July 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Rick talks with comedians Kalea McNeil and Laura Merli
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Rick Tittle.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Please join me for the Comedy All Stars Podcast powered
by the Eight Side Network. In each episode, you'll hear
from great comedians, from the biggest names to those just
breaking out. They'll talk about how they got started, what's
coming up next for them, and everything in between. Their specials,
their albums, their films, their TV roles. Get ready to
(00:23):
laugh and cry and hear it all. It's the Comedy
All Stars Podcast with Rick Tittle, powered by the Eighth
Side for Tilla with you nationally syndicated to San Francisco
and around the world on the American Forces Radio Network.
You know, we love the comedians and we're quite happy
to be joined by Khalia McNeil. She is going to
(00:44):
be at the garage at Helium there in Saint Louis tomorrow.
She has a show at eight o'clock and Saturday at
eight o'clock as well. Khalia, Welcome to the show. I'm
from Richmond. I'm from the East Bay. You're a Bay
kid too, right. Where are you from?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah? Actually, that's what I was gonna say. Was I
didn't even realize that until I called in. Yeah, I'm
a I was born in Vallejo, raised in Fairfield. Yeah,
I'm a seven oh seven girl.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So did you ever go to Travis and steal a plane?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I never stole a plane, but I definitely went to
the d X and got everything that I could tax free.
That's for damn sure, Yeah, for darm Shore. I don't know,
can I say damn?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
You can say Damnel.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I always feel like, you know, like I would just
like want to like just jump into one and just
take off, but that'd probably be a bad idea.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, you know, I mean I feel like we can
use all the help we can get, so you never know,
you know, But I mean I was I did drink
the kool aid though. I was one of the many
Fairfield kids that were in ROTC. So I was in
ROTC and if you had asked seventeen year o'kalia what
she would be doing right now, I would have been
(01:54):
the best dog gone Air Force soldier on the planet.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
My brother actually got me buried at that Fairfield Courthouse
on the front lawn, and I remember we were drinking
on the front lawn and they're like, is this okay?
And I'm like, it's Fairfield, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's fine, it's completely all right. That's what I always
tell people, like, I'm from the old Fairfield where you know,
not too much happened. We used to lie and say
we were from Vallejo to be cool. And that was
before meth made its way into Fairfield. Now you can
pretty much Fairfield and Stockton are pretty much neck and neck.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, like, how much do you take in the Scandia
Fun Center and the Jelly Belly Factory.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I mean, first of all, if if anybody's listening from
back in the day, you know, scandy yuh wrapped up
into one. Oh yeah, oh, I love and I have
been on every Jellybelly Factory field trip and every Anahi.
You don't you don't realize that you kind of grew
up in a country California. I call it until you
(02:58):
until you're in the third grade at a field tree
at the Anheuser Bush Factory, and then you know, then you.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Know, did you know across the freeway from the Budweiser
refinery is a guy who collects tanks and stuff. There's
like a whole bunch of military vehicles and it's like
a museum, but you can't see it from the freeway.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Huh. No, I didn't because they're so camouflaged.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I see what you did there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Right, And how about those Vacaville people thinking they're better
than you?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
What's that all about?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You know? For a town that smells like how the
moment it hits seventy five degrees, I think Vacaville can
take several seats and chill out. Now. They do have
one really good restaurant out there, Vasquez DELI loved me
for Vasquad and I mean you can't. Can you get
enough premium outlets?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But other than that, right, And I as a little kid,
the Nut Tree had rides. Now it just has like
an amities.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, yeah, no, there was a train, there was the
Nut Tree was you know again, we grew up in
the golden times of the Bay Area and surrounding surrounding cities.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, dropped? Have I dropped enough local references yet?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Hold on? We need at least one more nations Hamburgers.
Yeah we're good now, No, we're good?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
All right, sounds good now. I know you went to
Clark Atlanta, which is one of the oldest HBCU colleges
out there, and I I was just looking at the
campus and it's beautiful, looks like some Ivy League school
in New England, and yet right behind it you got
downtown Atlanta. That must have been kind of a cool
dichotomy there.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was. It was. It was very interesting too because
at the time that I was at Clark Atlanta. So
what you have is you have three HBCUs that are
in that area. You have Clarke Attlanta University, you have
Spelman College, and you have Morehouse College and they kind
of they call themselves the Atlanta University Center. And what's
cool about going to school there is once you go
(04:56):
to one of those schools, if you want to, you
can cross register, you can go to the different schools
if you want to take a class just on another
campus and get a feel for it. So that was
really cool. The whord that dichotomy really sets in is
the fact that while I was at Clark Atlanta, the
neighborhood that surrounds those schools is not the best neighborhood.
And Clark Atlanta is an extremely open campus. So there
(05:18):
were yeah, there were definitely times where we're walking to
the gym, which is, you know, maybe about half a
mile off campus, and you're walking through the projects and
you know, eggs being thrown and things like that, So
that was always very interesting. But having the backdrop of
downtown Atlanta, while you know, dodging eggs is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, I mean, I think Morehouse gets the most pub Obviously,
Martin Luther King went there and Samuel L. Jackson and
I know Oprah said I'm putting a hundred kids through
more House.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
So would you guys like share libraries and things like that?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Actually, yeah, our main library, which is the Robert Woodroff Library,
is the library for all of the school Well, each
school has its own, but the Woodrow Library is the largest.
