Chloe Radcliffe | From “The Tonight Show” to Comedy Central’s “Eyes Down Here”

[00:00:00] Chloe Radcliffe: It's finding one of those little hitch points that everybody runs into, and a comedian's job is to stop at that little hitch point and to go, "No, this is weird and this is worth talking about and thinking about and analyzing."

[00:00:14] Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft. Now, here's your host, Marc Preston.

[00:00:19] Marc Preston: Okay, here we go.

[00:00:20] Marc Preston: We are back again, another episode of Story and Craft. Welcome back. Good to have you. Got a big hug coming at you. B- uh, maybe it's a little bit uncomfortable, but it's a big hug. Thank you for stopping back by. Hey, if this is your very first episode, thank you so much for coming by. I think you're really gonna enjoy the conversation today with comedian Chloe Radcliffe.

[00:00:41] Marc Preston: Uh, she's got a new special on Comedy Central. Uh, she's really cool. I mean, she's got this, this thing she does. Maybe you've seen it online. She interviews other comedians as they ride a tandem bicycle through New York. Very creative, funny, really enjoyed it. Saw her, uh, special last night. Uh, it is out right now on Comedy [00:01:00] Central.

[00:01:00] Marc Preston: It is called Eyes Down Here. You can find it on YouTube on the Comedy Central Stand-up channel. Uh, hey, do me a favor if you would. Make sure to follow Story and Craft. If you're on YouTube, if you're on Spotify, uh, Apple, wherever you happen to consume your podcasts, follow the show, get notified every time a new episode comes out.

[00:01:16] Marc Preston: Leave a review. Helps people to find the show, and I appreciate that greatly. Also, uh, make sure to pop over to storyandcraftpod.com. Everything you wanna know about past guests and episodes, it's all right there. All right, so let's jump right into it. Uh, it's time for a little talk of comedy, uh, because today is Chloe Radcliffe Day right here on Story and Craft.

[00:01:42] Marc Preston: So you're in LA right now, right?

[00:01:43] Chloe Radcliffe: I am in LA right now, yes.

[00:01:45] Marc Preston: Wait, h- have you moved there or are you just kind of there, uh, knocking out some pro- some work and projects and stuff?

[00:01:51] Chloe Radcliffe: Se- the second.

[00:01:52] Marc Preston: It was serendipitous. I was watching, uh, I was on YouTube, I was wa- uh, Kelsey Cook, and then, you know, YouTube just kind of rolls into another video and then you [00:02:00] came and I was like, I was like, "Who is this person?

[00:02:01] Marc Preston: I haven't had an opportunity to check out," and then literally the next morning your folks reached out and I was like, "Dude, this is like cosmic."

[00:02:07] Chloe Radcliffe: Oh, amazing.

[00:02:08] Marc Preston: So-

[00:02:09] Chloe Radcliffe: Amazing. And also, I love, I love Kelsey Cook. I'm honored that I'm, that YouTube is feeding, uh, me after her.

[00:02:18] Marc Preston: I've been on kind of like a little bit, not a binge, but I've been, uh, checking out some other folks.

[00:02:22] Marc Preston: Uh, Derek Stroop, you know, his take on New York is quite, uh... Yours, yours wears me out- Yeah ... to be quite honest with you 'cause I'm, I'm sitting there going, "How can she bike so much and be smiling that much?" I mean, I would be just-

[00:02:32] Chloe Radcliffe: Funny ...

[00:02:32] Marc Preston: yeah, miserable, you know. But you're, you're originally- Where

[00:02:35] Chloe Radcliffe: do you live?

[00:02:35] Marc Preston: I'm, uh, originally I'm from Dallas, but I live on a little island on the south Texas coast called South Padre. Amazing. It's my tropical Mayberry. I know you're from Minnesota. We're about to roll into, uh, winter Texan season where all these folks from, uh, you know, my parking lot loads up with Minnesota license plates, so.

[00:02:51] Marc Preston: Really? From your neck of the woods, yeah. Where, where are you from in Minnesota?

[00:02:54] Chloe Radcliffe: Funny. Uh, do you know it well?

[00:02:56] Marc Preston: I kn- I, you know, I had a, I had a crush on someone who [00:03:00] lived in Hibbing. I had a good friend who's from Mankato. Uh, so I know little bits- Sure ... and pieces from here and there, so.

[00:03:06] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, I, uh, I went to school 15 minutes north of Mankato.

[00:03:10] Chloe Radcliffe: We would go to Mankato to, to go to the bars to party.

[00:03:13] Marc Preston: That was a, uh, Lutheran college, right?

[00:03:15] Chloe Radcliffe: Yes. Okay. Yes. Our, we were the Swedish Lutheran College, and our rival was the Norwegian Lutheran College.

[00:03:20] Marc Preston: Uh, th- is, is that a big rivalry?

[00:03:22] Chloe Radcliffe: Between Sweden and Norway?

[00:03:23] Marc Preston: Oh, yeah.

[00:03:24] Chloe Radcliffe: Ce- certainly between Sweden and Norway.

[00:03:25] Marc Preston: Is that where your people are from or are you, are you, are you of Swedish descent?

[00:03:29] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, pa- yeah, partially. I mean, every- look, everybody in Minnesota is part Swedish and part Norwegian and part Finnish and part German, and that's, you know, I'm one of them just like all of us.

[00:03:39] Marc Preston: You know, I was talking to, uh, uh, Andrew Zimmern from the Food Network, and we were talking about went to the Zenuda.

[00:03:45] Marc Preston: Is it hot dish? Is that the thing that's big up there that everybody's got a hot dish? Yes. Okay. I would put on so much weight living up there, so. How long you lived in New York?

[00:03:53] Chloe Radcliffe: Eight years.

[00:03:54] Marc Preston: Was that career-based or were you just like, "I wanna go somewhere else"?

[00:03:58] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, you know what? My dad's [00:04:00] family is all from New York, so I grew up, uh, traveling to the East Coast pretty regularly to visit his family.

[00:04:06] Chloe Radcliffe: I mean, I remember, I, I have such a clear memory of being, I was 10 and my dad took me out to New York for New Year's Eve, and so we were at my grandma's apartment, and my grandma lived in the building where they shoot exteriors for Only Murders in the Building. So every time that show comes on, I'm like, "That's grandma's apartment."

[00:04:21] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, and I, I have such a clear memory of being about 10 and standing in her apartment on New Year's Eve- And knowing that the fireworks in Times Square were so close, and being fucking furious at my dad for not bringing us to Times Square to see the fireworks. Just couldn't understand how we weren't in the thick of it, because it's like, "What the fuck are you talking about?

[00:04:43] Chloe Radcliffe: We're in New York City. Why are we not-" Yeah ... where the thing is happening?" And, you know, now as an adult, of course, I would, I would never, ever, I would never be caught dead in Times Square on New Year's.

[00:04:53] Marc Preston: My ex lived in, uh, New York for years. Uh, and then, uh, when- wherever we went up there I was like, "Oh, so I wanna see Times [00:05:00] Square d- during New Year's."

