Stand-up, Improv and Making People Laugh with Meredith Dietz

Join us for an engaging episode as we delve into the backgrounds, uproarious stories, and distinctive viewpoints of the Tugboat Improv Troupe. This week, local comedians Dylan Grayson, Matt Stein, Tess Eddington, and Michele DiCio sit down with Julia Reed Nichols to unravel the intricacies of improv and stand-up comedy. They share personal anecdotes, family tales, and their reflections on the significance of authenticity and collaboration in the comedic world.

We’re also thrilled to welcome Meredith Dietz, a NYC-based stand-up, writer, and improv performer. Meredith brings her insights into the world of comedy, discussing her approach to writing, the art of handling dark material, and the dynamic energy of live audiences. She provides a glimpse into the NYC comedy scene, her writing career, and her excitement about her upcoming visit to Bend -  If like smart comedy, you’ll love Meredith!

Nighttime Benders Podcast is Powered By The Source. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

That's called Dorsal Economy. Dorothy Dorsal economy. Dorsal economy. Right. That's a good thing. My door. You're not there in this. Like, I'm there. This is it. Get it.

SPEAKER_06 0:25

You're don't complain. No one else who's ever been down there has complained about my position. I'm going to bring you to my next one. On that note, welcome to this week's episode of Nighttime Benders Powered by the Source, your favorite place to catch up with Central Oregon's favorite funny faces. I have the amazing Tugboat Improv Group here with me. They're going to be taking lead on this week's show. But let's start by meeting some of the members. Do you want to start by introducing yourself? Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 0:57

Hi, I'm Michelle Diccio, and I am a local comedy producer. I put on a comedy open mic on Thursdays at Worthy Brewing, as well as some ticketed shows, and then also perform a little bit of improv and a little bit of stand-up on occasion. But yeah, much on a much slower trajectory than the producing. That's okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

You're a fantastic producer. We all love your open mic.

SPEAKER_07 1:29

Thanks. Thank you. It's been very fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:31

All right, Kess, your turn to introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

My name is Kess Eddington. I'm an idiot. I I hate calling myself a low like a comic just because it feels very cocky, but I do do comedy. Um and kind of a newcomer. I've done it for about a year, and it's been really fun. Do you want me to continue? Almost in 1992. That was great. All right, and introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

I'm Matt Stein. I'm just a guy, just a middle-aged guy. And uh I do improv with the roundabouts. He shows you with the roundabouts, uh, and I've been doing stand-up a bit. I'm not comfortable calling myself the comic either, but I like comedy things and they seem to matter. And you do improv with the roundabouts and tugboat. And tugboat, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Yeah, just really important. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

And tugboat. I should have started with that. Um mostly with tugboat, and then then I am Dylan Grayson.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

I'm just another guy. I've been doing improv for a little over a year. Started doing stand-up just maybe a few months ago. Enjoying it. I'm a software engineer and divorce dad.

SPEAKER_06 2:46

Divorce dad. Those are the two most interesting things about you. Software engineer and divorce dad. So if you're looking out there for somebody with a job, Dylan's got one. And a kid. So stepmother material. It's funny though. That makes up for the child. No, I'm sure your kid's great. I'm sure your kids are great. I need to stop calling people's children awful. I need to stop doing it. They're a choice. Like not a choice we've made. Not a choice we've made.

SPEAKER_07 3:19

They are a beautiful choice.

SPEAKER_06 3:21

A beautiful choice for people like Dylan and Tessa. Do you have a kids? Oh, yeah. Nothing he knows of.

SPEAKER_07 3:27

Nothing he's super excited about.

SPEAKER_06 3:28

No, yeah, nothing to tell you about it. I'm a chihuahua mix too. It's like a child.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

What's the mix?

SPEAKER_06 3:34

He's a shepherd chihuahua. I know. I know what you're thinking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:40

A working chihuahua.

SPEAKER_06 3:41

He's a small chihuahua. I know. I know. And in our family, we like to think that the dad was the chihuahua. Because it's not as scary as if whoa, whoa, whoa. And a little man can love a bag alone. Exactly. Um now that you know about our weird thoughts about our dogs.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Well, kind thought, you're hoping.

SPEAKER_06 4:08

Yeah. Yeah, and truthful, it's what everybody thinks when they meet them. They see they see them and they're like, that's not something that's ever existed before. That's a weird combination. And we're like, yeah, it's it was a little ungodly, right? They found each other in a hopeless place. Oh Legrianna. Um, we are some of the funniest faces in central Oregon, obviously. But none of us are actually from Central Oregon. So where are you all from? We'll start with you.

SPEAKER_07 4:39

Oh man, so I I grew up, I'm I moved around a lot growing up, and so that's a hard one to answer briefly, but I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and then and then yeah, moved around a ton and ended up in Tokyo when I was in uh kindergarten. I was there until the end of fifth grade, then went back to Louisville and then North Carolina for high school, and Boone, North Carolina, App State, Appalachian State for college. And then how did I make it here? I started doing real dirtbag shit uh right out of school. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:19

Well, I mean, you're at Appalachian State. Was it like?

SPEAKER_07 5:22

It was really far for the course for sure. Yeah, it was not a surprise at all. Although it was actually like I I took a real 180 while I was in college because prior to college, I was kind of a uh like sweat and bugs horrify me kind of person. Like, don't want to sweat, don't want to be outside, don't want to feel grass. And then I started dating a raft guide, and that changed everything uh after I spent a summer in Una Vista, Colorado on the Arkansas, and yeah, it just changed my whole personality for a man. That dick changed, yeah, digmatized. Yeah, but consenting, consenting to that. So yeah, it was it was like a hard sell. And then by the time we broke up, I realized like I loved it. Like, I was like, why like you know, why is this breakup causing me so much pain? Uh and I it made it so much better when I realized like, oh, like I miss doing the shit we did. It's not that like I miss hen as much as I miss being on the river and like doing all that stuff. Touching grass, touching grass, touching grass, yeah, dipping in water, and uh and so then raft guiding and uh on the Okoe in Tennessee, uh, which is such a cool river, and then made my way slowly, like you know, doing seasonal work and at resorts in the winter, guiding. The next place I guided was on the salmon in Stanley, Idaho. And then I would leave and go places in the winter, and finally made it to the end in the winter of 2017, and um yeah, it really struck a chord. There's a lot of really, really nice rivers around here, uh, and this and the skiing being superposed by it. I mean, yeah, it just it seemed like such an undiscovered gem at the time.

SPEAKER_06 7:24

Does everybody here like the outdoors? Yeah, that's where I am too. I know, I feel like we're odd at ease. It's like you're much more than Norry. Yeah, I'm gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

I think this one is a move here. Yeah, so I get that it's strange to be the one that's like uh indoors is fine.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

I like looking through a window.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Beautiful for the view.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

The views are fantastic. But you also like hiked a pilot butte more than any of us all together. So I feel like he's a century club member. But are we gonna call Pilot Butte a hike? Really? Oh there's a t-shirt.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

It can be water at the top. There's hike is sure it's a pit toilet, but uh no, it's a it's a it's a bit changing. No, no, no. So it's a totally different thing.

SPEAKER_07 8:21

You never know what's around the next corner. It could be wildlife.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

It's never end different outfit, different boots. Yeah, it's a completely different day if you're not doing the paved trail. Yeah, when you do the paved trail, you have my kid, and you're hiking smaller. So that's when you take the paved trail.