It housed on Clarkettland University's campus. And actually, let me
give you a fun little tidbit yet, Samuel Jackson did
graduate from Morehouse College. His wife graduated from Spelman College.
But both of them were members of the CU Players,
(06:17):
which was the Clarke Attland University Acts because neither of
those schools offered that. Remember I was telling you about
the cross registration, Uh, they got so sam Jackson did
get his his acting training from Clark Atlanta as well
as Spike Lee. Spike Lee is another really famous Moorhouse
alum who got his film training from a man named
(06:38):
doctor e doctor Eckolberg. You'll never forget that name at
Clarkland University. So yeah, there's a there's a lot of
a lot of kind of influential I guess you could
say black Hollywood that kind of made their way through
through our school in some way, shape or form. Clark
Atlanta has a very a very good mass media arts
(06:59):
program as well as a great theater program. I went
to the theater program, and.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So yeah, I noticed that I was looking at notable alumni,
which you should be on the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
List, and oh, it's coming, it's coming.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You know what's funny is that somebody I went to
Saint Mary's College out here in the East Bay and
they put me someone put me on the Wikipedia list
and then it was immediately erased. So I lasted a day.
I lasted a day on notable alumni, but didn't Mace
went there, right, one more time, Mace the Rapper.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So this is the thing is I've never I have
never gotten confirmation if Mace actually went to Park Atlanta.
I will say while I was there, he would be
on campus a lot. Now, this is the thing is
because Park Atlanta's campus was open, it was kind of
the hub for any type of entertainment stuff that would
come to town, you know, b ET awards, all that type
(07:54):
of stuff, so people would be on campus. But if like,
did he go here, like a lot of people say,
was a notable alumni of PARKLANDA Sierra with the Clark
Atlanta until like middle of her freshman year and that's
when she blew up. Fellos like is that an alumni
or did she just go here for a little bit?
Uh So we just I don't, I can't. I cannot
(08:17):
say that Mason Beckford is an alumna of Clark Atlanta University,
but he's been there.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I just think it's amazing that to go to a
school that started right at the end of the Civil
War and you've got so many important people and even
before the Civil Rights movement.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'm just looking here Henry O.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Flipper, the first graduate black graduate of West Point, former slave,
you know, the first African American woman to graduate from
University of Georgia, Mary Francis Early. I mean, there's history
all around you. I love history like that.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Oh yeah, yeah, no, it's a good time. I mean,
w e B the boys taught at Atlanta University because
see the thing is Clark Atlanta has a very unique background,
of which it is one of the oldest as well
as the youngest HBCU. And what we mean by that
is so Clark Atlanta was formed by two schools. There
was Clark College and Atlanta University. Clark College was formed
(09:10):
in eighteen sixty nine, at Lanta University in eighteen sixty five,
and then they consolidated in nineteen eighty eight to form
Clark Atlanta University. So that's why we get the kind
of the oldest but the youngest kind of back and
forth because of our consolidation date.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
See.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I love the fact that you know that because that
means you're not only paying attention, you're a proud alum.
I had a guy I used to work with who
went to Marist College, and I said, is maris to
Catholic school? And he went, yeah, I don't know, I
went you went there for you went there for four years?
He goes, I think so, but maybe not. By the way,
(09:47):
I love that Atlanta University motto is I'll find a
way or make one.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Oh yeah, find a way or make one is something
that I think of every day, especially in this industry.
Sometimes you just got to make it happen, all right.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
So your career, comedy, acting, everything that you have done.
Was it the kind of thing where your friends say
you're really funny, you should try it, or you're like,
I'll find a way I make one.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It was definitely the former. I've always wanted to ask,
always wanted to be an actor, never really looked at
stand up as something that I wanted to do, but
just with my personality, people were always like, you should try,
you should try, you should try it. Finally, in twenty twelve,
I had just I graduated Clarkland in two thousand and nine,
(10:38):
and when I graduated, I started working for Royal Caribbean
Cruise Lines as a DJ, as a party host, just
one of those crazy people running around the ship. And
being on the ship, I would see a lot of
comics come in and out, you know, entertainment for a
couple of weeks and this and that, and I'm like, damn,
these people aren't even funny, and they're getting paid to
travel the world. What if I'm actually funny? And so
(10:58):
when I got back to Atlanta, I was like, I'll
give it a shot and did my first open mic
at a at a spot called the Laughing Skull Lounge.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Which is in Atlanta. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, And after that kind of backed off it for
a little bit, moved to la later that year and
started balancing the two between acting and comedy, and you know,
we finally got to a place where you know, they're
both doing what I need need them to do. But
definitely was not something that I saw myself doing, like
(11:31):
comedic acting, sure, but I never really saw myself doing
stand up.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's Kaleiam McNeil. Make sure to check her out at
Helium Saint Louis. Everyone in the area. Get your tickets
at Heliumcomedy dot com. She'll be at the garage at
Helium tomorrow at eight o'clock Saturday eight o'clock. And do
I shout out Army Hoe, Fairfield or Vandon.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
You can shout out Armio and you can shout out
Rodriguez High School.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, Rodriguez High School, Redtop Road. Baby.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Oh, I think I know too much. Now I should
shut up. I'm like stalking.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Oh that part kind of made me nervous. Looks over.