[00:05:02] Marc Preston: And she's like, "Ugh, no." You s- so if you live in New York, you're like, "Oh, that's just a tourist thing." All the things that people think of as being fun or, you know, kinda-

[00:05:10] Chloe Radcliffe: Oh, it's not, it's not even that it's a tourist thing. You have to, you have to be there for 15 hours and wear diapers. Like, it's not, it's like, it's not a tourist thing, it's a psycho thing, you

[00:05:19] Marc Preston: know?

[00:05:20] Marc Preston: Oh, so they don't have port-a-potties set up?

[00:05:21] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, you lose your place.

[00:05:22] Marc Preston: Oh. Oh, true. True, true. Okay. 'Cause, you know, I lived in New Orleans for 20 years. I got it pretty attic, you know, dialed into the whole Bourbon Street, you know, Mardi Gras thing, so enough to know I don't really wanna do it again. But, um, what- what's kinda like your tour schedule?

[00:05:36] Marc Preston: That's something that always fascinates me about comi- comedians is, uh, touring, 'cause you can't really... I mean, you can't really have pets or, you know, is, like, your home life is different than most people 'cause you're out so often, you know? Is it, is it something you... Do you enjoy the touring?

[00:05:50] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, I, you know, I love doing hours, and the place that you can do an hour of comedy really regularly is on the road, you know?

[00:05:57] Chloe Radcliffe: It's like, it's, it's really about getting to that [00:06:00] club and doing five hours in a weekend. Um- But the, you know, it's funny, I think, uh, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to think, I'm trying to figure out like how sort of how broad to go here. I don't care about a home life in the way that a lot of people do, and I, I sort of apply that more broadly.

[00:06:21] Chloe Radcliffe: It's like, you know, when people are like, "Oh, it's bad to be a workaholic," I'm like, "Not if you want to be a workaholic." It's like it's bad to be disconnected from... You know, like, "Oh, don't you want a pet?" No. "Don't you want..." Like, no, I don't. You know? I wanna be working. I love my career. I love, I love doing comedy.

[00:06:41] Chloe Radcliffe: I love writing. I love performing, and that's what I wanna do, and so that's my priority. And, and I think that the ways w- you know, when somebody has a very clear, uh, aim, you wind up making incredibly natural sacrifices in [00:07:00] the rest of your life that might not make s- that might not align. It's not even that they don't make sense to the rest of the world, they just don't align with how the rest of the world lays out s- you know, lays out w- w- what is traditionally valued, and I just sort of am like, "That's fine with me."

[00:07:13] Chloe Radcliffe: You know?

[00:07:13] Marc Preston: Well, that's what, that's what I find fascinating. It's

[00:07:15] Chloe Radcliffe: not

[00:07:15] Marc Preston: the life I live. Is that a common thing you find with other comedians, that they enjoy the lifestyle? No. Oh.

[00:07:20] Chloe Radcliffe: No, but it is a common thing that I find with other people who are incredibly ambitious, and there is a tiny sliver of comedians who are incredibly ambitious.

[00:07:29] Chloe Radcliffe: There's a lot of comedians who are in New York who do, you know, w- whatever, whatever nonsense mic they're doing And they find touring a, a drain and a wear, and that's a completely normal reaction. But they wind up sacrificing that really intensive ambition. But I think when you look across any industry, anybody who has that, like, laser-guided ambition focus winds up making [00:08:00] sacrifices and winds up h- you know, having to live a, a semi-non-traditional life.

[00:08:04] Marc Preston: Yeah, you seem like, uh, just kind of from the outside, seems like you really have a, uh, a strong hustle built in. I mean, I'm just looking at just, just doing your interviews on a, a tandem bike, that's, like, a whole thing. It's a production. You know, 'cause it... Like, I have a good understanding of what it takes to get something like that put together and have it look nice, and I look and go, "Okay, well, you're doing that.

[00:08:24] Marc Preston: You're also writing. You're also performing." I'm like, "I don't know, man." Do you, do you, do you s- do you feel like you sleep enough?

[00:08:29] Chloe Radcliffe: No. Not by a long, long, long shot.

[00:08:34] Marc Preston: Well, do you ever do that thing as a, as a comedian, do you walk around with a pad to write down? Like, uh, it seems like observational things in life, or do you put it on your phone?

[00:08:42] Marc Preston: Or do you even wake up in the middle of the night and your brain turns on, you get a little thought, and then now you're awake. Does that ever happen to you?

[00:08:49] Chloe Radcliffe: Yes to all. Yes, absolutely. I, um, my phone is probably where most of every... You know, my, my phone is, like, the hub. Um, but I always have a notebook with [00:09:00] me.

[00:09:00] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, I'm up in the middle of the night all the time, and for eight years, I, uh- For eight years, my phone background said, "Document everything." And you know what's funny? People used to be like, "Is that a Me Too thing?" And I would go, "No, no, no, no, no. It's a reminder, 'Hey, Radcliffe, if you have an idea that you like, put it in the machine that is built for remembering things.

[00:09:23] Chloe Radcliffe: Don't try to remember it yourself. Just fucking write it down.'" And it took eight years, and now that is burned into my head aft- of seeing that on my phone background every single day. But you know what's funny? That, uh, having that as a phone background gave me, uh, it gave me sort of the, the framework to interrupt whatever was going on and go, "I have to write that down."

[00:09:46] Chloe Radcliffe: And I would show people my phone and I would go, "Sorry, my phone tells me that I have to write this down." You know, whatever you said that was inspiring or whatever I just said that was a good idea for a joke or whatever conversation that we're having right now that's so funny, I have to write that down.

[00:09:57] Chloe Radcliffe: My phone is telling me I have to write it down. [00:10:00] And now I have really gotten into the rhythm of that. So now, yeah, I mean, I, I have, I... Everything, everything gets documented, and then I go back through and sort out and, and, uh, uh, you know, try and, try and parse through what my brain was throwing.

[00:10:14] Marc Preston: When you go back to, you hit rewind back to, I don't know when it was in your life, and you're like, "Comedy makes sense to me.

[00:10:20] Marc Preston: This is..." Whether it be a source of expression or whether it be something that you enjoy, whatever it happens to be, who were you watching that kind of threw those switches for you? What comedians, uh, or performers, you were like, that got your juices flowing originally?

[00:10:34] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, I think that there's two, um, there's sort of two steps to that.

[00:10:38] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, there's the step of watching people who got my juices flowing. Uh, but I wasn't connecting that comedy made sense for me at the time.

[00:10:48] Marc Preston: Right.

[00:10:49] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, but the, the, the person, the voice who I was most influenced by was Eddie Izzard, a British comedian.

[00:10:54] Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:55] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, and I j- I think Eddie is incredible, but I didn't really [00:11:00] connect what Eddie was doing as standup, and I certainly didn't connect that standup would be of interest to me.

[00:11:05] Chloe Radcliffe: I had seen standup, uh, you know, I had seen standup specials, and they're all... At the time, you know, when I was in high school, pretty much all the standup specials were guys in their 40s and 50s talking about their wife being annoying. And it's like, I just didn't even... You know, I had no access to that. It had nothing to do with me.

