on the road while being a mum.

For years, Amy Schumer has mined her personal life all for our own entertainment. Whether it was her health or exhaustive dating history, she turned these events into comedic gold, delighting audiences with her quick wit and hilarity, even if much of the material came at her own expense. But while Schumer’s all-too-relatable humour has made her a household name and international star, it’s also seen her embark on exhaustive tours around the world which, in recent years, has proved ever more difficult as it means sacrificing time with her family. 

In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Schumer opened up about just how painful a reality life on the road as a touring comedian can be, particularly when that comedian is a mum. Schumer has a three-year-old son named Gene and as she expressed, it’s been incredibly hard to leave him for extended periods of time. 

“The thing that weighs on me is being away. Travelling at this age…routine is so good for them,” she explained to the publication. “I’m anticipating how awful it’s going to be saying goodbye to him, like, the third time I leave to go on the road. When you hear them cry and reach for you, you just want to throw up.”

As any parent can attest, while we certainly all have our moments where the stress of parenthood and the dependence of a toddler can have us craving alone time or a vacation away, those early moments in a baby’s life where they are constantly learning and evolving is also something sacred. It’s time we can’t buy back, no matter how hard we might try. It’s also something Schumer recognises as she explains her desire to treasure the intimate bond she now shares with Gene. “There are a limited number of nights where they’ll want to do this,” she said, referring to Gene sleeping on her chest during the interview. 

Schumer has been deeply honest about juggling motherhood and a busy career, opening up about her work/life balance and how difficult it has been to maintain the two, particularly after Gene was born. In 2019, Schumer expressed how difficult she found it to not be around her son all the time as she returned to work. “It’s felt good to be back at work,” she wrote in a caption posted to social media. “I was so worried about it and was afraid to go back after he was three months old. A couple days I’ve cried from missing him.”

But as Schumer ultimately expressed, while she might first and foremost be a mother, her comedian roots are an integral part of her identity and something she always wanted to reclaim following her pregnancy. “It’s mostly good to be back and the breaks energise me to be a better mum and appreciate our time even more. I have it a lot easier than many people but I wanted to share my experience.”

It seems clear that in sharing her experiences, Schumer has voiced something many parents feel, encouraging them to open up about their own struggles and hardships, and those moments they find comfort in. As one commented on her post, “I’m a new mum about to go back to work and feel so sad and guilty,” while another added, “I had four months off…when I went back I cried every day in the car. Then I wiped my tears and pretended everything was okay as I took care of other people’s children. It’s gotten easier, he’s almost 20 months now, but there are still days that I ache to just hold him. It’s so hard being a parent.”