I'm like, you here, what are we going?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Are you here?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Kalia McNeil. Everybody, Hey, when you're in San Francisco. Come
by the studio. We'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You know what I will, I'm coming up that way.
I'm actually I'm gonna be in Sack in August, and
when usually when I do shows in stat in Sack,
I rest my head in Fairfield, so I can definitely
make my way up to San Francisco.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Okay, it's here, everyone, Stay calm. It's Cole's lowest prices
of the season. And when I say low, I mean low.
I got my kids jumping bean ceased for three ninety nine,
treated myself to some cute teas and tank tops under
five bucks, and got great fines for our patio fifty
percent off.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Let's say you're in colescats on.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
All of this sounds too good to be true. I
guess you'll have to go to Cole's and find out
for yourselves.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It's like Styles offers.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
In Nay fifteen sons, LUSSI by Sea.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Stool Ocles, I come for de kails. What seems to
be the problem?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Doctor? Thank god? My husband found out Cricket Wireless has
five G plans for fifteen dollars a month, and his
jaw just dropped.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Did you hear about crickets blazing fast five G. Yep,
huh what about their reliable nationwide coverage? Yes, that too,
I see. Unfortunately there's no cure, but you will have
really fast five G.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Get jaw droppingly fast five G for fifteen dollars a month.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Smile you're on cricket.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Cricket five G requires a compatible device and is not
available everywhere. Video maybe limited. Esty fees may apply. Term
thirtrictions apply subject to change the store for details.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
You're listening to the Comedy All Stars podcast with Rick Tittle,
powered by eight Side Network whatever works. Thank you for that,
Rick Tittle with you nashally syndicated out of San Francisco
and around the world on American Forces Radio Network. You know,
I love the comedians and so we're very happy to
bring in Laura Murley.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
She is going to be having her debut comedy special coming.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Out this Thursday. It's called Belly Slappin' Fun. Laura, Welcome
to the show, Belly Slappin' Fun. What were some of
the other names that got close.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
That's a good question. I thought about calling it passive
abraces because that's what I've been I've had as my
Instagram handle for a really long time, and that doesn't
actually mean anything. People are always like, oh is that
Does that mean that you're an unpleasant person to be around?
(14:26):
And so then I was like, oh, maybe I shouldn't
call it something that will make people think I'm unpleasant.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
So for you, you really have utilized social media, especially TikTok.
What was it about TikTok that you found? Oh wait,
I'm getting a big response here.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Well, I think I was just really really bored in
Quarantine and was like, I really need to be able
to express myself in some way. And so I'm a
little bit older to be on TikTok. But what's been
really cool about it is that, unlike other social media
(15:10):
sites where they just show things to your followers, if
the algorithm is so advanced, it like understands what people
want in their souls and it will show it to
whoever like it thinks we'll really like that content. So
that's been really cool being able to get stuff out
there to the most random people. One time, I actually
(15:31):
I was visiting friends across the country and I go
in and their babysitters like, hey, I recognize you from TikTok,
and it's just like the most random situation.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Wow, I remember being in Brooklyn. I wish I could
remember the bar. Damn it. It was like kind of
Park Slope, but it was an Oakland themed bar. It's
closed now, but I remember going in and in the
back there was a little comedy room and it was
like a mic.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
There are maybe three people in the crowd, five people.
I don't know. Do you remember? You know what bar
I'm talking about?
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I'm not sure that describes so many bars in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Well, I mean I remember seeing Kyle down again at
the Bellhouse over in Brooklyn. I mean, there are so
many different venues. Where where are you in Brooklyn? I
was in Park Slope. I'm not park Slope. I was
in Crown Heights.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Where were you?
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Well?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
I used to be in Ridgewood, but now I'm based
in Manhattan.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh cool, you're in the city. Where are you?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah? Let me think about how. I don't want to
get too precise of my location.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I need an address now.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
I an't like the Lower Manhattan area, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Wow, have you had some stalkers?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I've had some people be a little creepy, and it's
tell us when you're a comedian, because You're like, I
wouldn't post at all times my exact location and the
times I will be in certain places, but I have
to promote my shows, so like to an extent, people
do know where I am a lot of the time,
and that does freak me out. Every once in a while.
