Tymon Shipp is an established stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and storyteller based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in East St. Louis, Illinois. I met Tymon through the Fourth Wall family. Tymon's always been super supportive of me and he's a staple at the Fourth Wall Noho. Tymon performs at cruises and has a long history of comedy and writing. I learned so much from talking to him. Thank you so much for the visit, Tymon!!Tymon's advice on comedians should be reading more was spot on. “Remember that you are a business. If you can’t help these clubs make money, they won’t just hire you just cause of your comedic art.Working clean and wide is best in the beginning to get your face in the door. Always be humble and willing to learn.”With over 25–30 years on stage, Tymon has delivered clean, relatable comedy that draws from his childhood and everyday life. He’s performed at top clubs across Los Angeles, including The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, the Improv, and more. Drawing from his long career in juvenile probation in L.A., Tymon writes scripts about systemic issues.

会話していただいでめっちゃ光栄でした！ヒデさんから色々教えてもらいました。

Hide san of The Office fame went out of his way to pay me a visit in Burbank. I grew up with the Office in Connecticut so I was so excited. I used my mediocre Japanese to interview him 😂  He gave me amazing advice both for life and entertainment career wise. His experiences working with BJ Novak, Craig Robinson and others were incredible. 

Hide san is a bundle of amazing energy and positivity. He told me that people like Jackie Chan are loved is not just because of acting skills but the gentle love these charismatic actors show through their smiles that reminds of our shared humanity. And it is important to experience living normal lives outside of Hollywood culture to really convey that authentic connection with people even in acting or comedy. He wants the future of Asians in entertainment to challenge what has come before on how Asians are portrayed in media. He told me that no matter how painful the world is in comedy and you wanna cry and you might wanna be suffering but once you are on stage, you have to change your mindset to joy and happiness so that you can share that joy with others and become professional. Pure wisdom!

Hide san arigatou gozaimashita.

I met Brooke, the valley girl, at mics around town like THC and Nitecap. The last time I saw Brooke on stage, was before I got banned around town lol. She was upset that I didn't put her in the Terry Bu 48 list of comedians I have a crush on LOL. She's actually in the honorable mentions.I enjoyed talking to Brooke because she's a very pensive person with nuanced understanding of American politics which I don't have, and her broadcast journalism background showed a lot. Brooke's also a smart comedian, and I loved talking to her about all things California, comedy and the state of the Union. We also both love the color purple. Thank you so much for visiting Brooke. Please follow her IG at tallbrownone. She’s performed at the Comedy store, the improv, the icehouse comedy club, flappers, and more.

Itai Lev is a NYU Tisch grad who has roots in screenwriting and comedy writing and somebody who always makes me laugh. He's a regular in the comedy scene here in LA and his dad is actually a Rabbi. Itai is super Jewish.Itai was super fun to have as a guest and we talked a lot about Judaism, comedy, history, Itai's jewishness and divine feminine energy. Itai's comedy spans a lot of diverse topics, and I love his self-deprecation jokes and when he talks about autism. Itai is actually super smart and tends to tone it down during his comedy. I'd love to have him as a podcast guest host someday because he's knowledgeable about many things.

Please follow him on IG at Itai Lev (@itailevwriter)

Thanks for the visit Itai!

Susan Ware is a comedian that I deeply admire ever since I was booked on the same show at Ireland's 32 in Van Nuys thanks to Tim McCray and Ian Ira Rousso. Susan's comedy is smart, succinct, witty and reminds me a lot like Mitch Hedberg. Susan is actually half-Syrian and a long time resident of North Hollywood. Susan loves Anthony Jeselnik, Maria Bamford, Steven Wright, Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton. She doesn't like younger comics doing sex jokes and talking about pronouns. Susan actually went through an Ice House comedy training program with Bobbie Oliver and apparently introduced Bobbie to the Tao building as a real estate person. She's originally from San Francisco. Susan gave us a lot of good advise on comedy and pauses. I learn a lot from Susan's pauses because literally she can do a 10 minute set and it will be more impactful just because of the well-timed pauses and you wouldn't even notice the 10 minutes passing by. She said she makes sure to say jokes aloud while practicing and editing like a ruthless person. Her original goal for moving to LA was to become a TV screenwriter which explains her writing skills. She's been doing comedy since she was 65 and now turning 81 this year. She doesn’t like Trump very much and calls him a narcissist. I honestly think Susan is one of the best comedians I ever met. Thank you so much for the visit, Susan! We ended up talking a lot about politics and shitting on Trump and ICE together lol. #terrybupodcast #losangeelscsomedyscene3

