March 12, 2025 • 48 mins
This week, I had an amazing time with the incredible Lisa Foiles! She is a former All That cast member, a rocker, a podcaster, and so much more. We talk about her journey from child star to creative powerhouse. Here is a list of what we talked about in this episode:
- Her time on All That and some of her favorite sketches
- The behind-the-scenes moments of being part of a beloved Nickelodeon show
- Her guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle and the iconic episode “If Boys Were Girls”
- The inspiration behind her podcast Temperamental, co-hosted by her two cats (both named Kevin!)
- Her musical career, including her heavy metal band and her evolution as an artist
- What it's like balancing acting, music, and podcasting today
Tune in for a fun and insightful conversation with Lisa, packed with nostalgia, laughs, and inspiration!
_____________________________________
Lisa's Website: https://www.lisafoiles.com/
Check out these Instagram's for all things Lisa...and Kevin!
https://www.instagram.com/temperamentalpod/
https://www.instagram.com/famouskevin/
https://www.instagram.com/lisafoiles/
https://www.instagram.com/vonboldtband/
_____________________________________
Link to all things Not in a Huff Podcast: https://linktr.ee/notinahuffpodcast
Please follow/subscribe to the podcast to be the first to see new episodes when they come out each week. Be extra awesome and rate us on Apple Podcast and Spotify! :)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In a few years, these kids won't care about you.
(00:01):
These people care about you right now,
and you bring them happiness right now.
Nothing lasts forever.
In 10 years, these kids might not care about you.
You might have no fans,
and you'll wish this was your life,
and you'll wish that you were kind to every kid
that enjoyed your work.
Welcome to Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff,
where we interview newsmakers,
storytellers, and all around interesting people.
(00:24):
Sit back, relax, unless you're driving,
and enjoy the show.
Here's Jackson.
Hello, hello, hello.
I am Jackson Huff.
This is Not in a Huff.
Thanks so much for joining me.
As always, really appreciate it.
This week, another really, really amazing guest,
another guest from my childhood,
slightly later than the last,
(00:45):
when I'm talking to someone from the show All That.
I spoke with Lori Beth Denberg almost two years ago now.
She was from that original cast.
We talk all about kind of the creation of All That,
which if you don't know was on Nickelodeon.
It was kind of the kids' version of Saturday Night Live,
sketch comedy, that type of thing.
I kind of grew up with Lori Beth.
(01:07):
I grew up in the mid-90s,
so that was kind of Lori Beth's time,
and then they got a few different casts,
just like Saturday Night Live.
They replace people,
and people leave for bigger and better things.
I say all that to say I'm speaking with Lisa Foiles today.
She was a part of a little bit later of a cast,
but I still certainly remember watching her
(01:28):
on the show as well.
Gonna talk all about her time on All That.
She had a really great time.
There's a lot out there with people that didn't.
We don't really get too much into that.
We do address it very briefly,
but mostly we talk about just the amazing experience
that she had.
I really, really appreciate her joining me.
(01:51):
She's got some really, really amazing things going on.
Like I said, we talk about her career
from auditioning to being on the show
and some of her favorite sketches.
We talk about her time in a one-episode cameo,
but a really big episode.
I think it won an Emmy on Malcolm in the Middle.
Called it Boys Were Girls.
(02:12):
It's a really monumental episode for sure,
how they edited it.
We talk about what she's up to these days.
She actually has a podcast herself now
where her co-hosts are her two cats,
both a boy and a girl,
both named Kevin.
I really, really enjoy listening to her podcast.
I do listen to it myself.
And then we talk about that she's also
started a music career.
(02:33):
She's got several bands.
I know that her kind of biggest one is a heavy metal band.
So a lot covered from the nostalgia of, you know,
learning about a show from my childhood
to learning about kind of just the world of acting
and how it's changed.
Talking about her podcast and what inspired that.
(02:53):
Talking about the band.
I think you're really, really gonna enjoy this.
And Lisa's a really, really great person.
Here is Lisa Foiles.
Lisa Foiles, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing good.
Thanks for having me.
Oh, well, thanks for agreeing to join me.
I'm gonna let you do the heavy lifting
right out the gate.
Just introduce yourself.
Well, just so you know, girl Kevin, my cat is here
and you will hear a lot of meowing
(03:14):
as she does on my podcast all the time.
I've got questions about her later.
Yes, oh, we have, they're here,
both boy Kevin's over there.
Of course, every time they sense a camera is rolling
or a microphone turns on, they're like, we're there.
Hey, what's up guys?
My name is Lisa Foyles.
Most people know me from Nickelodeon's All That.
Although I've done a myriad of other things
(03:34):
aside from that, but that's just my most well-known project.
Obviously it's a legacy Nickelodeon program.
I mean, everybody watched All That.
I watched All That growing up.
I was a massive fan before I was able to join the show.
I was on Even Stevens first, actually.
And then an Emmy winning episode
of Malcolm in the Middle was on Leverage.
(03:56):
I've been on other Nickelodeon shows
like Game Shakers and Henry Danger.
And I'm a singer and a host and I do all the things.
So yeah, and I host a podcast called Temperamental
with Lisa Foyles starring me and my cats,
both named Kevin.
So there you go.
I love it.
And you know, it means I did my research all right
(04:17):
because we're gonna unpack most of what you just mentioned.
So I want to kind of just start with the question.
I'm sure you've answered about six bajillion times,
but how did you get your start in entertainment?
What created that passion?
Yeah, so basically as soon as I could walk, I danced.
I love dancing.
I love singing.
I would just sing and dance around the house
(04:37):
to the point where my parents were like,
okay, we gotta get her in some kind of formal training
if this is something she wants to do.
So yeah, I started out in dance classes
and very quickly went into competitive dance.
I was competing a lot.
I was always on stage and I just loved it
and I was very good at it.
I mean, it was very rare
that I didn't win a first place trophy.
And that's not like, I'm not trying to brag.
(04:59):
It's just the way it was.
I was a really talented kid, especially in dance.
And one of my claims to fame in that circuit
was I did a very difficult song and dance
where I was tapping, tap dancing at a very high level
and singing at the same time.
So I talk about cardio.
I don't know that I can do that now,
but usually if somebody does a song and dance,
(05:20):
they'll sing for a little bit and then they'll tap
and then they'll sing and then they'll tap.
I was doing it all together, all at the same time
for the entire three minutes song.
And it just kind of blew people's minds.
And eventually because of that,
the judges at that particular competition
went up to my parents
because I was living in Spokane, Washington at the time.
(05:40):
And they came up to my parents and they're like,
hey, she is a star.
She is talented, but you're never gonna get anywhere
in Spokane, Washington.
So if you want her to pursue this path
and she has this as a dream,
you gotta take her to Los Angeles.
So that's what we did.
God bless my parents.
They're the best.
They picked up everything and moved to just outside
of Los Angeles, a place called Riverside.
(06:03):
And just cause it was really important to my parents
that I still had a backyard and I still had a childhood.
And I wasn't just in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
I actually had a place, a backyard to run around
and dogs and cats and a real childhood
while I was trying to pursue this very odd passion of mine.
(06:25):
And yeah, as soon as I went to LA,
I got hooked up with an agent
and she sent me on a couple, many auditions.
And I eventually booked some commercials
and then a pilot that I started and then even Stevens.
And then the next big one was all that.
So that's how it all started.
And were you your parents?
Were they at all into entertainment at all?
(06:48):
Had they even started in the play?
I always just think it's funny when we've got
two quiet accountants and they get thrown in your world,
I guess thrown like a spunky redheaded child
ready to tap dance all over the place.
So what are your parents like?
Nope, I'm the only foils who does entertainment.
Everybody else is in sports.
(07:09):
All my cousins do sports.
They love that world.
My dad was a computer programmer.
He's super nerd and loves sports.
My mom was a stay at home mom.
And she always loved entertainment
and she loved watching the Carol Burnett show.
And she's responsible for introducing me
to a lot of those old comedies
because she had such a passion for it.
(07:29):
And she was very funny.
Both of my parents were very funny,
but not on a professional level.
They're just funny humans.
And we loved watching comedies.
We were massive MST 3K fans.
Like mystery science theater fans.
So that just kind of became our lifestyle.
We'd watch MST where they sit and, you know,
make quips about old terrible movies.
(07:50):
And then we just found ourselves doing that for everything.
And so, yeah, it was a whole new world.
For my parents, they had to like buy books.
My mom was like reading books about how to,
like acting in film, like how to be an actor.
Like literally we were buying like acting for dummies books
because we had no idea.
I show and same with music.
Nobody in my family is musically inclined.
(08:12):
I get very jealous of my bandmates
because a lot of them came from musical families
and their dads taught them how to play guitar.
Their moms taught them how to sing or like whatever.
And I like, I'm a little envious of that
because I do wish I came from more of a,
like I wish I grew up like jamming with my family.
Like it would be really cool.
But I was just me.
(08:32):
Like I was the only one into all of this stuff.
But that being said, my parents also had excellent taste.
I think that's the difference
is that they didn't do it themselves,
but they had incredible taste.
Like my dad's music taste was impeccable.
He got me at a very early age.
He got me hooked on all the greats.
I mean, I was listening to Van Halen and Queen
and Led Zeppelin, like these were all my favorite bands
(08:54):
as like a kid.
I remember I listened to like Journey all the time.
And that was before Journey like came back.
Remember like Journey was really popular
in like the eighties or seventies.
And then like nobody really cared about him for a while.
And then I think like Scrubs like brought them back
or something like they had a resurgence
where everybody was singing,
don't stop believing it now everywhere.
It's everywhere.
There's a period of time like no one has seen Journey.
(09:16):
I think I was the only one.
Had these songs on repeat.
So yeah, I didn't grow up in an entertainment family,
but yeah, I'm the weirdo.
So yeah.
It means that you really have that passion.
You weren't just pushed into it.
So I think that's a great thing.
I wanna kind of start in, you know,
you're acting when we talk about Even Stevens.
(09:37):
I had Jim Wise on probably been two years ago,
which was Coach Tugnet.
So we talked a lot about Even Stevens.
So we don't have to really hash too much of that out
other than your individual experience.
What was that like for you?
Yeah, it was my first time being on a real TV show.
And at the time, you know,
(09:59):
that we didn't have all these streaming services.
There was pretty much two channels that kids watched.
And it was Nickelodeon and there was Disney.
There's also Cartoon Network,
but for like live action TV shows for kids,
you had Nickelodeon and you had Disney.
And pretty much when you were an actor
and you landed roles,
you were either a Disney kid or a Nickelodeon kid.
(10:21):
And growing up, as a viewer,
I was totally a Nickelodeon kid.
Like I was addicted to Nickelodeon.
I watched everything from Hey Dude,
to the early All That season, to Clarissa,
to like everything, salute your shorts,
everything, I was obsessed.
