Meet Cayla Komarow

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cayla Komarow.

Cayla, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started acting when I was seven after my family moved to Berlin, Germany, in the middle of the year. From what I recall, it was some play about dinosaurs, and I was assigned to the chorus. Fine by me. But the day before the show, the lead got sick, and then the understudy got sick, and then I think someone else got sick? And then there was me. They asked if I could do it and I said sure. And then I got sick. But I did it anyway. The show must go on.

I have been acting ever since but the thing that I loved and was most scared to try was stand up. Not in the “oh my god, that’s so scary I could absolutely never” feeling. But that other fear inside you that says “if you do this, it will change your life forever and you will never stop, are you sure you’re ready for that?” kind of fear. Which to many people would mean don’t do it. I took it as not yet.

Little did I know, my first pseudo-intro into stand up was the eulogy I gave at my dad’s memorial a couple of years ago when he passed. Both of my parents were writers and I always knew I could write. I just had an aversion to deadlines. But the night before his memorial, I wrote. I wrote memories and stories and tidbits of information that came to me. At 3 a.m., I sent it to my mother. And for the first time in my entire life (at that point 25), she had no notes.

After I gave my eulogy, people said I should publish it, that it was so moving, so funny, that he would be so proud blah blah blah blah blah. I did not care, my dad was dead, glad you felt better?

Grieving is hard. Then I got diagnosed with Crohn’s, which is hard. And then a lot of hard stuff kept happening and then it became comically hard. Which is when I remembered someone told me about Pretty Funny Women. I sent an email along the lines of, “Hey, I have been through some tough stuff and I might be ready to find the humor in it.” Lisa Sundstedt (the founder) emailed me back and said, “Tragedy + Time = Comedy.”

Woof.

I signed up and sent a deposit that day.

I knew stand up would be hard, really, really hard. Remember when I mentioned that different kind of fear? This was that. I walked away from my first class thinking that was indeed fucking hard. And I haven’t stopped.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My mom and I have a saying, “It can always get worse.” It sounds more morbid than it is. What it means is to enjoy the smallest, good things, or the least bad things because hey, it could always be worse.

No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. Does anyone say yes? If so, I would love to meet them. I think there is a bizarre resolve among artists. I remember being very young and someone said, “if you can imagine yourself doing anything else do that.”

I couldn’t then and I can’t now.

Even during a global pandemic…because hey, it can always get worse!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I have learned that people perceive me as confident. This was news to me as I have some pretty deep seated insecurities. But I realized it has nothing to do with how I’m dressed or how much makeup I put on. It’s my ability to speak the truth. To speak honestly, thoughtfully, and earnestly is something I pride myself on. As an actor and comedian, it’s come in handy.

Now there’s nothing a pandemic to shake one’s confidence, am I right?

You know that meme that was circulating when we first locked down that went something like, “Was anyone else about to get their shit together before we shut down?” That was me. I had shows scheduled for San Francisco, Santa Barbara and LA the weekend everything shut down. And yet, the show must go on.

And the shows have! Well, in a way. My improv team Let Craig Be has continued to practice every Saturday via Zoom and performs bi-weekly. I have had several Zoom stand up shows via Flappers and Bear Cave Comedy. I advanced to the semi-finals of Uncle Clyde’s Comedy Contest. I will be doing stand-up for a friend’s fundraiser and gearing up to film Episodes 2 and 3 of the Out Of Body Series. I have done several readings for friends who are workshopping their ideas. And I have the time to workshop my own. I am writing and developing new sketches, scripts, poems, stories, anything entertaining that pops into my head and makes it onto the paper.

I am confident that when this pandemic is over, we’re all going to need a good laugh.

What were you like growing up?
I was a curious kid who loved dogs, dress up, and stories.

I always wanted to get things right and was frustrated when I got things wrong. People always commented on how pretty my red hair was when I wanted them to compliment my cherub face.

I was always polite to your face.

I broke each arm (2 separate times) because an older kid bet I couldn’t jump off something. I couldn’t.

I learned sarcasm too early and probably put a few people off that way. I was just trying to be funny when I didn’t know how.

I remember using laughter to mitigate pain at an early age.

I almost went into law school before my mom told me she spent too much money on theater camp.

Was always ready for a debate and still am.

Contact Info:

• Website: caylakomarow.com
• Phone: 5712752807
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @caylakomarow

Image Credit:
Jack Babnew, Enrique Rivera, Joanna DeGeneres, Amanda Thorpe, Rachel Bickert

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