[00:11:23] Chloe Radcliffe: And so I went, "Well, that's what standup is, and I'm funny, but I'm not funny in that way." And it took me a lot longer, uh, before I connected and went, "Oh, maybe this is for me."

[00:11:32] Marc Preston: What kind of comedy, you know, if you look back, or even now, like, do you like observational stuff? Obviously, you like tapping into your own personal life.

[00:11:40] Marc Preston: When you sit down to write, what is it that you're usually mining to try to find or, or, or, or exploit, uh, you know, out of your own life?

[00:11:48] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, you know, again, it, there's sort of multi-steps there. What I'm, when I'm sitting, sitting down to write, what I'm mining is what I have noted from my, my reminder [00:12:00] of document everything.

[00:12:01] Chloe Radcliffe: But the things that get documented in the first place that serve as premises and that serve as jumping off points are, uh They are personal. I'm not an observational, I'm not a, "Traffic's weird. Isn't the way that the menu at the restaurant laid out goofy?" That's, it's not my comedy. You, you know, you've seen, you've seen my comedy, you know that.

[00:12:22] Chloe Radcliffe: I, I, I really get personal right away, and I think that that sets the tone for the whole rest of the set. And so when I'm, when I am hitching on something in real life, it is something that is causing an emotional reaction in me.

[00:12:35] Marc Preston: Uh, I saw something with you and A- Anderson Santino, I think. Uh, and then there was,

[00:12:39] Chloe Radcliffe: uh,

[00:12:40] Marc Preston: who-

[00:12:40] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, I did his podcast

[00:12:40] Marc Preston: who, um, he is gonna come to mind. All I know is y'all, uh, he is, oh, whenever I try to remember a name, I don't know if that ever happens to you, your brain goes, "Ha ha, no." You're not gonna remember the name. Yeah. You know the face. Uh, but y'all even touched- Mm-hmm ... y'all went into a little bit of, uh, uh, I wanna say philosophy or, uh, he actually [00:13:00] seems to touch on that a little bit more.

[00:13:01] Marc Preston: He's a thinker, uh, more a-

[00:13:02] Chloe Radcliffe: I wish I could help you. The problem is, you know, it's so funny. People go, "Oh, I saw you on a podcast," and I'm like-

[00:13:09] Marc Preston: Yeah ... "Yeah, I do, I do pod- There's been

[00:13:11] Chloe Radcliffe: one or two ... I do four podcasts a week. Like, I don't know what... Yeah. You know? Pe- I've, I've had the experience before where I like, I'll leave, I'm, I'm hanging out with friends or I'm with family or something and I go, "Oh, I have to go record a podcast."

[00:13:22] Chloe Radcliffe: And people go, "You're going to do a podcast?" Yeah. "What's that like?" And I'm like, "Oy vey, it's like a part, it's just a part of life," you know? It's just like, that's a part of my work. So I wish I could help you out here and go, "Who talks about philosophy?" But I'm like, I'm, I'm not, I'm not gonna be the- Um ... the person to be able to help here, unfortunately.

[00:13:37] Marc Preston: Uh, y'all covered some ground, but one of the things I thought was very, uh... Like as you mentioned, your parents are hippies, but what was their vocation? What, where did, uh, what kind of work did they do, or do they do?

[00:13:48] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, they both were self-employed while I was growing up, which I think is a huge part of what made me feel, uh, comfortable jumping into a non-traditional career of standup.

[00:13:59] Chloe Radcliffe: [00:14:00] Um, my mom wrote books and lectured on body image and self-esteem and women's position in the media. Uh, and so I sat in the background of these big lecture halls and watched my mom give, you know, give big speeches to colleges and, and organizations and whatever. Um, and my dad trained as a lawyer and then, uh, started his own business with one other partner, um, doing, doing real estate development.

[00:14:24] Chloe Radcliffe: And so both of them, you know, they, they both understand what it's like to take a leap, and I think that, that, that's part of what made them super supportive.

[00:14:33] Marc Preston: Well, that's... Okay, so that, that was gonna be another question is did your folks, like when you said, "Hey, listen, I wanna do this, this comedy thing," or, "This thing makes sense to me," did they are like, "Cool, go for it," or were they like, "Uh, no, that's, that's kind of a, that's kind of a rough road to, to travel"?

[00:14:47] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, I, I was a math major, uh, and then I worked at Target headquarters as a business analyst. This is all before standup. Business analyst, and then as an executive speech writer for the C-suite. And so I think- Uh, I, [00:15:00] I've never actually directly asked my parents about this, but I think the combo of all of that gives them the confidence, and me frankly, the confidence that, you know, if, if anything were to go to shit in, in my, uh, entertainment career, I, you know, I won't be destitute.

[00:15:15] Chloe Radcliffe: Right. I'll be able to, to hold down a paycheck in some way, and so I think they, you know, that, that affords a, a bit of confidence. But I do really give them credit for trusting me and for, for believing in my competence and my ability to take a big leap.

[00:15:28] Marc Preston: Do you like kind of having a more loose structure, you know, and creatively, uh, or do you d- or do you give yourself a pretty solid framework or structure to work off of?

[00:15:37] Chloe Radcliffe: You know, I think I'm better in a structure, but I probably like it less. I don't really know how to answer whether I give myself structure or not, because at this point I'm sort of like, I'm so slammed that I feel behind all the time. And I'm sort of like desperately trying to [00:16:00] get shit out the door, and I always am, I always have something that I owe somebody.

[00:16:05] Chloe Radcliffe: I'm always several- Do, do you

[00:16:05] Marc Preston: ever feel like guilty when you're sitting there, you just, "I'm gonna watch like 30 minutes of TV." Do you ever feel guilty like, "I need to get, be doing something"?

[00:16:11] Chloe Radcliffe: Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, oh, constantly.

[00:16:14] Marc Preston: Yeah, that's, uh-

[00:16:15] Chloe Radcliffe: I, I, I basically don't watch TV, but, uh, the other, the other, you know, wastes of time that I engage in, yeah, absolutely

[00:16:29] Marc Preston: Go back, like, when you were young, what were you up to? Uh, high school or younger, were you an athletic kid? Were you, uh, uh... I think I saw something you were, like, big into speech and debate.

[00:16:38] Chloe Radcliffe: Two-time national champion, baby.

[00:16:40] Marc Preston: Oh, you're a champion. Okay, I didn't realize this, in the presence of royalty. That's, that's kind of cool.

[00:16:44] Marc Preston: So you, so you like to argue basically. Mm-hmm.

[00:16:46] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, show some respect. Yeah.

[00:16:48] Marc Preston: I think that probably helped out when it came to getting on stage. I... Do, do you still get a case of nerves when you get on stage or does that ever-- Do you ever have a moment where you're like, "Uh-oh," you know?

[00:16:59] Chloe Radcliffe: [00:17:00] I mean, you know, I think that the nerves, uh, nerves are context dependent, right?