I still watch Disney, but like not as much.
I don't know, Lizzie McGuire never really connected with me.
(10:43):
I was also homeschooled.
So a lot of these shows about like growing up in school,
like they didn't really apply to me
because I'm like, I don't have that experience.
So, but I did like Even Stevens.
I thought it was the wackiest one
just because Shia was so over the top and silly.
So I really liked his character.
So when I booked Disney, I thought,
all right, this is it, I'm a Disney kid.
(11:04):
Like, okay, I guess I'm on the Disney channel
because you don't go back and forth really.
Like every kid stays where they are.
They don't cross battle line.
But yeah, it was my first real TV show.
The only significant thing I've done before
that was a pilot.
It was a starring role in a pilot.
But again, it was much lower budget.
(11:25):
It wasn't a studio.
It was, we were independently making it.
So just to be at such a high level
was such a good experience
that I think lent to the professionalism
I was able to adopt going on to do all that
and all these other shows.
(11:45):
You know, like my mom always made sure
I was very respectful and that I learned everybody's names
and that gets a lot harder
when you're working with a lot more people.
So suddenly I'm on a set and there's four people
in the hair and makeup tent instead of one
and there's six people working wardrobe instead of one.
And you know, it's just like, there's so many people.
(12:06):
And that same thing, my mom was like,
you learn everybody's names, you shake all their hands,
you tell them thank you, you be respectful
and remember that, you know,
they all wanna go home to their families,
that you are not the star and you will never be the star.
You are a working actor just like these people are working.
So make sure you nail it, know your lines,
get on set, do your job so everybody can go home.
And that always, always stuck with me.
(12:29):
And that's why I always try to show up on every set
as absolutely as prepared as I possibly can.
I'm not there to waste anybody's time.
I'm there to get the job done.
So that was my first real taste of that and it was awesome.
I mean, Christie was so sweet to us.
Shia was so funny.
Shia was just all over the place.
Like I think we talked to him a little bit,
(12:49):
but he was just like riding skateboards around the set,
like running over here and running over there.
He's just, he was like a crazy kid.
I mean, we're all kids, but he was super funny.
And yeah, it was just, it was awesome.
But I gotta say, I was so,
I was so happy when I booked all that
and I kind of morphed into a Nickelodeon kid
(13:10):
because that's really where I felt at home.
I always felt that Nickelodeon was my network.
And yeah, again, love Disney,
but man, I'm happy to be a Nick kid.
I like that.
I, if you want to, I guess hear my shocked about the,
going from Nickelodeon to Disney and back and forth,
(13:31):
you'd have to listen to the episode
with Lori Beth Denberg because she had kind of
the opposite thing that just blew my mind
where her all that seasons were filmed in Orlando.
And after filming, almost every night,
she said she went to Disney World and watched the fireworks.
I was like, is that allowed?
Are you allowed to do that?
(13:51):
Did it take your paycheck away from you?
Oh, don't get me wrong.
I love Disneyland and the Disney parks
is a totally different thing.
But when you're actually a working actor
and you're showing up to red carpet events,
like you either are representing Nickelodeon
and you're representing Disney.
Right, no, for sure.
So let's kind of move into how you were casted in all that.
(14:14):
What did that look like?
It was already a kind of a legacy show.
It was something that was already,
had already been big in the past.
It was kind of a unique thing when I think they had already,
they had taken like a year break or a little bit longer
when you joined the cast.
So what did that look like?
Yeah, they were filming in Florida
and then they decided to move the show
(14:34):
to Nick on Sunset in Los Angeles.
And it was the longest, most involved audition process
I've ever been a part of.
I mean, they did a nationwide search
for this brand new cast.
For the longest time, they would try to,
you have the original members, the OG members,
you have Katrina Johnson and Alisa Reyes
(14:55):
and Keenan and Kel and yeah, even Amanda Bynes,
I think didn't come until season two or three.
So you have Josh Server, obviously,
Danny Tamburelli came in a little bit later.
So you kind of had this core group of kids
and then they kind of just kept switching out
and switching out.
Some got a little too old to be on the show.
So then they replaced with somebody younger.
And then it was just like SNL,
(15:17):
it was kind of an ever changing cast of kids.
But the network decided it was time
for a totally clean slate.
They wanted a brand new cast of young kids
for the new generation.
And they did a nationwide search.
And so there was a lot of cattle calls,
I think around the US.
(15:38):
I don't think people were doing auditions on tape
at that time.
So I think there were actual places to audition
around the US and I was obviously already in LA.
So I was able to go to that.
And that first audition was just insane.
There's so many kids there.
I had to wait in line for so long.
Everybody's chaotic.
(15:59):
I mean, just imagine, like obviously
the Nickelodeon energy is over the top chaos.
And while I'm able to turn that on on camera,
and I mean, I still can and I still do.
And as a kid, I was able like, as soon as you get me
in front of that camera, like, I'll bring the energy.
I was actually a very quiet kid.
(16:22):
In fact, I was so quiet.
I never really spoke a word in the dance classes
that I was in in California.
I just didn't really felt like I fit in with the other kids.
I was new to California.
They were all already friends with each other.
So I was just very, very quiet for years at this dance studio.
So when those kids found out I landed all that,
they were like, what?
(16:42):
Like that girl who just like doesn't talk to anyone?
Like what's going on?
So I was very overwhelmed
at the first couple rounds of auditions
because it was just these high energy kid actors
and some non-actors just bouncing off the walls.
And I was like super overwhelmed,
just trying to focus on my monologue and focus on my scripts.
(17:03):
So for the auditions, we had to do,
we had to write our own monologue
and that monologue needed to contain
three different characters.
And then there was a script that we read from
called Crazy Terry.
And then we also just did like a basic Q&A
with the producers.
And so it was kind of a three-part audition process.
(17:26):
And yeah, so I was just very overwhelmed
by all the other kids.
Like, oh my gosh,
like all these kids deserve to be on Nickelodeon.
Do I?
Like they're so hyper and crazy.
Like that's totally the Nickelodeon style.
But again, as soon as I step in front of the camera,
like I turn it on and I'm a professional
and I totally nailed my audition,
I got called back and I got called back again
and I got called back again.
(17:46):
And then every callback,
there's just less and less and less kids.
So we got to, I think the seventh callback
and that was the final callback.
And it was narrowed down to, I wanna say,
10 kids and they needed seven.
And they made it very clear that they only needed seven.
(18:07):
So it was either 10 or 12.
I can't remember what the very last pool of us was.
But again, I just sat in the corner.
Like I didn't really, I remember Chelsea and Jack
were like hanging out and like Shane was there.
And obviously these kids would soon become my best friends.
But at the time they were just kids
I was competing against.
(18:27):
And they were all laughing and having fun in the lobby.
And I was just sitting there in the corner,
just going over my script.
But yeah, nailed the final audition.
And it was weeks after that,
that they let us know who landed the show.
And I just remember that phone call and how excited I was
and showing up on day one and meeting all the other kids.
(18:51):
In fact, I was the last kid to show up,
which is very weird because I'm usually
like embarrassingly early for everything.
You know, there's fashionably late and then there's me,
which is embarrassingly early.
Usually I'm the first person on every set.
But for some reason that first day,
when we were all meeting each other for the first time,
I was the last kid to show up.
So I walked through the door and I got to see all six
(19:13):
of the other kids.
And I'm like, all right, like this is it.
This is my fam.
Like this is, we're all in this together.
It was just awesome.
Wow, that is awesome.
And you know, we've got you to your first day.
So you already talked about how you had watched the show
growing up.
Maybe it made it a little bit easier
given that it was a whole new cast.
(19:34):
You weren't thrust into, you know,
a well-oiled machine already,
but was there any pressure there?
You knew that it had been a popular show in the past.
And you know, there probably is a little bit of pressure
to make sure that this is at least lives up to expectations.
Oh, totally.
And you know, I still deal with that, right?
(19:54):
Like in comments, like I still will post a clip
from one of my seasons and I'll get a handful of people
like, yeah, you guys weren't as good as the OG.
And I'm like, okay, well, first of all,
then you're not the right age
because most of the fans of my seasons
didn't watch the original season.
They don't really know.
They only watched us.
And that was the whole point of getting a whole new cast
(20:17):
was for the new generation of kids.
So we have our own fan base and you know,
all of us brought something different to the table,
but I even remember that first day
we all met in the school room.
I remember already Jack was like,
okay, you're the new Amanda Vines
and I'm the new Josh Server.
And like, you're the new Danny Tamburelli.
Like he was already like assigning like,
(20:37):
who are you, who are you, who are you?
Because we were all such massive fans of the original cast.
And you know, we all knew there were really big shoes to fill
but we wanted to make sure that we brought our own energy
and our own spin to it.
And we're just trying to do a good job, really.
I mean, it's scary, right?
Like just the seven of us are carrying the show.
(20:58):
Usually when you're a kid and you book a sitcom,
you have other adults that you're acting with, you know,
you're playing a daughter or a son and you have a family
and there's a, you know, it was just us.
Like every sketch was like just us,
the occasional adult guest star, but it's just us.
So we were pretty successful right off the bat
(21:20):
because again, well, first of all,
we didn't have the internet really.
So we didn't have message boards of angry people saying,
screw these guys, we missed the original cast.
We didn't really have to deal with that.
I didn't have a lot of feedback,
but our ratings are good and we had our own fans
and we'd go to these publicity events and walk red carpets
and we were mobbed by kids everywhere we went.
I remember I couldn't even go to the mall.
(21:41):
It's like, I just got recognized everywhere I went.
And again, I was a quiet kid that kind of kept to myself
and I was homeschooled.
I didn't go to school with other kids.
And I just kind of, I really liked my privacy.
So going to the mall and like having kids, you know,
watch me and look at me and point at me and come up to me
and like tackle me, like it was very weird.
(22:01):
But my mom was very adamant that I'm kind to every fan
forever, forever.
She just was, I mean, again, I was 14, 13, 14
during that first season when we really blew up
and we had all these fans.
And she's kept saying to me, she's like,
in a few years, these kids won't care about you
in a very nice way.
(22:22):
But she was like, these people care about you right now
and you bring them happiness right now.
Nothing lasts forever.
In 10 years, these kids might not care about you.
You might have no fans and you'll wish this was your life
and you'll wish that you were kind to every kid
that enjoyed your work.
Again, like just great words of wisdom.
And so to this day, I just really try to spend time
(22:44):
talking to everybody who recognizes me,
anybody who enjoyed my work.
I would, back in the day, I sent signed headshots
to like everybody who wrote me fan mail.
I would sit there in my house for hours signing headshots.
God bless my parents.
They would just send those out to every kid
who wrote me fan mail.
(23:04):
Insane, dude.
But it was important.
It was really important to us and my parents and to me.
And I'm really glad.
I'm really, really glad that we did that.