SPEAKER_06 8:38

I see again, kids ruin everything, even hiking.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Did they add to the the to the workout though? I made fun of her, this is horrid. It's like a paved road, and then I did it once, and it was it was hard.

SPEAKER_07 8:51

Which where it's very small, but I remember you mentioning that, and like, where did you feel the soreness after pushing that stroller up?

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Just the body, the whole body.

SPEAKER_06 9:02

Wait, you watched the stroller for one day and you were physically sore.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

I was on his back. Well, and so we think it was like my sheer tonnage and the stroller. That was the word I've never said in my life. Okay. I love that. I hated it.

SPEAKER_04 9:17

It was amazing.

SPEAKER_06 9:18

And what brought you to then?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Um, work kind of, the pandemic. Uh, we were living in Austin. I grew up in Ohio and also lived in a bunch of places, not that many, and I did not go that much outdoors.

SPEAKER_06 9:29

I mean, her places were pretty cool. Her place in Ohio was that cool.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Um a suburb of Columbus, where statistically the most average slice of America is. Limited brands is based there because they want the most average people to try like hot new chain stores. And that's the environment I grew up in. I hear you laughing. I that's fine.

SPEAKER_06 9:51

Yep, no, because I grew up kind of close to it. Jackson, Michigan. We're like maybe an hour and a half north. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Yeah, so I grew up there, went to school in upstate New York, and then lived in Seattle and Florida, and then Seattle, and then Austin. And then in Austin, they were there for the pandemic, and we were there for the winter apocalypse when everything froze because we don't insulate pipes, and I guess don't plan for winter. Because Texas and uh we thought, no, we need to leave here. The pandemic is not fun, and we were looking at getting houses, and we're like, wait a minute, this isn't even like they don't even have a power grid that works. So we're we just and again, indoors, so that counts a lot for me. So we moved not all the way back to Seattle, but close and split the difference, like deserty Pacific Northwest. Yeah. And I came to work for my employer at the time who's your employer is still here. I am not employed with that.

SPEAKER_06 10:48

But they are still here. You did not kill them, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

We weren't killed anybody. We did great.

SPEAKER_06 10:55

I did great. And what brought you here, Dylan?

SPEAKER_02 10:57

Uh I grew up in Southern California. Went to school in Arizona and then moved to got married and moved to San Francisco and lived there for a while. Uh the pandemic hit when I was there. I was not to be in the city during the pandemic. And then we live afterwards there, and then I didn't care. I just like rural blue. And it was cool. I was there for three years and then lost my job, sold our house, made a little money, came back to the west coast and just looked for an affordable place where we could get some more rural living. And so we chose LePan.

SPEAKER_06 11:46

I was like, you're not I was like how like how Ben did not leave your mouth after you're like affordable.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Because we lived in Ben. We came at the stay, we stayed at a hotel in Bend, and I was like, man, this like I want an acre. And it's not gonna I I cannot afford an acre in bed.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

That is like well, and why like a place to live on it too.

SPEAKER_06 12:10

I want to well then you say I mean La Pine, that's a great neighborhood to do that in.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

The La Pine's perfect, it's not a far drive.

SPEAKER_06 12:23

No, it's not. I kind of live the same distance outside of town towards sisters. You get used to it. You'll get a self-driving car in no time. And Tessa brought you here.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

Uh I well, first I'm Canadian, so I grew up on like a tiny island um where Rafi's from.

SPEAKER_06 12:41

Rafi?

SPEAKER_03 12:42

He's a children's singer, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:44

See, I I don't have children.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Does he have a YouTube channel? I don't he's got like books and stuff. I didn't know he was a thing. I just thought he was like this guy that would come to our elementary school and sing at us. I guess he's like kind of a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Uh he was.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

I mean this is a good idea. Um moved to yeah, like grew up in Canada, was there until like college, then I got a nanny job in California and met an American lived in uh Marin County, actually. Got my first marriage out of the way. Bought bought a house in Portland with my ex, but then decided that I needed to leave that relationship. So I went back to Canada for a bit and then moved back down. I found another American and we lived in Portland, but we were just looking like we would come to Bend a lot, and people were so nice here, and we both grew up in like big tiny towns, and so we like were not into like we weren't really doing anything like super exciting. A Portland my husband's a nurse, so we decided to move people stop at crosswalks here, and that was big for us. Everyone's just nice, like my husband's from Louisiana, and so he's used to like very nice people, and I'm from Canada, so like we wanted I want to live in a polite society.

SPEAKER_06 14:08

Weird. Yeah, I mean, Portland has its own flavor, right? You know, anarchy is uh appreciated in Portland, you know, as as a as a vibe. Yeah. Yeah. It's a whole personality. Yeah. They leave their graffiti out because they're like, it's art. This is your building. Would you think it's art? But yeah, I understand. Well, we're glad you guys are all here in Central Oregon. Um, we were talking about some of the traits you guys share, and you guys were all talking about being people pleasers. How do you think that affects you? I'll let you guys kinda go first.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

I don't know some of them. Yeah, you know. Um, the group chats are funny because we're all like, oh, well, we could do this or this, or meet them this time, or I'm easy.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, like let's let's pick a goddamn place. It's like a social four-way stop. Right. Everybody's putting everybody else on.

SPEAKER_07 15:12

Yes, yeah, and so nobody gets to go forward. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There is a a time somewhat recently um where we were at this place and her husband came home, Tom, and we were eating salsa, or maybe he just like came to sit down with us and he commented on the fact that we hadn't eaten enough of the he's like, oh, barely made a dent in the salsa or something. And without thinking at all, like me and Matt both filled our next ship with so much salsa that that we both dripped on the way to our mouths and even got like a little bit on our shirts, and it was like, and then I looked at it and was like, oh yeah, yeah, people pleasers.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

I mean, I'm having a lot now to make up for that.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Yeah, even if I'm allergic, I'm gonna put the mouth.

SPEAKER_06 16:07

Yeah. Do you think it makes your life better or worse being a terrible? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Not a Do you want to be mean?

SPEAKER_07 16:17

I would love to be.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

You want to be mean because I'm so confident.

SPEAKER_07 16:20

Okay, it's I guess at this point I'm convinced that what I believe is mean is actually not mean. So that's why I have to tell myself to be more mean. But I feel like because I I suspect that the meanest version of myself would not really be that mean. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

I feel like after though, like, because you kick yourself if you don't speak up. But then I feel like if I did speak up, I would have more of a panic at home. I'd be like, I shouldn't have done anything. Like, I feel like either way, I'll either way, I'm just questioning everything I've ever done.

SPEAKER_07 16:52

Social and a lot of this is anxiety.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

It's not people pleasing.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

My therapist thinks it's really entertaining when I think I've been a dick to someone. He's like, really? And and how much of what you were actually thinking? Like, what percentage are you saying you loosed into the world?

SPEAKER_04 17:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Uh and he's yeah, he's pretty convinced that raging dick me is just actually just on you.

SPEAKER_06 17:13

Do you loop? Like, if you if you have an interaction with someone and you can tell you like slightly offended them, do you loop on it?

SPEAKER_04 17:20

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:21

Yeah, right. And then you're but but what good does that do? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

With years of therapy, I can almost not get stuck in the loop.