[00:17:05] Chloe Radcliffe: The, uh, the, that is, that is natural that the deeper you get into a career, the, the, the Way that nerves show up changes and the situations that nerves show up in change, but it's, you know, I think that, I think a comedian who never puts themselves in a position where they get nervous is holding themselves back.

[00:17:25] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, but yeah, you know, speech and debate is so, the skills are so corollary to stand-up. The second I got... I thought that I, I thought I would try a stand-up open mic and sort of write it off, you know, check it off the list and go, "Okay, I did it, now I can move on." And within 30 seconds I was like, "Oh man, this is exactly, this is, this is exactly the same kind of skills as speech," right?

[00:17:46] Chloe Radcliffe: This is, I'm writing for myself, I'm editing my own writing, I'm in a lineup, I'm responding to time signals, I'm in a room whether it's two people or 200 people. I, I have to deal with something weird that's going on in the room. Um, I'm being judged. In speech it's [00:18:00] explicitly, in stand-up it's implicitly, but it's like all of the corollary skills are really, really similar.

[00:18:04] Chloe Radcliffe: The writing itself is different, but that's kind of it.

[00:18:06] Marc Preston: W- were you a, a gregarious or precocious kid, or were you more shy, or w- kind of were you-

[00:18:11] Chloe Radcliffe: No, no, no, very loud and annoying.

[00:18:13] Marc Preston: Loud and annoying. Oh, w- now did you have any siblings or were you an only kid?

[00:18:17] Chloe Radcliffe: Spoiled rotten.

[00:18:18] Marc Preston: Oh, you're the second only kid- Yeah, yeah

[00:18:19] Marc Preston: I've talked to. See, I, I was as w- Well, they say s- only kids are spoiled, but I think, uh, I don't know about that. Are we really? I, I think we're more independent at some level, 'cause you kinda have to figure it all, you know.

[00:18:30] Chloe Radcliffe: Definitely. Definitely. Oh yeah, I mean, I, I, uh, I got very good at being alone. I am very, very, very used to entertaining myself.

[00:18:38] Chloe Radcliffe: I'm very used to being in charge of myself. I love, I, I, you know, I, I think I sometimes take that too far to the degree where I'm a control freak. I need my fingers in everything. I don't trust anybody else to do anything. You know, I, I don't trust anybody to do what they say that they're going to do. I...

[00:18:54] Chloe Radcliffe: And, and, you know, as I have ad- advanced in my career and I... It's, it's not like I [00:19:00] have anybody under me like I'm a boss. Um, I guess actually, I mean, honestly, I have an assistant now. I have a part-time assistant and, and it's, it's been a real learning experience with her, and then also with people who come on to help produce projects, you know, p- people who are doing sort of shorter term part-time, uh, projects with me, where i- I have a very hard time letting go of control and I really have to consciously go, "Chloe, delegate."

[00:19:26] Chloe Radcliffe: You know, "Give this per- trust this person and

[00:19:28] Marc Preston: let them tell you what to say." I, I, I can't tell you the amount of times I'm, I'm talking to folks like, "Marc, why don't you bring somebody on to kinda help do?" Like, you know, it's not that I don't trust somebody else to do it. I, I know what the outcome looks like and I know how to get there, and I'm like, I was literally about 10 minutes before I spoke with you having that conversation with a, with a friend of mine.

[00:19:44] Marc Preston: Um, how did, uh, The Tonight Show come to you? Was that, you know, as a, as a writer, I don't know, is that more... It's not like acting where you have an audition, or, or is there kind of an audition process to becoming a writer on a show like that?

[00:19:56] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, yeah. You submit what's called a packet. So [00:20:00] the, it's basically an application where you're submitting a bunch of jokes And, uh, sketches and, and pitches for bits to do on the show.

[00:20:07] Chloe Radcliffe: And at that point, The Tonight Show I think was my 15th packet that I had done over a period of five years, uh, four years maybe. And, um, so at that point I was, I was fairly comfortable with the form of the application and, uh, I had been in the NBC Late Night Writers Workshop, which meant that I was a known quantity to NBC at least, and I was on some list somewhere.

[00:20:28] Chloe Radcliffe: And they said, "We'd love to, you know, we'd love to read a packet from you." And, and they, uh, I, I submitted my application and they liked it.

[00:20:36] Marc Preston: That's ri- I never knew about that. I never knew that's how you... I didn't know if it was like somebody recommends you, like, "Hey, you need to talk to so-and-so," or, you know.

[00:20:43] Marc Preston: I didn't know how that whole writers thing came to be.

[00:20:45] Chloe Radcliffe: You know, it, just like- Right ... just like any industry, it's the kind of thing where it's like absolutely a recommendation, uh, makes a big impact, right? So me already being a known quantity to NBC because of their Late Night Writers Workshop was a [00:21:00] huge boon.

[00:21:00] Marc Preston: It, it'd intimidate me a little bit 'cause I'm thinking, okay, every night I gotta show up and come up with s- you know, something. Or is it more that everybody throws something against the wall and then somebody makes a decision on what's chosen kind of a thing? Is that kind of the way the writing process works?

[00:21:15] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, well, it's the, it's, it's both. It is throwing against the wall. Uh, but it's not, um, I mean, it's a machine. It's huge. It's like there, there's not We're not like diddling around in a room going, "Wouldn't this be funny?" It's like the, you know, The Tonight Show puts out more produced comedy than any other late night show on television.

[00:21:39] Chloe Radcliffe: They, they do more produced bits, more... Nobody else does the kind of guest games that Fallon does. Nobody else does the kind of, the, the volume of sketches and of produced bits that comes through those doors is, is s- it just swamps everybody else. Every other late night does a monologue and maybe one bit in a show, and [00:22:00] Fallon is doing, you know, 15 produced items every single night.

[00:22:03] Chloe Radcliffe: So it's, you know, it's huge. It's a machine.

[00:22:06] Marc Preston: So how did the idea of, of getting onto a, a tandem bike come to you? I know you, living in New York, you're either, you know, you're biking around or taking a cab or public transport or whatever, but, uh, I don't know anyone who lives in New York has a car, you know.

[00:22:19] Marc Preston: But to get on a tandem bike in traffic, I, I don't know, that's, uh, how did that whole idea come to you?

[00:22:25] Chloe Radcliffe: Well, I, you know, I think, I will say I have never met anyone in my eight years of living in New York, I do not know anyone who bikes solo as much as I do or in the way that I do. Uh, I ride 365 days a year.

[00:22:40] Chloe Radcliffe: I ride through the winter. I ride, I'm on my bike an average of an hour and a half a day. Uh, and I film on my bike. I'm doing bike solo videos. So biking is my whole life in a way that, you know, I think people go, "Oh, there's bikes in New York City," and I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, but there's n-," you know, I, I am, I am riding in New York every single day.

[00:22:58] Chloe Radcliffe: I am a, I... To me it's [00:23:00] like it makes me feel connected to the beating heart of the city. It makes me feel like a part of it. It makes me, it gives me independence. It's faster than any other form of transit. And then people go, "Man, I would be too scared to ride in New York." And I go, "You're correct. That is the right response."

