The longtime comedian, television host and bestselling author has built a career pushing the envelope and bringing her often no-holds humor to audiences everywhere. However, with this past Tuesday marking the start of a strike for members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) seeking better pay and benefits within their jobs, Chelsea Handler sees this moment as no laughing matter.

“I’m a member of the Writers Guild, as well, so of course I stand in solidarity with all of the writers and the WGA, and asking for more equity and fairness and all the profits that are being made at their expense,” Handler told me. “So yes, I am a very strong advocate for every member of the WGA.”

According to the WGA, they seek total pay increases for members amounting to about $429 million per year, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) countering so far with only an increase of $86 million per year.

Handler said that there needs to be some kind negotiation that starts for this strike to be able to reach an agreement, adding that the non-responsiveness from film and television studios will not resolve anything.

“What needs to be done? People need to be paid more for what they’re working on and they need to see backends on that. People need to show it’s not a big deal to ask how many people are watching everything and to actually have concrete numbers, so people can get credit where credit is due. There are many demands on the list, but I think everyone just wants to be treated fairly and it’s just another example of corporate greed.”

Coming from a seasoned career as a writer on her own E! talk show Chelsea Lately (2007-2014) to her most recent standup comedy special Chelsea Handler: Revolution on Netflix, I wondered what Handler’s thoughts are on our evolving world of video streaming that is currently dominating the entertainment landscape.

“There’s just so much out there now,” Handler said. “There are so many programs to watch and to some degree, that diminishes the quality of a lot of it. We’re in a change and switching from linear to streaming. Basically what’s happened is all of these streamers are absorbing each other and we’re going right back to the same model we had to begin with, which is three or four major networks with commercials.”

On May 10, Handler will be in the Denver, Colorado area to headline SeriesFest, the award-winning international festival and non-profit organization dedicated to championing emerging and underserved voices in episodic storytelling. With her upcoming live standup performance at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, I wondered what interested Handler in wanting to close-out this week-long festival.

“First of all, the venue and I like the event a lot and they just simply asked me. It wasn’t something that I had to think long and hard about. I was about to launch my tour, so this fit in perfectly with Denver and that market, and too many friends of mine, too many musicians have performed there and told me how incredible of a venue it is.”

With Handler in the midst of her nationwide comedy tour, she said that she is a lot more present these days within her live standup work. “I’ve learned in my life when you focus on one thing at a time instead of 18 things at a time, I think your integrity of work levels up. You go out there, you have thousands of people paying money to see you - you want to make sure you’re available to them and put on a great show. You don’t have time to be in a bad mood - you’re there for everybody. It’s a good responsibility and I like it. I enjoy it much more now in this stage of my life than I did when I was younger.”

Being now an experienced leader within the standup comedy space, Handler said she takes on her elevated role seriously and is not somebody who is irritated by the fact that she has to be politically correct or speak up. “I believe that comes with a responsibility when you have a big platform and you have a big voice, you better make sure you know what you’re talking about and you better make sure you’re sticking up for the people that need representation.”

Circling back to the current writers strike, I concluded my conversation with Handler by asking her what message she might have for her fellow WGA members, who are out picketing across the country right now, striving for their demands to be heard.

Handler said, “I’d say we all support you. We’re all in this together. Let’s do this together and make sure that we get the needs met of all these WGA members. Let’s stand in solidarity. No one should waver - we should all just make sure that they know that this is serious and we’re not going anywhere until some needs are met. Period.”