People We Love

Jake Kroeger is a comedian and founder of The Comedy Bureau, the central source of information of all things comedy throughout Los Angeles. As the son of a military dad, Jake moved around quite a bit as a kid, including spending time in Los Angeles, Virginia, and Colorado. A rather serious, smart, and mature child who grew up loving Alfred Hitchock (and still does), it wasn't until years later tha...

Stand up comedian Seth Lawrence is a Mormon man from Utah who came from a large family, and now has one himself. And he tells me all about his journey from aspiring lawyer to becoming both a dad and comedian. We cover a lot, including how much he appreciates his super supportive wife, Lorien, who's been there all the way from Utah to Los Angeles. https://www.instagram.com/onlysethlawrence/, http:/...

Comedian and Tosh.0 staff writer TK Kelly is originally from New York, and got more comfortable in school in 5th grade when he started to be able to make the other kids laugh. Before long, his grandfather introduced him to George Carlin, and really the rest is history. After college and living briefly in NY, TK moved to LA to study screenwriting at USC graduate school, and from there his journey a...

The Bay Area's own, comedian Stuart Thompson was a rambunctious toddler but a good student throughout school, even if he was a procrastinator. In his teens he started to DVR SNL and Conan, and grew a passion for comedy. At UC Berkeley he started hitting the open mics, and after college made the journey to LA. But along the way, Stuart recalls the love and support of his family, especially from his...

Comedian Tommy Wakefield grew up in small town North Carolina, and always gravitated toward the goofy, and the kids around him who were funny. In school he'd make video projects, and later in college started his own stand up comedy show. And Tommy's mom Chelsea Wakefield has always been an inspiration to him. She herself was a piano player, a musician, and after dedicating herself to new goals, be...

Comedian Renee Gauthier was born and raised in Chicago to a large, fun family. She was into dancing but comedy was always a part of her life too, as has been her mouthiness, as she describes. Renee has worked with many talented people in her career, but she hasn't forgot how her father George, who unfortunately passed when she was 10, had a such a great influence on her sense of humor. Renee's dad...

Comedian Aidan Park was born in South Korea, moved to San Francisco at 9, and has lived in LA since age 22. It's probably an understatement to say Aidan's life has had many ups and downs, but to see where he is today is truly inspiring. And one person who has particularly inspired him has been comedian Margaret Cho, who Aidan grew up watching on television, and later in life formed a friendship wi...

No guest this week, but I wanted to give you guys something. I did an episode like this a while back -- basically where I say a few sentences about my guests, and highlight something about each interview that inspired me or that was memorable. http://peoplewelovepodcast.com http://instagram.com/peoplewelovepodcast http://instagram.com/adamchoit

Windsor, Ontario Canada's own, comedian Dave Merheje recalls standing in front of the TV as a youngster imitating the commercials. He pretty much always knew he wanted to be a performer and a comedian, and very much has become those things. His journey has led him to Toronto, NY, and Los Angeles, but it was in Toronto where he really found his voice, and a community of supportive comedian friends ...

Comedian Aaron Weaver was born in Canada and raised in Michigan. He started secretly rapping online as a teenager, but never gained the courage to perform his rhymes live. Raised by his loving and supportive and awesome single mom, Sandra, this very spiritual woman always encouraged him to follow his heart. Unfortunately Aaron's mom passed several years ago, but he did just that, gaining the coura...

Comedian Mike Menendez was born and raised in Miami, FL, and recalls his journey as a teenager on the path to sports broadcasting. Unfortunately the University of Miami didn't love him inserting jokes with giving the scores, so Mike eventually found his way into standup comedy, in Chicago and then LA. He also tells me about five of his best friends from when he was a kid -- His basketball buddies,...

Comedian Alex Pavone was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. And this current long time New York City resident grew up loving sports. But when he saw Eddie Murphy's legendary standup special DELIRIOUS for the first time as a teenager, this was the beginning to Alex's path into comedy. Along the way he also met fellow Canadian comedian and friend, Dave Merheje, who inspired him to pursue comedy fur...

Comedian, writer, and actor, Cara Connors is originally from the Chicago suburbs, and this tomboy grew up loving both sports and TV. Although school and being a teenager wasn't always easy and she didn't love all her teachers, one teacher and now great friend, Kim, had a profound influence on her. Cara's journey has taken her from Illinois, to NY, to Toronto, and to LA, and Kim has always been an...