No, I think that's important to keep you grounded
and make sure that you turned into the person
that you are now.
So I like that for sure.
I wanna, we've got a lot to cover.
(23:26):
We're moving quick.
I want to just now ask you again,
probably a question that you get a lot,
but on the show, what are some of the sketches that maybe,
I don't know if I wanna say favorite,
but maybe that you enjoyed the most?
I mean, sugar and coffee's up there.
Everybody loves sugar and coffee.
That was the one where we just got to be as insane
(23:48):
as possible, bouncing off the walls,
literally bouncing on trampolines,
getting to do crazy, you know,
it's messy, it was messy, it was high energy,
it was fun, we got to scream,
we got to dump sugar and coffee on people
or sugar and flat coke, I'll say.
And so that's one that stands out.
Slumber Party changed my life.
(24:08):
I played the goth girl, Claudia on Slumber Party
and that was sort of a joke,
kind of a practical joke by the writers
because I was like this little innocent ray of sunshine,
like little innocent Lisa Foyles,
just pigtails and happiness and positivity,
it was totally me.
I just would try to brighten everybody's day all the time.
(24:31):
I was like Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory,
I was just like so joyful.
And so they're like, what if we turn her
into a really irritated goth girl?
So genius on their part.
So I was playing very against type for Claudia
and but I loved it, like a very dead pan, you know,
creepy girl wearing, you know, black clothes,
(24:53):
totally hot topic down with the black wig
and the nose ring, totally opposite my personality.
But I loved playing Claudia so much
and they let me keep so much of the wardrobe
at the end of each season.
That sooner or later, I just kept actually wearing it
and kind of turning more goth myself.
And now I sing in a metal band
and I wear skeleton outfits.
(25:15):
It's just so funny how Claudia really sunk in
more than I ever would have imagined.
But yeah, and then Together Forever is another one
with Jack, the center.
One of my all time favorites
because of the physical comedy involved in that.
We really did.
We tried to always do it in one take
and then we had this physical stunt
where we were sitting at school desks
(25:36):
and asked, you know, we're the perfect couple
and we're having a great time and we love each other,
but then we start bickering and then we start screaming.
And then my signature move is I would launch out of my chair,
hackle Jack out of his chair onto the floor.
Crazy physical move.
They had a big mat on the other side.
Obviously we're dealing with desks and chairs
and they have legs and there's metal rods
(25:57):
sticking everywhere, but coming from a dance background,
I was very conscious of my body
and able to perform a lot of physical stunts just naturally
because again, I just danced my whole life.
And yeah, one of my favorite sketches, love those.
So those three probably top for me.
Yeah, we've got to ask you the flip side
(26:19):
and I've got to do a little callback
just so people check out other episodes,
but Lori Beth said her least favorite was Loud Librarian,
which is one of the most popular ones
because she was always afraid she was going to hurt somebody
when she was throwing stuff around.
So she had to be very mindful of everything she was doing.
So what's some of your least favorite ones
(26:40):
that you had to do or ones that maybe you just
wouldn't choose to do again if you didn't have to?
Oh my gosh, that's a good question.
No one ever asked me that question.
What is my least favorite?
Oh, I didn't like Tilt-A-Hurl.
It was the worst one.
I hated it so much.
So Tilt-A-Hurl, I think we only did for two seasons,
but basically Kyle was like a new hire for a carny
(27:03):
at a carnival and the carny was this disgusting,
disgusting dude played by Jeremy Rowley,
incredible actor, you would recognize him if you saw him.
He played, gosh, what was his?
Lubert on iCarly and he was on our show a ton
and he does progressive commercials.
He's from the ground links.
He's insanely talented.
And he was always like our go-to adult guest star.
(27:25):
Like anytime we needed the funny adult, it would be him.
And basically they were working at a roller coaster
and Kyle was super excited to start his first day.
And then they'd look up at the roller coaster
and Jeremy would go, here come the lopity lope.
And then vomit would fall on everybody's head.
So whenever you had to guest star on Tilt-A-Hurl,
(27:46):
you knew that you were going to get vomited on.
And the concoction obviously was safe.
It was not vomit.
It was like a mixture of like pudding
and whatever else they put in there.
Similar to the stuff they use in slime, tapiko pudding,
chunks of whatever, it's all very safe and edible,
but it was still just, it looked like barf and it was messy
(28:06):
and it dropped on your head and it was gross
and slimy, I hated that.
Very funny sketch, but man, I did not like it.
I think that's understandable for sure.
And I want to kind of get to the audience now
and I'm sure you still deal with it now.
You deal with it back then.
Maybe it means more to you at this point,
(28:28):
but this show was something that got people
through a lot of different things.
There was people, kids back then that had rough home lives
and it was a reprieve for that hour on Saturday night
to watch and to laugh at all that.
So is that something I'm sure that people tell you even now
(28:49):
and what does that meant to you
that you've shaped some childhoods?
Oh, totally.
It really means a lot to me when people say
that I was able to brighten their childhood
and I made them laugh.
Like that's really all I want to do in life.
It's still all I want to do.
I just want to make people smile and make people laugh.
(29:09):
I never go too deep.
I never go political.
Like any of that stuff in any of my content,
all my content is very light and silly and fun.
Even my podcast, Temperamental, is PG.
Like it's anytime I curse accidentally, I'll bleep it.
Like I keep the topics very light and silly.
Like I just want people to know,
like if you come to me for any content,
it's just gonna be way less stressful than anything else.
(29:32):
You're gonna watch that.
Get done watching the news, you're stressed out,
come watch an episode of Temperamental,
it'll be complete silliness.
But even speaking about Slodya,
I've had a handful, more than a handful of girls,
especially commenting on my post saying,
I was the first alt girl they ever saw on TV,
(29:54):
which is insane to think about.
But yeah, I mean, way back in the day,
I don't know how many goth characters were featured
in shows in the late 90s and the early 2000s,
but I was definitely a prominent one.
And for me, I was just playing a really fun character,
but I didn't realize, I realize now,
that I was helping represent this community.
(30:18):
A lot of girls who felt very different,
and they did dress like that,
and they did have the nose ring,
and they had the hot topic getup,
and they felt like outsiders because it wasn't cool
back then, and you were the minority.
And here I was the coolest character in the whole sketch.
Like, Kaleide's the best character in the sketch.
It's called Bridget Slumber Party, but I'm the funny one.
(30:39):
They're also very funny,
but you watch that sketch for Claudia,
because she's such a dark force
in this happy, colorful world.
So to get those comments specifically, those mean the most.
They're like, hey, Claudia made me laugh,
but she also made me realize I can be like that.
I can dress like that.
I can be like Claudia.
(31:00):
She represented me, and I think that's so awesome.
So yeah, that's really cool.
Yeah, and I think all that did a really good job
of highlighting different kinds of people.
That was the same thing that I had heard in the past
where Lori Beth had talked about
how she was one of the first people.
(31:21):
She got a lot of comments like,
people that look like me when it comes to body image
normally aren't on TV, so I felt seen.
So I think that's really cool.
It's not something I even thought about with Claudia,
but I really liked that a lot.
So I want to ask you now,
just kind of in wrapping up all that thing is,
(31:42):
there obviously there's been documentaries come out about it.
There's been people that say
they didn't have a great experience.
I don't necessarily wanna dwell on those type of things,
but I do want you just to kind of mention
your thoughts with that
and kind of the overall experience that you had.
Yeah, no, I'm happy to tell everybody
(32:03):
that those four years were the best four years of my life.
And sometimes I feel guilty saying that
because I have kids and a husband and yes, yes,
raising you and birthing you and marrying,
like all these, hey family, yes, big,
these years I've spent with you are very special,
but gosh, those four years on all that
were so formative and fun and life-changing.
(32:28):
And I just had an absolute blast.
I always felt safe on the set.
My parents were always there.
For me, it was a really good, fun, safe, healthy environment
and from my experience.
And I love my fam from that show.
I love my cast members.
(32:49):
I think we all worked really hard.
And I hope people can still,
regardless of the media and whatever anybody says,
I really still hope that our fans of our seasons
can look back on our episodes fondly.
The worst are when people leave a comment
and they're like, I feel so,
(33:09):
now that I know about these dark things that happened,
I just feel really guilty that I watched you guys
and that I was laughing at your comedy.
No, no, no, don't feel that way, please.
We wanted to make you laugh.
I want you to look back fondly.
I want you to be happy that we made you happy.
I'm so proud of us and the work we did
and I would do it all over again, honestly.
(33:33):
The show went 10 years.
Obviously they rebooted it in 2019,
but just to be a part of that history,
growing up loving Keenan and Kel and Danny Tamburelli
and Josh Server and Alisa and Katrina and Amanda,
loving all these people
and then getting to step into their shoes
and contribute to this amazing show
is just the best time of my life.
(33:54):
It's changed everything.
It completely changed my life
and it still continues to do so.
And I'm so, so, so thankful I do it all again.
I love that.
I appreciate you sharing that for sure.
I wanna get into your podcast.
We don't have time to talk about Malcolm in the Middle.
I just want you at the end to say, yeah.
So you were on Malcolm in the Middle for one episode.
(34:17):
If Boys Were Girls, it was an amazing episode.
It was Emmy-winning.
Everyone should definitely check out that episode, right?
Yes, it was, yeah, Emmy for editing,
I believe.
It was like the female version of Malcolm.
It was the Valentine's Day episode
and Lois was pregnant
and she didn't know if she was having a girl or boy.
So she's wondering, what would it be like to have all girls
(34:39):
instead of all boys?
So during the episode,
the boys kept morphing into girls
and I was the female Malcolm.
And even though I only got to be on one episode,
because obviously a character like that cannot recur
because it was a one-time special,
it was an iconic episode.
And a lot of people tell me
that it was their favorite episode of the show ever.
So it was really cool to be a part of
(35:00):
that particular episode of that show.
Yeah, for sure.
And I recommend people go check out your episode
of your podcast where you go into detail with it.
So let's talk about-
Oh yeah, I forgot that I did that, yes.
You did, you did.
So let's start talking about Temperamental.
Tell us a little bit about the podcast.
And this is where we're gonna start talking
(35:20):
about the two Kevins here in a second.
Yes, so my podcast, it started out,
I wanted it to be very Wayne's World.
I wanted it to just be chaos and ridiculousness.
And that's exactly what it is.
It's just me and my two cats, both named Kevin.
It's 30 minutes.
I call it a short drive podcast
because you get some of these podcasts
(35:40):
that are like two hours long.
I'm like, who has time to listen to a two hour podcast?
Most people I know are in the car for 30 minutes every day.
To and from work, whatever.
I'm like, okay, I got a short drive podcast.
Here's 30 minutes.
It's insanity.
It's silliness.
It's cats.
And I'll usually throw in some behind the scenes,
all that stories that no one's ever heard before.