[00:23:16] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, you sort of have to have, you know, a, a, a bit of a, a, you know, a, a strain of, of nuttiness to want to ride in the way that I do. Uh, and so a tandem is a way that I can share the thing that I love with other people in a, in a much safer, s- slower, controlled form.

[00:23:33] Marc Preston: Well, I have seen the, the pa- yeah, the pace when you're doing the tandem thing is a little different.

[00:23:38] Marc Preston: It's a little bit more you're smiling, you're enjoying yourself, and then when you shoot the video solo That's like, uh, that's, that's... I get a little chaotic feeling. I almost wanna say, I almost feel like parental. I wanna step in and go, "No, no, you pay attention to where you're going," kind of a thing.

[00:23:51] Marc Preston: Totally. Totally. Totally. Um, but your legs must be in incredible shape. I- when I was in h- high school, before I had a car, I would've had my 10 speed, but I'd leave it in the 10th gear, and [00:24:00] I'd-- My legs were just like, I was like, oh, it was the best shape of my life. But it's-

[00:24:03] Chloe Radcliffe: Yep,

[00:24:04] Marc Preston: yep,

[00:24:04] Chloe Radcliffe: yep. Absolutely ...

[00:24:05] Marc Preston: but in New York, y- your reaction times have to be pretty darn fast.

[00:24:09] Marc Preston: I mean, you're, you know... What was, there was a movie, uh, where somebody was delivering stuff on a bike, and they're weaving in and out. Yeah, the

[00:24:15] Chloe Radcliffe: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

[00:24:15] Marc Preston: one. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That one. Yeah. And, uh, is that kinda what it's like for you? Are you, you know, are you bumping into cars? Or, or, or have there been any trips to the doctor at all?

[00:24:25] Chloe Radcliffe: I've, I've, I've never, I have never hit a moving vehicle, knock on wood. Uh, and, and hope to never. Um, but absolutely your reaction times need to be fast. You know, I mean, that's the thing. I, I... Look, I think that when people live in a city but feel like they get to do their own thing without any kind of consciousness of the people around them, I, I think that's incredibly selfish and arrogant.

[00:24:45] Chloe Radcliffe: And I think that, that, uh, being a part, you know, a part of living in a city is being a part of the city, and biking to me is, is the most intimate form of connection with the [00:25:00] city. You know? I am in flow with everybody around me.

[00:25:03] Marc Preston: Uh, see, I, I enjoy biking. I, I just, I need to get back into it 'cause I, like I, going back, like I said, I was best shape of my life I was ever in.

[00:25:10] Marc Preston: I was biking everywhere, you know? Uh, but the, uh- Yeah ... with your, you know, talking about how you put your c- your act together, and, you know, the writing and putting stuff in your phone book. How long does it take you to get an hour of material put together? You know, if you were to add it up, you said, you said you're starting from zero until you're ready with an hour.

[00:25:29] Marc Preston: How long does it take you usually?

[00:25:31] Chloe Radcliffe: I have no idea. Um, I've done one hour special that's, that is-- I think by the time this podcast is out, I think it will be out. Uh, uh, the, the hour special comes out on October 27th, so... Yeah, so the s- the hour special, Eyes Down Here, took me 10 years to put together, and, uh, I just shot a half an hour special that came together in probably two or three months.

[00:25:55] Chloe Radcliffe: So, you know, I, I, like, unfortunately, my only two [00:26:00] data points give me two super, super different pieces of information, right? Mm-hmm. On one hand, an hour took a year, and on the other hand, a half an hour took three months. Um, so, you know, I, I, I really don't know. And the other thing is that that question is so impacted by what other things are you doing.

[00:26:15] Chloe Radcliffe: Mm-hmm. If I wasn't doing anything else and my job was just to put an hour together A year. Uh, but, and may, and maybe less, maybe faster. But, you know, when that's not my only job, which it isn't, uh, you know, it's of course that impacts how long it takes.

[00:26:33] Marc Preston: Well, if you were to say what, in a perfect world, what kind of cadence you'd like to be on, and what kind of, what kind of collage of work you're doing.

[00:26:40] Marc Preston: You know, every year you come out with a special, and then maybe you're doing a, writing a TV show or so- what, in a perfect world, how would you kinda cut up that pie chart in terms of what would happen within that year for you?

[00:26:52] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think... I don't, I don't know how to answer that within the calendar year, but I think in terms of the pie chart, I would love-- [00:27:00] I, I feel, I'm super split.

[00:27:02] Chloe Radcliffe: I have one foot in stand-up and social media, and one foot in TV film. And I love being split half and half like that. Um, well, I should say, I actually don't l- I actually fucking hate being split half and half like that. But I love both sides of that pie chart. And so I would love to be able, you know, I want to be able to make a movie, and I want to be able to sell a TV show, and I want to be able to put out specials that people love, and I, and specials that I feel really confident in, and that I, that I really believe in the artistry and the craft of.

[00:27:32] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, so you know, I, it's, it's very, very hard to ping-pong between the two. And so I think actually my, my perfect circumstance would be I would get six months where I do not feel any pressure to tour and do stand-up, and I just get to write. Mm-hmm. And six months where I get to tour and work on stand-up.

[00:27:52] Chloe Radcliffe: And unfortunately, that's just not how life works.

[00:27:54] Marc Preston: As far as as, uh, TV goes, uh, film, whatever have you, w- do you have things in the can [00:28:00] that you're, that you're working to kind of bring to life, or are you conceiving of things right now that you would like to get on screen?

[00:28:07] Chloe Radcliffe: Nothing, nothing is in the can as in shot.

[00:28:10] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, but I'm y- you know, developing a couple features, developing a TV show and, and, you know, just... The-- look, the only, the only progress is moving the ball down the field. And it's going to, did you gain one yard? Did you gain three yards? Whatever. That's the only measure. Somebody, I heard somebody once say the, "The only measure of a writer is are there pages at the end of the day that were not there in the morning?"

[00:28:38] Chloe Radcliffe: And it's not about whether they're good pages. It's not about whether you're gonna use those pages. It's just do the pages exist at the end of the day, and they didn't when you started. And that's the, you know, I'm just trying to do that with every project.

[00:28:54] Marc Preston: Funny, I was just speaking with a fellow actually went to high school with, he's a director, and he says f- he, [00:29:00] every single day he has, he has to write. And that kind of got me into, to, to thinking, uh, I was like, you know, every time I open up Final Draft, I'm just farting around. I don't know if I'll ever sell anything.

[00:29:08] Marc Preston: I like, to me it's kind of a cathartic, it's cr- it's creative, like why some people journal, you know? Do you step into it with a purpose like, "I want to create this thing within this timeframe," or is it just, you know, doing a thought dump? You know, what's your writing process like in that regard?

[00:29:23] Chloe Radcliffe: I think there's sort of two separate dynamics.

[00:29:25] Chloe Radcliffe: There's a thought dump, but to me that's a journal, that's a, that's, that's, th- that's sort of like for my notes, right? Right, right, right. That's for my notebook. Um, look, you know, I think it's about intention and it's about goal and it's about ambition and it's about what you're aiming to achieve. And if I'm aiming to Uh, make a movie, sell a movie, then the steps along the way have to be I write a movie that is good enough to make.