Mary is another great comedy connection I made through the Flappers scene so I guess it's no surprise that I was excited to have her over for the podcast interview. Mary Gallagher is a seasoned American comedian, actress, host, improviser, writer, and comedy coach based in Burbank with over 30 years of experience in the comedy world. Her daughter went to school right down the street from me. She's also a die-hard vegetarian since childhood and a Sagittarius and lost her own sibling, like myself. She hails from Wisconsin. Mary describes herself as actually a very quiet, reserved person since childhood and grew up in a strict military family, which was quite a surprise. We talked a lot about comedy, trauma, healing and Pauly Shore and Sam Kinison and English stuff. I first ran into Mary back in 2023 when I started hosting Friday mics with Hazel at Flappers comedy club. Mary has appeared in over 50 national commercials and guest-starred on popular TV shows such as Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, and The West Wing. She also hosted three national TV shows and has worked widely as a comedian/MC at military functions, colleges, corporate functions, non-profits, churches, and comedy clubs across the U.S. (By the way, this is all from ChatGPT because ChatGPT sure knows a lot about her) She also leads live workshops titled “Stand-Up Comedy and Wellness”, designed to cultivate confidence and joy through humor in settings like acting schools, wellness retreats, and corporate events Mary’s style is rooted in kindness and clean humor—she believes in “kind comedy,” comparing her approach to comics like Brian Regan and Ellen DeGeneres. Beyond stand-up, she’s a children’s cartoonist and author of books like The Girl You Are and Gino Has a Birthday, using illustration to foster self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. Recently she was performing for the troops and spreading mental health awareness in her comedy. Please follow Mary at https://www.instagram.com/myfriendmary and also @MaryGallagherComedian  Thank you so much, Mary!#terrybupodcast #losangelescomedyscene

Chris Dunham is a regular comedian at the Fourth Wall and a teacher here in LA. His Teacher's Lounge podcast with Matt Jones is blowing up on TikTok, IG and more! Chris kills on stage every chance he gets and actually is one of the few people who warned me NOT to post on social media the "Terry Bu 48" women comedians that I have a crush on. When I did it in front of him at Fourth Wall, he said to me hey Terry it took a lot of balls to do what you just did but do be careful that it might upset people who are NOT on it! He was totally right lol.Chris is also a former collegiate basketball player at Duquesne University and part of a team that played against Kobe Bryant!! He told me it’s always been the cool kids vs the uncool high school cliques in the comedy scene. The coolest person is NOT in the cool kids table but the actual outsider who’s observing everything and aware of what’s going on. Chris was full of knowledge on weird things happening in the public education system like how they get sued for stupid things and can't even have detention/suspension anymore to discipline students. His students seemed happy that he's blowing up on social media. There's a bunch of teachers I realized in the comedy scene, and whenever I talk to people like Chris, I feel like I should have gotten a teaching job, although it sounds very hard to deal with students. Thank you so much, Chris! Please follow Chris at Chris Dunham (@heymrdunham) and  @TheTeachersLoungeLive ​

I interviewed Bryce, a good comedian friend of mine that I came across in the LA comedy scene while performing at places like ComedyBlvd, Fourth Wall Cafe and Badger and Jam. Bryce helped me out last year when I was trying to come back to LA after all that depression craziness and trying to nail down an apartment from scratch lol. Bryce is a LA-native, huge fan of Shaq and met Kanye. Bryce's comedy style is punchy and irreverent which I respect. I see him all the time in the LA comedy scene, and he's one of the very supportive, compassionate and open-minded souls I found in the scene.Thank you so much for visiting Bryce. Please follow Bryce at https://www.instagram.com/bryceedotcom