SPEAKER_04 17:32

That's progress.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Yeah. That's nice. I'm gonna function like a normal person in any decade now.

SPEAKER_06 17:38

Any decade now, those neural pathways are gonna that's great. That's great. Uh well, what kind of parents made unique human beings such as yourselves? You guys want to tell me a little bit about your parents?

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Sure. I'll go first because mine's boring.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

I mean, my parents, so the like I mean, they're nice and everything was mostly fine most of the time. I think my dad was a little depressed. But like we I would ask, I would be totally convinced when I hear kids at school talk about religion, like what religion they are, and that they go to church. And I would ask the dad, like, what religion are we? And she'd be like, Christian. And I was like, okay. Why don't we go to church or have a bible? And she's like, I don't know, we don't we just don't do that. And it was like, really, it felt like now when I look back on it, it's like, hey, we're saying Christian because we're white and we're not Jewish. Like that was the only option. Like we just get pigeonholed into Christian. And so yeah. When I was like 16, I started like questioning things and realizing that I don't believe any of this religious stuff. I'm an atheist, and they just were like, okay. And like a couple years later, they were identifying themselves as atheists.

SPEAKER_06 18:57

Oh, you oh you converted your parents.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Yeah, but it wasn't much converting. They just like acknowledging what it was just like, hey, you know, there's all this weird stuff with religion, I think, and they were like, Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_06 19:09

Yeah, it's like we never we never actually thought about it, but now that we are, chill, we're good without it.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Dylan's like, yeah, that was my whole point.

SPEAKER_07 19:19

It's pretty clear you never I feel like I actually did convert my parents a little bit. I converted my mom a little bit. To what? To non to non-Christian.

SPEAKER_05 19:30

To non-Christian! What are we calling it?

SPEAKER_07 19:33

Yeah, to non-Catholic uh specifically. Yeah. Specifically, yeah. I was raised Catholic, went to mass every Sunday, um, and I knew Christians slash Catholics, whatever, who didn't go every Sunday, and I always thought, that seems nice, you know? Like, why can't we be a cool Catholic family?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Just come on the holidays.

SPEAKER_07 19:54

Yeah. They seem to be getting saved as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

You got all this time, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 20:00

A whole Sunday. And then at some point, well, I I refused to get confirmed, which in Catholicism is something that happens in like seventh or eighth grade, and you are like you get like a Catholic name, and you're kind of like more absorbed into it, I guess. And I refuse to do it, and so they the negotiations landed that I I agreed to get confirmed as long as I didn't have to go to church anymore. Yeah. Pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Your membership card and never use it.

SPEAKER_07 20:36

Yeah, yeah. I was like, I'm ending, yeah, uh, but I don't want to go. And then and then, yeah, and then was like just not not really my thing. And by the time I was at the end of high school, I don't know. I I just feel like me and my mom had enough conversations about it that she all I know is she stopped going to church.

SPEAKER_05 20:54

You know, I guess you can rub off on your parents too.

SPEAKER_06 20:57

Not my dad. That's okay. My mom, right before she died, she was like 71, 72 years old. She's a Southern Baptist her whole life. And she finally was like, you know, I think it's wrong they don't let women in leadership. And I was like, you know what? At least we got there. Yeah. At least we got there. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 21:19

You know, it doesn't matter when it happens.

SPEAKER_07 21:22

Step one. Yeah. Acknowledge something's wrong. And how were your parents growing up?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Fun. I don't know. I think they're pretty good parents. I also grew up Catholic. I got confirmed. I chose you choose a confirmation name. I chose Matthew. That was Matthew, that's my name's already Matthew.

SPEAKER_07 21:41

Matthew Matthews. Were you really? Were you really at the time?

SPEAKER_01 21:45

I remember my grandma was like, hmm.

SPEAKER_07 21:47

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

So that was like a little bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:51

Um it like do most people just pick like a different saint? Because you're already a saint, right? So you but you were just Like screw it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

What's a what's a cool saint that you really want to study? And I'm just like, uh and that's not illegal. It's not against the rules. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:09

Yeah. I have a favorite saint.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Do you?

SPEAKER_06 22:11

Mm-hmm. Joan of Arc. Cool. Oh. Yeah. I love Joan of Arc. I'm not even Catholic. Love Joan of Arc. Yeah. I like the Witchy Saints. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 22:21

I sure was a Genevieve. She she was the saint of Did she get martyred too? I don't know. I can't remember. Maybe. But she was the saint of thunderstorms. I know that. Oh shadow wings.

SPEAKER_06 22:39

That peak. Yeah, peak teenager. What did St. Matthew do? Taxing stuff.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

The most important part was the thing. Yeah. But my my parents were great. They were very organized. I was the oldest of four. Three sisters behind me. Two have the my parents were organized enough. Two have the same birthday. Two years apart. So you just think about that for that. But yeah, I was I was supposed to grow up and be a very successful uh young uh conservative tycoon of some kind. And I went to art school. And I think I mentioned them doing a stand-up.

SPEAKER_06 23:16

You're clearly the tycoon they were hoping for.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Different different preaching the gospel to this day. Yeah, I actually went harder with religion. I mean we can yeah. I went from Catholicism, which I thought was very boring, to the the girls all went to young life, which was like a high school evangelical thing. And I asked my parents if I could do that instead, you know, sing songs, play guitar, whatever Jesus' hands.

SPEAKER_06 23:37

Young life is like it's like there's drums in the church at Young Life.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Very cool. Yeah, guitars and the church and also girls. I don't know if I mentioned that. And I said, hey, can I go to this instead? And they were so Catholic, their answer was, well, as long as you're going somewhere every week. And so I got in really deep until college when I realized, wait a minute, I'm getting weirder. And I just kind of pivoted again.

SPEAKER_05 24:04

Sounds like there's a lot of rules going on here, a lot of restrictions I'm putting on myself.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

I'll spend my Friday nights in a basement leading worship music, and that's weird. And it turns out those kids are having fun. Yeah. I was late to you know pick up on it, but I got there.

SPEAKER_06 24:26

Yeah, I know. It's I mean, I think our parents, I always say our parents do the best they can. And at the end of the day, it makes us who we are, right? Like all those building blocks. Um I feel I don't even want to ask you about your parents.

SPEAKER_05 24:45

I'll just exit.

SPEAKER_04 24:50

I was gonna be like, say just tell me about your parents.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

I mine are dead.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

It's not funny.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Actually, it's so funny. That's like I loved it's either like people are horrified or they find it really funny. Um gotten both.

SPEAKER_06 25:09

I'm trying to figure out this next one. I feel like we talked a lot about religion, but alcohol versus oh you were saying people have either alcoholic parents or religious parents.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

This week, like this weekend. Um Tyler Jones. Tyler Jones. Super funny. Yeah, it was so funny. It was like, I feel like you've either had alcoholic parents or religion, and everyone, like everyone laughed, and I could hear people like talking amongst themselves, being like alcohol religion, alcohol religion, and it was just so funny. Like, we my parents were like raging alcoholics, and I never heard like truly never heard anything about religion. Like, I didn't even know what a like we grew up on a very tiny island, it was like 10,000 people, and it was so hippie. Like, there was I truly didn't know a single person that went to church. So when I hear people be like, Oh, I grew up this, I'm like, how the fuck are you that now?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Like it's so did you ever like sleep over at some kid's house and then end up going getting roped into a service? Really?