[00:29:56] Chloe Radcliffe: And so, you know, I, I'm not the kind of person... [00:30:00] I, I-- There's, there's other things that I have that feel like creative outlets like that, that where I'm, to use your term- Mm ... farting around. Um, I, I love, I, I love painting, and that's a farting around for me.

[00:30:12] Marc Preston: But the writing that- Uh, but my ambition- ... when you sit down, that's a more of a intentional kind of a thing.

[00:30:16] Marc Preston: You know, like when you sit down with final draft.

[00:30:18] Chloe Radcliffe: It has to be.

[00:30:19] Marc Preston: Yeah. I gotcha.

[00:30:20] Chloe Radcliffe: It has to be. Yeah.

[00:30:22] Marc Preston: That's, that's why you're such a professional. Me, I'm just still farting around. Uh, yeah, so.

[00:30:26] Chloe Radcliffe: But, but the, but I, you know, i-i-- Like what you said of, "I don't know if I'll ever sell anything," and you didn't sound, you know, sad about that.

[00:30:35] Chloe Radcliffe: Oh, no. No. You sounded like this is a... Right. You know, this is... Y-you have a, you have a very clear view of where that version of writing lives in your life and, and it's just a different place that it lives in your life from mine.

[00:30:48] Marc Preston: So what are your hobby? Besides riding your bike, which I don't know that's, if that's a hobby or it's more of a necessity.

[00:30:53] Marc Preston: But what things... You said painting. What other things, when you're like, "I need to let my brain depart from [00:31:00] everything," what is it that you do? What is it you enjoy?

[00:31:02] Chloe Radcliffe: I scroll Craigslist free listings multiple times a day.

[00:31:06] Marc Preston: Craigslist free list- I

[00:31:06] Chloe Radcliffe: used to go out and a- Yeah, I used to go out and actually get a bunch of stuff from it, but it turns out that that's too much time.

[00:31:13] Chloe Radcliffe: The-- I've, I've decided that it's never worth the time now.

[00:31:16] Marc Preston: What kind of things are you scrolling to find?

[00:31:18] Chloe Radcliffe: I'm not, I'm not, I'm not scrolling with intention. I think that's, that's actually how you know, uh, that it is genuinely a hobby and not- ... a, a, a, a work that I don't... You know, everything else in my life, I have an aim, I have a goal, I have something that I...

[00:31:33] Chloe Radcliffe: You know, I have ambition. And Craigslist free listings, I'm just, I'm just trying to see what the universe puts in my path.

[00:31:39] Marc Preston: Well, you know, going back to the, the, the interview you had, which really, I, I found it quite, uh, I, I found it quite enlightening to hear. I don't really hear too many discussions where people...

[00:31:48] Marc Preston: You know, what's the meaning of life kind of thing. I mean, people say that, but when you really kind of drill down, like, uh, like what place in your life does that kind of occupy? Or do you consider yourself like a big thinker or contemplator if you're [00:32:00] drinking coffee? Like philosophically, where, where does your mind typically go?

[00:32:03] Marc Preston: What kind of things grab your attention?

[00:32:05] Chloe Radcliffe: Look, I was raised by hippies, and I've done a ton of psychedelic drugs, so I sort of tend to think that everything in the world touches everything else in the world. That, you know, everything is connected, everything is cyclical, everything has patterns, and I think that there's, uh, I think that there are patterns and connections to be seen if you want to look for them.

[00:32:27] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, I, you know, I, I, I am definitely still spiritual. I'm not an atheist in any way. I, uh, I, I think that the belief in Some presence of a divine, not necessarily, you know, an old guy who's sitting on a cloud- Right ... but something that is, that is some organizing principle of the universe that is beyond our understanding.

[00:32:48] Chloe Radcliffe: Um, the belief in that divinity and the belief in pure coincidence are the exact inverse of each other. And I, I, you know, frankly, I don't believe in pure coincidence. I do believe in some [00:33:00] kind of organizing principle that we're not able to measure. Uh, and I think that those patterns are there to be seen if you look.

[00:33:05] Marc Preston: Does that kind of fluidity of thought and ki- does that help you in comedy see things that maybe-- That funny thing that's right in front of you that somebody else may not catch. Does that, does that kinda help you at all in-

[00:33:19] Chloe Radcliffe: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because I think so much of comedy is, is, um, it's finding one of those little hitch points that everybody runs into, but most people just run by.

[00:33:32] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, you know, it hitches for everybody, and then people move on with the rest of their life. And a comedian's job is to stop at that little hitch point and to go, "No, this is weird and this is worth talking about and thinking about and analyzing." And then the other half of their job is to go, "Now how can I communicate what is interesting or funny about this little hitch point in a way that everybody else can access?"

[00:33:57] Chloe Radcliffe: And so much of that [00:34:00] is Making, i- is, is relating those hitches back to something else that other people, you know, that people already experience. So I think finding those patterns is, is crucial to a comedian's job.

[00:34:13] Marc Preston: Yeah, I real- I'm of the school of thought that I think, uh, two things. One, I think people are inherently good, you know, b- but they can go off the rails certainly.

[00:34:20] Marc Preston: And we're more connected than we are, or more similar than we are different. You just gotta find that. Uh, like- Hmm ... like we are kind of connected. And, and I think as a comedian, the hard part is to get up in front of a group of people you don't know, they don't know you, and to put something out there that generally everybody's gonna think is funny.

[00:34:37] Marc Preston: But when it doesn't happen like that, when you think something's just gonna land and kill and it falls flat, how does that affect you and how do you work your way beyond that point? That would be my panic point. You know? I'd be on stage going, "They didn't like that."

[00:34:52] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah. It's so funny. It's everybody, it, it, everybody goes, "How do you deal with a joke not working?

[00:34:59] Chloe Radcliffe: That's so [00:35:00] scary." And to me it's like, no, it's like if an, if an editor reads writing and says, "This paragraph isn't working," the writer goes, "Great, I'm gonna cut that paragraph and rewrite it." And that's what a joke not working is. It's just the feedback mechanism saying, "You have to fix this. You have to make this better."

[00:35:17] Chloe Radcliffe: And I'm like, "That's fine. I can make a joke better. I can improve something." Uh, you know, the scary thing is committing to a career in the entertainment industry, but the scary thing is not a joke not working. A joke not working just means go back and, and a- adjust the craft.

[00:35:31] Marc Preston: Is there anywhere you like that you feel you land the best?

[00:35:35] Marc Preston: Like, when you, you love playing a city or, or a venue and you're like, "Every time I go there, it just, it feels like I plug in just right."

[00:35:42] Chloe Radcliffe: Some of my favorite places that I've been in, in the country are, are Cincinnati and Louisville, and they're pretty close to each other. So I think that little, that little sort of like, you know, fertile valley of the, of the, the center of the country, I really fit well with.