Zach and I found each other in the LA comedy scene open mics. We actually have a lot in common like we both work our dayjobs in tech and lived in NYC. He's mixed between Mexican and Jewish. He's originally from Bakersfield, CA. He seems bro-ey at first glance but once you talk to him, you realize Zach is a very thoughtful and intelligent person with lots of wisdom and skills. I always enjoy Zach's comedy. We also talked candidly about depression, anxiety and mental health issues. Social media fasting seems to be helping Zach he said. You can find Zach all over LA. Thank you so much for visiting zach!#losangelescomedyscene #comedianstalkmentalhealth#terrybupodcast #comediansintervieweachother#comedianstalkdepression

Mike "Pi" Piacentino is a rare combo of celebrity fitness trainer and stand-up comedian. He's a polymath of many talents, an Italian-American guy from Philly. He's a staple here in the LA comedy scene and the Fourth Wall. He was just coming back from training million-dollar clients at Beverly Hills before he took time to do this interview with me. I first met Mike when waiting to go up at Potluck at the Comedy Store together with Wendy Wilkins. We also performed together at Vargus Mason's Deez Nuts show at the Comedy Store. My friends who came to support me at that show in 2023 didn't like my set very much and instead told me Mike's set was much better because they are assholes. But all kidding aside, Mike has an amazing punchy style of comedy, and I always learn a lot from watching him. Mike advised me that LA people are very different from East Coast people because if you don’t benefit their artistic goal, then they often don’t want you in their network. Ugh, cultural differences. I was fortunate enough to be invited to perform at his Crickets Comedy Club which he was also using as his artist studio for paintings. Mike is married with a talented son who might become a standup comedian himself someday. Mike loves Bill Burr, Dave Chapelle, Matt Maron and Chris Rock. Thank you so much for visiting, Mike!Please follow Mike on instagram at @mikepicomedy.

Nicole  Blessing is a Los Angeles–based, SAG‑AFTRA‑affiliated actress, model, voice‑over artist, comedian, and audiobook narrator. She's featured in regional and national commercials and industrials, and performs stand‑up comedy, including her Los Uff Das Comedy Show. Represented by BritMo Agency, her skill set spans improv, jazz/tap/swing dancing, singing (mezzo‑soprano), and various dialects. She's also active on social media and professional platforms showcasing her broad creative talents. Fred Nelson is her supportive partner who's also a veteran engineer in the technology space. They met while acting in stage plays in Minnesota and both are former actors. They both have interesting lineages lol. Fred might be related to Victoria Beckham. Nicole might be related to Davey Croquette.We know each other through Dat Phan and friends open mics. Nicole is a talented standup and I've always watching her perform at places like Fourth Wall Cafe and Flappers. She is one of the first people I ever met here in LA while visiting the Flappers open mics. Nicole and Fred are very similar to me and unique because we all accidentally fell into tech industry while we originally wanted to pursue the arts like comedy or acting. They both work in tech industry now which is great because it's not always common to see people juggling a successful creative career and a demanding tech career at the same time. We talked a lot about AI in this episode. Thank you so much, Nicole and Fred! I'm glad they liked the Korean barley iced tea I made. Terry

Ruben Aguilar is a dynamic LA-native who bridges acting, teaching, and stand-up comedy. I got to learn a lot about his teaching style, and his acting background and comedic craft. He's a producer of the comedy open mic at The Barkley in the LA comedy scene, and Bert Hung and I used to go there together. Ruben taught me a lot about politics and why the No Kings protest was controversial as well as the illegal immigration issue of the Mexicans here in LA. I asked him a lot about teaching because it sounds like an arduous process but also a very tough job to teach and handle teenagers. Thank you so much for your visit, Ruben!

