For this month’s edition of the Tamia Talks podcast, I caught up with a lovely fellow UW-Madison alum, Leah Kramer, about Crush Comedy, an NYC living room comedy show she created alongside Eve Wallack.
During our conversation, Leah and I chat about building safe spaces for up-and-coming comedians, our shared all-girls high school experience, and (of course) our crushes.
If you’re interested in visiting Crush Comedy, follow them on Instagram at crushcomedyy for updates on their April show.
For a glimpse at our conversation, check below the candy hearts :)
[This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.]
TF: Okay, so tell me about Crush Leah, it’s a living room comedy show, we get together with friends and we share laughs, is that accurate?
LK: I co-founded Crush Comedy alongside my friend and colleague, Eve Wallack, who is amazing. We met at an open mic, and I was very new to comedy only started in August or September vibes, and I needed a creative outlet. I've always been someone who's very involved or super involved in college, and I just love sinking my teeth into things, especially in creative things and creating spaces of community. So I kind of was like, “Eve, I really want to do a comedy show are you down to full send?” and she said yes. And then our friend Henry offered up his apartment as a fun concept. And it was kind of just this beautiful, unique experience. We're really excited to see where it goes.
TF: So, how did you come to decide that comedy was the thing for you, especially when it came to branching out and creating this community space?
LK: I want to say like, I think one of the reasons I wanted to start the comedy show is because in every part of my life, whether it be like in a discussion section in college, or on my soccer team in high school, I was the like, community curator, that's kind of the role that I take on. It’s the role that I love.I feel like my strength is building community, and that's a strength that's not very tangible. But, I was even at an open mic yesterday and random people sat at my table, and I was like, “Okay, we're going to like be best friends now.”
I think that when people feel understood and heard, the best things come from that because they're comfortable. And that was a big reason for Crush. I was like, I can curate, like a space that's communal and makes people feel really comfortable. And I think that that's very underlooked. I feel like when people are thinking about comedy, they're thinking about the performers. But the audience also plays a huge if not, honestly bigger role than the comedians because the audience needs to be comfortable reacting.
Listen for more!
crushing comedy w/ leah kramer