(17:16):
I had to delete a picture recently of my dog
because people were like, oh, if you zoom in, you
can see like your address on the dog's collar, which
I didn't even think about, and they were like Internet sloops,
like they're gonna know, so take that down.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, I'm a six foot two man and it's creepy,
so I can only imagine.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Yeah, there's a couple people on TikTok actually who like
their whole Niche is like, I can figure out where
you are by the most like mundane picture that you
would never think I could from, and he within like
less than a minute, by dooming in on these like
really intensive things, he just like figures out exactly where
(18:04):
in the world people are on Google Maps.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's like that crime that was solved.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
All I saw was a white car driving by, and
then the FBI checked all white cars that were bought
within one hundred miles in the last ten years and
they narrowed it down, and I guess that's what they do.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Huh wow.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
I mean, I guess it's good for crime prevention.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So were you one that said, you know what, I'm
going to get up there? I think I'm good? Or
did your friends shove you up there?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
So I was really reluctant to start doing comedy. But
I moved to Boston for a job like many years ago,
and when I got there, I realized that I didn't
have any friends in the city. So it took me
a long time of trying to figure out, like how
can I meet people and put myself out there. I
went to some clubs, I looked very available at coffee shops,
(19:02):
and nothing was really working. So I signed up for
an improv comedy class before I started doing stand up,
and I thought I was gonna hate it. I was like,
improv comedy sounds like paying to embarrass yourself. But then
when I did it, I actually really liked it, and
then from there I got into stand up.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So correct me if I'm wrong. You come from Carnifolk, right, Yes,
I do.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
My grandma on my mom's side was a carnival worker.
Her father. Actually, the family lore is that her father
was really into gambling and one day he was like
playing some game I forget what, and he won a
(19:48):
ferris wheel and was like, you know what, I should
have my kids go on the street and use this
ferris wheel to like make us some money. And then
it grew from there into like a full fledged business.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
How american is that? I want a ferris wheel in
a card game?
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So can you see someone putting together a tilta Whirl
and say you're doing it wrong?
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I can't, because like it was more of the men's
job to like assemble the rides. The women would be
more in like the game trailers or the snack trailers.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
We're speaking with Laura Murley.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
She has a brand new special coming out here on
Thursday called Belly Slap and Fun. A couple more questions
for Laura. I like some of your past jobs. This
one sounds fun, but it also sounds like you might
get punched zombie in an escape room.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yes, it was super fun. The whole thing was we
were a chain to a wall and every five minutes
our chain would increase another foot and they had to
solve the riddles to get out of the room before
we grabbed them, and mostly it was pretty safe, but
I did somebody did step on my head once and
(21:11):
that was pretty painful. I backed them into a corner
and they were on their tiptoes like kind of freaking out,
and then they slipped and just came down on my head.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So I know that you got passed at the New
York Comedy Club? Are you trying for the village ones
like with sd at like the Cellar.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
And all that?
Speaker 4 (21:36):
At some point? Right now, I'm more focusing on like
building an online audience so I'll be able to go anywhere.
But at some point eventually I do want to be
passed at all the New York clubs.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
What about doing the road Dog Open feature eventually headlining
on a plane every weekend?
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Does that sound amazing? Does that sound horrific? Then?
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, I just got back from doing a tour and
I had a really good time doing it. But I
don't think that I would want to be someone who's
on tour all the time. I definitely I would love
to go on a tour like once a year, do
like a bunch of cities, or like every couple of
months go to a different city. But the real road
(22:25):
dog lifestyle where you're just like sleeping on a couch
every single night. I think I want a little bit
more stability than that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
What if you're like because like you know, Sam Muril's
doing theaters, but he'll come home for two days and
then fly back out NonStop. And you're doing theaters and
you're staying in great hotels, but you're basically on a
plane NonStop.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
That sounds tough. I just across that bridge when it
comes to it. Right now, I'm not getting offers for
people to fly me out to fancy hotels every single weekend.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
So it's creepy tip, just creepy TikTok, guys, I'll bring
you to It's Carlton so adhd add autism. Are you
on the spectrum as well, because that's pretty amazing that
if you are, you're still able to be successful with
those Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, I always say that in some ways doing stand
up is like easier than regular life communication because with
stand up, either people are laughing, which means it's going well,
or they're not laughing, which means it's not going well.
And people in real life are not as straightforward, so
(23:46):
that can be more challenging for sure, just the everyday
kind of stuff. And I think that comedy has also
helped me develop my social skills a lot more, especially
starting with improv where it's really collaborative and also draws
a lot of weirdos, I have to say, so that
(24:08):
really helped open me up a bit.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, I think there's some stories there you don't want
to tell in the radio, and I don't blame you. Finally,
belly Slapping Fun stand up comedy special debuting Thursday.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
What are people in store for when they tune into this?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well, there's a lot of like super quick one liners
that are really fun that I've been working on for
a really long time. I started staying up about eight
years ago, and it's it's a wild ride. I just
kind of bounced from topic to topic to topic a lot,
and it will leave you surprised and enjoying and it'll
(24:54):
be really getting promise.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Well, congratulations on it. And the only bad thing is
do you have to burn all this material after it
comes out.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
I'm still going to do a little bit here and there,
but I've definitely been working on new material since we
filmed it, and it's been in editing, but yeah. I mean,
you know, people hear musicians say the same songs for yours.
They can hear a couple jokes multiple times.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I agree. I know it's the opposite of music.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
We don't want new stuff, play the hits, and then
in comedy it's like I already heard that joke.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Yeah, Like, come on, it's not that easy to write joke.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Lauramarly m r L.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I check out belly Slapping Fun, Shark Party Media. Laura, congratulations.
If you're out in San Francisco, come by the studio.