(36:01):
And I'll show pictures from behind the scenes
that I've never shown anyone before.
So I kind of do both and I tell great stories.
Again, every once in a while I'll do a special, right?
So every day or every week it's a 30 minute episode,
but every once in a while I'll do a little bit longer one
that's like about 45 minutes or so.
And I'll do a deep dive into one thing.
(36:22):
So I did a sugaring coffee special
where I talked all about sugar and coffee.
Every sketch that we did of sugar and coffee,
all the guest stars, what the coffee was made of,
what the process was filming it,
how I choked on the sugar all the time
and didn't figure it out till the very last season.
I did a deep dive into Claudia,
into the slumber party sketch.
(36:44):
I just did Harry Bladder.
We did a Harry Potter spinoff called Harry Bladder.
And looking back at it now, it's so fascinating
because we filmed the sketches before the movies came out.
So obviously we had the books as references
for the characters, but we hadn't seen the movie
because the movie came out in November.
(37:05):
We were filming earlier that summer
and then our episodes debuted the following January.
So it's just so fascinating to go back
and look at those sketches, knowing that we didn't,
I was playing her Heine, a parody of Hermione.
I'd never seen Emma Watson act.
I'd, we'd seen, we had press photos
and then I had people in the comments who were like,
oh, you probably had a bunch of trailers to watch.
(37:26):
I'm like, first of all, the internet was not what it was
back then, what it is today.
Like we didn't, we couldn't just Google the trailer
and then watch, we have YouTube.
Like you maybe caught it on TV if there was a teaser.
Again, this was the summer
and the movie didn't come out till November.
So maybe there was a couple of teaser trailers,
but that's not enough to like really study a character,
(37:47):
study Emma Watson's mannerisms, become Hermione.
It wasn't enough.
So we just tried our best, but it's just interesting
that we were one of the first TV shows to parody
Harry Potter, it's pretty cool.
So I did a deep dive into that.
And obviously Keenan was a guest star on that
as principal Pimpel.
And then, yeah, I did deep dive into
the Malcolm in the Middle episode,
(38:08):
which is you'd think being on one episode of one TV show
wouldn't be that fascinating, but I had,
I have so much to talk about.
Like I couldn't believe how much I had to talk about
like Jeanette McCurdy being the female Dewey.
And obviously everybody knows Jeanette now from iCarly,
but that was like one of her first big roles.
And she was like my little sister in real life.
And even though she was on the show.
(38:29):
So yeah, I'm just finding that I have so much more to say
about all of these sketches that no one knows about
that for me, they're just memories
that live rent free in my mind.
But I'm like, you know, I think it's time
that I finally like tell all these stories that,
you know, I didn't know if anybody'd be interested,
but people are very interested
(38:50):
and people are really enjoying it.
So I'm gonna keep doing it.
No, I enjoy it very much.
I, yeah, and I just listened to that,
the Harry Blatter episode.
And I just thought it was funny that you,
you just mentioned that no one really knew
how the actors were going to be in the actual movie
(39:12):
and that they put you in a wig,
but you really look more like her and your natural hair.
They didn't need to do all that.
Who would have known, but I thought that was kind of funny.
Yeah, they did not.
Like my natural hair was kind of this reddish brown
that was usually pretty fluffy and poofy.
And it looked like Emma's in the first movie,
but for some reason they wanted us all to have wigs.
In almost every sketch they wanted us to have wigs
(39:35):
because then we were not ourselves.
They wanted to, you know, suspend the reality or whatever.
So they, you know, they put me in this like heinous wig.
It was like a crime against humanity.
It was terrible wig.
It looked nothing like Hermione's.
They fixed it eventually.
Like by the second sketch I had a better wig,
but that first wig was so bad.
(39:56):
My favorite part of the episodes is just your conversations.
I don't know how else to put it.
Your conversations with your cats and them being a co-star.
You even got a microphone for them.
Oh, I got girl Kevin here.
So the first question I have to ask,
and I hope I'm not breaking any hearts,
are they really boy Kevin and girl Kevin?
(40:16):
Are they real names, both boy and girl Kevin?
What do you call them?
Well, no, the real names are Kevin.
Yeah.
I just call them boy Kevin and girl Kevin
to separate it for the internet, for those.
Well, I don't do, do they have an existential crisis at home?
They don't know who to come when you call Kevin?
Usually I change it.
So like Kevin will get girl Kevin and like Kevin
(40:37):
will get like boy Kevin.
It's kind of like I changed the intonation a little bit,
but usually I just say Kevin and they both come running.
Not that I need them ever.
Like when do I need to call them?
They just are pieces of furniture
that just live in my house.
Like they have food anytime they want and water.
I don't need them.
I don't call them to set.
They just hear me setting up
(40:58):
and then they run downstairs to the set.
It's so stupid.
Like I'm, I don't know if they've trained me
or I've trained them, but like they now know
when I start setting up the camera
and turning on the big lights that they're like,
oh, it's podcast time.
And then they just jump on the set
and sometimes I'll feed them a little treats.
And yeah, we've had some of like the funniest moments.
(41:19):
And one time they started to start fighting
like on the set and then like,
whacking each other like stop it.
Like things are so disrespectful.
No, but they're great.
Well, it works.
They don't say much,
but they're a big part of the podcast.
So I like that.
And I've got to ask just because I worry about boy Kevin,
is he still eating Kleenexes?
(41:41):
He is still eating Kleenexes.
Yes.
I was wondering if I had one handy,
but he didn't, he didn't eat them last night.
Yeah, I don't know what his deal is, man.
I don't know.
I'm worrying about him.
He's just like, he just sits next to me
because I have terrible allergies.
So I have to have Kleenexes next to me the whole time.
In the middle of the night,
he'll just jump up and start eating Kleenex.
I'm like, what are you doing, dude?
Like I feed you, I feed you nice food.
(42:04):
Like you're not, you're fat.
Like you're not starving.
You don't need to knock it off.
At least it's right out of the box.
My dog, the up, the nasty part,
he'll eat a Kleenex after it's been, it's been used.
Sometimes when I'm in bed and I use a Kleenex
and I put it on the nightstand,
oh, that's a treat for him.
So, yeah.
Oh, my god, yeah, yeah.
(42:25):
So at least it's a new one.
He's eating fresh, fresh Kleenex.
Exactly, exactly.
So in wrapping things up,
because you haven't already,
you're not already doing enough.
Let's talk briefly about your music career.
You live in Las Vegas.
So you've been able to kind of use that
and do some residencies.
(42:46):
You've got a band.
Talk a little bit about that.
Yeah, so, I mean, if you remember from my earlier story,
I started on stage.
That's where it all began,
was being on stage and having the rush
of that live audience.
Moved to being more on camera.
But again, all that was like a perfect marriage
of being on camera, but then also the live audience.
So it was like theater meets TV.
(43:07):
It was perfect.
So I've always loved being in front of a live audience
and I've always loved singing.
I was a trained opera singer when I was younger.
And yeah, now it's just full circle.
Honestly, the jobs are just not as,
there's just not as many acting jobs as there used to be.
And that's, every actor across the board will tell you that.
It's just the way it is.
(43:29):
We have AI, like we have,
they'll hire celebrities for everything.
If you're just a basic working actor,
it's very hard to find work.
And it's just happened over the last 10 years.
Everything's just gone downhill for that.
So I'm not one to just sit around
and wait for the phone to ring.
I'm an entertainer and that's what I do.
(43:50):
And I wanna make people happy.
And I'm not just gonna wait for the next audition to come.
So I'm like, let's do this.
Let's get back into music.
Let's go back to my roots.
Let's be on stage.
That's an art that will never die
unless they really perfect holograms.
But you're always gonna need live music.
You're always gonna need live performing.
AI can take a lot of my jobs, but they can't take that.
(44:11):
Especially not with the way I am on stage
and the way I work in audience
and my stage presence and my crowd control.
It's something I really enjoy doing.
And I sing in a metal band.
I sing in a rock and roll band.
I sing in a country club band.
All different genres of music.
And I just absolutely love it.
I love it so, so, so, so much.
(44:33):
I mean, honestly, acting is my first love,
but you know, honestly,
I would take some of these live performances
over like a commercial shoot any day.
They're such a blast.
So yes, I'm in Vegas.
I perform all over the place at all these venues.
If you're in town, just, my Instagram has everything.
(44:53):
My Instagram has all of the info.
It will always tell you where I'm at,
where I'm performing, what I'm doing.
So just follow me there
and that's where you'll get all the info.
Yeah, well, I think we could chat for a lot longer,
but I wanna wrap things up
and you put a nice little bow on it right there.
So tell people how they can follow along with you,
how they can check out the podcast,
(45:14):
follow along to your Instagram, all that kind of stuff.
Shout out all your connection points.
Yes, I meant for the podcast to be a Spotify podcast,
but let me tell you,
people are way more into the YouTube version.
So how I watch it.
My podcast is, the audio version can be found
on any podcast platform.
The video is on Spotify,
but mostly people watch it on YouTube.
(45:34):
But it's just least foils, YouTube slash least foils,
whatever.
Yeah, temperamentals on there.
And then Instagram is where I'm the most active.
So if you wanna talk to me,
leave a comment on something on Instagram
and I will reply.
Usually I'll reply.
Yeah, but that's about it.
Instagram, YouTube, I'm on Facebook.
(45:58):
I don't really do TikTok.
I don't really mess with that.
I'm not really, I'm not on Snapchat.
So yeah, just find me on Instagram.
That's where I'm at.
I love it.
Well, I really appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been great.
You've been great chatting with you.
So now it's Lisa Foyles.
Really enjoyed the conversation.
I had so many amazing people on.
(46:20):
It's almost impossible to pick any favorites,
but I can tell you,
definitely one of my favorite genres
is when I get to speak with people from my childhood
and kind of relive that time
and learn a little bit about the behind the scenes
of some of my favorite shows growing up
and all that was certainly one of them.
So I really, really appreciate you Lisa for coming on
(46:41):
and providing some of that behind the scenes.
I urge you to check out her podcast,
Temporamental, really, really great.
It is shorter than this one.
It's a great drive time podcast
when you're heading to work,
whether you're listening to it.
I would urge you to check out the YouTube video.
I like watching it.
Just the antics with her cat sometimes
(47:03):
is not audio, but visual.
So I think that's good.
Maybe don't watch it while you're driving,
but maybe when you're getting ready.
I really, really enjoy Temporamental.
So urge you to check that out.
Check out her band if you're ever in Vegas.
She's got several different projects,
but I've listened to different clips of her singing.
(47:25):
Definitely a great thing there.
She talks about it in the podcast too.
I was just in Vegas a week or two ago,
weren't able to line up exactly when one of her shows were,
but definitely gonna check it out if times ever do line up.
Go follow along with her.
All the links to everything Lisa Foyles
will be in the show notes.