TV / Film art department extraordinaire, set dresser, Floyd Conder has been in the business over a decade now, but before then grew up mostly in Detroit, Michigan, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Eventually though, Floyd fell into working in the art department, and fell in love with building sets and seeing how productions actually get made. Along the way, he met someone who would b...

Comedian and fellow Syracuse University graduate, Allie Zisfein made her way from Connecticut to Los Angeles, and hasn't looked back. Although lunch and recess were her favorite school subjects growing up, she eventually became a pretty damn good student. Not too long after moving to LA, and with standup comedy in the back of her mind, it was her friend and coworker, Zack Parker who strongly encou...

T.K. Coleman is the Education Director at Praxis, an apprenticeship and job placement program. He's also the Director of Entrepreneurial Education at FEE, the Foundation for Economic Education. Growing up in Chicago, Illinois, T.K.'s tight-knit family and church community really shaped him as a person. But later on during his college years at Western Michigan University is where he studied philoso...

Comedian and musician, Clifford Nicgorski grew up in Los Angeles, in the Valley. Clifford's journey is hard to summarize and to say he's many had ups and downs would be an understatement. But despite the family, school, and even spiritual trauma he's experienced in his life, music and comedy have always been Clifford's true passions. And one creator really embodies what the creative spirit is all...

Comedian, actress, and podcaster, Genevieve Joy grew up in Greenwich, CT with three siblings, and almost by default Genevieve became "the funny one" in the family. In fact, she never really tried to be funny, but everyone around her always thought she was. Eventually, Genevieve stopped fighting it and starting pursuing standup comedy, and hasn't looked back. Along the way she's crossed paths with...

Comedian Paige Weldon grew up in the shadow of LA in Temecula, California, and recalls watching stand up comedy on Comedy Central... Tivo recordings of Gabriel Iglesias and Mitch Hedberg and others... over and over again. She eventually made her way to UCLA and started doing the open mic at Meltdown Comics on Sunset… and one thing led to another. And Paige's mom and dad have always been there for...

Comedian Jeff Zenisek grew up in West Virginia then Florida, and recalls the stark differences between the places. But no matter where he was, Jeff was always into sports. Particularly tennis, in which he played semi-pro. And not only was he into sports, he was always into comedy too. He even owned more comedy albums than music albums as a kid. We talk comedy, LA, and some Marshall University spor...

Comedian Darius Culpepper grew up in Miami, Florida and witnessed first hand his dynamic grandparents, Amos and Cheryl Culpepper leading their church congregation. Soon enough young Darius was speaking in church too, and quickly realized making the crowd laugh was a powerful thing. Not too long after, he found himself pursuing stand up comedy and rising up through the Miami comedy scene. And this...

Comedian Grant Lyon spent most of his early life in California, and recalls his mom telling him that she had two "batches" of kids: He and his younger sister, Kelsey, and his significantly older siblings, brother Blake, and the eldest Wendy. And Grant tells me all about their love and support, and also how he was a really smart kid in school, AND a goofball-troublemaker, too. Grant was his high sc...

Faysal Lawrence spent the first 5 years of his life in Saudi Arabia before moving to the U.S. without knowing how to speak English. But it didn't take very long for him to learn. And this goofy, comedy-loving kid always had a great sense of humor. In fact, his brand of humor was actually ahead of his classmates. So for a while only adults found him funny! Faysal's life has had many up and downs, a...

Comedian Lexie Grace was born and raised right here in LA, and this always smiling woman tells me all about being a hard-working go-getter, pretty much always. She must get it from her mom, Lydia Nicole, also a standup comedian. And Lexie's dealt with a lot in her life. Mean classmates, stupid guidance counselors, and absurd bosses -- but mom has always been there for her. We talk NYU, we talk sta...

Comedian Veronica Kwiatkowski is originally from San Diego and grew up doing ballet, playing tennis, and going to art camp during the summers is one of her all time favorite memories. This straight-A student through high school also played saxophone! In college things got more challenging, but her parents have always been super supportive, and she very much appreciates them. We talk drinking, fart...