[00:35:57] Marc Preston: Where is it that you feel you have to work the [00:36:00] hardest, but I mean, you still succeed, but, uh, you feel like you really, it's like, "Okay, this is gonna be, this is gonna be a little bit of a workout"?

[00:36:06] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah. Uh, you know, I think really it's like- The bro-ier rooms, and it's not really a c- a location in the country.

[00:36:15] Chloe Radcliffe: I, I, you know, I started in the Midwest. I'm used to, I'm used to being out in the country. I'm used to being on the road. I'm used to, you know, blue collar folk. I'm used to... Like, it's not like I... You know, I'm very liberal, but I grew up around plenty of conservatives, so it's not that I can't speak that language.

[00:36:28] Chloe Radcliffe: But it's, I, I think it's, like, the bro-ier rooms are ones where I go, "Oh, no. Buckle up."

[00:36:34] Marc Preston: Yeah. I look at, like, Chad Daniels. I mean, he, he... Uh, like I saw him, uh, just eviscerate so- you know, somebody who was in the crowd and probably, you know. That's some of my favorite stuff to watch on, you know, is... Or to be in a crowd, is to watch, okay, this person's been overserved, and they don't understand they are.

[00:36:50] Marc Preston: And you know, how does that play out, you know? Um, do, do you enjoy the crowd work thing? Do you enjoy when, when you do have some folks a little bit enri, as you're [00:37:00] like, "Okay, game on," kind of a thing? Or, you know, how do you handle that?

[00:37:03] Chloe Radcliffe: I don't view it as game on. I wish I did. I, I wish I was better at that, honestly.

[00:37:07] Chloe Radcliffe: The people who are really good at that, I'm, I'm so admiring of, and I don't really have that speed. Um, you know, to me it is all about interacting with people honestly. That's all I can do. All I can do is, is engage with them with what exactly what is happening in the room and try to answer the question, what is funny about this in the

[00:37:28] Marc Preston: moment?

[00:37:29] Marc Preston: That, that's the one thing I will say, uh, I, I, you know, I don't wanna sound like I'm overly complimenting, but that's, that's the one thing I r- was really endearing. I, like, I went... I, I dig the vibe, and I'm like... I, I always get excited when I come across a, uh, performer who just kinda, who's like, I really enjoy them.

[00:37:43] Marc Preston: And then I power watch through stuff that they've got and like, "Damn it, create more stuff," uh, you know?

[00:37:48] Chloe Radcliffe: Amazing. Uh, but- Thank you. Well, hopefully, hopefully with this special there will be much more stuff for people.

[00:37:53] Marc Preston: Who is it do you, that you feel... Uh, not necessarily contemporaries, but people who i- if you're gonna be working some stuff out at the club, you hope you see them, or maybe you [00:38:00] wanna catch them, you know, you watch them, uh, online or on-

[00:38:03] Chloe Radcliffe: You know, it's funny.

[00:38:03] Chloe Radcliffe: I just, I just was at the Hollywood Improv last night, uh, here in LA, and Anthony Jeselnik was on the show. And I, I, you know, he is, he is one of one. He is such a singular voice. And I love, uh- Watching him develop, uh, you know, he's been working for decades and, and he is, he's still so singular and so himself, but you can tell that he's grown, and he's developed, and he's more mature, and he's older.

[00:38:31] Chloe Radcliffe: And, and I, I really, really, really love watching him change.

[00:38:35] Marc Preston: It... Was there an era, like, if you think, "I wish I was around back then when they were playing rooms." You know, somebody who you would like to have seen in their heyday.

[00:38:43] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, I would love to have seen Andy Kaufman. I think that would be amazing.

[00:38:47] Marc Preston: So what are you working on right now?

[00:38:49] Marc Preston: I know you got the special coming out, but do you have anything... I know you're in LA right now. Is there anything you can, that's not, as they say, embargoed, you can actually discuss that you're working on?

[00:38:58] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, yeah. I have a, I have [00:39:00] a solo show called Cheat, and it, uh, that is completely separate from my special, Eyes Down Here, and I'm doing a live run of that in Los Angeles, November 4th through 8th at GSON Studios, which is the old Beastie Boys recording studio, which has been bought and is being reopened as a venue and community space.

[00:39:16] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, so I hope that if people watch Eyes Down Here, and they go, "Hey, I like that," I hope they come check out a solo show, which is sort of the, the next step, the next, uh, the... It's all the same voice and, and, you know, I'm fascinated by the same kind of stuff. But, um, it, it goes a lot deeper into my personal life, and I, I would love for people to come out and see Cheat.

[00:39:35] Marc Preston: But I, I was curious. That's a pretty, uh, deep thing about one's self to just like, "I'm going to make this an entire act." You know? Yeah. You said that most relationships, or, uh, an abundance of them, you did cheat. For you to say, "I'm gonna make an act out of it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna put a set together based around this," I mean, what made you think, "Okay, this is gonna be a great idea"?

[00:39:56] Chloe Radcliffe: For me, all of my comedy is bloodletting. Um, uh, you know, it [00:40:00] is just something that I have to get out of me, and, uh, I, you know, I, I hope that it connects with people, and I think it does. I've, I've watched people go, "Oh, I, you know, I didn't know that you could talk about this part of somebody. I didn't know you could talk about desire in a relationship in this way.

[00:40:17] Chloe Radcliffe: I didn't know you could be so honest on stage. I didn't know that you could say this and, and not..." You know, I, I've had people who have, who have experienced incredibly painful, uh, who, who have been on the other side of infidelity in, in incredibly painful ways, and they walk out of the show, and they go, "I can't believe I don't hate you."

[00:40:32] Chloe Radcliffe: And, and that's- ... you know, that's my, my goal is to just, uh, is to make a show that is connective and, and personal and, and, and, um, you know, I, I never... I think the show is very, very funny, but I never want to make comedy that hurts people and, and I have done things in my life that have hurt people, and I, I want to make comedy, uh, about that that is no longer hurtful.

[00:40:58] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, and I think that we've [00:41:00] all done things to hurt people and it's, it's, you know, it's a lot easier to say that people have done something bad to us than it is to say that we have done something bad to other people, and I, you know, I just happen to be a person who is willing to stick a microphone in front of my face and say that.

[00:41:19] Marc Preston: Before we get going, I always do what I call my seven questions on the back end of, uh, chats, just a little extra fun. Uh, and I always talk food at least once. Uh, and you live in New York, one of my favorite places to eat. First question: What's your favorite comfort food?

[00:41:31] Chloe Radcliffe: Brownies.

[00:41:32] Marc Preston: Brownies. Okay. Um, brownies you make or brownies that you just from anywhere?

[00:41:38] Chloe Radcliffe: I guess I'll change it. Ice cream from anywhere.

[00:41:40] Marc Preston: Ice cream.

[00:41:41] Chloe Radcliffe: That's really what

[00:41:41] Marc Preston: it is. Very good. Very... Okay, now the next question, if you're gonna sit down and you're gonna be talking story for a few hours, uh, you and three people, living or not, uh, just gonna be having coffee, just talking. Who would those three people be that you would like to be sitting down with for the, for an afternoon?