(47:46):
Go follow along with this podcast if you haven't already.
Subscribe, follow along on Apple and Spotify.
Leave a five-star rating on both platforms.
Helps a ton.
Leave a written review on Apple.
Helps a ton as well.
Follow along on Facebook, Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff.
Follow along on TikTok and Instagram, Not in a Huff podcast.
(48:06):
Lots of places to make sure you don't miss the next episode,
but really, really appreciate Lisa's time.
Thank you for being here as well.
We'll catch you next week.
Take it away, Chris.
This has been Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to join us next time
where we will interview another amazing guest
who is sure to make you laugh or make you think,
(48:28):
or hey, maybe even both.
But until then, keep being awesome.
In a few years, these kids won't care about you.
(00:01):
These people care about you right now,
and you bring them happiness right now.
Nothing lasts forever.
In 10 years, these kids might not care about you.
You might have no fans,
and you'll wish this was your life,
and you'll wish that you were kind to every kid
that enjoyed your work.
Welcome to Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff,
where we interview newsmakers,
storytellers, and all around interesting people.
(00:24):
Sit back, relax, unless you're driving,
and enjoy the show.
Here's Jackson.
Hello, hello, hello.
I am Jackson Huff.
This is Not in a Huff.
Thanks so much for joining me.
As always, really appreciate it.
This week, another really, really amazing guest,
another guest from my childhood,
slightly later than the last,
(00:45):
when I'm talking to someone from the show All That.
I spoke with Lori Beth Denberg almost two years ago now.
She was from that original cast.
We talk all about kind of the creation of All That,
which if you don't know was on Nickelodeon.
It was kind of the kids' version of Saturday Night Live,
sketch comedy, that type of thing.
I kind of grew up with Lori Beth.
(01:07):
I grew up in the mid-90s,
so that was kind of Lori Beth's time,
and then they got a few different casts,
just like Saturday Night Live.
They replace people,
and people leave for bigger and better things.
I say all that to say I'm speaking with Lisa Foiles today.
She was a part of a little bit later of a cast,
but I still certainly remember watching her
(01:28):
on the show as well.
Gonna talk all about her time on All That.
She had a really great time.
There's a lot out there with people that didn't.
We don't really get too much into that.
We do address it very briefly,
but mostly we talk about just the amazing experience
that she had.
I really, really appreciate her joining me.
(01:51):
She's got some really, really amazing things going on.
Like I said, we talk about her career
from auditioning to being on the show
and some of her favorite sketches.
We talk about her time in a one-episode cameo,
but a really big episode.
I think it won an Emmy on Malcolm in the Middle.
Called it Boys Were Girls.
(02:12):
It's a really monumental episode for sure,
how they edited it.
We talk about what she's up to these days.
She actually has a podcast herself now
where her co-hosts are her two cats,
both a boy and a girl,
both named Kevin.
I really, really enjoy listening to her podcast.
I do listen to it myself.
And then we talk about that she's also
started a music career.
(02:33):
She's got several bands.
I know that her kind of biggest one is a heavy metal band.
So a lot covered from the nostalgia of, you know,
learning about a show from my childhood
to learning about kind of just the world of acting
and how it's changed.
Talking about her podcast and what inspired that.
(02:53):
Talking about the band.
I think you're really, really gonna enjoy this.
And Lisa's a really, really great person.
Here is Lisa Foiles.
Lisa Foiles, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing good.
Thanks for having me.
Oh, well, thanks for agreeing to join me.
I'm gonna let you do the heavy lifting
right out the gate.
Just introduce yourself.
Well, just so you know, girl Kevin, my cat is here
and you will hear a lot of meowing
(03:14):
as she does on my podcast all the time.
I've got questions about her later.
Yes, oh, we have, they're here,
both boy Kevin's over there.
Of course, every time they sense a camera is rolling
or a microphone turns on, they're like, we're there.
Hey, what's up guys?
My name is Lisa Foyles.
Most people know me from Nickelodeon's All That.
Although I've done a myriad of other things
(03:34):
aside from that, but that's just my most well-known project.
Obviously it's a legacy Nickelodeon program.
I mean, everybody watched All That.
I watched All That growing up.
I was a massive fan before I was able to join the show.
I was on Even Stevens first, actually.
And then an Emmy winning episode
of Malcolm in the Middle was on Leverage.
(03:56):
I've been on other Nickelodeon shows
like Game Shakers and Henry Danger.
And I'm a singer and a host and I do all the things.
So yeah, and I host a podcast called Temperamental
with Lisa Foyles starring me and my cats,
both named Kevin.
So there you go.
I love it.
And you know, it means I did my research all right
(04:17):
because we're gonna unpack most of what you just mentioned.
So I want to kind of just start with the question.
I'm sure you've answered about six bajillion times,
but how did you get your start in entertainment?
What created that passion?
Yeah, so basically as soon as I could walk, I danced.
I love dancing.
I love singing.
I would just sing and dance around the house
(04:37):
to the point where my parents were like,
okay, we gotta get her in some kind of formal training
if this is something she wants to do.
So yeah, I started out in dance classes
and very quickly went into competitive dance.
I was competing a lot.
I was always on stage and I just loved it
and I was very good at it.
I mean, it was very rare
that I didn't win a first place trophy.
And that's not like, I'm not trying to brag.
(04:59):
It's just the way it was.
I was a really talented kid, especially in dance.
And one of my claims to fame in that circuit
was I did a very difficult song and dance
where I was tapping, tap dancing at a very high level
and singing at the same time.
So I talk about cardio.
I don't know that I can do that now,
but usually if somebody does a song and dance,
(05:20):
they'll sing for a little bit and then they'll tap
and then they'll sing and then they'll tap.
I was doing it all together, all at the same time
for the entire three minutes song.
And it just kind of blew people's minds.
And eventually because of that,
the judges at that particular competition
went up to my parents
because I was living in Spokane, Washington at the time.
(05:40):
And they came up to my parents and they're like,
hey, she is a star.
She is talented, but you're never gonna get anywhere
in Spokane, Washington.
So if you want her to pursue this path
and she has this as a dream,
you gotta take her to Los Angeles.
So that's what we did.
God bless my parents.
They're the best.
They picked up everything and moved to just outside
of Los Angeles, a place called Riverside.
(06:03):
And just cause it was really important to my parents
that I still had a backyard and I still had a childhood.
And I wasn't just in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
I actually had a place, a backyard to run around
and dogs and cats and a real childhood
while I was trying to pursue this very odd passion of mine.
(06:25):
And yeah, as soon as I went to LA,
I got hooked up with an agent
and she sent me on a couple, many auditions.
And I eventually booked some commercials
and then a pilot that I started and then even Stevens.
And then the next big one was all that.
So that's how it all started.
And were you your parents?
Were they at all into entertainment at all?
(06:48):
Had they even started in the play?
I always just think it's funny when we've got
two quiet accountants and they get thrown in your world,
I guess thrown like a spunky redheaded child
ready to tap dance all over the place.
So what are your parents like?
Nope, I'm the only foils who does entertainment.
Everybody else is in sports.
(07:09):
All my cousins do sports.
They love that world.
My dad was a computer programmer.
He's super nerd and loves sports.
My mom was a stay at home mom.
And she always loved entertainment
and she loved watching the Carol Burnett show.
And she's responsible for introducing me
to a lot of those old comedies
because she had such a passion for it.
(07:29):
And she was very funny.
Both of my parents were very funny,
but not on a professional level.
They're just funny humans.
And we loved watching comedies.
We were massive MST 3K fans.
Like mystery science theater fans.
So that just kind of became our lifestyle.
We'd watch MST where they sit and, you know,
make quips about old terrible movies.
(07:50):
And then we just found ourselves doing that for everything.
And so, yeah, it was a whole new world.
For my parents, they had to like buy books.
My mom was like reading books about how to,
like acting in film, like how to be an actor.
Like literally we were buying like acting for dummies books
because we had no idea.
I show and same with music.
Nobody in my family is musically inclined.
(08:12):
I get very jealous of my bandmates
because a lot of them came from musical families
and their dads taught them how to play guitar.
Their moms taught them how to sing or like whatever.
And I like, I'm a little envious of that
because I do wish I came from more of a,
like I wish I grew up like jamming with my family.
Like it would be really cool.
But I was just me.
(08:32):
Like I was the only one into all of this stuff.
But that being said, my parents also had excellent taste.
I think that's the difference
is that they didn't do it themselves,
but they had incredible taste.
Like my dad's music taste was impeccable.
He got me at a very early age.
He got me hooked on all the greats.
I mean, I was listening to Van Halen and Queen
and Led Zeppelin, like these were all my favorite bands
(08:54):
as like a kid.
I remember I listened to like Journey all the time.
And that was before Journey like came back.
Remember like Journey was really popular
in like the eighties or seventies.
And then like nobody really cared about him for a while.
And then I think like Scrubs like brought them back
or something like they had a resurgence
where everybody was singing,
don't stop believing it now everywhere.
It's everywhere.
There's a period of time like no one has seen Journey.
(09:16):
I think I was the only one.
Had these songs on repeat.
So yeah, I didn't grow up in an entertainment family,
but yeah, I'm the weirdo.
So yeah.
It means that you really have that passion.
You weren't just pushed into it.
So I think that's a great thing.
I wanna kind of start in, you know,
you're acting when we talk about Even Stevens.
(09:37):
I had Jim Wise on probably been two years ago,
which was Coach Tugnet.
So we talked a lot about Even Stevens.
So we don't have to really hash too much of that out
other than your individual experience.
What was that like for you?
Yeah, it was my first time being on a real TV show.
And at the time, you know,
(09:59):
that we didn't have all these streaming services.
There was pretty much two channels that kids watched.
And it was Nickelodeon and there was Disney.
There's also Cartoon Network,
but for like live action TV shows for kids,
you had Nickelodeon and you had Disney.
And pretty much when you were an actor
and you landed roles,
you were either a Disney kid or a Nickelodeon kid.
(10:21):
And growing up, as a viewer,
I was totally a Nickelodeon kid.
Like I was addicted to Nickelodeon.
I watched everything from Hey Dude,
to the early All That season, to Clarissa,
to like everything, salute your shorts,
everything, I was obsessed.
I still watch Disney, but like not as much.
I don't know, Lizzie McGuire never really connected with me.
(10:43):
I was also homeschooled.
So a lot of these shows about like growing up in school,
like they didn't really apply to me
because I'm like, I don't have that experience.
So, but I did like Even Stevens.
I thought it was the wackiest one
just because Shia was so over the top and silly.
So I really liked his character.
So when I booked Disney, I thought,
all right, this is it, I'm a Disney kid.
(11:04):
Like, okay, I guess I'm on the Disney channel
because you don't go back and forth really.
Like every kid stays where they are.
They don't cross battle line.
But yeah, it was my first real TV show.
The only significant thing I've done before
that was a pilot.