We'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Thanks for listening in to the Comedy All Stars Podcast
with Rick Tittle on the eight Side Network
Hi, this is Rick Tittle.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Please join me for the Comedy All Stars Podcast powered
by the Eight Side Network. In each episode, you'll hear
from great comedians, from the biggest names to those just
breaking out. They'll talk about how they got started, what's
coming up next for them, and everything in between. Their specials,
their albums, their films, their TV roles. Get ready to
(00:23):
laugh and cry and hear it all. It's the Comedy
All Stars Podcast with Rick Tittle, powered by the Eighth
Side for Tilla with you nationally syndicated to San Francisco
and around the world on the American Forces Radio Network.
You know, we love the comedians and we're quite happy
to be joined by Khalia McNeil. She is going to
(00:44):
be at the garage at Helium there in Saint Louis tomorrow.
She has a show at eight o'clock and Saturday at
eight o'clock as well. Khalia, Welcome to the show. I'm
from Richmond. I'm from the East Bay. You're a Bay
kid too, right. Where are you from?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah? Actually, that's what I was gonna say. Was I
didn't even realize that until I called in. Yeah, I'm
a I was born in Vallejo, raised in Fairfield. Yeah,
I'm a seven oh seven girl.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So did you ever go to Travis and steal a plane?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I never stole a plane, but I definitely went to
the d X and got everything that I could tax free.
That's for damn sure, Yeah, for darm Shore. I don't know,
can I say damn?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
You can say Damnel.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I always feel like, you know, like I would just
like want to like just jump into one and just
take off, but that'd probably be a bad idea.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, you know, I mean I feel like we can
use all the help we can get, so you never know,
you know, But I mean I was I did drink
the kool aid though. I was one of the many
Fairfield kids that were in ROTC. So I was in
ROTC and if you had asked seventeen year o'kalia what
she would be doing right now, I would have been
(01:54):
the best dog gone Air Force soldier on the planet.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
My brother actually got me buried at that Fairfield Courthouse
on the front lawn, and I remember we were drinking
on the front lawn and they're like, is this okay?
And I'm like, it's Fairfield, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's fine, it's completely all right. That's what I always
tell people, like, I'm from the old Fairfield where you know,
not too much happened. We used to lie and say
we were from Vallejo to be cool. And that was
before meth made its way into Fairfield. Now you can
pretty much Fairfield and Stockton are pretty much neck and neck.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, like, how much do you take in the Scandia
Fun Center and the Jelly Belly Factory.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I mean, first of all, if if anybody's listening from
back in the day, you know, scandy yuh wrapped up
into one. Oh yeah, oh, I love and I have
been on every Jellybelly Factory field trip and every Anahi.
You don't you don't realize that you kind of grew
up in a country California. I call it until you
(02:58):
until you're in the third grade at a field tree
at the Anheuser Bush Factory, and then you know, then you.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Know, did you know across the freeway from the Budweiser
refinery is a guy who collects tanks and stuff. There's
like a whole bunch of military vehicles and it's like
a museum, but you can't see it from the freeway.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Huh. No, I didn't because they're so camouflaged.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I see what you did there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Right, And how about those Vacaville people thinking they're better
than you?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
What's that all about?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You know? For a town that smells like how the
moment it hits seventy five degrees, I think Vacaville can
take several seats and chill out. Now. They do have
one really good restaurant out there, Vasquez DELI loved me
for Vasquad and I mean you can't. Can you get
enough premium outlets?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But other than that, right, And I as a little kid,
the Nut Tree had rides. Now it just has like
an amities.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, yeah, no, there was a train, there was the
Nut Tree was you know again, we grew up in
the golden times of the Bay Area and surrounding surrounding cities.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, dropped? Have I dropped enough local references yet?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Hold on? We need at least one more nations Hamburgers.
Yeah we're good now, No, we're good?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
All right, sounds good now. I know you went to
Clark Atlanta, which is one of the oldest HBCU colleges
out there, and I I was just looking at the
campus and it's beautiful, looks like some Ivy League school
in New England, and yet right behind it you got
downtown Atlanta. That must have been kind of a cool
dichotomy there.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was. It was. It was very interesting too because
at the time that I was at Clark Atlanta. So
what you have is you have three HBCUs that are
in that area. You have Clarke Attlanta University, you have
Spelman College, and you have Morehouse College and they kind
of they call themselves the Atlanta University Center. And what's
cool about going to school there is once you go
(04:56):
to one of those schools, if you want to, you
can cross register, you can go to the different schools
if you want to take a class just on another
campus and get a feel for it. So that was
really cool. The whord that dichotomy really sets in is
the fact that while I was at Clark Atlanta, the
neighborhood that surrounds those schools is not the best neighborhood.
And Clark Atlanta is an extremely open campus. So there
(05:18):
were yeah, there were definitely times where we're walking to
the gym, which is, you know, maybe about half a
mile off campus, and you're walking through the projects and
you know, eggs being thrown and things like that, So
that was always very interesting. But having the backdrop of
downtown Atlanta, while you know, dodging eggs is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, I mean, I think Morehouse gets the most pub Obviously,
Martin Luther King went there and Samuel L. Jackson and
I know Oprah said I'm putting a hundred kids through
more House.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
So would you guys like share libraries and things like that?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Actually, yeah, our main library, which is the Robert Woodroff Library,
is the library for all of the school Well, each
school has its own, but the Woodrow Library is the largest.
