Amy Schumer returned to Studio 8H on Saturday, Nov. 5 to host “Saturday Night Live” for the third time.
Schumer delivered a six-minute monologue to kick off the show, discussing the upcoming midterm elections, the birth of her 3-year-old son Gene, and her husband, Chris Fischer, who has autism spectrum disorder.
“It’s been really positive for our family to have him diagnosed,” she said. “I understand so much more about his behavior, and it’s given him so many tools. Now, if somebody is in the middle of a long, boring story, he will straight up just walk away.”
Schumer said that when people find out that her husband has been diagnosed with autism, they usually end up revealing how little they know about the condition.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, does he love to count? Should we drop a bunch of straws on the floor and he can gather them and count them?’” she quipped, mimicking their inquiries. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, that sounds pretty fun. I would like to do that.’”
Schumer joked that her husband “never really lands a compliment with her, adding, “He tells me I look 'comfortable' a lot. We have different love languages.”
She also recalled a recent, sweet moment between the couple shared: “A couple of weeks ago, we were sitting outside. It was a nice night. It looked like it was going to rain, and I was feeling kind of sentimental, and I was like, ‘You know, even though these past couple of years with the pandemic and everything has been so stressful, still this time being with you, being with our son, they’ve been the best years of my life.’”
“And he just looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to go put the windows up in the car,’” she joked. “Yeah, that’s my guy. It’s one of the times we play the game: autism or just a man?’”
To conclude her monologue, she left the audience with what her husband told her right before she went out on to the stage that night.
“I said, ‘Babe, is this OK?’” she asked him about her outfit. “And he said, ‘Well, it’s too late.’”
Schumer and Fischer have been married since 2018, welcoming their first child together in May 2019.
The “Trainwreck” star has been open about her husband’s autism diagnosis over the years. During a March 2019 appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the comedian spoke about why she decided to share his diagnosis during her Netflix standup special “Growing.”
“We both wanted to talk about it because it’s been totally positive,” she said. “I think a lot of people resist getting diagnosed and even some of their children because of the stigma that comes along with it."
She added: "The tools we’ve been given have made his life so much better and our marriage and our life much more manageable. I just wanted to encourage people to not be afraid of that stigma.”
In March 2022, she spoke to Chelsea Handler on her podcast, “Dear Chelsea,” about the possibility that her son may also be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Schumer emphasized that she "doesn't have a preference" as to whether her son has autism.
“I think the statistics are pretty strong toward he will most likely have autism,” Schumer said. “Parents have different journeys with this. Having a child with severe autism is beyond my imagination difficult. But if Gene does wind up having ASD, I’m not looking for the signs in a way that are upsetting. I’m not hoping either way.”