It was a starring role in a pilot.
But again, it was much lower budget.
(11:25):
It wasn't a studio.
It was, we were independently making it.
So just to be at such a high level
was such a good experience
that I think lent to the professionalism
I was able to adopt going on to do all that
and all these other shows.
(11:45):
You know, like my mom always made sure
I was very respectful and that I learned everybody's names
and that gets a lot harder
when you're working with a lot more people.
So suddenly I'm on a set and there's four people
in the hair and makeup tent instead of one
and there's six people working wardrobe instead of one.
And you know, it's just like, there's so many people.
(12:06):
And that same thing, my mom was like,
you learn everybody's names, you shake all their hands,
you tell them thank you, you be respectful
and remember that, you know,
they all wanna go home to their families,
that you are not the star and you will never be the star.
You are a working actor just like these people are working.
So make sure you nail it, know your lines,
get on set, do your job so everybody can go home.
And that always, always stuck with me.
(12:29):
And that's why I always try to show up on every set
as absolutely as prepared as I possibly can.
I'm not there to waste anybody's time.
I'm there to get the job done.
So that was my first real taste of that and it was awesome.
I mean, Christie was so sweet to us.
Shia was so funny.
Shia was just all over the place.
Like I think we talked to him a little bit,
(12:49):
but he was just like riding skateboards around the set,
like running over here and running over there.
He's just, he was like a crazy kid.
I mean, we're all kids, but he was super funny.
And yeah, it was just, it was awesome.
But I gotta say, I was so,
I was so happy when I booked all that
and I kind of morphed into a Nickelodeon kid
(13:10):
because that's really where I felt at home.
I always felt that Nickelodeon was my network.
And yeah, again, love Disney,
but man, I'm happy to be a Nick kid.
I like that.
I, if you want to, I guess hear my shocked about the,
going from Nickelodeon to Disney and back and forth,
(13:31):
you'd have to listen to the episode
with Lori Beth Denberg because she had kind of
the opposite thing that just blew my mind
where her all that seasons were filmed in Orlando.
And after filming, almost every night,
she said she went to Disney World and watched the fireworks.
I was like, is that allowed?
Are you allowed to do that?
(13:51):
Did it take your paycheck away from you?
Oh, don't get me wrong.
I love Disneyland and the Disney parks
is a totally different thing.
But when you're actually a working actor
and you're showing up to red carpet events,
like you either are representing Nickelodeon
and you're representing Disney.
Right, no, for sure.
So let's kind of move into how you were casted in all that.
(14:14):
What did that look like?
It was already a kind of a legacy show.
It was something that was already,
had already been big in the past.
It was kind of a unique thing when I think they had already,
they had taken like a year break or a little bit longer
when you joined the cast.
So what did that look like?
Yeah, they were filming in Florida
and then they decided to move the show
(14:34):
to Nick on Sunset in Los Angeles.
And it was the longest, most involved audition process
I've ever been a part of.
I mean, they did a nationwide search
for this brand new cast.
For the longest time, they would try to,
you have the original members, the OG members,
you have Katrina Johnson and Alisa Reyes
(14:55):
and Keenan and Kel and yeah, even Amanda Bynes,
I think didn't come until season two or three.
So you have Josh Server, obviously,
Danny Tamburelli came in a little bit later.
So you kind of had this core group of kids
and then they kind of just kept switching out
and switching out.
Some got a little too old to be on the show.
So then they replaced with somebody younger.
And then it was just like SNL,
(15:17):
it was kind of an ever changing cast of kids.
But the network decided it was time
for a totally clean slate.
They wanted a brand new cast of young kids
for the new generation.
And they did a nationwide search.
And so there was a lot of cattle calls,
I think around the US.
(15:38):
I don't think people were doing auditions on tape
at that time.
So I think there were actual places to audition
around the US and I was obviously already in LA.
So I was able to go to that.
And that first audition was just insane.
There's so many kids there.
I had to wait in line for so long.
Everybody's chaotic.
(15:59):
I mean, just imagine, like obviously
the Nickelodeon energy is over the top chaos.
And while I'm able to turn that on on camera,
and I mean, I still can and I still do.
And as a kid, I was able like, as soon as you get me
in front of that camera, like, I'll bring the energy.
I was actually a very quiet kid.
(16:22):
In fact, I was so quiet.
I never really spoke a word in the dance classes
that I was in in California.
I just didn't really felt like I fit in with the other kids.
I was new to California.
They were all already friends with each other.
So I was just very, very quiet for years at this dance studio.
So when those kids found out I landed all that,
they were like, what?
(16:42):
Like that girl who just like doesn't talk to anyone?
Like what's going on?
So I was very overwhelmed
at the first couple rounds of auditions
because it was just these high energy kid actors
and some non-actors just bouncing off the walls.
And I was like super overwhelmed,
just trying to focus on my monologue and focus on my scripts.
(17:03):
So for the auditions, we had to do,
we had to write our own monologue
and that monologue needed to contain
three different characters.
And then there was a script that we read from
called Crazy Terry.
And then we also just did like a basic Q&A
with the producers.
And so it was kind of a three-part audition process.
(17:26):
And yeah, so I was just very overwhelmed
by all the other kids.
Like, oh my gosh,
like all these kids deserve to be on Nickelodeon.
Do I?
Like they're so hyper and crazy.
Like that's totally the Nickelodeon style.
But again, as soon as I step in front of the camera,
like I turn it on and I'm a professional
and I totally nailed my audition,
I got called back and I got called back again
and I got called back again.
(17:46):
And then every callback,
there's just less and less and less kids.
So we got to, I think the seventh callback
and that was the final callback.
And it was narrowed down to, I wanna say,
10 kids and they needed seven.
And they made it very clear that they only needed seven.
(18:07):
So it was either 10 or 12.
I can't remember what the very last pool of us was.
But again, I just sat in the corner.
Like I didn't really, I remember Chelsea and Jack
were like hanging out and like Shane was there.
And obviously these kids would soon become my best friends.
But at the time they were just kids
I was competing against.
(18:27):
And they were all laughing and having fun in the lobby.
And I was just sitting there in the corner,
just going over my script.
But yeah, nailed the final audition.
And it was weeks after that,
that they let us know who landed the show.
And I just remember that phone call and how excited I was
and showing up on day one and meeting all the other kids.
(18:51):
In fact, I was the last kid to show up,
which is very weird because I'm usually
like embarrassingly early for everything.
You know, there's fashionably late and then there's me,
which is embarrassingly early.
Usually I'm the first person on every set.
But for some reason that first day,
when we were all meeting each other for the first time,
I was the last kid to show up.
So I walked through the door and I got to see all six
(19:13):
of the other kids.
And I'm like, all right, like this is it.
This is my fam.
Like this is, we're all in this together.
It was just awesome.
Wow, that is awesome.
And you know, we've got you to your first day.
So you already talked about how you had watched the show
growing up.
Maybe it made it a little bit easier
given that it was a whole new cast.
(19:34):
You weren't thrust into, you know,
a well-oiled machine already,
but was there any pressure there?
You knew that it had been a popular show in the past.
And you know, there probably is a little bit of pressure
to make sure that this is at least lives up to expectations.
Oh, totally.
And you know, I still deal with that, right?
(19:54):
Like in comments, like I still will post a clip
from one of my seasons and I'll get a handful of people
like, yeah, you guys weren't as good as the OG.
And I'm like, okay, well, first of all,
then you're not the right age
because most of the fans of my seasons
didn't watch the original season.
They don't really know.
They only watched us.
And that was the whole point of getting a whole new cast
(20:17):
was for the new generation of kids.
So we have our own fan base and you know,
all of us brought something different to the table,
but I even remember that first day
we all met in the school room.
I remember already Jack was like,
okay, you're the new Amanda Vines
and I'm the new Josh Server.
And like, you're the new Danny Tamburelli.
Like he was already like assigning like,
(20:37):
who are you, who are you, who are you?
Because we were all such massive fans of the original cast.
And you know, we all knew there were really big shoes to fill
but we wanted to make sure that we brought our own energy
and our own spin to it.
And we're just trying to do a good job, really.
I mean, it's scary, right?
Like just the seven of us are carrying the show.
(20:58):
Usually when you're a kid and you book a sitcom,
you have other adults that you're acting with, you know,
you're playing a daughter or a son and you have a family
and there's a, you know, it was just us.
Like every sketch was like just us,
the occasional adult guest star, but it's just us.
So we were pretty successful right off the bat
(21:20):
because again, well, first of all,
we didn't have the internet really.
So we didn't have message boards of angry people saying,
screw these guys, we missed the original cast.
We didn't really have to deal with that.
I didn't have a lot of feedback,
but our ratings are good and we had our own fans
and we'd go to these publicity events and walk red carpets
and we were mobbed by kids everywhere we went.
I remember I couldn't even go to the mall.
(21:41):
It's like, I just got recognized everywhere I went.
And again, I was a quiet kid that kind of kept to myself
and I was homeschooled.
I didn't go to school with other kids.
And I just kind of, I really liked my privacy.
So going to the mall and like having kids, you know,
watch me and look at me and point at me and come up to me
and like tackle me, like it was very weird.
(22:01):
But my mom was very adamant that I'm kind to every fan
forever, forever.
She just was, I mean, again, I was 14, 13, 14
during that first season when we really blew up
and we had all these fans.
And she's kept saying to me, she's like,
in a few years, these kids won't care about you
in a very nice way.
(22:22):
But she was like, these people care about you right now
and you bring them happiness right now.
Nothing lasts forever.
In 10 years, these kids might not care about you.
You might have no fans and you'll wish this was your life
and you'll wish that you were kind to every kid
that enjoyed your work.
Again, like just great words of wisdom.
And so to this day, I just really try to spend time
(22:44):
talking to everybody who recognizes me,
anybody who enjoyed my work.
I would, back in the day, I sent signed headshots
to like everybody who wrote me fan mail.
I would sit there in my house for hours signing headshots.
God bless my parents.
They would just send those out to every kid
who wrote me fan mail.
(23:04):
Insane, dude.
But it was important.
It was really important to us and my parents and to me.
And I'm really glad.
I'm really, really glad that we did that.
No, I think that's important to keep you grounded
and make sure that you turned into the person
that you are now.
So I like that for sure.
I wanna, we've got a lot to cover.
(23:26):
We're moving quick.
I want to just now ask you again,
probably a question that you get a lot,
but on the show, what are some of the sketches that maybe,
I don't know if I wanna say favorite,
but maybe that you enjoyed the most?
I mean, sugar and coffee's up there.
Everybody loves sugar and coffee.
That was the one where we just got to be as insane
(23:48):
as possible, bouncing off the walls,
literally bouncing on trampolines,
getting to do crazy, you know,
it's messy, it was messy, it was high energy,
it was fun, we got to scream,
we got to dump sugar and coffee on people
or sugar and flat coke, I'll say.
