Samantha Bee
Majestic Theatre
September 24, 2025
I don’t feel that awkward writing about comedian and social commentator Samantha Bee’s tour stop at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit, even if it was billed as the “How To Survive Menopause” tour.
“Let’s be honest -- this is an incredibly self-selecting show. If you’re not interested in this topic of conversation, you’re going to know,” she tells me during an interview ahead of her show. “If you wanted to talk about baseball for interest, this is not the show.”
But she’s been touring this show for a while and she does see men come to the show.
“They really enjoy it. It shocked me, too,” says Bee.
That’s the thing. Samantha Bee is a pro at talking about issues that affect all of us, even if you’re a dude and you won’t have to deal with menopause. She was a correspondent on “The Daily Show” for 12 years (the longest stint of any correspondent). She turned that into her own production company and her own show, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.”
Onstage, she’s just as charming and convincing – even if the concept of the show itself isn’t necessarily a selling point for everyone. (“Menopause? Two tickets, please!” she jokes during her set.)
The whole premise started when she began going through menopause herself and was dismayed by the lack of information available for women like her. She joked that she could find more information for “what I would wear to my own cremation? Timeline: tomorrow.”
The lack of information available doesn’t stop there.
“It’s in keeping with the tradition of never studying women’s bodies,” joked Bee. “They were like, ‘keyword: women. Cut it! Keyword: menopause. Slash it! Keyword: uterus. Forget about it!'”
Sure, I was one of few men in attendance, but the message was universal -- and often politically charged at one particular member of the cabinet.
“Our secretary of health and human services hasn’t thought about menopause a day in his life and he never will,” laughs Bee. “I can’t even begin to describe my level of disdain.”
“We’ve not only gone back in time -- we’ve tremendously regressed. If you can’t laugh at that, truly, what can you laugh at?” asks Bee.
It was actually refreshing that so many people were openly chatting about the set as it was happening. At any other comedy show, it would’ve been annoying and rude. But at Samantha Bee’s show, it was about delivering the jokes like a pro but also relating the idea that women going through this experience are not alone and that there is valid information out there, if you know where to look (like in Bee’s new book of the same name).
“I hope that women feel seen by the end of the show,” says Bee.
By the end of her nearly 90-minute set, there’s no doubt that they were.
"Sometimes, you just need to say it aloud."
