My first ever CD was Jagged Little Pill. I remember listening to it on repeat as an angsty teenager, and I think Alanis Morissette was the first real crush I ever had.She was quirky, smart, and so full of life – swoooooon.
So when she came on stage at her Vegas residency, I had a visceral reaction—I started crying. I felt like I was a teenager again and that time travel was, in fact, possible.
Here’s a little write up about Alanis, and how that night went.
Table of Contents
About Alanis
Alanis has had a crazy life. She wrote Jagged Little Pill when she was just 19, so she’s been famous her entire adult life. But on that stage, she looked genuinely happy.
What really made the show special was how vulnerable she was. Normally in concert, she doesn’t talk to the crowd much. But in this show, she was an open book. She shared stories about her drug use, her postpartum depression, and her continual struggle to find her identity. Can you believe even Alanis Morissette struggles with this stuff!?
And the depth to which Alanis explored the human psyche was profound – after the show, I was inspired to buy a book about family systems therapy: No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz. And was blown away that Alanis actually wrote the foreword to that book! Ugh, she does it all.
The Experience
The show instantly transported me back to the late ’90s. When she opened with “Hand in my Pocket,” the entire crowd jumped from their seats and just rocked out. I looked around, and there wasn’t a single phone in sight. Everyone was completely in the moment.
I knew every word to every song, and it was incredible to hear those tracks live—songs that cover the full range of human experience:
- The weight of ambition in “Perfect”
- The rage from a breakup in “You Oughta Know”
- The search for meaning that has defined my own life in “All I Really Want”
A Beautiful Reminder
Another amazing part of the night was getting to meet Kiel Kennedy, the male lead, and Patty Guggenheim, the co-writer. They were both charming, good-looking, full of life, and so thrilled to be playing in Vegas.
The story of how Patty got the writing gig is just unbelievable. Three years ago, Patty did a random backyard comedy show in L.A. where she played a character. Three months ago, Alanis asked her video guy if he knew anyone who could help make her show funny. He remembered Patty. Patty jumped on a Zoom with Alanis, flew to Scotland to meet her, and they decided to work together.
They wrote the entire show in less than three months, and Patty invited Kiel, her collaborator from the Groundlings, to join. It’s a beautiful reminder of how things can work out when you put yourself out there!
Conclusion
The whole experience was a journey back in time, a powerful performance, and a lesson in vulnerability and perseverance. From the music to the stories behind the scenes, the night was truly special.
Seeing how one small backyard show for Patty years ago led to her writing a show for her idol in Las Vegas is a perfect reminder to keep creating, keep sharing your work, and keep showing up. You never know where it might lead.