Dot "Dorothy" Morentin is an Armenian/Palestinian/Mexican LA-native which means almost every oppressed minority mixed together. Her recorded benchmark lifts include a 330 lb back squat, 235 lb clean and jerk, 340 lb deadlift, a 185 lb snatch, and a five k run alongside 40 pull‑ups. I know her more as a funny Fourth wall comic, a rare woman in the scene. Dot has many talents such as CrossFit training, softball (catcher was her position), and standup comedy. She lives really close to the Fourth Wall Noho location. Her idol used to be Ellen Degeneres but not so much anymore after all that shit went down. She likes Bill Burr, Mitch Hedberg, Bulbasaur and Jolteon. She is an early morning person and wakes up at like 4:30am. It's always fun when Dot and I are at the same open mics. I used to see her around Flappers and Haha comedy club mics. Dot opened up for Jack Jr. comic at the Improv. She's a big Star Wars fan. She has told me men are gross and sexist and say the N word too much. She owns a chihuahua named Turbo. Her hot girlfriend is a vet. Thanks so much for the visit, Dot! Please follow dot at “Dot” Morentin (@dottie_wan_kenobi)#losangelescomedyscene #terrybupodcast #comedianstalktoeachother#terrybuinterviews#losangelescomedians

Panda, despite his name, is not an actual panda. He's Korean-American LA-native and a versatile renaissance man of many talents including 3D character art, game development, comedy, dancing, bagpipes, cooking and many more. Panda is aesthetically talented and a rare gem in the LA game industry who worked his way up. He's now a home owner of late and invited me to an awesome housewarming last week. I enjoyed conversing with Panda on all kinds of topics. I first met Panda while performing at Def Noodles Comedy club open mics and had heard of him through the grapevine. It's easy to be overly competitive with each other among Korean comedians but Panda has always been super supportive of me, and I've always appreciated it. We recently performed together at Accidental Chaos. Thank you so much, Panda! We are both single and ready to mingle Korean-Americans here in LA, haha. There's definitely something wrong with LA dating scene because Panda is a total catch.

Dustin Chafin is a Texan-born, NYC-raised comedian who's performed together with Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Patrice O'Neal, Nate Bargatze and more. He used to run Broadway Comedy Club, Greenwich Village Comedy Club and Boston Comedy Club which were all under Al Martin (Rest in Peace). I used to bark for Broadway Comedy Club in Times Square back in 2012 haha!I saw Dustin here in LA during the 2023 Flappers burbank comedy festival killing it with a mix of crowd work and material. Dustin told me among other great things I learned that he starts off with crowdwork almost every time and then weave into material afterwards which is amazing advice.The conversation went by really fast. We talked about a lot of our mutual NYC acquintances like Chris Murphy, Melissa Weisman, Pete Burdette, Alingon Mitra, Steve Arons, Talia Reese, Caitlin Peluffo, and others. We also talked about big names like Louis CK, Patrice O'Neal, Nikki Glaser and others. Dustin thank you so much for coming to the interview!!! Out of all the people I've interviewed so far, this was by far the most awesome. Dustin currently lives in LA with his long-time girlfriend of 18 years, Leah Bonnema who's also a comedian from NYC. Dustin has had appearances on HBO's Crashing, Showtime's Comedy Showcase and he just released a new Dry Bar Comedy special this year. Dustin currently has two albums playing on Sirius Radio and tours with Nate Bargatze nationwide.He advised me not to flirt with female comics in any shape or form. #losangelescomedyscene #terrybupodcast #exnewyorkersinla #newyorktransplants #newyorkercomics #exnewyorkcomics #dustinchafininterview #terrybuinterviews #standupcomedy #comedybookerinterview #standupcomedygem #comedytips #stanupdcomedyinlosangeles #dustinchafinadvice #lacomedycommunity

Ashoka Thomas is a seasoned veteran comedian originally from DC who regularly performs across the country at clubs like Zanie's (Chicago) and Hollywood Improv. When I first ran into Ashoka in LA, I thought he was Russell Peters. He's actually ethnically half-Jewish. I first ran into him at places like the Fourth Wall and Flashback studios and learned a lot from him. We were also in NYC during the same time together although we didn't know each other back then. We talked about a lot of things depression, mental health, drugs and dating-related. He gave me a lot of great advice on women! ;) he thought that none of the women comedians on my Terry Bu 48 list of LA comedians were attractive. He likes Sydney Sweeney. Thank you so much, Ashoka! Please follow ashoka at ‪@ashokathomascomedy‬ and @ashoktathomas on Instagram.