It housed on Clarkettland University's campus. And actually, let me
give you a fun little tidbit yet, Samuel Jackson did
graduate from Morehouse College. His wife graduated from Spelman College.
But both of them were members of the CU Players,
(06:17):
which was the Clarke Attland University Acts because neither of
those schools offered that. Remember I was telling you about
the cross registration, Uh, they got so sam Jackson did
get his his acting training from Clark Atlanta as well
as Spike Lee. Spike Lee is another really famous Moorhouse
alum who got his film training from a man named
(06:38):
doctor e doctor Eckolberg. You'll never forget that name at
Clarkland University. So yeah, there's a there's a lot of
a lot of kind of influential I guess you could
say black Hollywood that kind of made their way through
through our school in some way, shape or form. Clark
Atlanta has a very a very good mass media arts
(06:59):
program as well as a great theater program. I went
to the theater program, and.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So yeah, I noticed that I was looking at notable alumni,
which you should be on the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
List, and oh, it's coming, it's coming.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You know what's funny is that somebody I went to
Saint Mary's College out here in the East Bay and
they put me someone put me on the Wikipedia list
and then it was immediately erased. So I lasted a day.
I lasted a day on notable alumni, but didn't Mace
went there, right, one more time, Mace the Rapper.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
So this is the thing is I've never I have
never gotten confirmation if Mace actually went to Park Atlanta.
I will say while I was there, he would be
on campus a lot. Now, this is the thing is
because Park Atlanta's campus was open, it was kind of
the hub for any type of entertainment stuff that would
come to town, you know, b ET awards, all that type
(07:54):
of stuff, so people would be on campus. But if like,
did he go here, like a lot of people say,
was a notable alumni of PARKLANDA Sierra with the Clark
Atlanta until like middle of her freshman year and that's
when she blew up. Fellos like is that an alumni
or did she just go here for a little bit?
Uh So we just I don't, I can't. I cannot
(08:17):
say that Mason Beckford is an alumna of Clark Atlanta University,
but he's been there.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I just think it's amazing that to go to a
school that started right at the end of the Civil
War and you've got so many important people and even
before the Civil Rights movement.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'm just looking here Henry O.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Flipper, the first graduate black graduate of West Point, former slave,
you know, the first African American woman to graduate from
University of Georgia, Mary Francis Early. I mean, there's history
all around you. I love history like that.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Oh yeah, yeah, no, it's a good time. I mean,
w e B the boys taught at Atlanta University because
see the thing is Clark Atlanta has a very unique background,
of which it is one of the oldest as well
as the youngest HBCU. And what we mean by that
is so Clark Atlanta was formed by two schools. There
was Clark College and Atlanta University. Clark College was formed
(09:10):
in eighteen sixty nine, at Lanta University in eighteen sixty five,
and then they consolidated in nineteen eighty eight to form
Clark Atlanta University. So that's why we get the kind
of the oldest but the youngest kind of back and
forth because of our consolidation date.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
See.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I love the fact that you know that because that
means you're not only paying attention, you're a proud alum.
I had a guy I used to work with who
went to Marist College, and I said, is maris to
Catholic school? And he went, yeah, I don't know, I
went you went there for you went there for four years?
He goes, I think so, but maybe not. By the way,
(09:47):
I love that Atlanta University motto is I'll find a
way or make one.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Oh yeah, find a way or make one is something
that I think of every day, especially in this industry.
Sometimes you just got to make it happen, all right.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
So your career, comedy, acting, everything that you have done.
Was it the kind of thing where your friends say
you're really funny, you should try it, or you're like,
I'll find a way I make one.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It was definitely the former. I've always wanted to ask,
always wanted to be an actor, never really looked at
stand up as something that I wanted to do, but
just with my personality, people were always like, you should try,
you should try, you should try it. Finally, in twenty twelve,
I had just I graduated Clarkland in two thousand and nine,
(10:38):
and when I graduated, I started working for Royal Caribbean
Cruise Lines as a DJ, as a party host, just
one of those crazy people running around the ship. And
being on the ship, I would see a lot of
comics come in and out, you know, entertainment for a
couple of weeks and this and that, and I'm like, damn,
these people aren't even funny, and they're getting paid to
travel the world. What if I'm actually funny? And so
(10:58):
when I got back to Atlanta, I was like, I'll
give it a shot and did my first open mic
at a at a spot called the Laughing Skull Lounge.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Which is in Atlanta. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, And after that kind of backed off it for
a little bit, moved to la later that year and
started balancing the two between acting and comedy, and you know,
we finally got to a place where you know, they're
both doing what I need need them to do. But
definitely was not something that I saw myself doing, like
(11:31):
comedic acting, sure, but I never really saw myself doing
stand up.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's Kaleiam McNeil. Make sure to check her out at
Helium Saint Louis. Everyone in the area. Get your tickets
at Heliumcomedy dot com. She'll be at the garage at
Helium tomorrow at eight o'clock Saturday eight o'clock. And do
I shout out Army Hoe, Fairfield or Vandon.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
You can shout out Armio and you can shout out
Rodriguez High School.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, Rodriguez High School, Redtop Road. Baby.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Oh, I think I know too much. Now I should
shut up. I'm like stalking.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Oh that part kind of made me nervous. Looks over.