SPEAKER_06 26:00

Oh, my mom took every that was the deal. If you stayed the night at our house on Saturday, you had to come with our family to church on Sunday. It was the day, it was a it was a built-in rule for my lots of people got roped into Baptist church for that.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

I I went to Easter service once because my brother's baseball coach was a pastor.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Oh Easter's a long one. I got my ex said that we were going to brunch and we went to like a three-hour mass, and it was Easter because April 1st fell on Easter, and the family, the family I nannyed for was there, and they were like, You're gonna you're here, and I'm like, not don't get excited. You're like, This is a terrible April Fool's joke. Yeah, I think we need to leave and be like, I think I'm gonna have waffles and then I'm like, where is this new restaurant? And then, like, as soon as we walked in, it's huge.

SPEAKER_04 26:54

I was like, my gone.

SPEAKER_06 26:58

It's a potluck, you just have to wait three hours. A little bit of wine. Yeah. A thimble.

SPEAKER_04 27:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:08

Oh, when I was a kid, I loved communion wine. Oh. Like it was an exciting thing. I love taking communion. Yeah. Like the bread and the wine. It felt like charcuterie.

SPEAKER_07 27:22

All this needs a little pepperoni, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Can I ask you a personal question? Did you take it yourself or did you do the eh thing?

SPEAKER_06 27:30

So, Baptist, we pass around a plate. And then everybody sticks their grubby little hands in the same plate and pulls up. Whatever I got, you got.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

We all share germ seats.

SPEAKER_06 27:43

I know. There was a part like during the pandemic when they're like, churches should be allowed to operate. I was like, with the bowls of water at the front that we all stick our hands in and the bread that we all grab. I was like, I don't know, maybe some adjustments are okay. That's not two happy birthdays I'm hearing up there. So you guys are all improv performers as well as stand-ups. And I thought we could talk a little bit what are some of the differences between improv performing and stand-up.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Well, I feel like improv, there's no like it's hard to practice.

SPEAKER_06 28:22

Like well, what's the basic definition for people that like might be listening to this podcast and have never seen an improv show? What how would you define that versus a stand-up show?

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Oh, I can take an improv show is you are working with a team. There's never a one-person improv show. I'm gonna so there's gonna be some person out there that has a one-person show.

SPEAKER_07 28:41

Actually, you're Edie Patterson just I'm so sorry. It's so cool. I just have to mention it because it's some cool called Playgirl, and she improvs the entire show, and it's a one-woman show. So anyway, she's on she's on tour right now.

SPEAKER_06 28:55

If it's just her, like what are she?

SPEAKER_07 28:59

Right. I think maybe she's getting like suggestions from the audience, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:05

I believe so.

SPEAKER_07 29:05

I haven't seen it, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

So that's you can pick it up from the clues, but you usually you have more than one person. Usually it's still improv, I guess.

SPEAKER_07 29:12

It's a pioneering idea to do it by yourself. It's not the norm, it's an exception.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Normally you have a team of people that you you've practiced and you kind of have a language that you develop together, you get a suggestion from the audience and you build something around that, whether it's long form, which is usually like you maybe you're following a loose structure and you're trying to build something over time, or short form, which is just games. Like you're you have really preset uh quicker things that you're doing, usually with a lot more structure. So that's improv. Stand-up then. Somebody else I'm gonna talk about them. Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 29:43

Stand-up stand-up is more of a solo expedition, uh kind of a spirit journey where you share everything uh that you have thought about yourself over I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

I mean, stand-up is obviously much more popular, and most people have seen a stand-up show, I think, especially on Netflix.

SPEAKER_06 30:06

I think improv is actually more places than people realize, though. You know, like curb your enthusiasm. Like, I don't think a lot of people realize.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

And like the office had a lot of like improving. Right. That's true, actually.

SPEAKER_07 30:20

Improv makes stand-up better, and improv makes uh screenwriting way better, right? Or just like acting.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Another great show with a lot of improv is Reno911. Right. They're just like playing, you can kind of tell more so than other shows.

SPEAKER_06 30:37

Have you guys watched the Christopher Guest documentaries? I'm guessing you have. No, or the mockumentaries, I should call them documentaries. It's oh like official, it's a mockumentary. Yeah, oh, they're so good. That is like my dream to produce something like that. It is so entertaining, and if you can get a group of like ten really great actors together who can all play the same game, it's it's rare.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

My favorite part about it that I didn't realize like hearing about improv before taking classes and starting to do it, is it's not people that are funny as much as it's people that are committing completely to what they're doing together. So, like somebody like in one of those documentaries might make it funny because they're committed so hard to a character that works for something that somebody else did. And I like how it I mean, it is a collaborative thing. It's not individual people being funny. Did I just say individual? It's not individual people. Individual people being funny around each other. It's like a collaborative argument.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

But it is still a skill. It's not just people going up and like saying random stuff. It's like hopefully there's the skill that you that needs practice ahead of time to be able to like to bounce off with your scene partners and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_06 31:53

I think improv is really great live, but it's really hard to translate on video. Because like those it's like people expect videos to be polished, and you're like, well, that's not what we're watching right now.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Part of the the like the magic of it is when you're in the audience and you know that there's no script and that there's no preparation for what's gonna happen. So you know everything that happens is just off the cuff.

SPEAKER_07 32:17

Yeah, and that can make it still fun when you're watching by definition, if you're watching it on a screen, it has even if even if it was filmed and at the moment, at the time it was filmed, it was all off the cuff. The fact that you are watching it post is I think your brain like does it just doesn't have the same magic.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

It's fun doing improv on stage too, because the the the thing that at least for me the whole time, and I hope this never changes, the audience is rooting for you. Yeah, they don't want to be up there making shit up.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Right, they want to see if you're gonna do it, and you don't know that they're a bit nervous they're a little bit worried that you're gonna make an idiot of yourself. Yeah, for sure. But then when you do make an idiot of yourself, it's funny usually. So then they get it.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Well, the audience is like more involved, I think, at like improv shows. Like, I feel like and that's really fun, like because they're suggesting stuff and they're kind of watching it like come to life, whereas stand-up, you're just stuck there.

SPEAKER_06 33:12

It's just a narcissistic practice, yeah. Like we're all just out there talking about ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

So like stand-up is so is so much harder for me because it's like sitting at home writing, trying to write some jokes and like wondering, is this gonna work when I say it on stage? It's like you never really know. You have to get up there and try it. Yeah, and that's like the real work of stand-up is going up and doing it and failing over and over until you know it.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

And if it sucks, you're just standing up there with a room full of people who are very much there just looking at you. Whereas with improv, you can make a bad move and some your teammate will see you and make something out of it, and you can keep going. You can blame others. That's right. You can blame other people.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

You can be saved. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Yes. I've walked off the improv stage being like, that was a great show, and I had no idea it was gonna happen. And then there's stand-up shows where I'm like, I had every word planned and it sucked.

SPEAKER_06 34:10

Yeah, I really liked having you guys are at uh what did we have you guys summerfest? I was so fucking worried about it. I was like, I don't know if this is gonna go over well.

SPEAKER_07 34:22

Well, we had a few technical difficulties as well.

