Meet Kyle Ayers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Ayers.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kyle. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and grew up in Missouri, in a place called Lake Tapawingo, just outside of Kansas City. I went to college at the University of Missouri, where I got into comedy by accidentally ending up on an improv troupe called Comedy Wars. A very brief stint in Chicago after school then lived in New York from 2011-2017. I moved to Los Angeles in 2017 and have had conflicting thoughts on it every day since I got here. I don’t know what information people would want me to elaborate on, it just kind of seems like the story a lot of people have.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I always feel guilty and selfish if I say it has been hard. It has been much harder for a lot of people and still is. I’ve had what were problems relative to me. I suffer from depression and pretty severe anxiety, both of which I spent all of my twenties pretending to address and try and improve.

I’ve struggled with relationships, self-worth, and more. Financially, I bet on myself to make comedy work about five years ago, and it started off great and promising, but prospects all seem to dwindle out and then it is back into the savings, odd jobs grinding, or just sort of figuring out how/when to eat.

My family is healthy, I’m about to be (or am! depending on when this comes out) an uncle for the first time, and I have found the thing I love in life, in comedy. So like I was saying, it all feels selfish to have problems.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a comedian, a stand-up and a concept-show-producer. Stand up is my primary love, and I do road gigs and stuff around LA as often as possible. I also run a few concept comedy shows, things I mostly came up with to try and get more stage time, or have something to do when there wasn’t as much stage time. I try and come up with shows that are unique, but universally accessible, and most importantly funny and fun. I run a show called Boast Rattle, which is a head-to-head compliment contest.

Comedians competitively compliment each other. Think nice roasting. We’ve done it all over the country and at pretty much every major comedy festival, which is an honor for me, and I think a testament to how much people attach to and align with the show. It’s a good writing exercise for comedians, we’re often roast-y by nature, and audiences have responded wonderfully.

I have another show called Never Seen It, where comedians rewrite famous movies and TV shows they’ve never seen, and we act them out. It’s a live show, podcast, and hopefully someday more. Just all based on the “what are you watching??” culture that exists so prevalently today. I got tired of pretending to have seen The Wire and Jaws, so I just wrote what I thought they were, and it all snowballed.

And very quickly I used to run a show called First Comes Love. I put an ad on Craigslist, pretending to be a porn producer, and asked for writer’s submissions. Then I had comedians act out the submissions. It was lightning in a bottle, and I miss the show dearly and think I’ll probably bring it back soon.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I do not sleep a lot, so I suppose I can get more done. People say I am funny and quick off the cuff, but I can’t think of anything to say about that.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.kyleayers.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/kyleayers
• Facebook: facebook.com/kyleayerscomedy
• Twitter: twitter.com/kyleayers

Image Credit:
Mindy Tucker, Dee Shoots

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