Stand-up comedian Carol Leifer recounts her experiences in love and comedy in her new memoir, When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win.

Leifer, who started at the comedy clubs alongside Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Reiser, tells Terry Gross that her father inspired her to enter the field.

"My father was the king of the joke-tellers," she says. "I was so impressed as a child watching him, holding people in rapt attention."

Leifer went on to write for the NBC series, Seinfeld. She has also written and produced for such television shows as The Larry Sanders Show, The Ellen Show and Saturday Night Live.

When she was 40, Leifer met the love of her life — the first woman she ever dated. What started as a fling, evolved into a serious relationship. A few years ago, Leifer and her lover adopted a child.

"I don't know what came over me. ... I really wanted to have an affair with a woman," she says.

This interview was first broadcast on April 23, 2009.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.