SPEAKER_06 34:26

But I was like, I don't know if this is I don't know if anyone's gonna stand and watch. Like I was like, I don't know, we'll try it. If it doesn't work, we'll never do it again. And I was surprised it really went over well. Like people stayed, they stood, they watched, and um, we're doing it again at Paul Fest. So um, yeah. You know, I I think it's like it's one of those things where it's like stand-up wouldn't have done that. Yeah, no, nobody would have stood there and listened to a stand-up for 45 minutes. Probably not. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 34:52

I mean, so we've got the power of numbers, I suppose. You know, just there's a group of people on stage, just by itself seems more attractive if you're walking past.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Yeah. Um that was tougher because of the audio, like the sound. Just for us on stage that that generator was going, we couldn't hear anything. It was like, I hope, I hope people are enjoying this.

SPEAKER_06 35:16

They kind of seem like they are they seem to be clapping when they're supposed to clap and laughing when they're supposed to laugh, I think. I know I feel that way whenever I'm doing, like, if I'm doing an event for, you know, like if it's like a 4,000-person event, you know, it's like big where they're just like, go up on stage and talk. I it feels like you're just yelling into a void that you're like, hello, and I'm here.

SPEAKER_07 35:36

Sometimes I do appreciate. Do you like not being able to see the audience? You know, because sometimes I appreciate that the lights are so bright.

SPEAKER_06 35:44

Yeah, so I we'll notice when I do my stand-up, I'll take my glasses off. And that's usually when I'm like, okay, none of you matter anymore. I've done my crowd work and let's move on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 35:57

I don't need to see.

SPEAKER_06 35:59

I don't need to see your like if you don't like it, I don't need to know.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

I like the when the lights are like you can just see two people in the front row. As long as you're laughing, this is a great show.

SPEAKER_07 36:11

And if they're in the front rows, highly more likely that like they're engaged. Yeah, or they might don't laugh. So either way, a good thing. Yeah, that's fine. I'll take a pity laughing. I wanted to say like something that is really similar between improv and stand-up is I think like at both of them at their best are exercise in truth telling. You know? And um, yeah, does that feel accurate?

SPEAKER_06 36:35

Yeah, so I I think that's comedy in general, right? Like, that's what's what what do they say about like comedy, but it's like comedy equals like tragedy plus time. Like, it's like, yeah, which is so true. A lot of the stuff that I joke about is like my trauma from my 20s, and I'm like, it's really funny now. 20 years later, it was not. That divorce was really painful, but now it's still funny.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

Do you guys get more nervous for stand-up or for improv? Or is it like the same, just I think stand-up.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

No, like that summer fest show. I remember completely like I knew the odds were against us, so I was just like, Right. Like, fuck it. It's gonna it's gonna go how it goes.

SPEAKER_07 37:16

It was kind of liberating, but it had been some sound issues happening.

SPEAKER_02 37:19

I know, and I'm just like I know I'm better at improv than I am at stand-up because like I get more laughs, I guess that's the only way to know.

SPEAKER_07 37:27

We've been doing improved.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

I've been doing it longer and more practice at it, and yeah, like with stand-up, it still depends on each joke. It's whether this joke is good or not, and it's hard to write good jokes.

SPEAKER_06 37:37

So at least that other people haven't written. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

So going up on stage, stand-up with new material, I get very nervous because I'm like, I'm putting this out there. I sat in my house and thought it was funny and laughed about it.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Will they? Yeah, I get nervous for one or the other. It's what the state of mind I'm in. Like if I've had one of those days where everything that comes out of my mouth is a fart, like I can't think of things, and like my brain feels like it's operating at a third capacity. I'm really nervous to do improv. Because I feel like I'm gonna miss everything and not understand what's going on. And for stand-up, if I haven't way over prepared five minutes for like a month, then I think fuck. Like I can't go up there and just I've never done that though.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

I don't have the That's the only way I know. That's the only way I forgot about it. You've never done what? Like prepared that much. Or sit and write it and go.

SPEAKER_06 38:32

Do you just write a list of things and then go up?

SPEAKER_02 38:36

Like, I this is like three words, but I know how it's I'm a bullet pointer as well.

SPEAKER_06 38:41

I don't write out every word.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

But he's like that's what the cool kids do. He like records himself and watches it back and like makes sure it's like hits the time mark, and like I've never done that. It's it's too much it feels like too much work for me.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

I feel I just I feel more confident and calm when I do that. Yeah. If I just go up and I don't know what I'm gonna say, or worse, I'm repeating a set and I don't know what it is I want to make better about it. I just feel like I should apologize to each person first before I start.

SPEAKER_07 39:08

Which by the way, we do recognize is not actually a problem. Like it's okay for anybody out there trying to do say like it's okay to repeat a set. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's good things. Many people everybody has to do it.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Everybody does it. Yeah, I've heard so many jokes on it. You must. Like, I don't care when somebody else does, but when you're gonna do it, when I do it, yeah. It's just a slime ball.

SPEAKER_06 39:28

Right. Yeah, me too. I pretend like the people that saw me at the venue last time are the same people at the venue this time, which just is never the case. Like, it's like other than the stand-up comedians in the room, our audiences do we're in a town of 130,000 people. Like the 17 people in the room are changing out. I mean, just kidding, we have huge audiences. 2,000 people in the room.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Mind up the door, round the corner. When I did my first stadium, yeah, yeah, yeah. The last stadium, I did.

SPEAKER_06 40:01

Uh yeah, but that brings us to our guest this week, Meredith Dietz. She is a comedian that is based in New York City. She's a stand-up, but she's also an improviser as well as a writer. And I really enjoyed my conversation with her, which you guys get to listen to now.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Um running around today. So my energy might be a little crazy, but otherwise, I'm ready to roll.

SPEAKER_06 40:22

That's fantastic. I'll take crazy energy. That's great. I love it. Well, welcome to the podcast. Meredith, if you can introduce yourself for people that might not be familiar with you and your work.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Well, thank you for having me, Juliet. My name is Meredith. I'm a New York, specifically Brooklyn-based stand-up and writer. And you know what? I improvise here. Improv. I've been I've been doing a lot of improv and it's been a really good time.

SPEAKER_06 40:45

That did you do a particular improv school, or are you self-taught at improv?

SPEAKER_00 40:50

That's a uh political question you've asked right off the bat. You said you said this wasn't hard-hitting. I think self-taught would be generous, uh, but I did not no, I'm not classically trained at like UCB or here in Brooklyn there's the Brooklyn Comedy Collective, which is a lot of fun. It's sort of like BCC, but for like hippies.

SPEAKER_06 41:09

I like it.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

And but I'm on a I'm on an indie team, I guess is what you would call it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:13

That's fun. So you have like a group of people you get together with and do shows together. That's fantastic. I love that. And what do you like about working in New York City? Why do you choose to make New York or Brooklyn rather your base?

SPEAKER_00 41:26

I'm from Pennsylvania originally. And I I think I chose New York before I chose comedy, which is interesting. I think I was just drawn to the idea of living in the big city like anyone who comes from the suburbs or rural Pennsylvania and wants to go to New York. But now that I do comedy here, I can't imagine ever leaving. It's just it's the it's the comedy mecca. It's where the best people are. And I love traveling all over, but I think there's a reason most comics move to New York.