I'm like, you here, what are we going?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Are you here?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Kalia McNeil. Everybody, Hey, when you're in San Francisco. Come
by the studio. We'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You know what I will, I'm coming up that way.
I'm actually I'm gonna be in Sack in August, and
when usually when I do shows in stat in Sack,
I rest my head in Fairfield, so I can definitely
make my way up to San Francisco.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Okay, it's here, everyone, Stay calm. It's Cole's lowest prices
of the season. And when I say low, I mean low.
I got my kids jumping bean ceased for three ninety nine,
treated myself to some cute teas and tank tops under
five bucks, and got great fines for our patio fifty
percent off.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Let's say you're in colescats on.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
All of this sounds too good to be true. I
guess you'll have to go to Cole's and find out
for yourselves.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It's like Styles offers.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
In Nay fifteen sons, LUSSI by Sea.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Stool Ocles, I come for de kails. What seems to
be the problem?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Doctor? Thank god? My husband found out Cricket Wireless has
five G plans for fifteen dollars a month, and his
jaw just dropped.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Did you hear about crickets blazing fast five G. Yep,
huh what about their reliable nationwide coverage? Yes, that too,
I see. Unfortunately there's no cure, but you will have
really fast five G.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Get jaw droppingly fast five G for fifteen dollars a month.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Smile you're on cricket.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Cricket five G requires a compatible device and is not
available everywhere. Video maybe limited. Esty fees may apply. Term
thirtrictions apply subject to change the store for details.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
You're listening to the Comedy All Stars podcast with Rick Tittle,
powered by eight Side Network whatever works. Thank you for that,
Rick Tittle with you nashally syndicated out of San Francisco
and around the world on American Forces Radio Network. You know,
I love the comedians and so we're very happy to
bring in Laura Murley.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
She is going to be having her debut comedy special coming.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Out this Thursday. It's called Belly Slappin' Fun. Laura, Welcome
to the show, Belly Slappin' Fun. What were some of
the other names that got close.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
That's a good question. I thought about calling it passive
abraces because that's what I've been I've had as my
Instagram handle for a really long time, and that doesn't
actually mean anything. People are always like, oh is that
Does that mean that you're an unpleasant person to be around?
(14:26):
And so then I was like, oh, maybe I shouldn't
call it something that will make people think I'm unpleasant.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
So for you, you really have utilized social media, especially TikTok.
What was it about TikTok that you found? Oh wait,
I'm getting a big response here.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Well, I think I was just really really bored in
Quarantine and was like, I really need to be able
to express myself in some way. And so I'm a
little bit older to be on TikTok. But what's been
really cool about it is that, unlike other social media
(15:10):
sites where they just show things to your followers, if
the algorithm is so advanced, it like understands what people
want in their souls and it will show it to
whoever like it thinks we'll really like that content. So
that's been really cool being able to get stuff out
there to the most random people. One time, I actually
(15:31):
I was visiting friends across the country and I go
in and their babysitters like, hey, I recognize you from TikTok,
and it's just like the most random situation.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Wow, I remember being in Brooklyn. I wish I could
remember the bar. Damn it. It was like kind of
Park Slope, but it was an Oakland themed bar. It's
closed now, but I remember going in and in the
back there was a little comedy room and it was
like a mic.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
There are maybe three people in the crowd, five people.
I don't know. Do you remember? You know what bar
I'm talking about?
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I'm not sure that describes so many bars in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Well, I mean I remember seeing Kyle down again at
the Bellhouse over in Brooklyn. I mean, there are so
many different venues. Where where are you in Brooklyn? I
was in Park Slope. I'm not park Slope. I was
in Crown Heights.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Where were you?
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Well?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
I used to be in Ridgewood, but now I'm based
in Manhattan.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh cool, you're in the city. Where are you?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah? Let me think about how. I don't want to
get too precise of my location.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I need an address now.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
I an't like the Lower Manhattan area, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Wow, have you had some stalkers?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I've had some people be a little creepy, and it's
tell us when you're a comedian, because You're like, I
wouldn't post at all times my exact location and the
times I will be in certain places, but I have
to promote my shows, so like to an extent, people
do know where I am a lot of the time,
and that does freak me out. Every once in a while.
