Comedian Jeannie Hogan has joined, then deleted, then re-joined just about every dating app.
Working in the tech world in her 20s, Hogan said she would do data analytics on these apps and actually got into comedy while running their tests.
This led to the publication of her comic research “How I used Tinder smart photos to prove once and for all that I’m more attractive than a plate of cold fried beans”, which originally appeared on mcsweeneys.net in 2017. she created five different Tinder accounts to see if she would be more attractive than a cold bowl of overcooked beans. She was glad to know that it was.
Now Hogan has combined her love of data and humor in her recently published book, I’m More Dating Than a Bowl of Overcooked Beans: And Other Romantic Observations. It’s a collection of short stories about modern romance interspersed with quizzes and speculation about how famous rom-com characters might live on dating apps.
“A lot of people say it’s very close to the mark, which, you know, is both a good thing and a bad thing,” Hogan said during a recent phone interview about the book. “I wanted to write something interesting, but not to provoke anyone. I think it’s a fun read and it’s short enough to be summery and people really enjoyed it.”
When Hogan originally pitched the idea for the book, she says she was single but in a relationship when she wrote it at the start of the pandemic. This novel was gone by the time she turned in her last copy. Writing from different perspectives on loneliness and relationships, Hogan said she drew on her real life experiences, such as when exploring topics like people who are on dating apps but aren’t actually single.
“I wrote this part [‘Creatively Justifying Not Mentioning Your Partner When Sandra Calls You Out’] in a fit of rage,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been talking to this guy for months and he didn’t mention that he has a girlfriend. When I told him about it, he became defensive and said, “I didn’t know what you want to know.” He was so crazy. He couldn’t even just apologize.”
It also touches on TV shows that can be watched at different stages of a relationship.
“We ended up watching Game of Thrones because it had to be something really exciting that we could talk about a lot because we couldn’t carry on a conversation with each other anymore,” she said. She also shares tips on shows to watch before moving in together, on your honeymoon, and even after a breakup.
Hogan said it was good for her to be single. She doesn’t mind having friends and family ask about her personal life, but she hates the idea that “all single people are looking for relationships.”
“I know that’s what we’re taught to want, but I don’t think that’s what we should want,” she said. “I don’t mind if someone asks me if I’m dating at all, but what I don’t like is that if I say I’m not dating, they want to set me up with someone. There are dating apps if I want to find a girl, and I can find a girl, but I can also actively refuse it.”
She lived in San Francisco, New York and currently resides in Los Angeles, but said her favorite place to date has been New York.
“It felt like everyone in San Francisco was in the tech industry, and it was easy for me to feel like I was going on the same date over and over again, sort of like a Groundhog Day situation,” she shared. “In Los Angeles everyone works in entertainment, but in New York people come to New York for very different reasons, and it seemed to me that the choice is much wider.”
In the end, Hogan said she was a comedian and just wanted to make people laugh with this book. She, too, had a good time writing it, noting that it helped her take her mind off the darkest days of the early restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was fun because I was in my house all day and got into a fantasy world when I wrote,” she said.
She dived deep into a story called “A Married Couple Made in Heaven” in which God is a woman and She creates a dating app.
“I think I spent a week on it and it was like an escape,” she said. “It was very nice when people send me private messages and say things like: “I had a very bad day, but then I read your book for half an hour, and it cheered me up.” It’s so cute.”