SPEAKER_06 41:55

Yeah, the city kind of fuels them a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

I think so. I also think as someone who started here, there's it's just a boot camp for getting laughs as quickly as possible, which I think there are pros and cons. I would love to gas up New York without ever shitting on any other scene. Especially since I don't have the creds to, you know, talk down about like starting in a smaller city anywhere else. I guess yeah, I could say I could talk down about say Brooklyn or Bushwick is my small town and now I'm moving to Manhattan. Like that could be my equivalent of that. But it is, it's just, it's, it's there's a lot of pros and cons to of being, you know, like a small fish in a big pond. But I think if you want to get good at comedy, like New York is the place to do it.

SPEAKER_06 42:37

Yeah, absolutely. There's quite a few other New York comedians on the festival that you're coming to town for, which is, I think, great for Oregon. We're a very West Coast resort town, so it's fun to have some New York City energy.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

I love it. And I also love when New York comics think they're the best and go to another town and get humbled. Don't get me wrong. I also think that is so important.

SPEAKER_06 43:00

Yeah. Well, I think, you know, obviously, once you start touring audiences and being able to entertain audiences in different parts of the country is a skill. Like on top of joke writing, right? Like it's easy to write for an audience that you know how they're gonna react, but to write for an audience where you don't necessarily know their leanings, it's a completely different ballpark. So that's what I like about touring, is I like the audience changes, which really tests your writing.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

And it tests your vibe, which I wish, I wish stand-up was more about writing. But some stand-up is just about if the person in the audience connects with you, the person on stage. It would be, I think I would be a lot better at stand up if it was strictly writing.

SPEAKER_06 43:43

Yeah, but that's because you have a background in writing. I always dig around on people's social media. You went to a very impressive college and graduated like four point oh with writing. Yeah, like northwestern writing.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

You really dug up or not northwestern. Do we think it's Northwestern? Because it is not. It is the less prestigious. It's Northeastern.

SPEAKER_06 44:04

Northeastern, still very good school. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

But I'll take the Northwestern credit. I mean, whatever. Say this. Say I went to Harvard. I don't get a hoop.

SPEAKER_06 44:12

Yeah, right. No.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

What did I do with it?

SPEAKER_06 44:14

You have a background in writing, and I saw a really interesting, like, title that I've never seen on anybody's page, which was Published Headlines. Did you have a job like just writing catchy headlines?

SPEAKER_00 44:25

That's a great question. My published headlines page. Well, it's funny because my day job is a writer for an online magazine. So in many ways, yes. But also publish heads there means I was a contributor for the onion and reductress. So that is my catalog or portfolio to say, like, hey, I've consistently contributed. And headlines means jokes, right? Yeah. Like an onion headline is the nunline is where the joke is. Which actually is one of the first pieces of advice I give to people who are trying to contribute is don't bury the lead and expect the joke to like reveal itself over time. You get the same advice in like sketchwriting and stuff. It's like don't hide your joke from the audience. Honestly, I think that applies to stand-up too. Like you want you want to do mysteries and all that kind of thing, but you also like sometimes I'm like, bring the thesis out. Like let people know the funny point you're trying to make.

SPEAKER_06 45:15

Yeah. Let them know what you're exploring for sure. Yeah. So that's really cool. Your day job is writing for, is it an independent ally you write for?

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Or it's called Life Hacker. It is under, it's like uh alongside things like PC Mag and Mashable, if that means anything. CNET.

unknown 45:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

It's a day job.

SPEAKER_06 45:35

Yeah. No, absolutely. We're connected with a company called The Source, which is like a local digital daily. So they used to be a weekly independent, and as the world has evolved, they are now a digital daily with a podcast network. So we all we're all just trying to keep our jobs.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

We're adapting. I think something that is a little bit hopeful if you're really like forcing yourself to see a silver lining is with AI overviews taking over Google searches. My work is prioritizing like first person stories to be like something that AI can't just steal a yes or no answer from. But in a way, it feels like a reinvention of uh BuzzFeed style things of like I tried this thing so you don't have to type journalism.

SPEAKER_06 46:18

Yeah, I I was talking to somebody about that the other day. I was like, it's such an interesting thing to Google yourself these days. I don't know if you've ever done that. I'm doing it right now. Is that important? But if you Google yourself, what comes up is an AI paragraph about you. Not uh real and some of it's not, and like it'll be like pulled from like you know, different sources like IMDB or Wikipedia or like whatever. And it's the it's the oddest, it's the oddest thing how you get the AI, what AI thinks you want to know before you get the actual information these days.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Absolutely, and I hope I hope it goes away, but I've no hope that it will.

SPEAKER_06 46:55

Yeah, I it seems my sister's younger than me, she's like 20 years younger than me. She's nice. Really? Yeah, she's adopted from the foster care system, which is why there's a big age gap. But she uses she trusts AI implicitly.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

No way. I honestly haven't talked to anyone in that age group in a sense. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 47:16

She's like, she'll be like, well, AI says it's open. And I'm like, well, we're standing right in front of the business and it isn't. So I who do you want to trust?

SPEAKER_00 47:23

Wow. Was how were you frustrated in that moment? How did you what was your tone? Were you like honey?

SPEAKER_06 47:31

Well, I feel like as a society, she's a COVID-era kid. She was in high school during COVID. I feel like we really let those kids down.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

I couldn't agree more.

SPEAKER_06 47:41

Yeah, it's we we just kind of were like, stay inside, don't talk to anybody, don't do anything, you know.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Absolutely. And then meanwhile, they were socializing themselves through like TikToks. And so it's just like I already think of how heightened your emotions are when you were a teenager, how potent everything feels. If I had had access to a TikTok like interface at that time, I was already like so online on Tumblr and YouTube and such. I can't em and and to me TikTok is a whole different drug. It's like it the it's TikTok is like laced with fentanyl compared to everything else. And I'm like, test it. Well, literally, I've that's not the coke that my parents did.

SPEAKER_06 48:22

No, no, and I I'm such a I like you know, older millennial in the sense that I'm like I try to I I try not to consume, I try to one-way post, they don't comment. Like, I'm the least satisfying person to engage with online ever.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

Because there's no one's no one's forming a parasocial relationship with you.

SPEAKER_06 48:44

Exactly. Like it's like I want that. I like shove all this stuff on the internet, but I'm like, really, we're I I'm never gonna check the comments.

SPEAKER_00 48:51

Were you ever were did you ever comment on other people's content before you did we're making your own? No, no, isn't that so interesting? I'm always thinking about who's commenting, like who doesn't have the they only want to do the social part of this, like the anonymous commenting, which is not even social, or it is social because it if it's nice comments. But I'm like, I've never commented on anything, and then I just started creating stuff. So like how selfish am I? But also I cannot imagine being someone who only ever who'd comments constantly. I'm like, because you've never posted, you have no concept that that's a real person you're talking to.

SPEAKER_06 49:24

Oh, exactly. It's I different platforms are have different levels. YouTube seems to be the worst for me. Wait, you know, I'm a big fan of that block. Filter words, delete, yes. Do you have a brick? Yeah, exactly. Like this is my space.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 49:42

What's brick?

SPEAKER_00 49:43

We just invented my space. I have a brick, it's like a physical little magnetic guy, and it puts screen time limits on all your apps. Oh, that's fun. I have my uh words with friends against my mom up. It's not letting me play the word dolph. Damn. Dolph. Is that a word? No, apparently not. You know, you gotta try things. The language is fluid.

SPEAKER_06 50:04

You never know. They're adding new words all the time. Exactly. All the time. For people that might not have dug into your comedy before, what kind of themes can people expect to hear when they come to your show?