(17:16):
I had to delete a picture recently of my dog
because people were like, oh, if you zoom in, you
can see like your address on the dog's collar, which
I didn't even think about, and they were like Internet sloops,
like they're gonna know, so take that down.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, I'm a six foot two man and it's creepy,
so I can only imagine.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Yeah, there's a couple people on TikTok actually who like
their whole Niche is like, I can figure out where
you are by the most like mundane picture that you
would never think I could from, and he within like
less than a minute, by dooming in on these like
really intensive things, he just like figures out exactly where
(18:04):
in the world people are on Google Maps.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's like that crime that was solved.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
All I saw was a white car driving by, and
then the FBI checked all white cars that were bought
within one hundred miles in the last ten years and
they narrowed it down, and I guess that's what they do.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Huh wow.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
I mean, I guess it's good for crime prevention.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So were you one that said, you know what, I'm
going to get up there? I think I'm good? Or
did your friends shove you up there?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
So I was really reluctant to start doing comedy. But
I moved to Boston for a job like many years ago,
and when I got there, I realized that I didn't
have any friends in the city. So it took me
a long time of trying to figure out, like how
can I meet people and put myself out there. I
went to some clubs, I looked very available at coffee shops,
(19:02):
and nothing was really working. So I signed up for
an improv comedy class before I started doing stand up,
and I thought I was gonna hate it. I was like,
improv comedy sounds like paying to embarrass yourself. But then
when I did it, I actually really liked it, and
then from there I got into stand up.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So correct me if I'm wrong. You come from Carnifolk, right, Yes,
I do.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
My grandma on my mom's side was a carnival worker.
Her father. Actually, the family lore is that her father
was really into gambling and one day he was like
playing some game I forget what, and he won a
(19:48):
ferris wheel and was like, you know what, I should
have my kids go on the street and use this
ferris wheel to like make us some money. And then
it grew from there into like a full fledged business.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
How american is that? I want a ferris wheel in
a card game?
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So can you see someone putting together a tilta Whirl
and say you're doing it wrong?
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I can't, because like it was more of the men's
job to like assemble the rides. The women would be
more in like the game trailers or the snack trailers.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
We're speaking with Laura Murley.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
She has a brand new special coming out here on
Thursday called Belly Slap and Fun. A couple more questions
for Laura. I like some of your past jobs. This
one sounds fun, but it also sounds like you might
get punched zombie in an escape room.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yes, it was super fun. The whole thing was we
were a chain to a wall and every five minutes
our chain would increase another foot and they had to
solve the riddles to get out of the room before
we grabbed them, and mostly it was pretty safe, but
I did somebody did step on my head once and
(21:11):
that was pretty painful. I backed them into a corner
and they were on their tiptoes like kind of freaking out,
and then they slipped and just came down on my head.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So I know that you got passed at the New
York Comedy Club? Are you trying for the village ones
like with sd at like the Cellar.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
And all that?
Speaker 4 (21:36):
At some point? Right now, I'm more focusing on like
building an online audience so I'll be able to go anywhere.
But at some point eventually I do want to be
passed at all the New York clubs.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
What about doing the road Dog Open feature eventually headlining
on a plane every weekend?
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Does that sound amazing? Does that sound horrific? Then?
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, I just got back from doing a tour and
I had a really good time doing it. But I
don't think that I would want to be someone who's
on tour all the time. I definitely I would love
to go on a tour like once a year, do
like a bunch of cities, or like every couple of
months go to a different city. But the real road
(22:25):
dog lifestyle where you're just like sleeping on a couch
every single night. I think I want a little bit
more stability than that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
What if you're like because like you know, Sam Muril's
doing theaters, but he'll come home for two days and
then fly back out NonStop. And you're doing theaters and
you're staying in great hotels, but you're basically on a
plane NonStop.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
That sounds tough. I just across that bridge when it
comes to it. Right now, I'm not getting offers for
people to fly me out to fancy hotels every single weekend.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
So it's creepy tip, just creepy TikTok, guys, I'll bring
you to It's Carlton so adhd add autism. Are you
on the spectrum as well, because that's pretty amazing that
if you are, you're still able to be successful with
those Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, I always say that in some ways doing stand
up is like easier than regular life communication because with
stand up, either people are laughing, which means it's going well,
or they're not laughing, which means it's not going well.
And people in real life are not as straightforward, so
(23:46):
that can be more challenging for sure, just the everyday
kind of stuff. And I think that comedy has also
helped me develop my social skills a lot more, especially
starting with improv where it's really collaborative and also draws
a lot of weirdos, I have to say, so that
(24:08):
really helped open me up a bit.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, I think there's some stories there you don't want
to tell in the radio, and I don't blame you. Finally,
belly Slapping Fun stand up comedy special debuting Thursday.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
What are people in store for when they tune into this?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well, there's a lot of like super quick one liners
that are really fun that I've been working on for
a really long time. I started staying up about eight
years ago, and it's it's a wild ride. I just
kind of bounced from topic to topic to topic a lot,
and it will leave you surprised and enjoying and it'll
(24:54):
be really getting promise.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Well, congratulations on it. And the only bad thing is
do you have to burn all this material after it
comes out.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
I'm still going to do a little bit here and there,
but I've definitely been working on new material since we
filmed it, and it's been in editing, but yeah. I mean,
you know, people hear musicians say the same songs for yours.
They can hear a couple jokes multiple times.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I agree. I know it's the opposite of music.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
We don't want new stuff, play the hits, and then
in comedy it's like I already heard that joke.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Yeah, Like, come on, it's not that easy to write joke.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Lauramarly m r L.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I check out belly Slapping Fun, Shark Party Media. Laura, congratulations.
If you're out in San Francisco, come by the studio.
We'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Thanks for listening in to the Comedy All Stars Podcast
with Rick Tittle on the eight Side Network
Host
Rick Tittle
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