Gawky Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase

Some tall girls grow up to have perfect posture and are later seen gracing the pages of magazines. Some are natural athletes who excel at basketball and volleyball, with toned and tanned legs that mask their overlarge feet. Then there are other tall girls: the ones who are always tripping over themselves; the ones who never look normal in any size of clothing; the ones who literally don’t fit in. Comedienne Margot Leitman was one of these awkward giants, and Gawky is the painfully funny chronicle of her experiences growing up tall. Reaching five feet six inches in fourth grade—and approaching six feet in high school—Leitman realized at a young age that she would always stand out from the crowd. To cope, she developed a thick skin and a sharp sense of humor, and instead of forever trying and failing to blend in, she decided to embrace her center-of-attention status. Leitman writes about wearing funky, Ziggy Stardust-era jumpsuits to school (in the 90s); taking up any and every cause she could find (whether it was saving the public beaches or protesting prom); and generally making as much use of having a big presence as humanly possible. Leitman’s memoir is a hilarious celebration of growing up gangly. Both endearing and encouraging, Gawky is a cathartic release of everything awkward girls are forced to endure—as well as a tribute to a youth that was larger than life.

As a regular sketch performer on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, Margot Leitman built a cult following behind her character “Gyno-blast” (inspiring O’Brien to even create a Gyno-blast action figure). Her other television appearances include Best Week Ever and ESPN’s Cheap Seats. Leitman’s humorous, autobiographical writing has been published in Playgirl Magazine and The NY Press, as well as online at LifetimeTV.com, theFrisky.com, CollegeHumor.com, and 236.com (the comedy division of the Huffington Post). Her autobiographical one-woman show “Just Here for the Day” ran at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in New York and also played in Los Angeles; her one-act play “Slow Night” was co-written by Sarah Burns of I Love You, Man. Her former monthly column, “From Behind the Bar,” was a reminiscence of bartending at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and was featured multiple times on Comedy Central Insider, BrooklynVegan.com, and Gawker. Leitman currently teaches storytelling at both the East and West Coast schools at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. She is a regular monologist at Assscat (UCB Theatre’s long running improv show hosted by Amy Poehler), Heeb Magazine’s Storytelling, Moonwork, Jill Soloway’s Sit N Spin, and Comedy Central’s Crash Mansion, among others. In 2012, Margot was nominated for an ECNY Award (Excellence in Comedy, NY) for “Best Storyteller.” Margot Leitman lives in Los Angeles. Visit her online at margotleitman.com.