SPEAKER_00 50:16

Hmm. I think you're catching me at a time where I've been thinking a lot about that myself. I think there are some people who may have seen sets of mine and think that I am just doing like frenetic, absurd stream of consciousness sex jokes, which is not how I see myself, but I think there are people who probably caught sets like that. I kind of themes. I think sometimes people call my comedy dark, but I don't consider it particularly dark or edgy. Like I think I have explored dark concepts, but never want to make those the punchlines. I think I've talked about this before, where I like for instance, like death and abortion, and which I guess is kind of a death, whatever. And like all these things, yeah. These things uh and a lot of like weird sex stuff might be the premise for things, but it's never like an edgy punchline or anything that I want to make anybody uncomfortable. It's just something I might want to explore. I feel like I'm being like a politician in my answers.

SPEAKER_06 51:08

No, you're good. You're good. You're leaving stuff to mystery. People will have to watch it, figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 51:13

I'm thinking like I'm like, I could open my joke book and I'm like, I do think that the my most recent set list would have said doggy style, invisible ink, 9-11, Elon Musk, abortion. I think that was my most recent set list. So maybe a little dark, maybe just a little dark, but that's the thing. I guess I just maybe I don't know about you, but doing comedy, it feels like desensitized to it. I guess my subject matter is dark. But I just, it's not dark to me. I'm not doing like Jesslinick style things. Like I just see myself, I don't I wonder if it would be dark if a man was saying it, you know, not to do that hack line, but I do feel that way.

SPEAKER_06 51:48

But I was gonna say, it's because you're pleasant that you're dark stuff. Yeah, you're very pleasant. Like watching you on stage, you're pleasant, you're you're engaging, and it so like you can skip away with saying dark things.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

And I will also say I yeah, I do think I strike a tone of like, am I wrong? Am I crazy? I don't even believe myself. Like a very questioning tone in a lot of things I'm saying, like hear me out, I think is a tone of a lot of my jokes, as opposed to any sort of mic drop or like, bet you weren't expecting me to say that. Like, I I really want my tone to be like, well, the big conceit of stand-up is that you're having the conversation for the first time with the audience, right? So I think in order to do that, especially with dark material, is you have to be very present and see how people are reacting to what you're saying and not like I think when you if you have like a kind of dark joke, sticking to your script and is stick to your script in your words, but like adapt your vibe to what the audience is feeling. Like if I can like if if everyone is getting very tense about something, like I think I would acknowledge that, but that doesn't mean abandoning the joke at all. Especially in rooms where maybe those people that you're performing for are not your uh target audience or think that they don't want to hear anything you have to say. I do feel that I've won over a lot of rooms that are not my traditional little Brooklyn queers. I had a sh oh I had the most joyful show of my life last week. My god. I was so funny. Thank you. But that's okay, even your reaction right there.

SPEAKER_05 53:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

It's a level of sympathy and empathy, because we both went through it, that uh I think other comics didn't extend because the girls were being annoying, but never not nearly as annoying as I was at that age. It was the most game-nosed game. I also just like that age I think I always have with like babysitting, where it's like you talk to them and you're like, you want to be taken seriously, I'm gonna take you seriously. But like that doesn't, I'm not gonna entertain you trying to get an attention every other line. Like, I'm gonna take you seriously the way I would take another adult. So that means we're gonna take turns in this conversation, right? Like doing that kind of like little power things of like, I'm not gonna act like it's weird that I'm talking about my sex ed class in middle school to middle schoolers, because I think you guys are in one, right? Let's talk about it. Like it was really I don't want to sound like I was doing something like playing chess, but like I think that I also went last on that lineup and the other comics did great, but they also all had the exact same approach of like shut the fuck up, what which the girls were laughing at, and saying, like, wow, look at my career. Like, I'm I'm performing in front of 12 year olds in a pizza shop, like this sucks. Like making the girls symbolic of failing. And then I kind of went in and I was like, I love this. Do you guys want to do comedy? Let's talk. Like, I don't know. I I and it really I was arm wrestling them afterwards. They were cheating like mad.

SPEAKER_06 54:30

Whose parents booked this for a birthday party? Like, it's so funny that you jumped.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

It was not supposed to be a birthday party, it ended up feeling like one. It was just a weekly show in a pizza shop. It was super fun. It was so great. Shout out if anyone's in Brooklyn. It's a weekly, I think it's called Jabberjaw Comedy, Apologies. Definitely go check it out. I love the guys who run it. It's super funny. Girls, because it's like an ambush show, which if any listeners don't know, that just means it's a show where, like, oh, if you thought you were just having a coffee and now there's comedy at the bar, that's an ambush show. You didn't buy tickets, but you're the audience now. So it was an ambush show, and I guess they were there the first week and they freaking loved it. And you know, when you're 11 and you see like a 30-year-old guy and you're like, he's obsessed with me, he loves me. Like, it was just kind of that vibe, and then they came back the next week, and you know, it's parents sitting at separate tables, don't talk to the parents. Like it I just remember that age so like I've you're just a raw nerve, everything at that age, and you want to be an adult. So I did that, and I felt really healed. It was I didn't do that well with that age group when I was in that age group. So definitely a big old W for tween meredith, I think.

SPEAKER_06 55:38

Oh, I love that. Healing old wounds. Yes, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Yes. 12-year-old girls like me now.

SPEAKER_06 55:45

Yeah, I'm so cool to 12-year-olds. Finally. I'll take that. I mean, honestly, kids are way cooler than I am. So if you can impress the kids, like absolutely. So you're gonna be coming to Ben, which is kind of a long trip for you. Do you like to do fun touristy things when you travel? If so, I would love to give you some recommendations. What do you like to do?

SPEAKER_00 56:06

I would love recommendations. A big thing for me is I like to run long distances. I might not go that far, but running in a new place is my favorite thing. I did the Alaska Comedy Fest last year or two years ago. And the whole when I went on a run, like the only thought my through my brain was just like, this looks exactly like Alaska.

SPEAKER_06 56:26

Yeah. Where what city was that? Was it in Anchorage? Yeah. Uh what month did you go up?

SPEAKER_00 56:32

April.

SPEAKER_06 56:33

That's an interesting month. Was the how was the weather?

SPEAKER_00 56:37

Not that bad at all. Wasn't pretty miles.

SPEAKER_06 56:41

That's good. That's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

But I would love recommendations for Bend. Oh, you go ahead.

SPEAKER_06 56:45

Bend is amazing. Bend is great. If you like, are you a trail runner or just like a road runner?

SPEAKER_00 56:51

I would I'm I am a roadrun, but the opportunity to do trail running. I don't I don't care if I have to go off my plan or something like that. I'm I'd rather have a cool experience.

SPEAKER_06 57:00

Yeah. So if the highway is still open when you guys are here, we have this Cascade Lake Highway where you can like run around high-altitude lakes.

SPEAKER_00 57:11

I'm gonna be so humbled immediately, but I would love to try.

SPEAKER_06 57:15

Yes. It feels like you're in the Alps. We also have just amazing trails all over Bend. It's an outdoor person's paradise. Also, two blocks from the theater that you guys are performing in, there's a trail right along the river, super flat, not trailing off.