And so that's one that stands out.
Slumber Party changed my life.
(24:08):
I played the goth girl, Claudia on Slumber Party
and that was sort of a joke,
kind of a practical joke by the writers
because I was like this little innocent ray of sunshine,
like little innocent Lisa Foyles,
just pigtails and happiness and positivity,
it was totally me.
I just would try to brighten everybody's day all the time.
(24:31):
I was like Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory,
I was just like so joyful.
And so they're like, what if we turn her
into a really irritated goth girl?
So genius on their part.
So I was playing very against type for Claudia
and but I loved it, like a very dead pan, you know,
creepy girl wearing, you know, black clothes,
(24:53):
totally hot topic down with the black wig
and the nose ring, totally opposite my personality.
But I loved playing Claudia so much
and they let me keep so much of the wardrobe
at the end of each season.
That sooner or later, I just kept actually wearing it
and kind of turning more goth myself.
And now I sing in a metal band
and I wear skeleton outfits.
(25:15):
It's just so funny how Claudia really sunk in
more than I ever would have imagined.
But yeah, and then Together Forever is another one
with Jack, the center.
One of my all time favorites
because of the physical comedy involved in that.
We really did.
We tried to always do it in one take
and then we had this physical stunt
where we were sitting at school desks
(25:36):
and asked, you know, we're the perfect couple
and we're having a great time and we love each other,
but then we start bickering and then we start screaming.
And then my signature move is I would launch out of my chair,
hackle Jack out of his chair onto the floor.
Crazy physical move.
They had a big mat on the other side.
Obviously we're dealing with desks and chairs
and they have legs and there's metal rods
(25:57):
sticking everywhere, but coming from a dance background,
I was very conscious of my body
and able to perform a lot of physical stunts just naturally
because again, I just danced my whole life.
And yeah, one of my favorite sketches, love those.
So those three probably top for me.
Yeah, we've got to ask you the flip side
(26:19):
and I've got to do a little callback
just so people check out other episodes,
but Lori Beth said her least favorite was Loud Librarian,
which is one of the most popular ones
because she was always afraid she was going to hurt somebody
when she was throwing stuff around.
So she had to be very mindful of everything she was doing.
So what's some of your least favorite ones
(26:40):
that you had to do or ones that maybe you just
wouldn't choose to do again if you didn't have to?
Oh my gosh, that's a good question.
No one ever asked me that question.
What is my least favorite?
Oh, I didn't like Tilt-A-Hurl.
It was the worst one.
I hated it so much.
So Tilt-A-Hurl, I think we only did for two seasons,
but basically Kyle was like a new hire for a carny
(27:03):
at a carnival and the carny was this disgusting,
disgusting dude played by Jeremy Rowley,
incredible actor, you would recognize him if you saw him.
He played, gosh, what was his?
Lubert on iCarly and he was on our show a ton
and he does progressive commercials.
He's from the ground links.
He's insanely talented.
And he was always like our go-to adult guest star.
(27:25):
Like anytime we needed the funny adult, it would be him.
And basically they were working at a roller coaster
and Kyle was super excited to start his first day.
And then they'd look up at the roller coaster
and Jeremy would go, here come the lopity lope.
And then vomit would fall on everybody's head.
So whenever you had to guest star on Tilt-A-Hurl,
(27:46):
you knew that you were going to get vomited on.
And the concoction obviously was safe.
It was not vomit.
It was like a mixture of like pudding
and whatever else they put in there.
Similar to the stuff they use in slime, tapiko pudding,
chunks of whatever, it's all very safe and edible,
but it was still just, it looked like barf and it was messy
(28:06):
and it dropped on your head and it was gross
and slimy, I hated that.
Very funny sketch, but man, I did not like it.
I think that's understandable for sure.
And I want to kind of get to the audience now
and I'm sure you still deal with it now.
You deal with it back then.
Maybe it means more to you at this point,
(28:28):
but this show was something that got people
through a lot of different things.
There was people, kids back then that had rough home lives
and it was a reprieve for that hour on Saturday night
to watch and to laugh at all that.
So is that something I'm sure that people tell you even now
(28:49):
and what does that meant to you
that you've shaped some childhoods?
Oh, totally.
It really means a lot to me when people say
that I was able to brighten their childhood
and I made them laugh.
Like that's really all I want to do in life.
It's still all I want to do.
I just want to make people smile and make people laugh.
(29:09):
I never go too deep.
I never go political.
Like any of that stuff in any of my content,
all my content is very light and silly and fun.
Even my podcast, Temperamental, is PG.
Like it's anytime I curse accidentally, I'll bleep it.
Like I keep the topics very light and silly.
Like I just want people to know,
like if you come to me for any content,
it's just gonna be way less stressful than anything else.
(29:32):
You're gonna watch that.
Get done watching the news, you're stressed out,
come watch an episode of Temperamental,
it'll be complete silliness.
But even speaking about Slodya,
I've had a handful, more than a handful of girls,
especially commenting on my post saying,
I was the first alt girl they ever saw on TV,
(29:54):
which is insane to think about.
But yeah, I mean, way back in the day,
I don't know how many goth characters were featured
in shows in the late 90s and the early 2000s,
but I was definitely a prominent one.
And for me, I was just playing a really fun character,
but I didn't realize, I realize now,
that I was helping represent this community.
(30:18):
A lot of girls who felt very different,
and they did dress like that,
and they did have the nose ring,
and they had the hot topic getup,
and they felt like outsiders because it wasn't cool
back then, and you were the minority.
And here I was the coolest character in the whole sketch.
Like, Kaleide's the best character in the sketch.
It's called Bridget Slumber Party, but I'm the funny one.
(30:39):
They're also very funny,
but you watch that sketch for Claudia,
because she's such a dark force
in this happy, colorful world.
So to get those comments specifically, those mean the most.
They're like, hey, Claudia made me laugh,
but she also made me realize I can be like that.
I can dress like that.
I can be like Claudia.
(31:00):
She represented me, and I think that's so awesome.
So yeah, that's really cool.
Yeah, and I think all that did a really good job
of highlighting different kinds of people.
That was the same thing that I had heard in the past
where Lori Beth had talked about
how she was one of the first people.
(31:21):
She got a lot of comments like,
people that look like me when it comes to body image
normally aren't on TV, so I felt seen.
So I think that's really cool.
It's not something I even thought about with Claudia,
but I really liked that a lot.
So I want to ask you now,
just kind of in wrapping up all that thing is,
(31:42):
there obviously there's been documentaries come out about it.
There's been people that say
they didn't have a great experience.
I don't necessarily wanna dwell on those type of things,
but I do want you just to kind of mention
your thoughts with that
and kind of the overall experience that you had.
Yeah, no, I'm happy to tell everybody
(32:03):
that those four years were the best four years of my life.
And sometimes I feel guilty saying that
because I have kids and a husband and yes, yes,
raising you and birthing you and marrying,
like all these, hey family, yes, big,
these years I've spent with you are very special,
but gosh, those four years on all that
were so formative and fun and life-changing.
(32:28):
And I just had an absolute blast.
I always felt safe on the set.
My parents were always there.
For me, it was a really good, fun, safe, healthy environment
and from my experience.
And I love my fam from that show.
I love my cast members.
(32:49):
I think we all worked really hard.
And I hope people can still,
regardless of the media and whatever anybody says,
I really still hope that our fans of our seasons
can look back on our episodes fondly.
The worst are when people leave a comment
and they're like, I feel so,
(33:09):
now that I know about these dark things that happened,
I just feel really guilty that I watched you guys
and that I was laughing at your comedy.
No, no, no, don't feel that way, please.
We wanted to make you laugh.
I want you to look back fondly.
I want you to be happy that we made you happy.
I'm so proud of us and the work we did
and I would do it all over again, honestly.
(33:33):
The show went 10 years.
Obviously they rebooted it in 2019,
but just to be a part of that history,
growing up loving Keenan and Kel and Danny Tamburelli
and Josh Server and Alisa and Katrina and Amanda,
loving all these people
and then getting to step into their shoes
and contribute to this amazing show
is just the best time of my life.
(33:54):
It's changed everything.
It completely changed my life
and it still continues to do so.
And I'm so, so, so thankful I do it all again.
I love that.
I appreciate you sharing that for sure.
I wanna get into your podcast.
We don't have time to talk about Malcolm in the Middle.
I just want you at the end to say, yeah.
So you were on Malcolm in the Middle for one episode.
(34:17):
If Boys Were Girls, it was an amazing episode.
It was Emmy-winning.
Everyone should definitely check out that episode, right?
Yes, it was, yeah, Emmy for editing,
I believe.
It was like the female version of Malcolm.
It was the Valentine's Day episode
and Lois was pregnant
and she didn't know if she was having a girl or boy.
So she's wondering, what would it be like to have all girls
(34:39):
instead of all boys?
So during the episode,
the boys kept morphing into girls
and I was the female Malcolm.
And even though I only got to be on one episode,
because obviously a character like that cannot recur
because it was a one-time special,
it was an iconic episode.
And a lot of people tell me
that it was their favorite episode of the show ever.
So it was really cool to be a part of
(35:00):
that particular episode of that show.
Yeah, for sure.
And I recommend people go check out your episode
of your podcast where you go into detail with it.
So let's talk about-
Oh yeah, I forgot that I did that, yes.
You did, you did.
So let's start talking about Temperamental.
Tell us a little bit about the podcast.
And this is where we're gonna start talking
(35:20):
about the two Kevins here in a second.
Yes, so my podcast, it started out,
I wanted it to be very Wayne's World.
I wanted it to just be chaos and ridiculousness.
And that's exactly what it is.
It's just me and my two cats, both named Kevin.
It's 30 minutes.
I call it a short drive podcast
because you get some of these podcasts
(35:40):
that are like two hours long.
I'm like, who has time to listen to a two hour podcast?
Most people I know are in the car for 30 minutes every day.
To and from work, whatever.
I'm like, okay, I got a short drive podcast.
Here's 30 minutes.
It's insanity.
It's silliness.
It's cats.
And I'll usually throw in some behind the scenes,
all that stories that no one's ever heard before.
(36:01):
And I'll show pictures from behind the scenes
that I've never shown anyone before.
So I kind of do both and I tell great stories.
Again, every once in a while I'll do a special, right?
So every day or every week it's a 30 minute episode,
but every once in a while I'll do a little bit longer one
that's like about 45 minutes or so.
And I'll do a deep dive into one thing.
(36:22):
So I did a sugaring coffee special
where I talked all about sugar and coffee.
Every sketch that we did of sugar and coffee,
all the guest stars, what the coffee was made of,
what the process was filming it,
how I choked on the sugar all the time
and didn't figure it out till the very last season.
I did a deep dive into Claudia,
into the slumber party sketch.
