The Argentine funny woman gets cozy with charcuterie while reading e-books from the L.A. Public Library.
Quarantine Coping is our series about how local creatives are filling their time — and shelves — in the wake of COVID-19 isolation.
Born in Argentina, Tamara Yajia is an L.A.-based comedian with a fascination for bodily functions, pop culture, her family and talking about sex, which she readily expresses across her twitter profile, @danceswithtamis, with tweets like “I ripped a massive fart in the ocean and fully reversed the gravitational pull,” and “Nothing makes me hornier than sloppily shaved balls with a single long hair.”
She has an equally hilarious podcast with her sister, “Chorizo Talk,” and appears regularly on Funny or Die. In the series “Telenovelas Are Hell,” she dissects the intricate, absurd realities of Latin American soap operas.
Then there’s “Tam Gets Drunk,” where she consumes copious amounts of wine while watching popular American movies she’s never seen before.
We asked Yajia how she’s spending her days in quarantine and her tips for what to read and watch.
What are you stocking up on, whether it’s practical or something you personally felt was necessary to sustain a prolonged stay in isolation?
Two cases of red wine and enough provisions to make exactly 15 personal-sized charcuterie boards. I may not get the coronavirus, but I’ll definitely come out of this with gout.
How will you spend your time at home?
I mostly want to catch up on all the creative projects I haven’t had time for. I’m helping my husband reorganize his closet, which will go on way past when the quarantine is over. Also, my mom Facetimes me six times per day and I started learning German.
Any recommendations for movies, TV, books or podcasts?
I’m reading more than I have in years. I just finished Melissa Broder’s “The Pisces,” and on deck I have Salman Rushdie’s “Quichotte.” I highly recommend an app called Libby that links you to L.A. libraries and allows you to download most audio/e-books. As for movies, a documentary about Argentine food called “Todo Sobre el Asado” and “The Tenth Man,” which is another Argentine film that was shot in the neighborhood from Buenos Aires I was raised in. Both are available on Netflix.