SPEAKER_00 57:31

River run. Water is my every that's what I really like. I really that's okay. This is amazing. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm also I'm flying into Portland on either side of the fest and gonna drive. And I think I get to drive by myself one way, and then I'm bringing a friend back the other. So I'm I'm very excited just for uh that drive.

SPEAKER_06 57:49

Yeah. You're gonna pass like Mount Hood. It's it's gorgeous. I I've lived all over America. I've spent a little time, very little time in New York at 34th and 8th. Crazy spot.

SPEAKER_00 58:01

You're kidding me.

SPEAKER_06 58:01

I know. I my room was about the size of my closet now.

SPEAKER_00 58:06

It was great. I I I really do forget that people live there.

SPEAKER_06 58:11

Yes. It's it's it was it was like I did when I was like 18, 19. Hilarious. But then I've lived in LA and Vegas, and then I have to say, you don't give up any of the good food, drink, entertainment, but you give up all the bad, like toxic people and smog and like horn noise, you know?

SPEAKER_00 58:34

Right. Yeah. I I every time or I've been to the Pacific Northwest one other time, and it was very I was like, well, this is where everyone wants to end up, right? Like this is the best place in the world. And I come from I love, love, love rural Pennsylvania. I love rolling hills, but like pine trees, nothing compares to that. Like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 58:54

Well, your whole nervous system will get a reset.

SPEAKER_00 58:57

I can't wait.

SPEAKER_06 58:58

Yeah. And if people want to catch up with your comedy and you before you come to town, where's the best place to find you online?

SPEAKER_00 59:04

I am posting dates and such on on Instagram at deetsdietz.m. I'm also on TikTok here and there, but Instagram seems to be I don't know if you've like we were talking about before, it's like Instagram's like the LinkedIn for us, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 59:19

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:20

Instagram's my email, Instagram it sucks. But that is where to find me.

unknown 59:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 59:25

Perfect. Is there anything else you want to share with the podcast audience before you leave today?

SPEAKER_00 59:29

Come to the shows, talk to me. I don't want to have to do my written material. I want to talk with you and get an amazing clip out of it.

SPEAKER_06 59:36

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Meredith. Oh wow, look at you guys clapping like an impromptu.

SPEAKER_03 59:43

Watching me. I don't know. Someone started. We didn't still admire.

SPEAKER_04 59:49

We got through it.

SPEAKER_06 59:50

That was Meredith Seats. She's gonna be coming to town. So check out her socials for where you can see her. We have some other shows coming to bend this week. Um, so there's a show, Dork Side of the Moon. It's gonna be August 8th at Kraft. I think it's like a science comedy show. Love that. I don't know much about science.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

Do we know anybody involved?

SPEAKER_06 1:00:18

Uh so I did a bad job researching this show. I don't know who the local guests are. I think it's an out-of-town comedian that's coming, and this is their like STEM comedy show. So check that out. Um at craft tickets are at Ben Ticket. And the next stop comedy is gonna be at Bridge 99 on August 7th. Their tickets are at Eventbrite. Is there anybody else having shows that you can think of?

SPEAKER_07 1:00:45

No shows, but uh open mics at Worthy um this Thursday, August 6th, and uh beginning October should be weekly.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:54

I love the way you got the date right. We're recording this week, early. I love the way you got the date right on So Thursday says the word day, Mike. Mondays is at Silver Moon, and then Wednesdays is at craft if you want to get up and uh become an amazing stand-up like all of us.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:11

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:14

Bunch of 10. And then you're ready for your Netflix special. Yes. We all start recording next week. You can do that at one of the amazing open mics in town. Um no, Michelle, if people want to find you and connect with you, where's the best place to do that?

SPEAKER_07 1:01:29

Uh you can find me on Jane Doe Comedy Show on Instagram, as well as I've just started a personal page for myself, which is just my name, Michelle Sicio. Uh, but there is nothing on there.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:41

Are are you so annoyed you have to have so many pages?

SPEAKER_07 1:01:44

By so many me too. Yes. I'm I'm annoyed that I have to have any. Yeah. But yeah, so I'm I'm getting over it. I'm I'm working on on being into it. You're gonna get star in no time. We're working on it. We're working on it. Or it could be a really long time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:02

All right, Tess, and where can people find you?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:05

I also have two Instagrams, which is annoying, but um one is just my kid, and that's just Tess Emily23. And then the other one that I actually post quality is laughing at tests.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:14

So maybe like follow laughing at tests.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

Don't mean yeah, it's also more private. Like, I the only reason I started it, well, the reason I started it was because like laughing at test because I was like, I don't want to post public stuff with like my kids.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:28

Yeah, well, yeah, you're you're telling jokes about your child and then posting photos of your child. It's just a it's a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:34

Or I'm like, oh, I miss my parents, but then I get on stage and I'm like, fuck these people.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:42

It's just different, like, yeah, exactly. Like, I'm did you have her parts of my personality? Different Instagram pages. I understand. And where can people connect with you?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

Great question. Mastine.com. I have a normal old weird website. You can find me on Mastodon if you can figure out what it is. Uh and you can find me at Safeway sometimes, Fred Meyer.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:04

There's I have his address.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:06

Yeah. Yes. I list out the things that I have on there.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:12

After 10 p.m.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:13

You can find me next at can I talk about the roundabout show? The next roundabout show is August 14th at Spoons and Sisters. It's tiny. The stage is about the size of the table in front of us.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:25

I live near Spoons.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:27

We're gonna be there August 14th, and all proceeds go to uh firefighters.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:31

Yeah, which we love right now because we are in wildfire season and we love our firefighters. Thank God they're willing to do something I would never do. Oh never. And we're gonna be able to connect with you, Dylan.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:45

I actually have three inches. Yeah, I've got my main one that's called Dylan Tortug, and that's where I post some comedy, some weird stuff, whatever I'd think. I also run our Tugboat improv page. So if you want to connect with Tugboat, I think it's Tudboat underscore improv.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:06

So if you're looking for improv for your uh barbecue or something, we are the only independent long form improv trooping then.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:16

Yeah, if you get enough qualifiers, you can be the only, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:23

The only one. And my third one is a sort of a passion project I'm working on, also comedy-related. It's called Off Duty Dan, where I'm playing a character named Off Duty Dan.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:34

What is Off Duty Dan too?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:36

He's uh suspended chief deputy who just sort of gets up to all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:42

He's a real bit of fan of self camping.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:49

So people can check out Off Duty Dan.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:51

Yeah, there's only one video up there. Another one. Yeah, there's there's there's ones on the way. Totally.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:00

Fantastic.

unknown 1:05:02

Perfect.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:02

Um, and I'm Julia Reed Nichols. We're nighttime benders. Please follow us where you're following us. Like us where you like us. All that stuff really does help because we are a brand new podcast. We will be back next week with more of Central Oregon's favorite funny faces. Is there anything else you guys want to say before we leave? Say goodbye to everybody this week.

unknown 1:05:20

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:20

I know so much pressure.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:23

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:24

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:27

Can we just clap like we didn't? It's tugboat.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:32

Sexual salad.

unknown 1:05:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:34

Yeah. It's tugboat. It's we're tugboat. Yeah, tugboat. It's not sexual.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:41

Okay, we'll leave it on that. Now that's the sixth episode of Nighttime Vendors, everybody. Till next time. Bye. Don't win.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:49

Oh no, no. Don't win.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:51

It wasn't don't.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:53

It was exactly what I'd expect you to do.