[00:41:55] Chloe Radcliffe: Kurt Vonnegut, my dad, and the [00:42:00] two... I, I only listen to one podcast. It's called Scriptnotes. The two guys who host Scriptnotes, I combine them into one person.

[00:42:06] Marc Preston: Oh, that'll work.

[00:42:07] Chloe Radcliffe: That would be my- Yeah.

[00:42:08] Marc Preston: Very good. Very good. Well, uh, we gotta go back when you were a, a, a, a youngin'. Uh, who was your very first celebrity crush?

[00:42:16] Chloe Radcliffe: I have no idea. Who did I... I must have... I didn't really have crushes on celebrities. I've never really been a celebrity person.

[00:42:22] Marc Preston: Oh, okay.

[00:42:23] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, no. Yeah. I don't know. I don't even know who I thought was hot. Usher?

[00:42:29] Marc Preston: Okay.

[00:42:29] Chloe Radcliffe: Usher. That'll work. We'll

[00:42:30] Marc Preston: say Usher. Uh, next question. If you're gonna be living on an island for a year, somewhere you wanna be.

[00:42:34] Marc Preston: It's exotic, it's awesome. No streaming, though. So i- if you wanna listen to music, you can bring one CD to listen to over and over again. If you wanna watch a movie, you can bring one DVD. W- what would that CD and DVD be that you could watch and listen to all year long?

[00:42:49] Chloe Radcliffe: Dumb and Dumber and the White Album by The Beatles.

[00:42:52] Marc Preston: Very g- okay. That, the White Album's come up a few times, actually. Next question. If you're, if you're to say from time you get up to time you go to bed, uh, what are the ingredients or [00:43:00] what you consider to be the component parts of a day that you can go, "That was a perfect day," 'cause these things happened and these experiences happened.

[00:43:07] Marc Preston: What would that be for you?

[00:43:08] Chloe Radcliffe: Being outside, eating ice cream, uh, and getting a shit ton of work done.

[00:43:15] Marc Preston: What flavor of ice cream, though?

[00:43:18] Chloe Radcliffe: Literally anything. There is nothing I won't eat.

[00:43:22] Marc Preston: Brownies and ice cream actually sound kind of good right now. So, um-

[00:43:25] Chloe Radcliffe: They, they, they sound good at any, any hour of the day.

[00:43:27] Chloe Radcliffe: That's the, that's the problem.

[00:43:29] Marc Preston: Now, if you weren't doing this, if somebody said, "You know, uh, Chloe, you're doing this thing, this, um, comedy, uh, writing, creative, it's not available to you anymore," what career-wise do you feel would be something that would, would bring you joy? The number two.

[00:43:45] Chloe Radcliffe: I would own, I would own an antique store.

[00:43:48] Marc Preston: We know how you know how to source- Yeah ... stuff through Craigslist, so you know, that's, uh-

[00:43:51] Chloe Radcliffe: Exactly. Yeah ... an

[00:43:52] Marc Preston: antique store. Very interesting. Okay, so the, the last question I got, if you were to jump into that DeLorean and you can cruise back to when you [00:44:00] were, you know, 16 years old, and you have a piece of advice for yourself to make that moment of your life better or to put yourself on a little different trajectory, what would that piece of advice or wisdom be that you would offer 16-year-old you?

[00:44:12] Chloe Radcliffe: Uh, I think it would be work harder earlier. I worked very, very hard all through college, and then I think I, I think I got into some rhythms in my 20s that were, like, fine, and I-- It's not that I wasn't working harder, but I think I could've, I think I could've worked harder in my 20s.

[00:44:27] Marc Preston: Yeah, I think, I think your 20s, y- y- it's, it's not a lack of focus.

[00:44:31] Marc Preston: It's more that you give yourself a freedom to try and see different things, and I think that's part of the learning process. You know, it's pretty cool. So now, uh, well, last question. Uh, tour-wise, uh, what-- I know you have the special coming out. Any tours starting up, or are you in the midst of one, or what do you have going on?

[00:44:46] Chloe Radcliffe: Yeah, yeah. I'll be, I'll be around the country, uh, w-whatever clubs will have me, and all cities and tickets will be available at chloeradcliffe.com on my website.

[00:44:55] Marc Preston: Well, thank you so much. I-- This has been more than a pleasure, and, uh, I really, uh, [00:45:00] uh, chat with you is one I've definitely been looking forward to.

[00:45:02] Marc Preston: So, um-

[00:45:03] Chloe Radcliffe: Amazing. Thank you, Marc ... but best

[00:45:04] Marc Preston: of luck. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to catch up down the line.

[00:45:07] Chloe Radcliffe: Fantastic. I would love that. Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your day.

[00:45:11] Marc Preston: Well, there you go. Chloe Radcliffe, talented comedian. The new special, it is called Eyes Down Here. It is on Comedy Central.

[00:45:19] Marc Preston: Cruise over to YouTube on their stand-up channel. You'll, you'll find it right there. I saw it last night. Some good laughs, and, uh, she's just got a unique approach to what she does. I recommend checking out her tandem bicycle interviews. Uh, all of her links to what she's got going on, just head over to storyandcraftpod.com.

[00:45:38] Marc Preston: Click on this episode and you'll see all of her stuff right there. And, uh, of course, make sure to follow, subscribe to Story and Craft. New episode comes out, boom, you get notified. Also, leave a review, leave some stars, like the episode. Helps people to find the show, and I appreciate that greatly. Uh, so hey, I'm gonna get on out of here.

[00:45:56] Marc Preston: It is dinner time. It is time to grab a little nibble. [00:46:00] Uh, not sure what I'm cooking yet. Gonna work on that. You know me and food. If you've been here before, you know me. I'm, I'm always kind of conjuring something in the kitchen. I don't know why I'm telling you that right now. I just, uh, haven't had a bite to eat all day.

[00:46:10] Marc Preston: It's just coffee. Uh, and I'm starving. Uh, hey, do me a favor, uh, pop back on over here in a couple days. Friday, got another comedian, someone who I think is perfect for the pre, uh, midterm election, uh, thing we got going on here next week. Fingers crossed, things are gonna go

[00:46:27] Announcer: okay.

[00:46:27] Marc Preston: Uh, this gentleman is, uh, he's a lot of fun.

[00:46:30] Marc Preston: It's coming up Friday, and I look forward to seeing you then. Uh, and as I always say, thank you for making what I've got going on here part of whatever you've got going on. It does mean a lot to me. And, uh, I'm gonna head on out. You have a great one, and we'll talk to you in a couple days, right here on Story and Craft.

[00:46:47] Marc Preston: Take care.

[00:46:48] Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and Craft. Join Marc next week for more conversation right here on Story and Craft. Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc Preston Productions, [00:47:00] LLC. Executive producer is Marc Preston. Associate producer is Zachary Holden. Please rate and review Story and Craft on Apple Podcasts.

[00:47:09] Announcer: Don't forget to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. You can subscribe to show updates and stay in the know. Just head to storyandcraftpod.com and sign up for the newsletter. I'm Emma Dylan. See you next time, and remember, keep telling your story.