Dan Green is an Australian Army Veteran and creator of the online food challenge show "Are You My Vege-mate?" and the host of "The Verbal Gym" podcast. Producer of the Down Under Comedy L.A. show based in Los Angeles. He's been working as a door guy at the Laugh Factory for many years and is a staple in the LA scene.I think we first ran into each other at the Fourth Wall cafe open mics. I like seeing Dan and Frazer at the Laugh Factory open mics where the line would sometimes start at 12PM because the comics wanted to get up there so badly. One time, I got lucky and got callbacks there lol! I plan to go back. A few of my good friends are Laugh Factory comics now such as Dwight Pryde, Griffin James, Heather Winter, and more. We talked about vegemite a lot and of course comedy. Thank you so much for the chat, Dan! Also, turns out Dan is friends with Matt Rife. Damn!

On September 17th of 2012 is when I first met Tino at his open mic at Bar 82 at East Village. I can't believe 13 years later, we are both here in LA pursuing comedy still. He wasn't a social media sensation back then, but it's still good to see Tino going at it and inspiring everyone. I caught him at Improv + THC open mics and i was like "wait, is that Tino from back in 2012? LOL" I didn't even recognize him. On this episode, Tino had valuable gems to share on the nature of comedy, how storytelling and court jesters have been around as long as time and that people are designed to use humor as hope and transmute pain and tragedy. We also talked a lot about our mutual acquaintances who are doing well like Pete Burdette, Chris Murphy and Subhah Agarwal. The hugely popular “Instagram Bum” Esteban "Tino" Romero was born in 1969 in Colón, Panama. Tino is a Brooklyn, New York based Afro-Latino comedian, writer, and actor. He moved to the United States in 1984 with the intent of fulfilling his mother's dream of him becoming a Doctor – clearly comedy runs in his family. However, his emigration did quickly develop his love of the English language. In 2003, his cousin entered him into a show, alongside then newbie Ed Helms, at Boston Comedy Club in New York. Writing became a way for him to improve his skills, while expressing himself in his non-native tongue. It helped him cope during some tough years as both an immigrant parent and while experiencing homelessless. In 2015, while playing around with some ideas, he discovered the creativity behind writing puns and comedy. He recently was cast on one of Eric Andre's birthday celebration events. Tino is also a Navy veteran. Thanks so much Tino! Ex-new yorker pridePlease follow Tino at @igbumviral#losangelescomedyscene

Sierra Katow is a Pasadena-native, 4th generation Japanese/Chinese comedian who's got a Computer Science degree from Harvard and 2300-something on her SATs which makes her super Asian. She is more known for being a LA-based standup comic, writer, and actor who's performed standup on Last Comic Standing (NBC) Season 9 as the youngest comedian to be featured. She was also on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC), Just For Laughs Digital, FOX, and MTV. She shot her first hourlong standup special with Comedy Dynamics and can be seen playing Evangeline on both seasons of Mindy Kaling's The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max and was a part of the main cast of The G Word with Adam Conover on Netflix (I myself was cast on Mindy Kaling's The Sex Lives of College Girls as a background actor "Soccer Fan" sitting on the bleachers in a scene last year so Sierra is a lot more successful than me). We performed together at the Ice House in 2024 thanks to Caroline Yu/Jacob Demick and Golden Laughs group! I first saw Sierra on Last Comic Standing a long long time ago on TV and recognized her at the Ice House. Sierra was super chill and super open to being interviewed for this podcast when I reached out to her. We discussed a lot of different things involving her upbringing, her confusing life choices, her white husband and of course her comedy. She started doing standup a long long time ago as a teenager and has kept up with it ever since which makes her a comedy grandmother in the scene although she's just hit her 30s. We also both like basketball and Korean people. She did not seem like a big fan of Trump. Thank you so much again for the chat, Sierra! Please catch her performing all over LA and follow her at @sierrakatow on instagram. #terrybupodcast#sierrakatow#losangelescomedyscene #comedianstalkasian#asianamericancomedians #losangelesasiancomedians

LA-based comedian from san diego, flappers favorite, famous winner of the 1 vs 100 TV Show with Bob Saget