Performer Meg Stalter Heals Through Comedy
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Higher Ground
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 June 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we are joined by comedian Meg Stalter! With season two of Hacks, we talk about her role as Kayla the assistant (5:50), a formative experience in a middle school drama class (12:50), moving from Ohio to Chicago to perform (17:54), and how she pushed boundaries on stage (19:47) with the support of her comedy community (22:34). We also unpack the strange sensation of going viral (25:19) before reenacting a trademark Meg Stalter bit (27:14).
On the back half, we discuss her beloved quarantine sets on Instagram Live (34:52), the specificity of her Midwestern characters (41:16), and how her curiosity in people is at the core of her work (42:52). To close, Meg reflects on her blessed journey (48:54) and where she hopes to go in the years ahead (49:52).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm Sam for comedian Megan Stalter. |
| 0:45.0 | Megan came to prominence in the middle of 2020 as the pandemic took hold. |
| 0:51.0 | Even now, I remember sitting at home on the couch, doomed scrolling through the days, looking for anything or anyone to offer a bit of joy. |
| 1:01.0 | And it was during one of those unending scrolls that I stumbled upon |
| 1:05.8 | the work of Megan Stalter. While most of us didn't quite know what to do with |
| 1:10.5 | ourselves in that time, Megan got to work, performing comedy sets on |
| 1:15.8 | Instagram Live. Shot entirely on her iPhone. She created these pieces using |
| 1:21.6 | whatever props and costumes she could find around her family home in Ohio, |
| 1:26.8 | taking us to places we couldn't go, creating people we couldn't be around. |
| 1:32.2 | If you haven't seen one of her videos, |
| 1:34.0 | her characters are delusional, socially awkward, yet wildly confident. |
| 1:39.0 | And by the end of 2021, she was labeled the Queen of quarantine. But her gifts didn't remain on the |
| 1:46.9 | internet. You can find her reprising the role of Kayla The Assistant in the new |
| 1:51.8 | season of Hacks. |
| 1:53.7 | Here's a clip from the trailer. |
| 1:57.2 | I'm not so sure this tour is a good idea. |
| 2:00.6 | I thought you don't read reviews because you don't care. I don't read reviews because I do care. |
| 2:05.0 | I can't turn it off either and nothing matters more even if it should. There she is, Deborah Vance. Hey Jimmy, good God, you look amazing. |
| 2:25.0 | What moisturizer do you use? |
| 2:27.0 | I use Vaseline. |
| 2:28.0 | Jimmy. |
| 2:29.0 | Honestly, I should have retired and gone out on top. |
... |
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