(36:44):
I just did Harry Bladder.
We did a Harry Potter spinoff called Harry Bladder.
And looking back at it now, it's so fascinating
because we filmed the sketches before the movies came out.
So obviously we had the books as references
for the characters, but we hadn't seen the movie
because the movie came out in November.
(37:05):
We were filming earlier that summer
and then our episodes debuted the following January.
So it's just so fascinating to go back
and look at those sketches, knowing that we didn't,
I was playing her Heine, a parody of Hermione.
I'd never seen Emma Watson act.
I'd, we'd seen, we had press photos
and then I had people in the comments who were like,
oh, you probably had a bunch of trailers to watch.
(37:26):
I'm like, first of all, the internet was not what it was
back then, what it is today.
Like we didn't, we couldn't just Google the trailer
and then watch, we have YouTube.
Like you maybe caught it on TV if there was a teaser.
Again, this was the summer
and the movie didn't come out till November.
So maybe there was a couple of teaser trailers,
but that's not enough to like really study a character,
(37:47):
study Emma Watson's mannerisms, become Hermione.
It wasn't enough.
So we just tried our best, but it's just interesting
that we were one of the first TV shows to parody
Harry Potter, it's pretty cool.
So I did a deep dive into that.
And obviously Keenan was a guest star on that
as principal Pimpel.
And then, yeah, I did deep dive into
the Malcolm in the Middle episode,
(38:08):
which is you'd think being on one episode of one TV show
wouldn't be that fascinating, but I had,
I have so much to talk about.
Like I couldn't believe how much I had to talk about
like Jeanette McCurdy being the female Dewey.
And obviously everybody knows Jeanette now from iCarly,
but that was like one of her first big roles.
And she was like my little sister in real life.
And even though she was on the show.
(38:29):
So yeah, I'm just finding that I have so much more to say
about all of these sketches that no one knows about
that for me, they're just memories
that live rent free in my mind.
But I'm like, you know, I think it's time
that I finally like tell all these stories that,
you know, I didn't know if anybody'd be interested,
but people are very interested
(38:50):
and people are really enjoying it.
So I'm gonna keep doing it.
No, I enjoy it very much.
I, yeah, and I just listened to that,
the Harry Blatter episode.
And I just thought it was funny that you,
you just mentioned that no one really knew
how the actors were going to be in the actual movie
(39:12):
and that they put you in a wig,
but you really look more like her and your natural hair.
They didn't need to do all that.
Who would have known, but I thought that was kind of funny.
Yeah, they did not.
Like my natural hair was kind of this reddish brown
that was usually pretty fluffy and poofy.
And it looked like Emma's in the first movie,
but for some reason they wanted us all to have wigs.
In almost every sketch they wanted us to have wigs
(39:35):
because then we were not ourselves.
They wanted to, you know, suspend the reality or whatever.
So they, you know, they put me in this like heinous wig.
It was like a crime against humanity.
It was terrible wig.
It looked nothing like Hermione's.
They fixed it eventually.
Like by the second sketch I had a better wig,
but that first wig was so bad.
(39:56):
My favorite part of the episodes is just your conversations.
I don't know how else to put it.
Your conversations with your cats and them being a co-star.
You even got a microphone for them.
Oh, I got girl Kevin here.
So the first question I have to ask,
and I hope I'm not breaking any hearts,
are they really boy Kevin and girl Kevin?
(40:16):
Are they real names, both boy and girl Kevin?
What do you call them?
Well, no, the real names are Kevin.
Yeah.
I just call them boy Kevin and girl Kevin
to separate it for the internet, for those.
Well, I don't do, do they have an existential crisis at home?
They don't know who to come when you call Kevin?
Usually I change it.
So like Kevin will get girl Kevin and like Kevin
(40:37):
will get like boy Kevin.
It's kind of like I changed the intonation a little bit,
but usually I just say Kevin and they both come running.
Not that I need them ever.
Like when do I need to call them?
They just are pieces of furniture
that just live in my house.
Like they have food anytime they want and water.
I don't need them.
I don't call them to set.
They just hear me setting up
(40:58):
and then they run downstairs to the set.
It's so stupid.
Like I'm, I don't know if they've trained me
or I've trained them, but like they now know
when I start setting up the camera
and turning on the big lights that they're like,
oh, it's podcast time.
And then they just jump on the set
and sometimes I'll feed them a little treats.
And yeah, we've had some of like the funniest moments.
(41:19):
And one time they started to start fighting
like on the set and then like,
whacking each other like stop it.
Like things are so disrespectful.
No, but they're great.
Well, it works.
They don't say much,
but they're a big part of the podcast.
So I like that.
And I've got to ask just because I worry about boy Kevin,
is he still eating Kleenexes?
(41:41):
He is still eating Kleenexes.
Yes.
I was wondering if I had one handy,
but he didn't, he didn't eat them last night.
Yeah, I don't know what his deal is, man.
I don't know.
I'm worrying about him.
He's just like, he just sits next to me
because I have terrible allergies.
So I have to have Kleenexes next to me the whole time.
In the middle of the night,
he'll just jump up and start eating Kleenex.
I'm like, what are you doing, dude?
Like I feed you, I feed you nice food.
(42:04):
Like you're not, you're fat.
Like you're not starving.
You don't need to knock it off.
At least it's right out of the box.
My dog, the up, the nasty part,
he'll eat a Kleenex after it's been, it's been used.
Sometimes when I'm in bed and I use a Kleenex
and I put it on the nightstand,
oh, that's a treat for him.
So, yeah.
Oh, my god, yeah, yeah.
(42:25):
So at least it's a new one.
He's eating fresh, fresh Kleenex.
Exactly, exactly.
So in wrapping things up,
because you haven't already,
you're not already doing enough.
Let's talk briefly about your music career.
You live in Las Vegas.
So you've been able to kind of use that
and do some residencies.
(42:46):
You've got a band.
Talk a little bit about that.
Yeah, so, I mean, if you remember from my earlier story,
I started on stage.
That's where it all began,
was being on stage and having the rush
of that live audience.
Moved to being more on camera.
But again, all that was like a perfect marriage
of being on camera, but then also the live audience.
So it was like theater meets TV.
(43:07):
It was perfect.
So I've always loved being in front of a live audience
and I've always loved singing.
I was a trained opera singer when I was younger.
And yeah, now it's just full circle.
Honestly, the jobs are just not as,
there's just not as many acting jobs as there used to be.
And that's, every actor across the board will tell you that.
It's just the way it is.
(43:29):
We have AI, like we have,
they'll hire celebrities for everything.
If you're just a basic working actor,
it's very hard to find work.
And it's just happened over the last 10 years.
Everything's just gone downhill for that.
So I'm not one to just sit around
and wait for the phone to ring.
I'm an entertainer and that's what I do.
(43:50):
And I wanna make people happy.
And I'm not just gonna wait for the next audition to come.
So I'm like, let's do this.
Let's get back into music.
Let's go back to my roots.
Let's be on stage.
That's an art that will never die
unless they really perfect holograms.
But you're always gonna need live music.
You're always gonna need live performing.
AI can take a lot of my jobs, but they can't take that.
(44:11):
Especially not with the way I am on stage
and the way I work in audience
and my stage presence and my crowd control.
It's something I really enjoy doing.
And I sing in a metal band.
I sing in a rock and roll band.
I sing in a country club band.
All different genres of music.
And I just absolutely love it.
I love it so, so, so, so much.
(44:33):
I mean, honestly, acting is my first love,
but you know, honestly,
I would take some of these live performances
over like a commercial shoot any day.
They're such a blast.
So yes, I'm in Vegas.
I perform all over the place at all these venues.
If you're in town, just, my Instagram has everything.
(44:53):
My Instagram has all of the info.
It will always tell you where I'm at,
where I'm performing, what I'm doing.
So just follow me there
and that's where you'll get all the info.
Yeah, well, I think we could chat for a lot longer,
but I wanna wrap things up
and you put a nice little bow on it right there.
So tell people how they can follow along with you,
how they can check out the podcast,
(45:14):
follow along to your Instagram, all that kind of stuff.
Shout out all your connection points.
Yes, I meant for the podcast to be a Spotify podcast,
but let me tell you,
people are way more into the YouTube version.
So how I watch it.
My podcast is, the audio version can be found
on any podcast platform.
The video is on Spotify,
but mostly people watch it on YouTube.
(45:34):
But it's just least foils, YouTube slash least foils,
whatever.
Yeah, temperamentals on there.
And then Instagram is where I'm the most active.
So if you wanna talk to me,
leave a comment on something on Instagram
and I will reply.
Usually I'll reply.
Yeah, but that's about it.
Instagram, YouTube, I'm on Facebook.
(45:58):
I don't really do TikTok.
I don't really mess with that.
I'm not really, I'm not on Snapchat.
So yeah, just find me on Instagram.
That's where I'm at.
I love it.
Well, I really appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been great.
You've been great chatting with you.
So now it's Lisa Foyles.
Really enjoyed the conversation.
I had so many amazing people on.
(46:20):
It's almost impossible to pick any favorites,
but I can tell you,
definitely one of my favorite genres
is when I get to speak with people from my childhood
and kind of relive that time
and learn a little bit about the behind the scenes
of some of my favorite shows growing up
and all that was certainly one of them.
So I really, really appreciate you Lisa for coming on
(46:41):
and providing some of that behind the scenes.
I urge you to check out her podcast,
Temporamental, really, really great.
It is shorter than this one.
It's a great drive time podcast
when you're heading to work,
whether you're listening to it.
I would urge you to check out the YouTube video.
I like watching it.
Just the antics with her cat sometimes
(47:03):
is not audio, but visual.
So I think that's good.
Maybe don't watch it while you're driving,
but maybe when you're getting ready.
I really, really enjoy Temporamental.
So urge you to check that out.
Check out her band if you're ever in Vegas.
She's got several different projects,
but I've listened to different clips of her singing.
(47:25):
Definitely a great thing there.
She talks about it in the podcast too.
I was just in Vegas a week or two ago,
weren't able to line up exactly when one of her shows were,
but definitely gonna check it out if times ever do line up.
Go follow along with her.
All the links to everything Lisa Foyles
will be in the show notes.
(47:46):
Go follow along with this podcast if you haven't already.
Subscribe, follow along on Apple and Spotify.
Leave a five-star rating on both platforms.
Helps a ton.
Leave a written review on Apple.
Helps a ton as well.
Follow along on Facebook, Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff.
Follow along on TikTok and Instagram, Not in a Huff podcast.
(48:06):
Lots of places to make sure you don't miss the next episode,
but really, really appreciate Lisa's time.
Thank you for being here as well.
We'll catch you next week.
Take it away, Chris.
This has been Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to join us next time
where we will interview another amazing guest
who is sure to make you laugh or make you think,
(48:28):
or hey, maybe even both.
But until then, keep being awesome.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.