April 30, 2019

Meet Lisa Chanoux

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Chanoux.

Lisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m an El Paso, Texas native who moved to LA in 2012, thinking I could get a job as a TV writer by filling out job applications like my previous jobs at restaurants, newspapers and daycare centers. Oops. I started improv and sketch classes as a way to generate material for my inevitable career as a TV writer (hey Hollywood, I’ve got scripts!). I started doing stand up to test my writing skills, and because I thought I was smarter and funnier than most of my classmates in my improv and sketch classes. I made some close comedy friendships and started working really hard on comedy. I’ve traveled all around the US doing stand up (LA, Chicago, Arizona, New York, the Bay Area, Texas, Portland, New Orleans and more) and it’s helped me grow as a performer. I’ve done corporate gigs, comedy festivals, guested on podcasts, twitch streams, appeared in new media sketch series’ and was recently a guest star in a cartoon on Comedy Central’s digital media.

I am one of the hosts and producers of Chatterbox Comedy Night, an LA comedy staple that boasts one of the best showcases in the county, founded by Steve Hernandez and Scott Luhrs. I often host the Thursday night open mic and the illustrious Sunday night showcase with my dear friend Julia Loken. I consider it a great honor to host, and a huge opportunity for me to continue my journey as a comedian and writer, as well as a way for me to bring even more diversity and young female comics through the show’s doors.

In February of 2018, Julia Loken, Stevie Anderson and I launched What’s Your Sign? Podcast. What’s Your Sign? is a weekly podcast (drops Mondays!) where we explore a different topic in the world of astrology or interview a guest. Over the last year or so, we’ve grown exponentially and have been profiled in NYLON, featured in Refinery 29, Vulture, the AV Club’s Podmass, VICE’s nbga and more. I appeared twice at last year’s Chicago Podcast Festival, as both a host and a guest. WYS? has also done a live show and event in New York and has appeared at Full Moon show in Hollywood as guest speakers. I have learned so much about Astrology this year, and am so proud of all the hard work we’ve done. We look forward to our first live podcast in LA, soon!

I grew up hosting in my mom’s restaurant (Sorrento Italian Restaurant) in El Paso, and I view hosting a show and podcast the same way I do hosting in a restaurant. It’s my job to make people feel welcome and make sure everyone gets what they need and has a good time. I’m there to be the first point of contact for guests and present them with a positive and gracious attitude and know how to step in if anything goes sideways. Comedy is supposed to be fun, and I make every effort to make the shows, live or digital, that I work on, a good time.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’d love to say it’s an easy ride, just wait it out, but the truth is it is still one of the very hardest things to try to make your way as a female comedian, producer or as a podcaster. Aside from comedy’s considerable learning curve, being a female comedian provides secondary level of difficulty as, I assume, being a female in the workforce does in the majority of jobs in this country. We like women of other professions, often encounter harassment and often get paid less.

We are held to a hygiene and style standard that men are not. I’ve been brought up on stage at a comedy club as “this next comedian is a woman and, I forgot her name. Uh, come on up here, girl.” At the second show that night, the same male host still hadn’t learned my name. I’ve had male comedians that I’ve never met talk about my body on stage when they go up after me. I’ve been heckled with sexual innuendo. I even got grabbed and held by the wrists outside of a comedy venue by a man who “just wanted to talk.” I’ve also made a lot of great friends, interacted with wonderful people outside of clubs and venues, gotten to travel and meet people of all walks of life. I love every part of stand up, from the writing to the handshakes after the show. The paychecks actually could improve, though. 😉

Another bumpy patch happened a couple of years after I started performing regularly. I broke off an engagement and ended a six-year relationship. It was one of the darkest and most depressing times of my life. I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed without the bleak glimmer of light that was being with my friends at open mics. Open mics in LA are notoriously horrible, that’s how bad it was! I needed to do open mics to get out of the house or else I wouldn’t get out of bed for days at a time. To me, having to get up on stage every night meant that I had to work as hard as possible to be funny or else I was wasting everyone’s time (other comedians are not this generous, btw). Doing all that work made me a better comic, and more career rewards and accolades started coming my way. I was asked to showcase on bigger shows, host at clubs and alt venues, got accepted into festivals, etc.

During this difficult time in my life, I forced myself to have a good attitude. I used to tell myself that it was ok to be sad as long as I wasn’t making other people sad. Having a positive attitude is one of the hardest things to do in this industry, and I strongly believe it is the main thing that helps me get ahead. It’s because of that breakup that I sustained the friendships I so desperately needed at the time. Those people have stuck by me, and have led me toward the path I’m on now. It’s how I met my podcast co-hosts and the producers of the Chatterbox that I work so closely with now. I still have a long way to go, but now I have the knowledge that I can get through anything with laughter, hard work and getting the hell out of bed.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
My stand up is mostly about dating, women’s issues, and my personal and family life. I talk about what it was like to grow up in a Middle Eastern household in Texas, breaking off an engagement, and what it’s like to be a woman in 2019. I’m different because even though my material is relatable, it’s stories that happened to me or observations of the world through my specific lens.

The live show and podcast I produce are similar in that, they take a grassroots approach to their respective art forms. Chatterbox Comedy Night is the best place in the city to see a mix of alternative and club performers. You’ll see big-name acts go up after brand new or up-and-coming comics, with a diverse lineup each week in every way but hilarity.

The show has the best audience in the city. It’s also a bar with great bar staff and reasonably priced drinks. Get there early for seats, we’ve been having to turn people away some weeks. What’s Your Sign? mashes up once-stuffy Astrological study with internet culture, memes, and even a little shit-talking. It’s a perfect mix of entertainment and information and has been called the “My Favorite Murder of astrology.”

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There are so many people that I would love to list here, and I know I will forget someone important. Scott Luhrs is one of the funniest people and best stand up comics I know. He helps me with most of the things I do (from day to day stuff to everything with my name on it) and supports me in every single accomplishment no matter how big or small.

Scott and my other co-producers at the chatterbox Julia Loken and Steve Hernandez have taken me on road gigs with them, set me up with out of town shows, and have encouraged and included me since I was a young comic. Julia Loken & Stevie Anderson of What’s Your Sign? I couldn’t do the podcast without and wouldn’t want to.

The hilarious Madison Shepard and Danielle Perez, for always recommending me, finding me paid work, and keeping me sane. Kelly McInerney who I hosted my first ever show with. Blake Wilding for listening to me complain. Meryl Branch-McTiernan for reading all my terrible scripts (and maybe a couple of good ones).

Lindsay Adams, Heather Marulli, and all the other female comics who help and inspire me. All of the people who put me on your shows or let me work out weird jokes at your open mics, you all have done a true act of service for your community, and I appreciate you.

And of course my family, my mom Marsha and my brother John who is an endless source of material (jk guys I love you).

Contact Info:

Website: lisachanoux.com
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @asilnoux @chatterboxcomedynight @whatsyoursignpodcast
Twitter: @asilnoux

Image Credit:
Stevie Anderson, Scott Luhrs, and Joel Romero

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