Kill Tony #71 — Ralphie May, Lahna Turner
Guests: Ralphie May · Lahna Turner
Lineup
Set: Set about legalizing weed for Black people to avoid racial profiling, then pivots to white people with stereotypical items and jokes about Black women. Four years into stand-up, from Chicago.
Interview: Discussed his racial comedy approach, his joke about Black women, and his artist background creating fan art for the show. Ralphie critiqued him for jumping between topics without fully developing premises.
- If weed only legal for Black people, cops search cars for Black people specifically
- Sleeping with Black woman wish came with squeegee and Febreze
- Revealed he created intricate fan art for Kill Tony posted on Instagram
- Panel and Tony discussed his crude joke about Black women as potentially regrettable early material
Tam Pham
Set: Three-month old comic with jokes about being an introvert, Japanese businessman pedophilia reference, homophobic Whole Foods shoppers, cologne allergies at Armenian parties. Wore custom Tam Pham shirt.
Interview: Vietnamese comedian from the Valley, 32 years old, worked in IT/ad agency, saved two years of money to do comedy full-time. Panel discussed Asian comedy opportunities and encouraged contest submissions.
- Happy as Japanese businessman at middle school cheerleader car wash
- Homophobic shopping at Whole Foods as illogical as cologne allergy at Armenian party
- Made own Tam Pham branded shirt within one week and a half of starting comedy
- Revealed he saved two years of money by working IT, giving him financial runway
- Panel discussed Asian comedy niche market and encouraged him to pursue Rice House club
Set: Two-month comic from San Bernardino compares buying cars to adopting children, mentions color affecting price, reliability, and salvage models. Ran out of time attempting Ralphie May joke. Wears backwards baseball hat.
Interview: 22 years old engineer/accountant with wife and one-year-old daughter, married since 18 after meeting at 14-15. Discussed pressures of comedy versus family/career obligations and time management challenges.
- Buying car like adopting kid, color/reliability/salvage models affect price
- Attempted joke about Ralphie May with only 14 seconds left, broke format
- Ralphie and panel heavily criticized his hat, facial hair, and stage presence
- Revealed he met wife at age 14-15, now 22 with kid, engineering job
Set: Four-year Philadelphia comic telling monologue about family exploiting his singing talent (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, 'You Are Sunshine of My Life') at funerals, parties, bar mitzvahs. No real jokes or punchlines.
Interview: Influenced by Andy Kaufman's uncomfortable/awkward style, does singing in act, sings at urban rooms. Panel criticized lack of punchlines, slow pacing, and defeated demeanor on stage.
- Family made him sing 'You Are Sunshine of My Life' at every event
- Panel criticized as monologue with no punchlines, told to get to jokes faster
- Lana noted he walked on stage defeated, compared unfavorably to Phyllis Diller's presence
- Revealed singing at uncle's funeral at age 15 with eyes closed
Set: First-time performer announces cousin died this morning, discusses parents' emotional styles: soft dad giving play-by-play, stoic mom compartmentalizing while handling logistics and tickets. Very short, underdeveloped.
Interview: From San Diego, moved to LA in November. Cousin was close to him. Panel praised bravery of performing despite tragedy, discussed handling bad news before sets.
- Mom compartmentalizes emotions by handling logistics instead of expressing grief
- Performed set same day cousin died, panel praised bravery
- Tony mentioned accidental racism about 'black cousins'
Set: College dropout regular does obsessive/creepy material about stalking a guy from improv show, found him online, walking past his house. Multiple punchlines about trying to get him to notice her. Confident delivery.
Interview: Found guy at improv, looked him up, walked past his place trying to get noticed. Discussed stalking behavior, whether to ask for number versus waiting. Panel encouraged her forward approach.
- Been 'seeing' someone who doesn't know it yet, walking past his place
- Boyfriend says 'stop calling me, I don't know you' when she calls
- Regular who quit college right before graduating to pursue comedy
- Lana encouraged her to get crazier with stalking material
Set: Regular does jokes about Lyft driver with leather driving gloves (OJ Simpson reference), blogger girls calling themselves 'gypsies' on Instagram without understanding meaning, mentions isotoner gloves nostalgia.
Interview: Panel discussed opening Lyft joke, isotoner gloves as better premise, whether to say 'Lyft' or 'cab'. Lahna praised strong female comedians and punchlines, encouraged expanding best material.
- Lyft driver with leather gloves looks like OJ Simpson, relief to still be alive
- Fashion bloggers call themselves 'gypsies' without knowing meaning of term
- Panel criticized Lyft reference as unclear, suggested 'cab' as better alternative
- Lahna praised her and Kim as strongest comedians on show with real punchlines